South Asia: Difference between revisions

{{Use Indian English|date=May 2014}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

|image              = South Asia (orthographic projection).svg

|area                = {{convert|5134641|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}

|density            = {{convert|362.3|/km2|abbr=on}}

|GDP_nominal        = $4.47 trillion (2022)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/NGDPD@WEO/OEMDC/ADVEC/WEOWORLD |title=GDP, current prices, Purchasing power parity; billions of international dollars, Billions of U.S. dollars |website=International Monetary Fund}}</ref>

|ethnic_groups      = [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Indo-Aryan]], [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]], [[Dravidian people|Dravidian]], [[Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan]], [[Austro-Asiatic people of South Asia|Austroasiatic]], [[Turkic languages|Turkic]] etc.

|religions          = [[Hinduism]], [[Islam]], [[Christianity]], [[Buddhism]], [[Sikhism]], [[Jainism]], [[Zoroastrianism]], [[Irreligion]]

|countries          = {{collapsible list

| title = [[List of sovereign states and dependent territories in Asia|8 states]]

| titlestyle = background:transparent;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;

| title      = [[Dependent territory|External]] (1)

  }}

  {{Collapsible list

| titlestyle = background:transparent;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;

| title      = [[List of territorial disputes|Disputed]] (2)

| {{flagicon image|Flag.svg}} [[Kashmir]]{{refn|group=note|{{Kashmir-note}}}}

  }}

|unrecognized        =  

     | [[Tamang language|Tamang]]

     | [[Standard Tibetan|Tibetan]]

     }}

   | '''[[Turkic languages|Turkic]]''':

# {{flagicon|India}} [[Bangalore]]

# {{flagicon|India}} [[Chennai]]

# {{flagicon|India}} [[Hyderabad]]

# {{flagicon|India}} [[Ahmedabad]]

|footnotes          =  

}}

The [[South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation]] (SAARC) is an economic cooperation organization in the region which was established in 1985 and includes all eight nations comprising South Asia.<ref name="SAARC Summit">{{cite web| last=SAARC Summit| title=SAARC|url=http://www.saarc-sec.org/|publisher=SAARC Summit| access-date=17 December 2013|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131216014912/http://saarc-sec.org/| archive-date=16 December 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> The core countries of South Asia have a total area of {{convert|4.4|e6km2|abbr=unit}}, which is 10% of the Asian continent.<ref name=EoMA/> The population of the region, under the broader definition, is about 1.9&nbsp;billion<ref name = "UN WPP 2019 2"/> or about one-fourth of the world's population, making it both the [[list of continents and continental subregions by population|most populous]] and the [[population density|most densely populated]] geographical region in the world.<ref name="South Asia Regional Overview">{{cite web |url=http://www.sardeg.org/marketana.asp |title=South Asia Regional Overview |website=South Asian Regional Development Gateway |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121043924/http://www.sardeg.org/marketana.asp |archive-date=21 November 2008}}</ref>

==Definition==

[[File:South Asia (ed)update.PNG|thumb|340px|Various definitions of South Asia, including the definition by the [[United Nations geoscheme]] which was created for "statistical convenience and does not imply any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of countries or territories."<ref name="Millenniumindicators.un.org">{{cite web |url=http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49.htm |title=Standard Country or Area Codes for Statistical Use |publisher=Millenniumindicators.un.org |access-date=25 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170711220015/https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49.htm |archive-date=11 July 2017 |url-status=live}} Quote: "The assignment of countries or areas to specific groupings is for statistical convenience and does not imply any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of countries or territories by the United Nations."</ref>]]

[[File:South Asia UN.png|thumb|left|United Nations map of South Asia.<ref name=unmapsworld>

The [[South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation]] (SAARC), a contiguous block of countries, started in 1985 with seven countries{{snd}}Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka{{snd}}and admitted [[Afghanistan]] as an eighth member in 2007.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Current-Affairs/Security-Watch/Detail/?ots591=4888CAA0-B3DB-1461-98B9-E20E7B9C13D4&lng=en&id=53216 |title=SAARC: Afghanistan comes in from the cold |author=Sarkar, Sudeshna |date=16 May 2007 |website=Current Affairs – Security Watch |publisher=Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zürich |access-date=6 April 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614091639/http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Current-Affairs/Security-Watch/Detail/?ots591=4888CAA0-B3DB-1461-98B9-E20E7B9C13D4&lng=en&id=53216 |archive-date=14 June 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.saarc-sec.org/ |title=South Asian Organisation for Regional Cooperation (official website) |publisher=SAARC Secretariat, Kathmandu, Nepal. |access-date=6 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131216014912/http://saarc-sec.org/ |archive-date=16 December 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> China and Myanmar have also applied for the status of full members of SAARC.<ref>Chatterjee Aneek, ''International Relations Today: Concepts and Applications'', page 166, Pearson Education India, {{ISBN|978-81-317-3375-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=2 December 2014 |title=SAARC Membership: India blocks China's entry for the time being |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/saarc-membership-india-blocks-chinas-entry-for-the-time-being/articleshow/45342607.cms |newspaper=The Economic Times| access-date=17 March 2015| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181218222754/https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/saarc-membership-india-blocks-chinas-entry-for-the-time-being/articleshow/45342607.cms |archive-date=18 December 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> The [[South Asia Free Trade Agreement]] admitted Afghanistan in 2011.<ref>[http://globalsummitryproject.com.s197331.gridserver.com/archive/saarc/saarc-sec.org/areaofcooperation/detailfeb2.html?activity_id=36 Global Summitry Project] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200712052452/http://globalsummitryproject.com.s197331.gridserver.com/archive/saarc/saarc-sec.org/areaofcooperation/detailfeb2.html?activity_id=36 |date=12 July 2020 }}, SAARC</ref>

The boundaries of South Asia vary based on how the region is defined. South Asia's northern, eastern, and western boundaries vary based on definitions used, while the Indian Ocean is the southern periphery. Most of this region rests on the [[Indian Plate]] and is isolated from the rest of Asia by mountain barriers.<ref>

The terms "[[Indian subcontinent]]" and "South Asia" are sometimes used interchangeably.<ref name=McLeod2002/><ref name=mcleodplus/><ref name=Oxford>"Indian subcontinent". ''[[Oxford Dictionary of English|New Oxford Dictionary of English]]'' ({{ISBN|0-19-860441-6}}) New York: Oxford University Press, 2001; p. 929: "the part of Asia south of the Himalayas which forms a peninsula extending into the Indian Ocean, between the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. Historically forming the whole territory of greater India, the region is now divided between India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh."</ref><ref>''The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia'', 6th ed. Columbia University Press, 2003: "region, S central Asia, comprising the countries of Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh and the Himalayan states of Nepal, and Bhutan. Sri Lanka, an island off the southeastern tip of the Indian peninsula, is often considered a part of the subcontinent."</ref> The Indian subcontinent is largely a geological term referring to the land mass that drifted northeastwards from ancient [[Gondwana]], colliding with the Eurasian plate nearly 55 million years ago, towards the end of Palaeocene. This geological region largely includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.<ref name="Jones2011p267">{{cite book|author=Robert Wynn Jones|title=Applications of Palaeontology: Techniques and Case Studies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mrPiq_8pkAwC&pg=PA267 |year=2011|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-49920-0|pages=267–271}}</ref> Historians Catherine Asher and Cynthia Talbot state that the term "Indian subcontinent" describes a natural physical landmass in South Asia that has been relatively isolated from the rest of Eurasia.<ref name="AsherTalbot2006">{{citation|last1=Asher|first1=Catherine B.|last2=Talbot|first2=Cynthia|title=India Before Europe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZvaGuaJIJgoC|date=16 March 2006|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-80904-7|pages=5–8, 12–14, 51, 78–80|access-date=9 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160424074737/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZvaGuaJIJgoC|archive-date=24 April 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

According to Robert M. Cutler – a scholar of Political Science at [[Carleton University]],<ref name="Amineh2007p112"/> the terms South Asia, Southwest Asia, and Central Asia are distinct, but the confusion and disagreements have arisen due to the geopolitical movement to enlarge these regions into Greater South Asia, Greater Southwest Asia, and Greater Central Asia. The frontier of Greater South Asia, states Cutler, between 2001 and 2006 has been geopolitically extended to eastern Iran and western Afghanistan in the west, and in the north to northeastern Iran, northern Afghanistan, and southern [[Uzbekistan]].<ref name="Amineh2007p112">{{cite book|first=Robert M.|last=Cutler|editor-first=Mehdi|editor-last=Amineh|title=The Greater Middle East in Global Politics: Social Science Perspectives on the Changing Geography of the World Politics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4PevCQAAQBAJ|year=2007|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-474-2209-9|pages=xv, 112}}</ref>

==History==

===Pre-history===

===Ancient era===

[[File:Indus Valley Civilization, Mature Phase (2600-1900 BCE).png|thumb|left|[[Indus Valley civilisation]] during 2600–1900 BCE, the mature phase]]

[[File:Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma Adoring Kali LACMA M.80.101 (2 of 7).jpg|thumb|left|The [[Trimurti]] is the [[Triple deity|trinity]] of [[Para Brahman|supreme divinity]] in [[Hinduism]], typically [[Brahma]] the creator, [[Vishnu]] the preserver, and [[Shiva]] the destroyer]]

From about 500 BCE through about 300 CE, the Vedic-Brahmanic synthesis or "Hindu synthesis" continued.{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}} Classical Hindu and Sramanic (particularly Buddhist) ideas spread within South Asia, as well outside South Asia.<ref>{{cite book |first1=HJ |last1=Klimkeit |first2=R |last2=Meserve |first3=EE |last3=Karimov |first4=C |last4=Shackle |chapter=Religions and religious movements |date=2000 |editor-first1=CE |editor-last1=Boxworth |editor-first2=MS |editor-last2=Asimov |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9yTFnuWQKvkC |publisher=UNESCO |pages=79–80 |isbn=978-92-3-103654-5}}</ref>{{sfn|Samuel|2010|pp=193–228, 339–353, specifically pp.&nbsp;76–79 and 194–199}}<ref>{{cite book |first1=John |last1=Guy |first2=Pierre |last2=Baptiste |first3=Lawrence |last3=Becker |first4=Bérénice |last4=Bellina |first5=Robert L. |last5=Brown |first6=Federico |last6=Carò |title=Lost Kingdoms: Hindu-Buddhist Sculpture of Early Southeast Asia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gCw_AwAAQBAJ |date=2014 |publisher=Yale University Press |pages=10–11 |isbn=978-0-300-20437-7 |access-date=26 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170418074753/https://books.google.com/books?id=gCw_AwAAQBAJ |archive-date=18 April 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Gupta Empire]] ruled over a large part of the region between 4th and 7th centuries, a period that saw the construction of major temples, monasteries and universities such as the [[Nalanda]].{{sfn|Michell|1977|p=18, 40}}<ref name=scharfe2002p144>{{cite book|first=Hartmut|last=Scharfe|title=Handbook of Oriental Studies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7s19sZFRxCUC|year=2002|publisher=BRILL Academic|isbn=978-90-04-12556-8|pages=144–153|access-date=26 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161126123255/https://books.google.com/books?id=7s19sZFRxCUC|archive-date=26 November 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Craig|last=Lockard|title=Societies, Networks, and Transitions: Volume I: A Global History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yJPlCpzOY_QC|year=2007|publisher=Houghton Mifflin|isbn=978-0-618-38612-3|page=188|access-date=26 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161126122832/https://books.google.com/books?id=yJPlCpzOY_QC|archive-date=26 November 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> During this era, and through the 10th century, numerous cave monasteries and temples such as the [[Ajanta Caves]], [[Badami cave temples]] and [[Ellora Caves]] were built in South Asia.<ref>{{cite book|first=Walter M.|last=Spink|title=Ajanta: History and Development, Volume 5: Cave by Cave|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UPqUHXlwXdcC|year=2005|publisher=BRILL Academic|isbn=978-90-04-15644-9|pages=1–9, 15–16|access-date=26 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160629134751/https://books.google.com/books?id=UPqUHXlwXdcC|archive-date=29 June 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/243 |title=Ellora Caves – UNESCO World Heritage Centre |publisher=Whc.unesco.org |access-date=26 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161209142802/https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/243 |archive-date=9 December 2016 |url-status=live }}, Quote:"Ellora, with its uninterrupted sequence of monuments dating from A.D. 600 to 1000, brings the civilization of ancient India to life. Not only is the Ellora complex a unique artistic creation and a technological exploit but, with its sanctuaries devoted to Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism, it illustrates the spirit of tolerance that was characteristic of ancient India."</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Lisa|last=Owen|title=Carving Devotion in the Jain Caves at Ellora|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vHK2WE8xAzYC|year=2012|publisher=BRILL Academic|isbn=978-90-04-20629-8|pages=1–10|access-date=26 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205083836/https://books.google.com/books?id=vHK2WE8xAzYC|archive-date=5 February 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Emperor Shah Jahan and Prince Alamgir (Aurangzeb) in Mughal Court, 1650.jpg|thumb|Emperor [[Shah Jahan]] and his son Prince [[Aurangzeb]] in Mughal Court, 1650]]

However, this time also marked an extended period of [[Religious violence in India#Mughal Empire|religious persecution]].<ref>{{cite book|first=John F.|last=Richards|author-link=John F. Richards|title=The Mughal Empire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HHyVh29gy4QC|year=1995|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-56603-2|pages=97–101|access-date=27 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160529043831/https://books.google.com/books?id=HHyVh29gy4QC|archive-date=29 May 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Two of the religious leaders of [[Sikhism]], [[Guru Arjan]] and [[Guru Tegh Bahadur]] were arrested under orders of the Mughal emperors after their revolts and were executed when they refused to convert to Islam.<ref>Pashaura Singh (2005), [http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_12_1/3_singh.pdf Understanding the Martyrdom of Guru Arjan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303175032/http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_12_1/3_singh.pdf |date=3 March 2016 }}, Journal of Punjab Studies, 12(1), pages 29–62; Quote (p. 29): "most of the Sikh scholars have vehemently presented this event as the first of the long series of religious persecutions that Sikhs suffered at the hands of Mughal authorities.";<br />{{cite book| first=Pashaura| last=Singh| title=Life and Work of Guru Arjan: History, Memory, and Biography in the Sikh Tradition| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FbPXAAAAMAAJ| year=2006| publisher=Oxford University Press| isbn=978-0-19-567921-2| pages=23, 217–218| access-date=27 December 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170330183644/https://books.google.com/books?id=fBPXAAAAMAAJ| archive-date=30 March 2017| url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Chris |last=Seiple |title=The Routledge handbook of religion and security|publisher=Routledge|location=New York|year=2013|isbn=978-0-415-66744-9|page=96}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first1=Pashaura|last1=Singh|first2=Louis|last2=Fenech|title=The Oxford handbook of Sikh studies|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford, UK|year=2014|isbn=978-0-19-969930-8|pages=236–238, 442–445}}</ref> Religious taxes on non-Muslims called ''jizya'' were imposed. Buddhist, Hindu and Sikh temples were desecrated. However, not all Muslim rulers persecuted non-Muslims. [[Akbar]], a Mughal ruler for example, sought religious tolerance and abolished jizya.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Annemarie|last1=Schimmel|author-link1=Annemarie Schimmel|first2=Burzine K.|last2=Waghmar|title=The Empire of the Great Mughals: History, Art and Culture|url=https://archive.org/details/empireofgreatmug00anne|url-access=registration|year=2004|publisher=Reaktion|isbn=978-1-86189-185-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/empireofgreatmug00anne/page/35 35], 115–121|access-date=27 December 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Matthew |last=White |author-link=Matthew White (historian) |date=2011 |title=The Great Big Book of Horrible Things |publisher=W. W. Norton |page=234 |isbn=978-0-393-08192-3 |quote=The Mughals traditionally had been tolerant of Hinduism ... Aurangzeb, however ... prohibited Hindus from riding horses or litters. He reintroduced the head tax non-Muslims had to pay. Aurangzeb relentlessly destroyed Hindu temples all across India.|title-link=The Great Big Book of Horrible Things }}</ref><ref>[https://archive.org/stream/oxfordhistoryofi00smituoft#page/436/mode/2up/search/aurangzeb The Oxford History of India] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160326090422/https://archive.org/stream/oxfordhistoryofi00smituoft#page/436/mode/2up/search/aurangzeb |date=26 March 2016 }}, Oxford University Press, page 437</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=John|last=Bowman|title=Columbia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cYoHOqC7Yx4C |year=2005|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-50004-3|pages=282–284}}</ref>

[[File:British Indian Empire 1909 Imperial Gazetteer of India.jpg|thumb|left|British Indian Empire in 1909. [[British India]] is shaded pink, the [[princely state]]s yellow.]]

Maritime trading between South Asia and European merchants began after the Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama returned to Europe. British, French, Portuguese colonial interests struck treaties with these rulers and established their trading ports. In northwest South Asia, a large region was consolidated into the Sikh Empire by [[Ranjit Singh]].<ref>{{cite book |author=J. S. Grewal |author-link=J. S. Grewal |year=1990 |title=The Sikhs of the Punjab |publisher=Cambridge University Press |series=The New Cambridge History of India |volume=II.3 |pages=99,103 |isbn=978-0-521-26884-4 |quote=In 1799, a process of unification was started by Ranjit Singh virtually to establish an empire ... Before his death in 1839 Rajit Singh's authority over all the conquered and subordinated territories between the river Satlej and the mountain ranges of Ladakh, Karakoram, Hindukush and Sulaiman was recognized.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Patwant|last=Singh|title=Empire of the Sikhs: The Life and Times of Maharaja Ranjit Singh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vr4VAQAAIAAJ |year=2008|publisher=Peter Owen|isbn=978-0-7206-1323-0|pages=113–124}}</ref> After the defeat of the [[Nawab of Bengal]] and [[Tipu Sultan]] and his French allies, the [[British Empire]] expanded their control till the Hindu Kush region.

===Population===

United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2014). World Urbanization Prospects: The 2014 Revision, custom data acquired via website. http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/Excel-Data/population.htm {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130404064129/http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/Excel-Data/population.htm |date=4 April 2013 }}

</ref> It is socially very mixed, consisting of many language groups and religions, and social practices in one region that are vastly different from those in another.<ref>{{cite book|author=Baten, Jörg |title=A History of the Global Economy. From 1500 to the Present.|date=2016|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=249|isbn=978-1-107-50718-0}}</ref>

! rowspan="2" |Country

! rowspan="2" |[[List of countries by population|Population]] in thousands

! rowspan="2" |[[List of countries by population density|Density]] (per km²)

! colspan="3" |Population growth rate<ref name=":02">{{Cite web|title=United Nations Population Div, World Population Prospects 2017, File: Population Growth Rate, retrieved 5/20/18|url=https://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/Download/Standard/Population/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927210437/https://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/Download/Standard/Population/|archive-date=27 September 2016}}</ref>

! colspan="7" |Population projection (in thousands)<ref name="UN WPP 2019" /><ref name="UN WPP 2019 2" />

|-

| align="left" |{{AFG}}

|2.78

|3.16

|12,689

|20,779

|-

| align="left" |{{BAN}}

|1.18

|1.16

|127,658

|170,937

|-

| align="left" |{{BHU}}

|2.05

|1.58

|348

|591

|-

| align="left" |{{IND}}

|17.5%

|1.46

|1.23

|623,103

|1,056,576

|-

| align="left" |{{MDV}}

|2.68

|2.76

|136

|279

|-

| align="left" |{{NEP}}

|1.05

|1.17

|13,420

|23,941

|-

| align="left" |{{PAK}}

|2.05

|2.09

|66,817

|142,344

|-

| align="left" |{{SRI}}

|0.68

|0.50

|13,755

|18,778

|-

!South Asia

!-

!-

!800,335

!1,390,946

|-

|}

===Languages===

{{main|Languages of South Asia}}

[[File:South Asian Language Families.png|thumb|right|Ethno-linguistic distribution map of South Asia]]

Shamsur Rahman Faruqi (2008), [http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00fwp/srf/srf_symcretism_2008.pdf Urdu Literary Culture: The Syncretic Tradition] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026133552/http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00fwp/srf/srf_symcretism_2008.pdf |date=26 October 2012 }}, Shibli Academy, Azamgarh

</ref> The Punjabi language spans three religions: Islam, Hinduism, and Sikhism. The spoken language is similar, but it is written in three scripts. The [[Sikhs|Sikh]] use [[Gurmukhi alphabet]], [[Muslim Punjabi]]s in [[Pakistan]] use the Nastaliq script, while [[Hindu Punjabi]]s in India use the Gurmukhi or [[Nāgarī script]]. The Gurmukhi and Nagari scripts are distinct but close in their structure, but the Persian Nastaliq script is very different.<ref name="Bright1996p395">{{cite book|first1=Peter T.|last1=Daniels|first2=William|last2=Bright|title=The World's Writing Systems |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ospMAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA395 |year=1996|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-507993-7|page=395}}</ref>

English, with British spelling, is commonly used in urban areas and is a major economic [[lingua franca]] of South Asia.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Braj B.|last1=Kachru|first2=Yamuna|last2=Kachru|author3=S. N. Sridhar|title=Language in South Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O2n4sFGDEMYC|year=2008|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-46550-2|pages=391–394|access-date=27 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118043902/https://books.google.com/books?id=O2n4sFGDEMYC|archive-date=18 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

|-

| {{flag+link|Religion in|IND}}

| [[Buddhism in India|0.7%]]

| [[Christianity in India|2.3%]]

|-

| {{flag+link|Religion in|NEP}}

| [[Buddhism in Nepal|9%]]

| [[Christianity in Nepal|1.3%]]

||2||[[Mumbai]]

|[[Maharashtra]]||{{Country|India}}||23,355,000||944||24,773

|-

||4||[[Kolkata]]

|[[West Bengal]]|||{{Country|India}}||17,560,000||1,351||12,988

|-

||5||[[Karachi]]

===Sports===

[[Cricket]] is the most popular sport in South Asia,<ref>{{Cite news|date=21 December 2006|title=South Asia's cricket obsession|language=en-GB|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6171549.stm|access-date=1 December 2020}}</ref> with 90% of the sport's worldwide fans being in the [[Indian subcontinent]].<ref>{{Cite news|title=India constitutes 90 percent of one billion cricket fans: ICC research|work=The Economic Times|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/sports/india-constitutes-90-percent-of-one-billion-cricket-fans-icc-research/articleshow/64760726.cms|access-date=1 December 2020}}</ref> There are also some [[Traditional games of South Asia|traditional games]], such as [[kabaddi]] and [[kho-kho]], which are played across the region and even officially at the [[South Asian Games]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=ParentCircle |first=Team |date=2016-10-25 |title=Indian Traditional Games for Children, Traditional Games of Tamilnadu for Kids, Old Ancient Tamil Games of Tamil Nadu {{!}} ParentCircle |url=https://www.parentcircle.com/9-indian-traditional-games-for-children/article |access-date=2022-11-04 |website=www.parentcircle.com |language=en-gb}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=OCA » Ancient tag game of kho kho catching on fast |url=https://ocasia.org/news/231-ancient-tag-game-of-kho-kho-catching-on-fast.html |access-date=2022-11-04 |website=ocasia.org}}</ref>

According to UNESCO, 241 million children between six and fourteen years or 81 percent of the total were not learning in Southern and Central Asia in 2017. Only sub-Saharan Africa had a higher rate of children not learning. Two-thirds of these children were in school, sitting in classrooms. Only 19 percent of children attending primary and lower secondary schools attaining a minimum proficiency level in reading and mathematics.<ref name=MoreT>[http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/fs46-more-than-half-children-not-learning-en-2017.pdf ''More than One-Half of Children and Adolescents are not learning worldwide''], Fact Sheet No.46, UNESCO Institute for Statistics September 2017</ref><ref name=SZ3>Suzana Brinkmann, [https://www.unicef.org/rosa/media/6991/file/Improving%20Education%20Quality%20in%20South%20Asia%20(I)_30Aug_019_Web.pdf.pdf Improving Education Quality in South Asia] (I), page 3, United Nations Children's Fund, Regional Office for South Asia, Nepal, 2018</ref> According to a citizen-led assessment, only 48% in Indian public schools and 46% of children in Pakistan public schools could read a class two level text by the time they reached class five.<ref>[http://aserpakistan.org/report ASER Pakistan] (2015). Annual Status of Education Report (Facilitated by SAFED). ASER Centre<br />[http://www.asercentre.org//p/289.html ASER India] (2016). Annual Status of Education Report (Facilitated by Pratham). ASER Centre</ref><ref name=SZ3/> This poor quality of education in turn has contributed to some of the highest drop-out rates in the world, while over half of the students complete secondary school with acquiring requisite skills.<ref name=SZ3/>

The larger and poorer countries in the region, like India and Bangladesh, struggle financially to get sufficient resources to sustain an education system required for their vast populations, with an added challenge of getting large numbers of out-of-school children enrolled into schools.<ref name=SZ13/> Their capacity to deliver inclusive and equitable quality education is limited by low levels of public finance for education,<ref name=ESAFS/> while the smaller emerging middle-income countries like Sri Lanka, Maldives and Bhutan have been able to achieve universal primary school completion, and are in a better position to focus on quality of education.<ref name=SZ13/>

Children's education in the region is also adversely affected by natural and human-made crises including natural hazards, political instability, rising extremism and civil strife that makes it difficult to deliver educational services.<ref name=ESAFS/> Afghanistan and India are among the top ten countries with the highest number of reported disasters due to natural hazards and conflict. The precarious security situation in Afghanistan is a big barrier in rolling out education programmes on a national scale.<ref name=SZ13/>

With about 21 million students in 700 universities and 40 thousand colleges India had the one of the largest higher education systems in the world in 2011, accounting for 86 percent of all higher-level students in South Asia. Bangladesh (two million) and Pakistan (1.8&nbsp;million) stood at distant second and third positions in the region. In Nepal (390 thousand) and Sri Lanka (230 thousand) the numbers were much smaller. Bhutan with only one university and Maldives with none hardly had between them about 7000 students in higher education in 2011. The gross enrolment ratio in 2011 ranged from about 10 percent in Pakistan and Afghanistan to above 20 percent in India, much below the global average of 31 percent.<ref name=Tilak>Jandhyala B.G. Tilak, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/24372963?read-now=1&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents Higher Education in South Asia: Crisis and Challenges], page 5, Social Scientist, Vol. 43, No. 1/2 (January–February 2015)</ref>

=== Regional politics ===

{{See also|War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|Indo-Pakistani wars and conflicts|South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation}}

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[[Bangladesh]], [[Pakistan]] and [[Sri Lanka]] are [[middle power]]s with sizeable populations and economies with significant impact on regional politics.<ref name="balancing">{{cite web|url=https://www.clingendael.org/pub/2018/strategic-monitor-2018-2019/a-balancing-act/|title=A Balancing Act: The Role of Middle Powers in Contemporary Diplomacy |first1=Willem |last1=Oosterveld |first2=Bianca |last2=Torossian |work=Strategic Monitor 2018–2019 |publisher=[[Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael|Clingendael Institute]] |access-date=18 May 2019}}</ref><ref name="Buzan2004">{{cite book|first=Barry|last=Buzan|title=The United States and the great powers: world politics in the twenty-first century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XvtS5hKg9jYC&pg=PR8|access-date=27 December 2011|year=2004|publisher=Polity|isbn=978-0-7456-3374-9|pages=71, 99}}</ref>

|last = Burne

|first = Lester H.

|isbn = 0-415-93916-X }}</ref> India's [[Smiling Buddha|nuclear test in 1974]] pushed Pakistan's nuclear program<ref>{{Citation | publisher = Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) and Pakistan Television (PTV) | title = Prime minister Secretariat Press Release | quote = India's so-called Peaceful Nuclear Explosion (PNE) is tested and designed to intimidate and establish "Indian hegemony in the subcontinent", most particularly Pakistan... | first = Zulfikar Ali | last = Bhutto | date = 18 May 1974 | url = http://www.nti.org/e_research/profiles/Pakistan/Nuclear/chronology_1974.html | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110918040826/http://www.nti.org/e_research/profiles/Pakistan/Nuclear/chronology_1974.html | archive-date = 18 September 2011 | df = dmy-all }}</ref> who conducted nuclear tests in [[Chagai-I]] in 1998, just 18 days after India's [[Pokhran-II|series of nuclear tests]] for [[thermonuclear weapon]]s.<ref name="Ministry of External Affairs, 1998">{{cite web|title=Official press release by India|url=http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/India/Indianofficial.txt|website=meadev.gov.in/|publisher=Ministry of External Affairs, 1998|access-date=12 August 2020}}</ref>

South Asia continues to remain least integrated region in the world. Meanwhile, in East Asia, regional trade accounts for 50% of total trade, it accounts for only a little more than 5% in South Asia.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Realizing the Promise of Regional Trade in South Asia|url = https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2018/10/09/realizing-the-promise-of-regional-trade-in-south-asia|date = 9 October 2018|access-date = 23 October 2019|publisher = [[World Bank]]}}</ref>

! Countries included

! [[Official languages]]

|-

| Core Definition (above) of South Asia

| {{n/a}}

|-

| style="text-align:right;"| 6,778,083

| style="text-align:right;"| 1,702,000,000

| {{n/a}}

|-

| style="text-align:right;"| 3,565,467

| style="text-align:right;"| 1,485,909,931

==See also==

{{Portal|Asia}}

<!-- {{Wikipedia-Books}} -->

* [[Genetics and archaeogenetics of South Asia]]

* [[South Asia Olympic Council]]

* [[South Asian Football Federation]]

==Notes==

== References ==

=== Citations ===

=== Sources ===

== External links ==

* [http://www.worldbank.org/en/region/sar South Asia], The World Bank

* [https://dsal.uchicago.edu/ Digital South Asia Library], University of Chicago

* [https://www.adb.org/countries/subregional-programs/sasec South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation], Asia Development Bank

{{Geographic location

|Centre    = South Asia

|North    = Central Asia, East Asia

|Northeast = East Asia

|Southeast = [[Bay of Bengal]]<br />Indian Ocean

|Southwest = [[Arabian Sea]]

}}