History of SEA

1. Southeast
Asia

2. Chapter 13: Southeast Asia (Fig.
13.1)

3. MAINLAND REGION
• 5 COUNTRIES: VIETNAM, LAOS,
CAMBODIA, THAILAND, MYANMAR
• BUDDHISM DOMINATES THE CULTURAL
LANDSCAPE
• ONE OF THE LEAST URBANIZED REALMS
IN THE WORLD

4. Environmental Geography: A Once-Forested
Region (cont.)
• Smoke and Air Pollution
• Increasingly poor air quality from urban smog, dry
conditions, smoke from clearing forests for other uses
• Patterns of Physical Geography
– Mainland Environments
• Mountains are found along the Thai-Burma border,
and through Laos and southern Vietnam
• Rivers: Mekong, Irrawaddy, Red, and Chao Phraya
• Thailand’s Khorat Plateau has thin, poor soils and
water shortages

5. Physical Geography of Southeast Asia
(Fig. 13.6)

6. Environmental Geography: A Once-Forested
Region (cont.)
– Equatorial Island Climates:
– Lots of rain (tropical climates)
• Typhoons: tropical hurricanes that bring heavy
rainfall to the northern reaches of insular Asia
• Islands experience very little seasonality because
of the equatorial influence (temperatures are high
year-round)
• Rainfall is higher and more evenly distributed
throughout the year as compared to the mainland

7. Population Map of Southeast Asia (Fig.
13.11)

8. Population
– Population Items
• Indonesia has the largest population of the region (261
million)
• Infant mortality rate= 2.5 per 100
(USA= .61 per 100)

9. Population
• Urban Settlement
• Southeast Asia is less than 30% urbanized
– Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) is Southeast Asia’s largest
city
– Singapore is a city-state, with modern infrastructure

10. Religion in Southeast Asia (Fig. 13.17)

11. Colonial Southeast Asia (Fig. 13.24)

12. • The Vietnam War 1955-1975
• France was determined to maintain control of its
Southeast Asian colonies
– War between communist forces in the north and
French in the south
– Geneva Agreement in 1954 divided the country into
north and south; France left
– Communist guerrillas in the south, Pathet Lao forces
in Laos, and the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia all fought
to expel western influences
– Using the domino theory (fear that if Vietnam fell to
communism, the rest of S.E. Asia would follow), the
U.S. sent troops to the region
– U.S. defeat and withdrawal 1973–1975
» Refugees from the region as a result, including
many migrating to the U.S.

13. – The Philippine Decline
• Philippines was the most highly developed Southeast
Asian country 40 years ago
• In 1980s and 1990s the Philippines’ population outpaced
its economic growth, and living standards declined
– Decline attributed to crony capitalism under Marcos
regime
• Many Filipinos have sought employment in other
countries
– Send money home (“remittances”)
– Brain drain

14. Geopolitical Issues in Southeast Asia (Fig.
13.23)

15. Statistics
• Population Religion Language
Philippines 103m Christianity Tagalog
Indonesia 261m Islam Indonesian
Malaysia 31m Islam Malay
*Vietnam 93m Buddhism Vietnamese
*One of only 5 Communistic countries in world