South Asia

South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is a southern geopolitical region of the Asian continent, comprising the sub-Himalyan countries and the regions on their west and, for some authorities, on the east as well. It is surrounded by (from west to east) Western Asia, Central Asia, Eastern Asia, and Southeastern Asia.

Definitions and usage

South Asia consists of the following countries and territories, these countries are also currrent members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (except British Indian Ocean Territory):

• Bangladesh
• British Indian Ocean Territory
• Bhutan
• India
• Maldives
• Nepal
• Pakistan
• Sri Lanka

Also sometimes included (for assumed cultural and/or historical reasons):

• Afghanistan
• Myanmar, because it was part of the British Raj
• Tibet
• Iran

The term Indian subcontinent is often used to describe those regions which geophysically lie on the Indian Plate, bordered on the north by the Eurasian Plate. Geopolitically Southern Asia subsumes the Indian subcontinent: it also includes territories found internal to the Indian Plate and in proximity to it. Afghanistan, for instance, is sometimes grouped in this region due to sociopolitical and ethnic (Pashtun) ties to neighbouring Pakistan, whilst Pakistani regions west of the Indus are sometimes described as being in Central Asia, due to historical connections. A good proportion of the Pakistani land mass is not on the Indian plate, but on the fringes of the Iranian plateau. As in the case of the Hindukush mountains, everything to the south-east of the Iranian Plateau is considered South Asia.