View source for Place:South Asia

{{Short description|Subregion in Asia}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2014}}
{{Infobox continent
|title               = South Asia
|image               = South Asia (orthographic projection).svg
|area                = {{convert|5134641|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}
|population          = 1.94 billion (2022)<ref name = "UN WPP 2019 2"/>
|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>
|GDP_PPP             = $15.1 trillion (2022)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/PPPGDP@WEO/OEMDC/ADVEC/WEOWORLD/PRK |title=GDP, current prices |website=International Monetary Fund}}</ref>
|GDP_per_capita      = $2,350 (nominal) (2022)<br />$8,000 (PPP) (2022)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/PPPPC@WEO/OEMDC/ADVEC/WEOWORLD |title=GDP per capita, current prices |website=International Monetary Fund}}</ref>
|HDI                 = {{increase}} 0.641 (2019)(''<span style="color:orange">medium</span>'')<ref name="UNDP2020">{{cite web|url=http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/2020_statistical_annex_table_1.pdf |title= Human Development Report 2020 – "Human Development Indices and Indicators"|publisher=HDRO (Human Development Report Office) [[Organization:United Nations Development Programme|United Nations Development Programme]]|pages=346 |access-date=16 December 2021}}</ref>
|ethnic_groups       = Indo-Aryan, Iranian, Dravidian, [[Social:Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan]], Austroasiatic, [[Social:Turkic languages|Turkic]] etc.
|religions           = [[Religion:Hinduism|Hinduism]], [[Religion:Islam|Islam]], [[Religion:Christianity|Christianity]], [[Religion:Buddhism|Buddhism]], [[Religion:Sikhism|Sikhism]], [[Philosophy:Jainism|Jainism]], [[Religion:Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrianism]], [[Religion:Irreligion|Irreligion]]
|demonym             = {{hlist|South Asian|Desi (colloquial)}}
|countries           = {{collapsible list
| title = 8 states
| <!--The article explains why Afghanistan is listed here-->
| {{flag|Afghanistan}}
| {{flag|Bangladesh}}
| {{flag|Bhutan}}
| {{flag|India}}
| {{flag|Maldives}}
| {{flag|Nepal}}
| {{flag|Pakistan}}
| {{flag|Sri Lanka}}
 }}
|list_countries      =
|dependencies        = {{Collapsible list
| titlestyle = background:transparent;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;
| title      = External (1)
| {{flag|British Indian Ocean Territory}}{{refn|group=note|Administered by the {{wipe|United Kingdom}}, claimed by [[Earth:Mauritius|Mauritius]] as the Chagos Archipelago.}} ({{wipe|United Kingdom}})
 }}
 {{Collapsible list
| titlestyle = background:transparent;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;
| title      = Disputed (4)
| {{flagicon image|Flag.svg}}
[[Place:Kashmir|Kashmir]]{{refn|group=note|{{Kashmir-note}}}}
| {{flag|Arunachal Pradesh}}{{refn|group=note|Administered by {{wipe|India}}, claimed by {{wipe|China}} as South Tibet.}}<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.rediff.com/news/2006/nov/14china.htm|title=Arunachal Pradesh is our territory: Chinese envoy|date=14 November 2006|website=rediff.com}}</ref>
 }}
|unrecognized        =
|languages           = {{collapsible list
  | title = Official languages (national level)
  | [[Social:Bengali language|Bengali]]
  | Dari ([[Social:Persian language|Persian]])
  | [[Social:Urdu|Urdu]]
  | [[Social:Hindi|Hindi]]
  | [[Social:Pashto|Pashto]]
  | [[Social:Nepali language|Nepali]]
  | Dzongkha
  | Dhivehi
  | [[Social:English language|English]]
  | [[Social:Sinhala language|Sinhala]]
  | [[Social:Tamil language|Tamil]]
 }}
 {{collapsible list
  | title       = Other official languages (provincial/regional level) <!-- Every known languages of each language family can't be added in this section. So, please add only those languages that have official language status. -->
  | titlestyle  = text-align:left;padding-right:4em;font-weight:normal;background-color:white;
  | bullets     = true
  | '''[[Social:Austroasiatic languages|Austroasiatic]]''':
   {{hlist
    | Khasi
    | Santali
   }}
  | '''[[Social:Dravidian languages|Dravidian]]''':
   {{hlist
    | [[Social:Malayalam|Malayalam]]
    | [[Social:Kannada|Kannada]]
    | [[Social:Telugu language|Telugu]]
   }}
  | '''[[Social:Indo-European languages|Indo-European]]''':
   {{hlist
    | [[Social:Assamese language|Assamese]]
    | Bhojpuri
    | [[Social:Dogri language|Dogri]]
    | [[Social:Gujarati language|Gujarati]]
    | [[Social:Kashmiri language|Kashmiri]]
    | [[Social:Konkani language|Konkani]]
    | [[Social:Maithili language|Maithili]]
    | [[Social:Marathi language|Marathi]]
    | [[Social:Odia language|Odia]]
    | [[Social:Punjabi language|Punjabi]]
    | [[Social:Sanskrit|Sanskrit]]
    | [[Social:Sindhi language|Sindhi]]
   }}
  | '''[[Social:Sino-Tibetan languages|Sino-Tibetan]]''':
   {{hlist
    | Bodo
    | Gurung
    | Limbu
    | Mizo
    | [[Social:Meitei language|Meitei]]
    | Sikkimese
    | [[Social:Tamang language|Tamang]]
    | [[Social:Standard Tibetan|Tibetan]]
    | Newari
    }}
  | '''[[Social:Turkic languages|Turkic]]''':
   {{hlist
    | [[Social:Turkmen language|Turkmen]]
    | [[Social:Uzbek language|Uzbek]]
   }}
 }}
|time           = {{collapsible list
  | title       = 5 time zones
  | titlestyle  = text-align:left;padding-right:4em;font-weight:normal;background-color:white;
  | bullets     = true
  | '''[[UTC+04:30|30]]''':
   {{hlist
    | Afghanistan
   }}
  | '''[[UTC+05:00|00]]''':
   {{hlist
    | Maldives
    | Pakistan
   }}
  | '''[[UTC+05:30|30]]''':
   {{hlist
    | [[Time in India|India]]
    | Sri Lanka
   }}
  | '''[[UTC+05:45|45]]''':
   {{hlist
    | Nepal
   }}
  | '''[[UTC+06:00|00]]''':
   {{hlist
    | [[Bangladesh Standard Time|Bangladesh]]
    | [[Bhutan Time|Bhutan]]
   }}
 }}
|internet            = .af, .bd, .bt, .in, .io, .lk, .mv, .np, .pk
|calling_code        = Zone 8 & 9
|cities              = <!-- PLEASE LIMIT THE CITIES LISTED HERE TO THE TEN MOST POPULOUS SOUTH ASIAN CITIES AS LISTED IN THE List of largest cities. THANKS! -->
{{Collapsible list
 | title      = 10 largest cities in South Asia
 | titlestyle = text-align:left;padding-right:4em;font-weight:normal;background-color:white;
 |
# {{flagicon|India}} [[Place:Delhi|Delhi]]
# {{flagicon|India}} {{wipe|Mumbai}}
# {{flagicon|Bangladesh}} [[Place:Dhaka|Dhaka]]
# {{flagicon|Pakistan}} [[Place:Karachi|Karachi]]
# {{flagicon|India}} [[Place:Kolkata|Kolkata]]
# {{flagicon|Pakistan}} Lahore
# {{flagicon|Afghanistan}} [[Place:Kabul|Kabul]]
# {{flagicon|India}} Bangalore
# {{flagicon|India}} Chennai
# {{flagicon|India}} [[Place:Hyderabad|Hyderabad]]
# {{flagicon|India}} Ahmedabad
 }}
|m49                 = <code>034</code> – Southern Asia<br /><code>142</code> – [[Earth:Asia|Asia]]<br /><code>001</code> – [[Philosophy:World|World]]
|footnotes           =
}}

'''South Asia''' is the southern [[Earth:Subregion#Asia|subregion]] of [[Earth:Asia|Asia]], which is defined in both [[Earth:Geography|geographical]] and [[Social:Ethnicity|ethnic]]-[[Social:Culture|cultural]] terms. As commonly conceptualized, the modern [[Earth:State (polity)|states]] of South Asia include Afghanistan,<ref>{{Cite web|title=South Asia |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/South-Asia|access-date=1 April 2023|website=Encyclopædia Britannica |language=en}}</ref> Bangladesh, Bhutan, {{wipe|India}}, [[History:Maldives|Maldives]], Nepal, {{wipe|Pakistan}}, and Sri Lanka.<ref name="EoMA">"[http://www.bookrags.com/research/indian-subcontinent-ema-03/ Indian Subcontinent] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121100141/http://www.bookrags.com/research/indian-subcontinent-ema-03/ |date=21 January 2012 }}" ''Encyclopedia of Modern Asia'' Macmillan Reference USA (Gale Group), 2006: "The area is divided between five major nation-states, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, and includes as well the two small nations of Bhutan and the Maldives Republic... The total area can be estimated at 4.4 million square kilometres or exactly 10 percent of the land surface of Asia."</ref> South Asia borders [[Place:East Asia|East Asia]] to the northeast, [[Place:Central Asia|Central Asia]] to the northwest, [[Place:West Asia|West Asia]] to the west and [[Place:Southeast Asia|Southeast Asia]] to the east. Topographically, it is dominated by the [[Earth:Indian subcontinent|Indian subcontinent]] and is bounded by the Indian Ocean in the south, and the Himalayas, Karakoram, and Pamir Mountains in the north.<ref name="Chapman, Graham P. p. 10">{{citation|last1=Baker|first1=Kathleen M.|last2=Chapman|first2=Graham P.|title=The Changing Geography of Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G-KIAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA10|date=11 March 2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-93384-6|pages=10– |quote=This greater India is well defined in terms of topography; it is the Indian sub-continent, hemmed in by the Himalayas on the north, the Hindu Khush in the west and the Arakanese in the east.}}</ref>

The [[Organization:South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation|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 most populous and the [[Earth: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>

In 2022, South Asia had the world's largest populations of [[Religion:Hindus|Hindus]], [[Religion:Muslims|Muslims]], Sikhs, [[Philosophy:Jainism|Jains]], and [[Religion:Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrians]].<ref name="dip8Jan2016" /> South Asia alone accounts for 90.47% of Hindus, 95.5% of Sikhs, and 31% of Muslims worldwide, as well as 35 million [[Religion:Christians|Christians]] and 25&nbsp;million [[Religion:Buddhism|Buddhists]].<ref name="Pew Research 2012">{{cite web |url=http://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/18/table-religious-composition-by-country-in-numbers/ |title=Religion population totals in 2010 by Country |year=2012 |website=Pew Research Center |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161209223553/http://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/18/table-religious-composition-by-country-in-numbers/ |archive-date=9 December 2016}}</ref>{{sfn|Ruffle|2013|p=193}}<ref name="pewforum.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.pewforum.org/2011/01/27/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-regional-asia/ |url-status=live  |title=Region: Asia-Pacific |date=27 January 2011 |website=Pew Research Center |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010061404/http://www.pewforum.org/2011/01/27/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-regional-asia/ |archive-date=10 October 2017 |access-date=13 March 2016}}</ref><ref name="pew2Apr2015" />

==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=United Nations |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>]]

The geographical extent is not clear cut as systemic and foreign policy orientations of its constituents are quite asymmetrical.<ref name="Ghosh1989">{{cite book |last=Ghosh |first=Partha Sarathy |date=1989 |title=Cooperation and Conflict in South Asia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O0TBqJCE4k8C&pg=PA5 |publisher=Technical Publications |pages=4–5 |isbn=978-81-85054-68-1 |access-date=12 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160516185842/https://books.google.com/books?id=O0TBqJCE4k8C&pg=PA5 |archive-date=16 May 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> Beyond the core territories of the Indian Empire (territories of the British Empire which were under the system of British Raj), there is a high degree of variation as to which other countries are included in South Asia.<ref>Bertram Hughes Farmer, ''An Introduction to South Asia'', pages 1, Routledge, 1993, {{ISBN|0-415-05695-0}}</ref><ref name=Razzaque3>{{cite book|first=Jona|last=Razzaque|title=Public Interest Environmental Litigation in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7E7al37aYBEC&pg=PA3|year=2004|publisher=Kluwer Law International|isbn=978-90-411-2214-8|pages=3 with footnotes 1 and 2|access-date=11 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171007120534/https://books.google.com/books?id=7E7al37aYBEC&pg=PA3|archive-date=7 October 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=mmann>{{cite book|first=Michael|last=Mann|title=South Asia's Modern History: Thematic Perspectives|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Uh0cBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT13|year=2014|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-317-62445-5|pages=13–15}}</ref><ref name=anderson5>{{cite book|first1=Ewan W.|last1=Anderson|first2=Liam D.|last2=Anderson|title=An Atlas of Middle Eastern Affairs|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n-VJAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA5 |year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-64862-5|page=5}}, Quote: "To the east, Iran, as a Gulf state, offers a generally accepted limit to the Middle East. However, Afghanistan, also a Muslim state, is then left in isolation. It is not accepted as a part of Central Asia and it is clearly not part of the Indian subcontinent".</ref> There is no clear boundary – geographical, geopolitical, socio-cultural, economical, or historical – between South Asia and other parts of Asia, especially [[Place:Southeast Asia|Southeast Asia]] and [[Place:West Asia|West Asia]].<ref>Dallen J. Timothy and Gyan P. Nyaupane, ''Cultural Heritage and Tourism in the Developing World: A Regional Perspective'', page 127, Routledge, 2009, {{ISBN|978-1-134-00228-3}}</ref>

The common definition of South Asia is largely inherited from the administrative boundaries of the Indian Empire,<ref>Navnita Chadha Behera, ''International Relations in South Asia: Search for an Alternative Paradigm'', page 129, SAGE Publications India, 2008, {{ISBN|978-81-7829-870-2}}</ref> with several exceptions. The current territories of Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan which were the core territories of the [[Place:British Empire|British Empire]] from 1857 to 1947 also form the core territories of South Asia.<ref name="The World Bank">{{cite web|title=The World Bank|url=http://data.worldbank.org/region/SAS|access-date=5 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151110061347/http://data.worldbank.org/region/SAS|archive-date=10 November 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="eldis.org">{{cite web |title=Institute of Development Studies: Afghanistan |url=http://www.eldis.org/go/home&id=16238&type=Document |access-date=28 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170601015811/http://www.eldis.org/go/home%26id%3D16238%26type%3DDocument |archive-date=1 June 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> The mountain countries of Nepal and Bhutan, two independent countries that were not under the British Raj but were protectorates of the Empire,<ref>{{cite book|author=Saul Bernard Cohen |title=Geopolitics: The Geography of International Relations|date=2008|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers| edition=2| page=329| isbn=978-0-7425-8154-8}}</ref> and the island countries of Sri Lanka and Maldives are generally included.<ref name="McLeod2002">{{cite book |last1=McLeod |first1=John |title=The History of India |year=2002 |publisher=Greenwood Press |page=1 |isbn=978-0-313-31459-9}}</ref> By various definitions based on substantially different reasons, the British Indian Ocean Territory and the Tibet Autonomous Region may be included as well.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Keith |first1=Arthur Berriedale |title=A Constitutional History of India: 1600–1935 |year=1936 |publisher=Methuen & Co |pages=440–444 |oclc=18526}}</ref><ref>N.D. Arora, ''Political Science for Civil Services Main Examination'', page 42:1, Tata McGraw-Hill Education, 2010, 9780070090941</ref><ref>Stephen Adolphe Wurm, Peter Mühlhäusler & Darrell T. Tryon, ''Atlas of languages of intercultural communication in the Pacific, Asia, and the Americas'', pages 787, International Council for Philosophy and Humanistic Studies, Published by Walter de Gruyter, 1996, {{ISBN|3-11-013417-9}}</ref><ref>[http://www.answers.com/topic/south-asia#Columbia_Encyclopedia_d_ans "Indian subcontinent" > Geology and Geography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220121713/http://www.answers.com/topic/south-asia#Columbia_Encyclopedia_d_ans |date=20 February 2012 }}.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Haggett |first=Peter |title=Encyclopedia of World Geography (Vol. 1) |publisher=Marshall Cavendish |year=2001 |page=2710 |isbn=978-0-7614-7289-6}}</ref><ref>[http://www.janes.com/articles/Janes-Sentinel-Security-Assessment-South-Asia/Territories-British-Indian-Ocean-Territory.html Territories (British Indian Ocean Territory)], Jane's Information Group</ref> Myanmar (Burma), a former British colony and now largely considered a part of Southeast Asia, is also sometimes included.<ref name=Ghosh1989/><ref name=Razzaque3/><ref name=mittal/> Afghanistan is also included by some sources.<ref name=Ghosh1989/><ref name=Razzaque3/><ref>{{cite book|first=Keith|last=Robbins|title=Transforming the World: Global Political History since World War II|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dxknBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT386 |year=2012|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-1-137-29656-6|page=386}}, Quote: "Some thought that Afghanistan was part of the Middle East and not South Asian at all".</ref>{{sfn|Saez|2012|p=58|ps=: "Afghanistan is considered to be part of Central Asia. It regards itself as a link between Central Asia and South Asia."}}

[[File:South Asia UN.png|thumb|left|United Nations map of South Asia.<ref name=unmapsworld>
[https://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/english/htmain.htm United Nations Cartographic Centre] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630232206/http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/english/htmain.htm |date=30 June 2017 }} Retrieved 18 June 2015</ref> However, the United Nations does not endorse any definitions or area boundaries.{{refn|group=note|According to the UN cartographic section website disclaimers, "DESIGNATIONS USED: The depiction and use of boundaries, geographic names and related data shown on maps and included in lists, tables, documents, and databases on this website are not warranted to be error free nor do they necessarily imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations."<ref name=unmapsworld />}}]]

The [[Organization:South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation|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 [[Finance:South Asia Free Trade Agreement|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 [[Organization:World Bank|World Bank]] and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) recognizes the eight SAARC countries as South Asia,<ref>[http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/0,,pagePK:158889~piPK:146815~theSitePK:223547,00.html South Asia: Data, Projects and Research] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080414234252/http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/0,,pagePK:158889~piPK:146815~theSitePK:223547,00.html |date=14 April 2008 }}, The World Bank</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://saarc-sec.org/areaofcooperation/detail.php?activity_id=36|title=SAFTA Protocol|access-date=20 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150315005650/http://saarc-sec.org/areaofcooperation/detail.php?activity_id=36|archive-date=15 March 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=South Asia|url=https://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/southasia.html|website=Unicef.org|access-date=16 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220203433/https://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/southasia.html|archive-date=20 December 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=UNICEF ROSA|url=https://www.unicef.org/rosa/where.html|website=Unicef.org|access-date=16 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220203418/https://www.unicef.org/rosa/where.html|archive-date=20 December 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Finance:Herfindahl index|Hirschman–Herfindahl index]] of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific for the region excludes Afghanistan from South Asia.<ref>[http://www.unescap.org/tid/projects/agrnego_sama.pdf Mapping and Analysis of Agricultural Trade Liberalization in South Asia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090319013359/http://www.unescap.org/tid/projects/agrnego_sama.pdf |date=19 March 2009 }}, Trade and Investment Division (TID), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific</ref> Population Information Network (POPIN) excludes Maldives which is included as a member Pacific POPIN subregional network.<ref>[https://www.un.org/Depts/escap/pop/bulletin/v07n2ft1.htm Asia-Pacific POPIN Consultative Workshop Report] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025033612/http://www.un.org/Depts/escap/pop/bulletin/v07n2ft1.htm |date=25 October 2012 }}, Asia-Pacific POPIN Bulletin, Vol. 7, No. 2 (1995), pages 7–11</ref> The United Nations Statistics Division's scheme of subregions, for statistical purpose,<ref name="Millenniumindicators.un.org"/> includes [[Religion:Iran|Iran]] along with all eight members of the SAARC as part of Southern Asia.<ref>[http://millenniumindicators.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regin.htm#asia Geographical region and composition] {{Webarchive| url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713041240/http://millenniumindicators.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regin.htm#asia|date=13 July 2011}}, Composition of macro geographical (continental) regions, geographical sub-regions, and selected economic and other groupings, United Nations</ref> The United Nations Industrial Development Organization includes [[Religion:Iran|Iran]] as well as Afghanistan as parts of South Asia.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development in Asia and the Pacific Region |journal=United Nations Industrial Development Organization |pages=4–5}}</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 [[Earth:Indian Plate|Indian Plate]] and is isolated from the rest of Asia by mountain barriers.<ref>
[http://www.answers.com/topic/Asia#Columbia_Encyclopedia_d_ans "Asia" > Geology and Geography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120223002115/http://www.answers.com/topic/asia#Columbia_Encyclopedia_d_ans |date=23 February 2012 }}. ''The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia'', 6th ed. Columbia University Press, 2003: "Asia can be divided into six regions, each possessing distinctive physical, cultural, economic, and political characteristics... South Asia (Afghanistan and the nations of the Indian Peninsula) is isolated from the rest of Asia by great mountain barriers."
</ref><ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/38479/Asia "Asia" > Geologic history – Tectonic framework] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501014535/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/38479/Asia |date=1 May 2011 }}. ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Encyclopædia Britannica Online, 2009: "The paleotectonic evolution of Asia terminated some 50 million years ago as a result of the collision of the Indian Plate with Eurasia. Asia's subsequent neotectonic development has largely disrupted the continent's preexisting fabric. The first-order neotectonic units of Asia are Stable Asia, the Arabian and Indian cratons, the Alpide plate boundary zone (along which the Arabian and Indian platforms have collided with the Eurasian continental plate), and the island arcs and marginal basins."</ref> Much of the region consists of a [[Earth:Peninsula|peninsula]] in south-central Asia, rather resembling a diamond which is delineated by the Himalayas on the north, the Hindu Kush in the west, and the Arakanese in the east,<ref name="Baker2002">{{cite book |last1=Baker |first1=Kathleen M. |last2=Chapman |first2=Graham P. |title=The Changing Geography of Asia |year=2002 |orig-year=First published 1992 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |page=10 |isbn=978-1-134-93384-6}}: "This greater India is well defined in terms of topography; it is the Indian peninsula, hemmed in by the Himalayas on the north, the Hindu Khush in the west and the Arakanese in the east."</ref> and which extends southward into the Indian Ocean with the Arabian Sea to the southwest and the Bay of Bengal to the southeast.<ref name=Oxford/><ref>{{cite book |last1=McLeod |first1=John |title=The History of India |year=2002 |publisher=Greenwood Press |page=2 |isbn=978-0-313-31459-9}}</ref>

[[File:Indian subcontinent.JPG|thumb|While South Asia had never been a coherent geopolitical region, it has a distinct geographical identity<ref name=mittal/><ref name="Baker2002" />]]

The terms "[[Earth:Indian subcontinent|Indian subcontinent]]" and "South Asia" are sometimes used interchangeably.<ref name=McLeod2002/><ref name=Oxford>"Indian subcontinent". ''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 name=norwineplus/><ref name="BoseJalal2004" /><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 [[Earth:Gondwana|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>

The use of the term ''Indian subcontinent'' began in the British Empire, and has been a term particularly common in its successors.<ref name=norwineplus>Milton Walter Meyer, ''South Asia: A Short History of the Subcontinent'', pages 1, Adams Littlefield, 1976, {{ISBN|0-8226-0034-X}}<br />Jim Norwine & Alfonso González, ''The Third World: states of mind and being'', pages 209, Taylor & Francis, 1988, {{ISBN|0-04-910121-8}}<br />{{Cite book |last1=Boniface |first1=Brian G. |first2=Christopher P. |last2=Cooper |title=Worldwide Destinations: The Geography of Travel and Tourism |publisher=Butterworth-Heinemann |date=2005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c46i9jr9mhgC&pg=PA344 |isbn=978-0-7506-5997-0 |access-date=19 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919153240/https://books.google.com/books?id=c46i9jr9mhgC&pg=PA344 |archive-date=19 September 2015 |url-status=live }}<br />Judith Schott & Alix Henley, ''Culture, Religion, and Childbearing in a Multiracial Society'', pages 274, Elsevier Health Sciences, 1996, {{ISBN|0-7506-2050-1}}<br />Raj S. Bhopal, ''Ethnicity, race, and health in multicultural societies'', pages 33, Oxford University Press, 2007, {{ISBN|0-19-856817-7}}<br />Lucian W. Pye & Mary W. Pye, ''Asian Power and Politics'', pages 133, Harvard University Press, 1985, {{ISBN|0-674-04979-9}}<br />Mark Juergensmeyer, ''The Oxford handbook of global religions'', pages 465, Oxford University Press US, 2006, {{ISBN|0-19-513798-1}}</ref> South Asia as the preferred term is particularly common when scholars or officials seek to differentiate this region from East Asia.<ref name=inden>Ronald B. Inden, ''Imagining India'', page 51, C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 2000, {{ISBN|1-85065-520-0}}, Quote:"It is very common today in academic and official circles to speak of the Indian subcontinent as 'South Asia', thereby distinguishing it from an 'East Asia'."</ref> According to historians Sugata Bose and Ayesha Jalal, the Indian subcontinent has come to be known as South Asia "in more recent and neutral parlance."<ref name="BoseJalal2004">{{cite book |last1=Bose |first1=Sugata |last2=Jalal |first2=Ayesha |year=2004 |orig-year=First published 1998 |title=Modern South Asia |edition=2nd |publisher=Routledge |page=3 |isbn=0-415-30787-2 |quote=Indian subcontinent{{snd}}or South Asia{{snd}}as it has come to be known in more recent and neutral parlance}}</ref> This "neutral" notion refers to the concerns of Pakistan and Bangladesh, particularly given the recurring conflicts between India and Pakistan, wherein the dominant placement of "India" as a prefix before the subcontinent might offend some political sentiments.<ref name=mittal/> However, in Pakistan, the term "South Asia" is considered too India-centric and was banned until 1989 after the death of Zia ul Haq.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=boM8DwAAQBAJ&dq=%22South+Asia%22+term+academic+banned+as+too+India+centric+Pakistan&pg=PT305|isbn = 978-0-19-908940-6|title = International Relations Theory and South Asia (OIP): Volume II: Security, Political Economy, Domestic Politics, Identities, and Images|date = 13 November 2014|publisher = Oxford University Press}}</ref> This region has also been labelled as "India" (in its classical and pre-modern sense) and "[[Social:Greater India|Greater India]]".<ref name=mittal>Sushil Mittal and Gene Thursby, ''Religions of South Asia: An Introduction'', page 3, Routledge, 2006, {{ISBN|978-1-134-59322-4}}</ref><ref name="Baker2002" />

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>

Identification with a South Asian identity was found to be significantly low among respondents in an older two-year survey across Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.<ref>Kishore C. Dash, ''Regionalism in South Asia'', pages 172–175, Routledge, 2008, {{ISBN|0-415-43117-4}}</ref>

==History==

===Pre-history===
The history of core South Asia begins with evidence of human activity of ''Homo sapiens,'' as long as 75,000 years ago, or with earlier hominids including ''[[Biology:Homo erectus|Homo erectus]]'' from about 500,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bongard-Levin |first=G. M. |title='A History of India |year=1979 |location=Moscow |publisher=Progress Publishers |page=11 |isbn=0-7147-1336-8}}</ref> The earliest prehistoric culture have roots in the mesolithic sites as evidenced by the rock paintings of Bhimbetka rock shelters dating to a period of 30,000 BCE or older,{{refn|group=note|{{harvnb|Doniger|2010|p=66}}: "Much of what we now call Hinduism may have had roots in cultures that thrived in South Asia long before the creation of textual evidence that we can decipher with any confidence. Remarkable cave paintings have been preserved from Mesolithic sites dating from {{Circa|30,000 BCE}} in Bhimbetka, near present-day Bhopal, in the Vindhya Mountains in the province of Madhya Pradesh."}} as well as neolithic times.{{refn|group=note|{{harvnb|Jones|Ryan|2006|p=xvii}}: "Some practices of Hinduism must have originated in Neolithic times (c. 4000 BCE). The worship of certain plants and animals as sacred, for instance, could very likely have very great antiquity. The worship of goddesses, too, a part of Hinduism today, maybe a feature that originated in the Neolithic."}}

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

The Indus Valley civilization, which spread and flourished in the northwestern part of South Asia from {{Circa|3300}} to 1300 BCE in present-day {{wipe|Pakistan}}, Northern India and Afghanistan, was the first major civilization in South Asia.{{sfn|Thapar|1966|p=23}} A sophisticated and technologically advanced urban culture developed in the Mature Harappan period, from 2600 to 1900 BCE.{{sfn|Thapar|1966|p=24}} According to anthropologist Possehl, the Indus Valley civilization provides a logical, if somewhat arbitrary, starting point for South Asian religions, but these links from the Indus religion to later-day South Asian traditions are subject to scholarly dispute.{{sfn|Possehl|2002|p=141–156}}
[[File:Mauryan_Empire_ca._265_BCE.png|thumb|right|Maurya Empire in 250 BCE]]
[[File:Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma Adoring Kali LACMA M.80.101 (2 of 7).jpg|thumb|left|The [[Philosophy:Trimurti|Trimurti]] is the trinity of supreme divinity in Hinduism, typically Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer]]

The Vedic period, named after the Vedic religion of the Indo-Aryans,{{refn|group=note|Michaels: "They called themselves ''arya'' ("Aryans," literally "the hospitable," from the Vedic ''arya'', "homey, the hospitable") but even in the Rgveda, ''arya'' denotes a cultural and linguistic boundary and not only a racial one."{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=33}}}} lasted from {{Circa|1900}} to 500 BCE.{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=32}}{{sfn|Witzel|1995|p=3-4}} The Indo-Aryans were [[History:Proto-Indo-Europeans|Indo-European]] pastoralists{{sfn|Witzel|1995}} who migrated into north-western India after the collapse of the Indus Valley Civilization,{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=33}}{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=30-35}} Linguistic and archaeological data show a cultural change after 1500 BCE,{{sfn|Michaels|2004|p=33}} with the linguistic and religious data clearly showing links with Indo-European languages and religion.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=33}} By about 1200 BCE, the Vedic culture and agrarian lifestyle were established in the northwest and northern Gangetic plain of South Asia.{{sfn|Witzel|1995}}{{sfn|Samuel|2010|p=41-48}}{{sfn|Stein|2010|p=48-49}} Rudimentary state-forms appeared, of which the [[History:Kuru Kingdom|Kuru]]-Pañcāla union was the most influential.{{sfn|Witzel|1995|p=6}}{{sfn|Samuel|2010|p=51-53}} The first recorded [[Earth:State (polity)|state-level society]] in South Asia existed around 1000 BCE.{{sfn|Witzel|1995}} In this period, states Samuel, emerged the Brahmana and Aranyaka layers of Vedic texts, which merged into the earliest Upanishads.{{sfn|Samuel|2010|p=25}} These texts began to ask the meaning of a ritual, adding increasing levels of philosophical and metaphysical speculation,{{sfn|Samuel|2010|p=25}} or [[Religion:Hinduism#Roots of Hinduism|"Hindu synthesis"]].{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}}

Increasing urbanisation of South Asia between 800 and 400 BCE, and possibly the spread of urban diseases, contributed to the rise of ascetic movements and of new ideas which challenged the orthodox Brahmanism.{{Sfn|Flood|1996|pp=81–82}}{{Failed verification|date=June 2020}} These ideas led to Sramana movements, of which Mahavira ({{Circa|549}}–477 BCE), proponent of [[Philosophy:Jainism|Jainism]], and Buddha ({{Circa|563|483}}), founder of [[Religion:Buddhism|Buddhism]], was the most prominent icons.<ref name="World Religions">{{cite book |first=Jacob |last=Neusner |year=2009 |title=World Religions in America: An Introduction |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=34vGv_HDGG8C&pg=PA183 |publisher=Westminster John Knox Press |isbn=978-0-664-23320-4 |access-date=26 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170418085646/https://books.google.com/books?id=34vGv_HDGG8C&pg=PA183 |archive-date=18 April 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Greek army led by Alexander the Great stayed in the Hindu Kush region of South Asia for several years and then later moved into the Indus valley region. Later, the [[History:Maurya Empire|Maurya Empire]] extended over much of South Asia in the 3rd century BCE. Buddhism spread beyond south Asia, through northwest into Central Asia. The Bamiyan Buddhas of Afghanistan and the edicts of Aśoka suggest that the Buddhist monks spread Buddhism (Dharma) in eastern provinces of the [[Place:Seleucid Empire|Seleucid Empire]], and possibly even farther into West Asia.{{Sfn| Gombrich|2006|p=135}}{{Sfn|Trainor|2004|pp=103, 119}}{{sfn|Neelis|2011|pp=102–106}} The Theravada school spread south from India in the 3rd century BCE, to Sri Lanka, later to Southeast Asia.{{sfn|Guy|2014|pp=9–11, 14–15, 19–20}} Buddhism, by the last centuries of the 1st millennium BCE, was prominent in the Himalayan region, Gandhara, Hindu Kush region and Bactria.{{sfn|Neelis|2011|pp=114–115, 144, 160–163, 170–176, 249–250}}<ref name=deborahkh>{{cite book |last=Klimburg-Salter |first=Deborah |title=The Kingdom of Bamiyan: Buddhist art and culture of the Hindu Kush |year=1989 |publisher=Istituto Universitario Orientale & Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente |isbn=978-0-87773-765-0 |oclc=25902336}} (Reprinted by Shambala)</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Barbara|last=Crossette|title=So Close to Heaven: The Vanishing Buddhist Kingdoms of the Himalayas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4iCQAAAAMAAJ |year=1996|publisher=Vintage|isbn=978-0-679-74363-7|pages=84–85}}</ref>

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 as 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}}{{sfn|Guy|2014|pp=10–11}} The [[History:Gupta Empire|Gupta Empire]] ruled over a large part of the region between the 4th and 7th centuries, a period that saw the construction of major temples, monasteries and universities such as the [[Organization:Nalanda|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=UNESCO |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>

===Medieval era===
[[File:Rajendra map new.svg|thumb|Outreach of influence of early medieval [[History:Chola dynasty|Chola dynasty]]]]

Islam came as a political power in the fringe of South Asia in 8th century CE when the Arab general Muhammad bin Qasim conquered Sindh, and Multan in Southern Punjab, in modern-day Pakistan.<ref name="infopak">{{cite web|url=http://www.infopak.gov.pk/History.aspx |title=History in Chronological Order |publisher=Government of Pakistan |access-date=9 January 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100723113602/http://www.infopak.gov.pk/History.aspx |archive-date=23 July 2010 }}</ref> By 962 CE, Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms in South Asia were under a wave of raids from Muslim armies from Central Asia.<ref name=mrpislam>See:
* {{cite book |last1=Pirbhai |first1=M. Reza |title=Reconsidering Islam in a South Asian Context |year=2009 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-17758-1}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Richards |first1=J. F. |title=The Islamic frontier in the east: Expansion into South Asia |journal=South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies |date=October 1974 |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=91–109 |doi=10.1080/00856407408730690}}
* {{cite book |last1=Shokoohy |first1=Mehrdad |title=Bhadreśvar: The Oldest Islamic Monuments in India |year=1988 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-08341-7}}; see discussion of earliest raids in Gujarat</ref> Among them was Mahmud of Ghazni, who raided and plundered kingdoms in north India from east of the Indus river to west of Yamuna river seventeen times between 997 and 1030.<ref name=pj03/> Mahmud of Ghazni raided the treasuries but retracted each time, only extending Islamic rule into western Punjab.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Heathcote |first1=T. A. |year=1995 |title=The Military in British India: The Development of British Forces in South Asia:1600–1947 |publisher=Manchester University Press |pages=5–7 |isbn=978-1-78383-064-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Barnett |first=Lionel D. |title=Antiquities of India: An Account of the History and Culture of Ancient Hindustan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LnoREHdzxt8C&pg=PA1 |year=1999 |orig-year=First published 1913 |publisher=Atlantic Publishers and Distributors |pages=73–79|isbn=9788171564422 }}</ref>

[[File:Timur defeats the sultan of Delhi.jpg|thumb|left|Timur defeats the Sultan of Delhi, Nasir-u Din Mehmud, in the winter of 1397–1398]]

The wave of raids on north Indian and western Indian kingdoms by Muslim warlords continued after Mahmud of Ghazni, plundering and looting these kingdoms.<ref>Richard Davis (1994), Three styles in looting India, History and Anthropology, 6(4), pp 293–317, {{doi|10.1080/02757206.1994.9960832}}</ref> The raids did not establish or extend permanent boundaries of their Islamic kingdoms. The Ghurid Sultan Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad began a systematic war of expansion into North India in 1173.<ref>Muhammad B. Sam Mu'izz Al-Din, T. W. Haig, Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. VII, ed. C. E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W. P. Heinrichs and C. Pellat, (Brill, 1993)</ref> He sought to carve out a principality for himself by expanding the Islamic world,<ref name=pj03/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bosworth |first1=C. E. |editor-last1=Boyle |editor-first1=J. A. |year=1968 |chapter=The Political and Dynastic History of the Iranian World (A.D. 1000–1217) |title=The Cambridge History of Iran |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-history-of-iran/political-and-dynastic-history-of-the-iranian-world-ad-10001217/024AA8933D346C06170E0D72EA6D71A4 |volume=5 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=161–170 |isbn=978-0-521-06936-6}}</ref> and thus laid the foundation for the Muslim kingdom that became the [[History:Delhi Sultanate|Delhi Sultanate]].<ref name=pj03>{{cite book |last1=Jackson |first1=Peter |author-link=Peter Jackson (historian) |year=2003 |title=The Delhi Sultanate: A Political and Military History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lt2tqOpVRKgC |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=3–30 |isbn=978-0-521-54329-3}}</ref> Some historians chronicle the Delhi Sultanate from 1192 due to the presence and geographical claims of Mu'izz al-Din in South Asia by that time.<ref>[http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/timelines/southasia_timeline.htm History of South Asia: A Chronological Outline] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211053208/http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/timelines/southasia_timeline.htm |date=11 December 2013 }} Columbia University (2010)</ref>

The Delhi Sultanate covered varying parts of South Asia and was ruled by a series of dynasties: Mamluk, Khalji, Tughlaq, Sayyid and Lodi dynasties. Muhammad bin Tughlaq came to power in 1325, launched a war of expansion and the Delhi Sultanate reached it largest geographical reach over the South Asian region during his 26-year rule.<ref name=ebmit>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/396460/Muhammad-ibn-Tughluq Muḥammad ibn Tughluq] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150427052630/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/396460/Muhammad-ibn-Tughluq |date=27 April 2015 }} Encyclopædia Britannica</ref> A Sunni Sultan, Muhammad bin Tughlaq persecuted non-Muslims such as Hindus, as well as non-Sunni Muslims such as Shia and Mahdi sects.<ref>Firoz Shah Tughlak, [https://archive.org/stream/cu31924073036737#page/n393/mode/2up Futuhat-i Firoz Shahi – Autobiographical memoirs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019003453/http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924073036737#page/n393/mode/2up |date=19 October 2016 }}, Translated in 1871 by Elliot and Dawson, Volume 3 – The History of India, Cornell University Archives, pp 377–381</ref><ref name=vsoxfordmbt>{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Vincent A. |year=1919 |title=The Oxford History of India |url=https://archive.org/stream/oxfordhistoryofi00smituoft#page/252/mode/1up |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=249–251 |oclc=839048936}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Schimmel |first1=Annemarie |author-link=Annemarie Schimmel |year=1980 |title=Islam in the Indian Subcontinent |location=Leiden |publisher=E.J. Brill |pages=20–23 |isbn=978-90-04-06117-0}}</ref>

Revolts against the Delhi Sultanate sprang up in many parts of South Asia during the 14th century.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} In the northeast, the Bengal Sultanate became independent in 1346 CE. It remained in power through the early 16th century. The state religion of the sultanate was Islam.<ref name="Lewis2011">{{cite book |first=David |last=Lewis |title=Bangladesh: Politics, Economy and Civil Society |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5lH40gT7xvYC&pg=PA44 |year=2011 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=44 |isbn=978-1-139-50257-3 |quote=In 1346 ... what became known as the Bengal Sultanate began and continued for almost two centuries.}}</ref><ref name="Hussain2003">{{cite book |last1=Hussain |first1=Syed Ejaz |year=2003 |title=The Bengal Sultanate: Politics, Economy and Coins (A.D. 1205–1576) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qFyd95ECLwkC |publisher=Manohar |page=325 |isbn=978-81-7304-482-3 |quote=The rulers of the Sultanate Bengal are often blamed for promoting Islam as state sponsored religion.}}</ref> In South India, the Hindu Vijayanagara Empire came to power in 1336 and persisted until the middle of the 16th century. It was ultimately defeated and destroyed by an alliance of Muslim Deccan sultanates at the battle of Talikota.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kulke |first1=Hermann |author-link1=Hermann Kulke |last2=Rothermund |first2=Dietmar |author-link2=Dietmar Rothermund |title= A History of India |year=2004 |orig-year=First published 1986 |edition=4th |publisher= Routledge |isbn= 978-0-415-32919-4 |pages=187, 191-192}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Nilakanta Sastri|first= K. A.|title= A history of South India from prehistoric times to the fall of Vijayanagar|year=1955|orig-year=reissued 2002|publisher= Indian Branch, Oxford University Press|location= New Delhi|isbn= 978-0-19-560686-7|author-link=K. A. Nilakanta Sastri |pages=216, 239–250}}</ref>

About 1526, the Punjab governor Dawlat Khan Lodī reached out to the Mughal Babur and invited him to attack Delhi Sultanate. Babur defeated and killed Ibrahim Lodi in the Battle of Panipat in 1526. The death of Ibrahim Lodi ended the Delhi Sultanate, and the Mughal Empire replaced it.<ref name=eblodi>
[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/345985/Lodi-dynasty#ref222519 Lodi Dynasty] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150427010347/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/345985/Lodi-dynasty#ref222519 |date=27 April 2015 }} ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (2009)</ref>

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

The [[History:Modern era|modern history period]] of South Asia, that is 16th-century onwards, witnessed the establishment of the Mughal empire, with Sunni Islam theology. The first ruler was Babur had Turco-Mongol roots and his realm included the northwest and Indo-Gangetic Plain regions of South Asia. The southern and northeastern regions of South Asia were largely under Hindu kings such as those of Vijayanagara Empire and [[History:Ahom kingdom|Ahom kingdom]],<ref>{{cite book|first=Guptajit|last=Pathak|title=Assam's history and its graphics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MdjO3XVk0MAC&pg=PA124|year=2008|publisher=Mittal|isbn=978-81-8324-251-6|page=124}}</ref> with some regions such as parts of modern Telangana and Andhra Pradesh under local Sultanates namely Deccan sultanates.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bosworth |first1=Clifford Edmund |year=2014 |orig-year=First published 1996 |title=The New Islamic Dynasties |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SaMkDQAAQBAJ |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |pages=179–180 |isbn=978-0-7486-9648-2}}</ref>{{sfn|Maddison|2003|pp=259–261}}

The Mughal Empire continued its wars of expansion after Babur's death. With the fall of the Rajput kingdoms and Vijayanagara, its boundaries encompassed almost the entirety of the Indian subcontinent.<ref name="borocz">{{cite book|first=József|last=Böröcz|title=The European Union and Global Social Change|page=21|publisher=[[Company:Routledge|Routledge]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d0SPAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA21|access-date=26 June 2017|isbn=978-1-135-25580-0|date=10 September 2009}}</ref> The Mughal Empire was marked by a period of artistic exchanges and a Central Asian and South Asian architecture synthesis, with remarkable buildings such as the Taj Mahal.<ref>{{cite book|author=Catherine Blanshard Asher|title=Architecture of Mughal India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ctLNvx68hIC|year=1992|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-26728-1|pages=1–2|access-date=27 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160518184418/https://books.google.com/books?id=3ctLNvx68hIC|archive-date=18 May 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Maddison|2003|pp=259–261}}<ref name="harrison">{{cite book|title=Developing cultures: case studies|author=Lawrence E. Harrison, Peter L. Berger|publisher=[[Company:Routledge|Routledge]]|year=2006|page=158|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RB0oAQAAIAAJ|isbn=978-0-415-95279-8|access-date=28 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328092359/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=RB0oAQAAIAAJ|archive-date=28 March 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

However, this time also marked an extended period of religious persecution.<ref>{{cite book|first=John F.|last=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 [[Religion:Sikhism|Sikhism]], [[Biography:Guru Arjan|Guru Arjan]] and [[Biography:Guru Tegh Bahadur|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. [[Biography:Akbar|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= |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 states yellow.]]

After the death of Aurangzeb and the collapse of the Mughal Empire, which marks the beginning of modern India, in the early 18th century, it provided opportunities for the [[Place:Maratha Empire|Marathas]], [[Place:Sikh Empire|Sikhs]], Mysoreans and Nawabs of Bengal to exercise control over large regions of the Indian subcontinent.<ref>{{cite book|title=A History of State and Religion in India|first1=Ian|last1=Copland|first2=Ian|last2=Mabbett|first3= Asim|last3= Roy|first4=Kate|last4=Brittlebank|first5=Adam|last5=Bowles|page=161|display-authors=3|publisher=Routledge|year=2012}}</ref><ref>''History of Mysore Under Hyder Ali and Tippoo Sultan'' by Joseph Michaud p. 143</ref> By the mid-18th century, India was a major [[Finance:Proto-industrialization|proto-industrializing]] region.<ref name="voss">{{cite book |last=Roy |first=Tirthankar |editor1=Lex Heerma van Voss |editor2=Els Hiemstra-Kuperus |editor3=Elise van Nederveen Meerkerk |year=2010 |chapter=The Long Globalization and Textile Producers in India |title=The Ashgate Companion to the History of Textile Workers, 1650–2000 |publisher=[[Company:Ashgate Publishing|Ashgate Publishing]] |page=255 |isbn=978-0-7546-6428-4 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f95ljbhfjxIC&pg=PA255}}</ref>{{sfn|Maddison|2003|pp=259–261}}

Maritime trading between South Asia and European merchants began after the Portuguese explorer Vasco da 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 |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 [[Place:British Empire|British Empire]] expanded their control to the Hindu Kush region. By the 19th century, British traders had conquered much of South Asia using [[Philosophy:Divide and rule|divide-and-rule]] tactics, with the region experiencing significant de-industrialisation in its first few decades of British rule.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last1=Sullivan |first1=Dylan |last2=Hickel |first2=Jason |title=How British colonialism killed 100 million Indians in 40 years |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/12/2/how-british-colonial-policy-killed-100-million-indians |access-date=2023-09-01 |publisher=Al Jazeera |type=Opinion |language=en}}</ref> Control of the region was [[History:British Raj|transferred]] to the British government after the Indian Rebellion of 1857, with the British cracking down to some extent afterwards.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Indian Uprising of 1857 and its aftermath |url=https://www.lhistoire.fr/english-version/the-indian-uprising-of-1857-and-its-aftermath |access-date=2023-09-01 |website=www.lhistoire.fr |language=fr}}</ref> An increase of famines and extreme poverty characterised the colonial period, though railways built with British technology eventually provided crucial famine relief by increasing food distribution throughout India.{{sfn|Metcalf|Metcalf|2006|p=97}}<ref name=":1" /> Introduction of Western political thought inspired a growing Indian intellectual movement (notably found in the [[Social:Indian National Congress|Indian National Congress]], which eventually transformed into one of India's major political parties) which sought to challenge British colonial rule.<ref>{{Cite book |last=McLane |first=John R. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt13x1cv8 |title=Indian Nationalism and the Early Congress |date=1977 |publisher=Princeton University Press|jstor=j.ctt13x1cv8 }}</ref>

Britain, under pressure from Indian activists, increasingly gave self-rule to British India. Two rival camps emerged among independence activists: those who favored a separate nation for Indian Muslims, and those who [[Social:Composite nationalism|wanted a united India]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Majmudar |first=Amit |title=Why Gandhi lost the duel with Jinnah |work=The Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/voices/why-gandhi-lost-the-duel-with-jinnah/ |access-date=2023-09-01 |issn=0971-8257}}</ref> As [[Social:World War II|World War II]] raged, over 2 million Indians fought for Britain, with a promise extended by Britain of independence once the war was over.<ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC - History - British History in depth: Britain, the Commonwealth and the End of Empire |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/endofempire_overview_01.shtml |access-date=2023-09-01 |publisher=BBC |language=en-GB}}</ref> After the war, a greatly weakened Britain granted independence to the vast majority of South Asians in 1947,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tharoor |first=Shashi |title=The Partition: The British game of 'divide and rule' |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2017/8/10/the-partition-the-british-game-of-divide-and-rule |access-date=2023-09-01 |publisher=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref> though this coincided with the partition of India into a Hindu-majority India and a Muslim-majority Pakistan, which resulted in significant violence and hardened religious divides in the region.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Dalrymple |first=William |date=2015-06-22 |title=The Mutual Genocide of Indian Partition |language=en-US |magazine=The New Yorker |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/06/29/the-great-divide-books-dalrymple |access-date=2023-09-01 |issn=0028-792X}}</ref> This religious partition had been partially foreshadowed by the 1905 partition of Bengal on Hindu-Muslim lines under British rule.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Partition of Bengal, 1905: All about the divide and rule that spurred protests |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/gk-current-affairs/story/partition-of-bengal-1905-divide-and-rule-protests-1368958-2018-10-16 |access-date=2023-09-01 |website=India Today |language=en}}</ref>

===Contemporary era===
India and Pakistan clashed several times in the decades after Independence, with disputes over [[Place:Kashmir|Kashmir]] playing a significant role.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-01-25 |title=India and Pakistan came close to nuclear war: Pompeo |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-64396138 |access-date=2023-09-01}}</ref> In 1971, the eastern half of Pakistan seceded with help from India and became the People's Republic of Bangladesh after the traumatic Bangladesh Liberation War.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What has been the Impact of the Creation of Bangladesh? {{!}} History Today |url=https://www.historytoday.com/archive/head-head/what-has-been-impact-creation-bangladesh |access-date=2023-09-01 |website=www.historytoday.com}}</ref> This, along with India and Pakistan gaining nuclear weapons soon afterwards, increased tensions between the two countries.<ref>{{Cite news |title=The nuclear arsenals of China, India and Pakistan are growing |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/asia/2022/08/11/the-nuclear-arsenals-of-china-india-and-pakistan-are-growing |access-date=2023-09-01 |issn=0013-0613}}</ref> The [[History:Cold War|Cold War]] decades also contributed to the divide, as Pakistan aligned with the West and India with the [[Place:Soviet Union|Soviet Union]]; modern legacies of this divide include the majority of India's modern-day weaponry being Russian in origin.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sen |first=Somdeep |title=Why is India standing with Putin's Russia? |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/3/14/why-is-istandwithputin-trending-in |access-date=2023-09-01 |publisher=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref><ref>[https://carnegieendowment.org/2022/09/20/russia-and-india-new-chapter-pub-87958 Russia and India: A New Chapter] https://carnegieendowment.org/ Rajan Menon, Eugene Rumer</ref>

Pakistan has been beset with terrorism, economic issues and military dominance of its government since Independence,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mir |first=Asfandyar |date=2023-02-28 |title=Pakistan's Twin Crises |language=en-US |work=Foreign Affairs |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/pakistan/pakistans-twin-crises |access-date=2023-09-01 |issn=0015-7120}}</ref> with none of its Prime Ministers having completed a full 5-year term in office.<ref>{{Cite web |title=No Pakistani prime minister has completed a full term in office |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/9/factbox-no-pakistani-prime-minister-has-completed-a-full-tenure |access-date=2023-09-01 |publisher=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref> India has grown significantly,<ref>{{Cite web |title=India's rise is beyond doubt |url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Opinion/India-s-rise-is-beyond-doubt |access-date=2023-09-01 |website=Nikkei Asia |language=en-GB}}</ref> having slashed its rate of extreme poverty to below 20%.<ref name=":2" /> Bangladesh, having struggled greatly for decades due to conflict with and economic exploitation by Pakistan,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-11-10 |title=There are lessons for Pakistan in the 1971 secession of Bangladesh |url=https://arab.news/cm7f4 |access-date=2023-09-01 |website=Arab News PK |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bangal |title=Bangladesh Liberation War: Economic Exploitation |url=https://www.virtualbangladesh.com/the-basics/history-of-bangladesh/independence/history-prelude-independence/economic-exploitation/ |access-date=2023-09-01 |website=Virtual Bangladesh |language=en-US}}</ref> is now one of the fastest-growing countries in the region, beating India in terms of GDP per capita.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Bangladesh's economic miracle is in jeopardy |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/asia/2023/03/01/bangladeshs-economic-miracle-is-in-jeopardy |access-date=2023-09-01 |issn=0013-0613}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Sinha |first=Shishir |date=2023-05-07 |title=Per capita GDP for Bangladesh higher than India till 2022 |url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/world/per-capita-gdp-for-bangladesh-higher-than-india-till-2022/article66823548.ece |access-date=2023-09-01 |website=BusinessLine |language=en}}</ref> Afghanistan has gone through several invasions and Islamist regimes, with many of its refugees having gone to Pakistan and other parts of South Asia and bringing back cultural influences such as cricket.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-05-04 |title=A historical timeline of Afghanistan |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/asia-jan-june11-timeline-afghanistan |access-date=2023-09-01 |website=PBS NewsHour |language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2014-02-01 |title=From refugee camps to Kabul: The story of Afghan cricket |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-24614257 |access-date=2023-09-01}}</ref> Religious nationalism has grown across the region, with human rights violations causing millions of Hindus and Christians to flee Pakistan and Bangladesh,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kumar |first=Navtan |date=2019-11-30 |title=Hindus under attack in Bangladesh, Pakistan, face annihilation |url=https://sundayguardianlive.com/news/hindus-attack-bangladesh-pakistan-face-annihilation |access-date=2023-09-01 |website=The Sunday Guardian Live |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-02-01 |title=The Past has yet to Leave the Present: Genocide in Bangladesh |url=https://hir.harvard.edu/the-past-has-yet-to-leave-the-present-genocide-in-bangladesh/ |first1=Kimtee |last1=Kundu |access-date=2023-09-01 |website=Harvard International Review |language=en}}</ref> and [[Religion:Hindutva|Hindu nationalism]] having grown in India with the election of the [[Social:Bharatiya Janata Party|Bharatiya Janata Party]] in 2014.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Muqtedar Khan on Why Religious Nationalism Is Poisoning South Asia |url=https://thediplomat.com/2023/08/muqtedar-khan-on-why-religious-nationalism-is-poisoning-south-asia/ |access-date=2023-09-01 |website=The Diplomat |first1=Sudha |last1=Ramachandran |date=August 21, 2023 |language=en-US}}</ref> A recent phenomenon has been that of India and China fighting on their border, as well as vying for dominance of South Asia, with China able to use its superior economy to attract countries surrounding India.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Limited Hard Balancing: Explaining India's Counter Response to Chinese Encirclement |language=en-US |publisher=Air University |work=Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs |date=April 24, 2023 |author=Tanveer Ahmad Khan |url=https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/JIPA/Display/Article/3371481/limited-hard-balancing-explaining-indias-counter-response-to-chinese-encircleme/ |access-date=2023-09-01}}</ref>


== Geography ==

According to Saul Cohen, early colonial era strategists treated South Asia with East Asia, but in reality, the South Asia region excluding Afghanistan is a distinct [[Earth:Geopolitics|geopolitical]] region separated from other nearby geostrategic realms, one that is geographically diverse.<ref>Saul Bernard Cohen, ''Geopolitics of the world system'', pages 304–305, Rowman & Littlefield, 2003, {{ISBN|0-8476-9907-2}}</ref> The region is home to a variety of geographical features, such as [[Earth:Glacier|glacier]]s, [[Earth:Rainforest|rainforest]]s, [[Earth:Valley|valley]]s, [[Earth:Desert|desert]]s, and [[Earth:Grassland|grassland]]s that are typical of much larger continents. It is surrounded by three water bodies{{snd}}the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea{{snd}}and has acutely varied climate zones. The tip of the Indian Peninsula had the highest quality pearls.<ref>{{cite book |last=Xinru |first=Liu |title=The Silk Road in World History |url=https://archive.org/details/silkroadinworldh0000liux |url-access=registration |year=2010 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=40}}</ref>

===Indian Plate===
{{main|Earth:Indian Plate}}

Most of this region is resting on the [[Earth:Indian Plate|Indian Plate]], the northerly portion of the [[Earth:Indo-Australian Plate|Indo-Australian Plate]], separated from the rest of the [[Earth:Eurasian Plate|Eurasian Plate]]. The Indian Plate includes most of South Asia, forming a land mass which extends from the Himalayas into a portion of the basin under the Indian Ocean, including parts of South China and Eastern Indonesia, as well as Kunlun and Karakoram ranges,<ref>Sinvhal, ''Understanding Earthquake Disasters'', page 52, Tata McGraw-Hill Education, 2010, {{ISBN|978-0-07-014456-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kumar |first1=M. Ravi |last2=Bhatia |first2=S. C. |title=A new seismic hazard map for the Indian plate region under the global seismic hazard assessment programme |journal=Current Science |date=1999 |volume=77 |issue=3 |page=447 |jstor=24102967}}</ref> and extending up to but not including Ladakh, Kohistan, the Hindu Kush range, and Balochistan.<ref>M. Asif Khan, ''Tectonics of the Nanga Parbat syntaxis and the Western Himalaya'', page 375, Geological Society of London, 2000, {{ISBN|978-1-86239-061-4}}</ref><ref>Srikrishna Prapnnachari, ''Concepts in Frame Design'', page 152, Srikrishna Prapnnachari, {{ISBN|978-99929-52-21-4}}</ref><ref>A. M. Celâl Şengör, ''Tectonic evolution of the Tethyan Region'', Springer, 1989, {{ISBN|978-0-7923-0067-0}}</ref> It may be noted that [[Physics:Geophysics|geophysically]] the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Tibet is situated at the outside of the border of the regional structure, while the Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan are situated inside that border.<ref>Valentin Semenovich Burtman & Peter Hale Molnar, ''Geological and Geophysical Evidence for Deep Subduction of Continental Crust Beneath the Pamir'', page 10, Geological Society of America, 1993, {{ISBN|0-8137-2281-0}}</ref>

The [[Earth:Indian subcontinent|Indian subcontinent]] formerly formed part of the [[Earth:Supercontinent|supercontinent]] [[Earth:Gondwana|Gondwana]], before rifting away during the [[Earth:Cretaceous|Cretaceous]] period and colliding with the Eurasian Plate about 50–55&nbsp;million years ago and giving birth to the Himalayan range and the Tibetan plateau. It is the [[Earth:Peninsula|peninsula]]r region south of the {{wipe|Himalaya}}s and Kuen Lun mountain ranges and east of the Indus River and the [[Place:Iranian Plateau|Iranian Plateau]], extending southward into the Indian Ocean between the Arabian Sea (to the southwest) and the Bay of Bengal (to the southeast).

===Climate===
[[File:South Asia map of Köppen climate classification.svg|thumb|upright=1.75|right|South Asia's [[Köppen climate classification]] map<ref name="Peel">
{{cite journal |author1=Peel, M. C. |author2=Finlayson, B. L. |author3=McMahon, T. A. |year=2007 |title=Updated world map of the Köppen–Geiger climate classification |journal=Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. |volume=11 |issue=5 |pages=1633–1644 |doi=10.5194/hess-11-1633-2007 |bibcode=2007HESS...11.1633P |url=http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/11/1633/2007/hess-11-1633-2007.html |issn=1027-5606 |access-date=18 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170210144308/http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/11/1633/2007/hess-11-1633-2007.html |archive-date=10 February 2017 |url-status=live |doi-access=free }} ''(direct: [http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/11/1633/2007/hess-11-1633-2007.pdf Final Revised Paper] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120203170339/http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/11/1633/2007/hess-11-1633-2007.pdf |date=3 February 2012 }})''
</ref> is based on native vegetation, temperature, precipitation and their seasonality.
{{columns-list|colwidth=12em|
{{legend|#0000FE|<small>[[Earth:Tropical rainforest climate|(Af) '''Tropical rainforest''']]</small>}}
{{legend|#0077FF|<small>[[Earth:Tropical monsoon climate|(Am) '''Tropical monsoon''']]</small>}}
{{legend|#46A9FA|<small>[[Earth:Tropical savanna climate|(Aw) '''Tropical savanna''', wet & dry]]</small>}}
{{legend|#FE0000|<small>(BWh) '''Hot desert'''</small>}}
{{legend|#FE9695|<small>(BWk) '''Cold desert'''</small>}}
{{legend|#F5A301|<small>(BSh) '''Hot semi arid'''</small>}}
{{legend|#FFDB63|<small>(BSk) '''Cold semi arid'''</small>}}
{{legend|#FFFF00|<small>(Csa) '''Mediterranean''', dry, hot summer</small>}}
{{legend|#C6FF4E|<small>[[Earth:Humid subtropical climate|(Cfa) '''Subtropical''', humid]]</small>}}
{{legend|#96FF96|<small>[[Earth:Humid subtropical climate|(Cwa) '''Subtropical''', humid summer, dry winter]]</small>}}
{{legend|#63C764|<small>(Cwb) '''Subtropical highland''', dry winter</small>}}
{{legend|#FF00FE|<small>[[Earth:Humid continental climate|(Dsa) '''Continental''', hot summer]]</small>}}
{{legend|#C600C7|<small>[[Earth:Humid continental climate|(Dsb) '''Continental''', warm summer]]</small>}}
{{legend|#5A77DB|<small>[[Earth:Humid continental climate|(Dwb) '''Continental''', dry winter]]</small>}}
{{legend|#4C51B5|<small>[[Earth:Subarctic climate|(Dwc) '''Continental Subarctic''', dry winter]]</small>}}
}}]]

The climate of this vast region varies considerably from area to area from tropical monsoon in the south to temperate in the north. The variety is influenced by not only the altitude but also by factors such as proximity to the seacoast and the seasonal impact of the [[Earth:Monsoon|monsoon]]s. Southern parts are mostly hot in summers and receive rain during monsoon periods. The northern belt of Indo-Gangetic plains also is hot in summer, but cooler in winter. The mountainous north is colder and receives snowfall at higher altitudes of Himalayan ranges.

As the Himalayas block the north-Asian bitter cold winds, the temperatures are considerably moderate in the plains down below. For the most part, the climate of the region is called the monsoon climate, which keeps the region humid during summer and dry during winter, and favours the cultivation of jute, tea, rice, and various vegetables in this region.

South Asia is largely divided into four broad climate zones:<ref name=olive1>John E. Olive, ''The Encyclopedia of World Climatology'', page 115-117, Springer, 2005, {{ISBN|978-1-4020-3264-6}}</ref>
* The northern Indian edge and northern Pakistani uplands have a dry subtropical [[Earth:Continental climate|continental climate]]
* The far south of India and southwest Sri Lanka have an equatorial climate
* Most of the peninsula has a tropical climate with variations:
** Hot [[Earth:Subtropics|subtropical]] climate in northwest India
** Cool winter hot [[Earth:Tropical climate|tropical climate]] in Bangladesh
** Tropical [[Earth:Semi-arid climate|semi-arid climate]] in the center
* The Himalayas and most of the Hindu Kush have an [[Earth:Alpine climate|Alpine climate]]

Maximum relative humidity of over 80% has been recorded in Khasi and Jaintia Hills and Sri Lanka, while the area adjustment to Pakistan and western India records lower than 20%–30%.<ref name=olive1/> Climate of South Asia is largely characterized by monsoons. South Asia depends critically on monsoon rainfall.{{sfn|Mitra|Kumar|Kumar|Abrol|2002|p=83}} Two monsoon systems exist in the region:{{sfn|Mitra|Kumar|Kumar|Abrol|2002|p=76}}
* The summer monsoon: Wind blows from the southwest to most parts of the region. It accounts for 70%–90% of the annual precipitation.
* The winter monsoon: Wind blows from the northeast. Dominant in Sri Lanka and Maldives.

The warmest period of the year precedes the monsoon season (March to mid June). In the summer the low pressures are centered over the Indus-Gangetic Plain and high wind from the Indian Ocean blows towards the center. The monsoons are the second coolest season of the year because of high humidity and cloud covering. But, at the beginning of June, the jetstreams vanish above the [[Place:Tibetan Plateau|Tibetan Plateau]], low pressure over the Indus Valley deepens and the [[Earth:Intertropical Convergence Zone|Intertropical Convergence Zone]] (ITCZ) moves in. The change is violent. Moderately vigorous monsoon depressions form in the Bay of Bengal and make landfall from June to September.<ref name=olive1/>

Climate change in South Asia is causing a range of challenges including [[Earth:Sea level rise|sea level rise]], cyclonic activity, and changes in [[Physics:Ambient temperature|ambient temperature]] and precipitation patterns.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kreft|first1=Sönke|url=https://germanwatch.org/en/download/16411.pdf|title=Global Climate Risk Index 2017|last2=David Eckstein|first2=David|last3=Melchior|first3=Inga|date=November 2016|publisher=Germanwatch e.V.|isbn=978-3-943704-49-5|location=Bonn|access-date=10 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170925181000/https://germanwatch.org/en/download/16411.pdf|archive-date=25 September 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Regions ===

=== Land and water area ===
This list includes dependent territories within their [[Earth:List of sovereign states|sovereign states]] (including uninhabited territories), but does not include claims on [[Earth:Antarctica|Antarctica]].  EEZ+TIA is exclusive economic zone (EEZ) plus total internal area (TIA) which includes land and internal waters.
{| class="sortable wikitable" style="text-align: center"
!Country!!Area in km<sup>2</sup>!!EEZ!!Shelf!!EEZ+TIA
|-
| align="left" |{{AFG}}||652,864||0||0||652,864
|-
| align="left" |{{BAN}}||148,460||86,392||66,438||230,390
|-
| align="left" |{{BHU}}||38,394||0||0||38,394
|-
| align="left" |{{IND}}||3,287,263||2,305,143||402,996||5,592,406
|-
| align="left" |{{NEP}}||147,181||0||0||147,181
|-
| align="left" |{{MDV}}||298||923,322||34,538||923,622
|-
| align="left" |{{PAK}}||881,913||290,000||51,383||1,117,911
|-
| align="left" |{{SRI}}||65,610||532,619||32,453||598,229
|-
!'''Total'''||'''5,221,093'''||'''4,137,476'''||'''587,808'''||'''9,300,997'''
|}

==Society==

===Population===
The population of South Asia is about 1.938&nbsp;billion which makes it the most populated region in the world.<ref>
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>

{| class="sortable wikitable" style="text-align: center"
! rowspan="2" |Country
! rowspan="2" |Population in thousands
(2023)<ref name="UN WPP 2019">{{Cite web |title=World Population prospects – Population division |url=https://population.un.org/wpp/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190205234912/https://population.un.org/wpp/ |archive-date=5 February 2019 |access-date=9 May 2023 |publisher=United Nations}}</ref><ref name="UN WPP 2019 2">{{Cite web|title=Overall total population|url=https://population.un.org/wpp/Download/Files/1_Indicators%20(Standard)/EXCEL_FILES/1_Population/WPP2019_POP_F01_1_TOTAL_POPULATION_BOTH_SEXES.xlsx|access-date=16 July 2019|publisher=United Nations|format=xlsx}}</ref>
! rowspan="2" |% of South Asia
! rowspan="2" |% of world<ref>{{cite web|title=World Population Prospects 2017 Key Findings|url=https://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/Publications/Files/WPP2017_KeyFindings.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216180720/https://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/Publications/Files/WPP2017_KeyFindings.pdf|archive-date=16 December 2017|access-date=29 October 2019|publisher=United Nations}}</ref>
! rowspan="2" |Density (per km<sup>2</sup>)
! 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" />
|-
!2005–10
!2010–15
!2015–20
!1950
!1975
!2000
!2025
!2050
!2075
!2100
|-
| align="left" |{{AFG}}
|42,240
|2.17%
|0.525%
|61.8
|2.78
|3.16
|2.41
|7,752
|12,689
|20,779
|44,516
|74,075
|98,732
|110,855
|-
| align="left" |{{BAN}}
|172,954
|8.92%
|2.15%
|1301
|1.18
|1.16
|1.04
|37,895
|70,066
|127,658
|170,937
|203,905
|201,891
|176,366
|-
| align="left" |{{BHU}}
|787
|0.04%
|0.00978%
|20.3
|2.05
|1.58
|1.18
|177
|348
|591
|797
|874
|803
|654
|-
| align="left" |{{IND}}
|1,428,628
|73.7%
|17.5%
|473.4
|1.46
|1.23
|1.10
|376,325
|623,103
|1,056,576
|1,454,607
|1,670,491
|1,676,035
|1,529,850
|-
| align="left" |{{MDV}}
|521
|0.03%
|0.00647%
|1738.2
|2.68
|2.76
|1.85
|74
|136
|279
|515
|570
|543
|469
|-
| align="left" |{{NEP}}
|30,897
|1.59%
|0.384%
|204.1
|1.05
|1.17
|1.09
|8,483
|13,420
|23,941
|31,577
|37,401
|38,189
|33,770
|-
| align="left" |{{PAK}}
|240,486
|12.4%
|2.98%
|300.2
|2.05
|2.09
|1.91
|37,542
|66,817
|142,344
|249,949
|367,808
|453,262
|487,017
|-
| align="left" |{{SRI}}
|21,894
|1.13%
|0.272%
|347.2
|0.68
|0.50
|0.35
|7,971
|13,755
|18,778
|22,000
|21,815
|19,000
|14,695
|-
!South Asia
!'''1,938,407'''
!'''100%'''
!24.094%
!'''377.5'''
!-
!-
!-
!476,220
!800,335
!1,390,946
!1,974,898
!2,376,939
!2,488,455
!2,353,676
|-
| colspan="15" |<small>Population of South Asian countries in 1950, 1975, 2000, 2025, 2050, 2075 and 2100 projection from the United Nations has been displayed in table. The given population projections are based on medium fertility index. With India and Bangladesh approaching replacement rates fast, population growth in South Asia is facing steep decline and may turn negative in mid 21st century.<ref name="UN WPP 2019" /><ref name="UN WPP 2019 2" /></small>
|}

===Languages===

[[File:South Asian Language Families.png|thumb|right|Ethno-linguistic distribution map of South Asia]]<imagemap>
File:States of South Asia by language.png|thumb|400px|A clickable map of the main language spoken in each state/province of South Asia excluding Afghanistan and the Maldives. Indo-Aryan languages are in green, Iranic languages in dark green, Dravidian languages in purple, and Tibeto-Burman languages in red.

rect 195 200 245 285 w:Sindh
rect 190 280 300 355 w:Gujarat
rect 90 120 235 300 w:Balochistan, Pakistan
rect 235 120 335 190 w:Punjab
rect 230 50 290 180 w:Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
rect 255 230 530 330 w:Hindi belt
rect 325 120 395 275 w:Hindi belt
rect 290 50 410 170 w:Kashmir
rect 540 165 605 240 w:Bhutan
rect 410 160 535 250 w:Nepal
rect 530 250 600 345 w:Bengal
rect 535 155 700 330 w:Northeast India
rect 350 390 440 490 w:Telugu states
rect 280 350 400 415 w:Maharashtra
rect 440 330 550 400 w:Odisha
rect 290 430 350 540 w:Karnataka
rect 290 540 345 620 w:Kerala
rect 325 500 395 590 w:Tamil Nadu
rect 390 550 440 580 w:Sri Lankan Tamils
rect 390 580 460 720 w:Sinhalese people
</imagemap>There are numerous languages in South Asia. The spoken languages of the region are largely based on geography and shared across religious boundaries, but the written script is sharply divided by religious boundaries. In particular, Muslims of South Asia such as in Afghanistan and Pakistan use the Arabic alphabet and Persian Nastaliq. Till 1952, Muslim-majority Bangladesh (then known as East Pakistan) also mandated only the Nastaliq script, but after that adopted regional scripts and particularly Bengali, after the [[Religion:Bengali language movement|Language Movement]] for the adoption of Bengali as the official language of the then East Pakistan. Non-Muslims of South Asia, and some Muslims in India, on the other hand, use scripts such as those derived from [[Social:Brahmi script|Brahmi script]] for Indo-European languages and non-Brahmi scripts for [[Social:Dravidian languages|Dravidian languages]] and others.{{sfn|Bhatia|2008|pp=122–127}}{{sfn|Pandharipande|2008|pp=419–423}}

The Nagari script has been the ''[[Religion:Primus inter pares|primus inter pares]]'' of the traditional South Asian scripts.<ref name=george>{{cite book |first1=George |last1=Cardona |first2=Dhanesh |last2=Jain |date=2003 |title=The Indo-Aryan Languages |publisher=Routledge |pages=75–77 |isbn=978-0-415-77294-5}}</ref> The Devanagari script is used for over 120 South Asian languages,<ref name=devasilusa>
[http://scriptsource.org/cms/scripts/page.php?item_id=script_detail&key=Deva Devanagari (Nagari)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170702003440/http://scriptsource.org/cms/scripts/page.php?item_id=script_detail&key=Deva |date=2 July 2017 }}, Script Features and Description, [[Organization:SIL International|SIL International]] (2013), United States
</ref> including [[Social:Hindi|Hindi]],<ref>
[http://www.omniglot.com/writing/hindi.htm Hindi] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120528075558/http://www.omniglot.com/writing/hindi.htm |date=28 May 2012 }}, Omniglot Encyclopedia of Writing Systems and Languages
</ref> [[Social:Marathi language|Marathi]], [[Social:Nepali language|Nepali]], [[Social:Pali|Pali]], [[Social:Konkani language|Konkani]], Bodo, [[Social:Sindhi language|Sindhi]] and [[Social:Maithili language|Maithili]] among other languages and dialects, making it one of the most used and adopted writing systems in the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.omniglot.com/language/articles/devanagari.htm|title=Devanagari script|publisher=Omniglot|first=David|last=Templin|access-date=5 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150401062015/http://www.omniglot.com/language/articles/devanagari.htm|archive-date=1 April 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> The Devanagari script is also used for classical Sanskrit texts.<ref name=devasilusa/>

The largest spoken language in this region is [[Social:Hindustani language|Hindustani language]], followed by Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, Marathi, Gujarati, Kannada, and Punjabi.{{sfn|Bhatia|2008|pp=122–127}}{{sfn|Pandharipande|2008|pp=419–423}} In the modern era, new syncretic languages developed in the region such as [[Social:Urdu|Urdu]] that are used by the Muslim community of northern South Asia (particularly Pakistan and northern states of India).<ref>
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 Sikh use Gurmukhi alphabet, Muslim Punjabis in {{wipe|Pakistan}} use the Nastaliq script, while Hindu Punjabis 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>

Sino-Tibetan languages are spoken across northern belts of the region in the Himalayan areas, often using the Tibetan script.<ref name="BRILL">{{cite book |last1=Zielser |first1=B |last2=Turin |first2=M |title=Himalayan Languages and Linguistics: Studies in Phonology, Semantics, Morphology and Syntax |date=21 April 2011 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-19448-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5MoDCJP3VPUC |access-date=19 February 2023}}</ref> These languages are predominantly spoken in Bhutan and Nepal as well as parts of Burma and northern India in the state of Sikkim and the Ladakh region.<ref name="Walter de Gruyter">{{cite book |last1=Saxena |first1=A |title=Himalayan Languages: Past and Present |date=2004 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-017841-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gdqy7PKHUXQC |access-date=12 January 2022}}</ref> The national language of Bhutan is Dzongkha, whilst Lepcha, Limbu, Gurung, Magar, Rai, Newari, Tamang, Tshangla, Thakali and Sikkimese are also spoken in Bhutan, Nepal and Sikkim, and Ladakhi is spoken in Ladakh.<ref name="Walter de Gruyter"/> Both [[Religion:Buddhism|Buddhism]] and Bon are often predominant in areas where these languages are present.<ref name="Walter de Gruyter"/><ref name="BRILL"/> Some areas in Gilgit-Baltistan also speak Balti language, however speakers write with the Urdu script.<ref name="BRILL"/> The Tibetan script fell out of use in Pakistani [[Place:Baltistan|Baltistan]] hundreds of years ago upon the region's adoption of [[Religion:Islam|Islam]]<ref name="BRILL"/>

English, with British spelling, is commonly used in urban areas and is a major economic lingua franca of South Asia.{{sfn|Bhatia|Baumgardner|2008|pp=391–394}}

=== Religions ===
{{Further|Religion in Bangladesh|Religion in Bhutan|Religion in India|Religion in Nepal|Religion in Pakistan|Religion in Sri Lanka}}[[File:Religious Diversity in South Asia (2).png|thumb|Religious Diversity in South Asia by National Subdivision ]]
{{Pie chart
|thumb = right
|caption = Religion in British India 1871–1872 Census  (includes modern-day India, Bangladesh, most of Pakistan and coastal Myanmar))<ref>{{Cite journal| url = https://www.jstor.org/stable/2339124 | title = The Census of British India of 1871–72 | journal = Journal of the Statistical Society of London | publisher = Journal of the Statistical Society of London Vol. 39, No. 2 | pages = 413 | date = June 1876| volume = 39 | issue = 2 | jstor = 2339124 }}</ref>
|label1 = [[Religion:Hinduism|Hinduism]]
|value1 = 73.07
|color1 = darkorange
|label2 = [[Religion:Islam|Islam]]
|value2 = 21.45
|color2= green
|label3 = Buddhism and Jainism
|value3 = 1.49
|color3= gold
|label4 = [[Religion:Sikhism|Sikhism]]
|value4 = 0.62
|color4= chartreuse
|label5 = Christianity
|value5  = 0.47
|colour5= blue
|label6 = Others
|value6  = 2.68
|colour6= Magenta
|label7 = Religion not known
|value7  = 0.22
|colour7= black
}}In 2010, South Asia had the world's largest population of [[Religion:Hindus|Hindus]],<ref name="pewforum.org" /> about 510 million [[Religion:Muslims|Muslims]],<ref name="pewforum.org" /> over 27 million Sikhs, 35 million Christians and over 25 million Buddhists.<ref name="Pew Research 2012" /> Hindus make up about 68 percent or about 900&nbsp;million and Muslims at 31 percent or 510&nbsp;million of the overall South Asia population,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/2011/01/27/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-regional-asia|title=Region: South Asia|access-date=1 January 2017|date=27 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161229210603/http://www.pewforum.org/2011/01/27/future-of-the-global-muslim-population-regional-asia/|archive-date=29 December 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> while Buddhists, Jains, Christians and Sikhs constitute most of the rest. The Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs and Christians are concentrated in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan, while the Muslims are concentrated in Afghanistan (99%), Bangladesh (90%), Pakistan (96%) and Maldives (100%).<ref name="pewforum.org" /> With all major religions practised in the subcontinent, South Asia is known for its religious diversity and one of the most religiously diverse regions on earth.

Indian religions are the religions that originated in the Indian subcontinent; namely [[Religion:Hinduism|Hinduism]], [[Philosophy:Jainism|Jainism]], [[Religion:Buddhism|Buddhism]] and [[Religion:Sikhism|Sikhism]].<ref name = EB>
Adams, C. J., [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-38030/classification-of-religions Classification of religions: Geographical] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071214003036/http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-38030/classification-of-religions |date=14 December 2007 }}, [[Encyclopædia Britannica]], 2007. Retrieved 15 July 2010; Quote: "Indian religions, including early Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism, and sometimes also Theravāda Buddhism and the Hindu- and Buddhist-inspired religions of South and Southeast Asia".</ref> The Indian religions are distinct yet share terminology, concepts, goals and ideas, and from South Asia spread into East Asia and southeast Asia.<ref name="EB"/> Early Christianity and Islam were introduced into coastal regions of South Asia by merchants who settled among the local populations. Later Sindh, Balochistan, and parts of the Punjab region saw conquest by the Arab caliphates along with an influx of Muslims from Persia and Central Asia, which resulted in spread of both Shia and Sunni Islam in parts of northwestern region of South Asia. Subsequently, under the influence of Muslim rulers of the Islamic sultanates and the Mughal Empire, Islam spread in South Asia.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Alberts |editor1-first=Tara |editor2-last=Irving |editor2-first=D. R. M. |title=Intercultural Exchange in Southeast Asia: History and Society in the Early Modern World |date=2013 |publisher=I.B. Tauris |isbn=978-0-85772-283-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Lisa|last=Balabanlilar|title=Imperial Identity in Mughal Empire: Memory and Dynastic Politics in Early Modern Central Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7PS6PrH3rtkC|year=2012|publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=978-1-84885-726-1|pages=1–2, 7–10|access-date=27 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610154458/https://books.google.com/books?id=7PS6PrH3rtkC|archive-date=10 June 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> About one-third of the world's Muslims are from South Asia.{{sfn|Ruffle|2013|p=193}}<ref name="pew2Apr2015">{{Cite web|url=https://www.pewforum.org/2015/04/02/muslims/pf_15-04-02_projectionstables74/|title=10 Countries With the Largest Muslim Populations, 2010 and 2050|date=2 April 2015|website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project|access-date=7 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170207115222/http://www.pewforum.org/2015/04/02/muslims/pf_15-04-02_projectionstables74/|archive-date=7 February 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="dip8Jan2016">{{Cite magazine |last=Pillalamarri |first=Akhilesh |date=8 January 2016 |title=How South Asia Will Save Global Islam |url=https://thediplomat.com/2016/01/how-south-asia-will-save-global-islam/ |magazine=The Diplomat |access-date=7 February 2017 |language=en-US |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170208040252/https://thediplomat.com/2016/01/how-south-asia-will-save-global-islam/ |archive-date=8 February 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! rowspan = "2" | Country
! rowspan = "2" | State religion
! colspan="8" |Religious population as a percentage of total population
|-
! [[Religion:Buddhism|Buddhism]]
! Christianity
! [[Religion:Hinduism|Hinduism]]
! [[Religion:Islam|Islam]]
! Kiratism
! [[Religion:Sikhism|Sikhism]]
! Others
! Year reported
|-
| {{flag+link|Religion in|AFG}}
| Islam
| –
| –
| –
| 99.7%
| –
| –
| 0.3%
| 2019<ref name="AfgCIA">{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/afghanistan/ |title=CIA The World Factbook – Afghanistan |publisher=CIA |access-date=27 March 2012 }}</ref>
|-
| {{flag+link|Religion in|BGD}}
| Islam
| 0.6%
| 0.4%
| 9.5%
| 90.4%
| –
| –
| –
| 2011<ref name="বাংলাদেশ">{{cite web |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/256513.pdf |script-title=bn:জানুন |language=bn |trans-title=Bangladesh |publisher=US department of States |access-date=16 October 2019 }}</ref>
|-
| {{flag+link|Religion in|BHU}}
| [[Philosophy:Vajrayana|Vajrayana]] Buddhism
| 74.8%
| 0.5%
| 22.6%
| 0.1%
| –
| –
| 2%
| 2010<ref name="IndCIA">{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/bhutan/ |title=CIA The World Factbook |publisher=CIA |access-date=27 March 2012 }}</ref><ref name="pew2010">[http://www.pewforum.org/files/2012/12/globalReligion-tables.pdf Pew Research Center – Global Religious Landscape 2010 – religious composition by country] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161213072625/http://www.pewforum.org/files/2012/12/globalReligion-tables.pdf |date=13 December 2016 }}.</ref>
|-
| {{flag+link|Religion in|IND}}
| Secular 
| 0.7%
| 2.3%
| 79.8%
| 14.2%
| –
| 1.7%
| 1.3%
| 2011<ref name="Census2011religion">{{cite web|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-01/DDW00C-01%20MDDS.XLS |title=C −1 Population by religious community – 2011 |publisher=Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner |access-date=25 August 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150825155850/http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-01/DDW00C-01%20MDDS.XLS |archive-date=25 August 2015}}</ref><ref>Ahmadiyyas are considered a sect of Islam in India. Other minorities are 0.4 [[Philosophy:Jainism|Jains]] and 0.23% irreligious population.</ref>
|-
| {{flag+link|Religion in the|Maldives}}
| Islam
| –
| –
| –
| 100%
| –
| –
| –
|<ref name="MdvCIA">{{cite web |url=http://www.themaldives.com/Maldives/Maldives_Religion.htm |title=religion |publisher=Maldives |access-date=23 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928220750/http://www.themaldives.com/Maldives/Maldives_Religion.htm |archive-date=28 September 2007 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=EmoryLaw>{{cite web |url=http://www.law.emory.edu/ifl/legal/maldives.htm |title=Maldives |publisher=Law.emory.edu |date=21 February 1920 |access-date=23 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130211221153/http://www.law.emory.edu/ifl/legal/maldives.htm |archive-date=11 February 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>
[http://countrystudies.us/maldives/7.htm Maldives – Religion] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101207024431/http://countrystudies.us/maldives/7.htm |date=7 December 2010 }}, ''countrystudies.us''
</ref>
|-
| {{flag+link|Religion in|NEP}}
| Secular 
| 9%
| 1.3%
| 81.3%
| 4.4%
| 3%
| –
| 0.8%
| 2013<ref>{{cite book|title=Statistical Yearbook of Nepal – 2013|date=2013|publisher=Central Bureau of Statistics|location=Kathmandu|page=23|url=http://cbs.gov.np/publications/statisticalyearbook_2013|access-date=16 October 2019|archive-date=18 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918034634/http://cbs.gov.np/publications/statisticalyearbook_2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|-
| {{flag+link|Religion in|PAK}}
| Islam
| –
| 1.59%
| [[Organization:Hinduism in Pakistan|1.85%]]
| 96.28%
| –
| –
| 0.07%
| 2010<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Population by Religion|url=http://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files//tables/POPULATION%20BY%20RELIGION.pdf|journal=Pakistan Burau of Statistics, Government of Pakistan|pages=1|access-date=3 October 2022|archive-date=29 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329204115/http://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/tables/POPULATION%20BY%20RELIGION.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|-
| {{flag+link|Religion in|Sri Lanka}}
| [[Philosophy:Theravada|Theravada]] Buddhism
| 70.2%
| 6.2%
| 12.6%
| 9.7%
| –
| –
| 1.4%
| 2011<ref name="2011census">{{cite web |title=Census of Population and Housing 2011 |url=http://www.statistics.gov.lk/PopHouSat/CPH2011/index.php?fileName=SriLanka&gp=Activities&tpl=3 |publisher=Department of Census and Statistic |access-date=16 October 2019 |archive-date=6 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200106095548/http://www.statistics.gov.lk/PopHouSat/CPH2011/index.php?fileName=SriLanka&gp=Activities&tpl=3 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|}

===Largest urban areas===
South Asia is home to some of the most populated urban areas in the world. According to the 2023 edition of ''Demographia World Urban Areas'', the region contains 8 of the world's 35 megacities (urban areas over 10&nbsp;million population):<ref name="demographia1">{{cite web |url=http://www.demographia.com/db-worldua.pdf |title=Demographia World Urban Areas |last=Cox |first=Wendell |date=June 2020 |publisher=Demographia |access-date=28 March 2021}}</ref>
{|class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:left"
!Rank
!Urban Area
!State/Province
!Country
!Skyline
!Population<ref name="demographia1" />
!Area (km<sup>2</sup>)<ref name="demographia1"/>
!Density (/km<sup>2</sup>)<ref name="demographia1"/>
|-
||1||[[Place:Delhi|Delhi]]
|National Capital Region||{{Country|India}}||[[File:Skyline of Cannaught Place, New Delhi.jpg|center|100x100px]]||31,190,000||2,344||13,307
|-
||2||{{wipe|Mumbai}}
|Maharashtra||{{Country|India}}||[[File:ওরলির গগনরৈখিক দৃশ্য.jpg|center|100x100px]]||25,189,000||1,046||24,073
|-
||3||[[Place:Kolkata|Kolkata]]
|West Bengal|||{{Country|India}}||[[File:Kolkata Skyline pic.jpg|center|100x100px]]||21,747,000 ||1,352 ||16,085
|-
||4||[[Place:Karachi|Karachi]]
|Sindh||{{Country|Pakistan}}||[[File:Sadar Neighborhood Karachi.jpg|center|100x100px]]||20,249,000 ||1,124 ||18,014
|-
||5||[[Place:Dhaka|Dhaka]]
|Dhaka Division||{{Country|Bangladesh}}||[[File:Dhaka Skyline at Night.jpg|center|100x100px]] |||19,134,000||619||30,911
|-
||6||Bangalore
|Karnataka||{{Country|India}}||[[File:Ubcity2.jpg|center|100x100px]]||15,257,000||1,743||8,753
|-
||7||Lahore
|Punjab||{{Country|Pakistan}}||[[File:Eye Of Lahore (Minar e Pakistan) evening.jpg|center|100x100px]]||13,504,000||945||14,285
|-
||8||Chennai
|Tamil Nadu||{{Country|India}}||[[File:Chennai skyline.JPG|center|100x100px]]||11,570,000||1,225||9,444
|-
||9||[[Place:Hyderabad|Hyderabad]]
|Telangana||{{Country|India}}||[[File:High Rise buildings in Madhapur from Golkonda hill.jpg|center|100x100px]]||9,797,000 ||1,689||5,802
|-
||10||Ahmedabad
|Gujarat||{{Country|India}}||[[File:SG Highway Skyline.jpg|center|100x100px]]||8,006,000||505||15,852
|}

=== Diaspora ===
{{Excerpt|South Asian diaspora|paragraphs=1|files=0}}

== Culture ==

===Sports===

Cricket is the most popular sport in South Asia,<ref>{{Cite news |date=21 December 2006 |title=South Asia's cricket obsession |work=BBC News |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, such as kabaddi and kho-kho, which are played across the region and officially at the South Asian Games and Asian Games;<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-10-25 |title=Indian Traditional Games for Children, Traditional Games of Tamilnadu for Kids, Old Ancient Tamil Games of Tamil Nadu |url=https://www.parentcircle.com/9-indian-traditional-games-for-children/article |access-date=2022-11-04 |website=ParentCircle |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><ref>[https://olympics.com/en/news/kabaddi-asian-games-history-winners-champions-list Kabaddi at Asian Games: Indian men and women rule the roost] https://olympics.com/ Rahul Venkat</ref> the leagues created for these traditional sports (such as Pro Kabaddi League and Ultimate Kho Kho) are some of the most-watched sports competitions in the region.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Khosla |first=Varuni |date=2023-01-17 |title=Ultimate Kho Kho S1 claims total reach of 41 million viewers from India |language=en |work=mint |url=https://www.livemint.com/sports/news/ultimate-kho-kho-s1-claims-total-reach-of-41-million-viewers-from-india-11673930091871.html |url-status=live |access-date=2023-01-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119051136/https://www.livemint.com/sports/news/ultimate-kho-kho-s1-claims-total-reach-of-41-million-viewers-from-india-11673930091871.html |archive-date=19 January 2023 |quote="He also said that UKK is now among the top-5 non-cricketing leagues in India, after Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) and Indian Super League being the first two..."}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Taneja |first=Nidhima |date=2023-01-27 |title=Pro kabaddi, kho-kho leagues chase IPL viewership. India rediscovering regional sports |language=en-US |work=ThePrint |url=https://theprint.in/feature/pro-kabaddi-kho-kho-leagues-chase-ipl-viewership-india-rediscovering-regional-sports/1337725/ |access-date=2023-08-08}}</ref>

=== Cinema ===
{{Excerpt|South Asian cinema|paragraphs=2|files=0|templates=0|references=0}}

=== Music ===

=== Cuisine ===

==Economy==
[[File:F7xZ48abwAAgNst.jpg|thumb|Mumbai is the financial capital of India with GDP of $400&nbsp;billion<ref>{{Cite news |title=India needs its own $1 trillion states; Is Mumbai the answer? |work=Financial Express |language=en |url=https://www.financialexpress.com/economy/india-needs-its-own-1-trillion-states-is-mumbai-the-answer/1540497/ |access-date=24 January 2022}}</ref>|right|upright=1.25]]
[[File:GDP per capita development in South Asia.svg|thumb|GDP per capita development in South Asia]]
India is the largest economy in the region (US$3.535&nbsp;trillion) and makes up almost 80% of the South Asian economy; it is the [[Finance:List of countries by GDP (nominal)|world's 5th largest]] in nominal terms and 3rd largest by purchasing power adjusted exchange rates (US$11.745&nbsp;trillion).<ref name="IMF">{{cite web|url=https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2018/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=82&pr.y=15&sy=2017&ey=2018&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=subject&ds=.&br=1&c=512%2C556%2C513%2C514%2C558%2C564%2C524%2C534&s=NGDPD%2CPPPGDP&grp=0&a=|title=Report for Selected Countries and Subjects|website=International Monetary Fund}} Outlook Database, October 2018</ref> India is the member of G-20 major economies and [[Organization:BRICS|BRICS]] from the region. It is the fastest-growing major economy in the world and one of the world's fastest registering a growth of 7.2% in FY 2022-23.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Dhoot |first=Vikas |date=2023-05-31 |title=India's GDP expanded 6.1% in 2022-23's last quarter |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/business/Economy/gdp-grows-61-in-march-quarter-72-in-fy23/article66915856.ece |access-date=2023-09-01 |issn=0971-751X}}</ref>

India is followed by Bangladesh, which has a GDP of ($411&nbsp;billion) and a GDP per capita of $2,554, which is 4th in the region above India and Pakistan. It has the fastest GDP growth rate in Asia. It is one of the emerging and growth-leading economies of the world, and is also listed among the Next Eleven countries. It is also one of the fastest-growing middle-income countries. It has the [[Finance:List of countries by GDP (nominal)|world's 33rd largest]] GDP in nominal terms and is the 27th largest by purchasing power adjusted exchange rates ($1.015&nbsp;trillion). Bangladesh's economic growth was 6.4% in 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ventura |first=Luca |date=2023-07-18 |title=Global Finance Magazine - Countries with Highest GDP Growth 2022 |url=https://www.gfmag.com/global-data/economic-data/countries-highest-gdp-growth |access-date=2023-09-01 |website=Global Finance Magazine |language=en}}</ref> Pakistan has an economy of ($314&nbsp;billion) and ranks 5th in GDP per capita in the region.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/0,,pagePK:158889~piPK:146815~theSitePK:223547,00.html |title=Welcome to WorldBank Group |website=World Bank |access-date=23 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100816181203/http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/0,,pagePK:158889~piPK:146815~theSitePK:223547,00.html |archive-date=16 August 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Next is Sri Lanka, which has the 2nd highest GDP per capita and the 4th largest economy in the region. According to a [[Organization:World Bank|World Bank]] report in 2015, driven by a strong expansion in India, coupled with favorable oil prices, from the last quarter of 2014 South Asia became the fastest-growing region in the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2015/04/13/south-asia-cheap-oil-reform-energy-pricing|title=South Asia, now the fastest-growing region in the world, could take greater advantage of cheap oil to reform energy pricing|access-date=16 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150417182523/http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2015/04/13/south-asia-cheap-oil-reform-energy-pricing|archive-date=17 April 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

Certain parts of South Asia are significantly wealthier than others; the four Indian states of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Karnataka are projected to account for almost 50% of India's GDP by 2030, while the five South Indian states comprising 20% of India's population are expected to contribute 35% of India's GDP by 2030.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-06-09 |title=Southern states to contribute 35% of India's $7 trillion economy by 2030 |work=The Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/southern-states-to-contribute-35-of-indias-7tn-economy-by-2030/articleshow/100862819.cms |access-date=2023-09-06 |issn=0971-8257}}</ref>

<!-- Updated on 28 November 2022 using October 2022 report from IMF/WEO. Next update should occur for the October 2023 report in November 2023. -->
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|- style="background:#ececec;"
! rowspan="2" |Country<br /><ref name="CIA Names" /><ref name="UN_Names" /><ref name="Europa" />
! colspan="5" |GDP
! rowspan="2" |Inflation
(2022)<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/PCPIPCH@WEO/OEMDC/ADVEC/WEOWORLD |title=World Economic Outlook (October 2022) – Inflation rate, average consumer prices |website=International Monetary Fund|access-date=28 November 2022 }}</ref>
! colspan="2" |HDI
|-
![[Finance:List of countries by GDP (nominal)|Nominal GDP]]<br /> (in millions) (2022) (%Share)<ref name="IMF Oct 2022">{{Cite web|date=October 2022|title=World Economic Outlook – GDP current prices, in billions of dollars|url=https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/NGDPD@WEO/OEMDC/ADVEC/WEOWORLD|access-date=28 November 2022|work=International Monetary Fund}}</ref>
!GDP per capita
(2022)<ref name="IMF Oct 2022 - 2">{{Cite web|date=October 2022|title=World Economic Outlook – GDP current prices, per capita|url=https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/NGDPDPC@WEO/OEMDC/ADVEC/WEOWORLD/|access-date=28 November 2022|work=International Monetary Fund}}</ref>
!GDP (PPP)<br /> (in millions) (2022) (%Share)
!GDP (PPP) per capita (2022)
![[Finance:Economic growth|GDP growth]]
(2022)<ref>{{Cite web|title=World Economic Outlook (October 2022) – Real GDP growth|url=http://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/NGDP_RPCH@WEO/OEMDC/ADVEC/WEOWORLD|website=International Monetary Fund}}</ref>
![[Engineering:Human Development Index|HDI]]
(2019)<ref>{{cite book |title=Human Development Report 2020 The Next Frontier: Human Development and the Anthropocene |date=15 December 2020 |publisher=United Nations Development Programme |isbn=978-9-211-26442-5 |pages=343–346 |url=http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/hdr2020.pdf |access-date=15 December 2020 |archive-date=15 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201215063955/http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/hdr2020.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
!Inequality-adjusted HDI (2019)<ref>{{cite web|title=Inequality-adjusted HDI (IHDI)|url=http://hdr.undp.org/en/indicators/138806|access-date=23 September 2020|website=Human Development Reports |publisher=[[Organization:United Nations Development Programme|UNDP]]}}</ref>
|-
|{{Country|Afghanistan }}<ref name="afg2022_WEO">Last update for Afghanistan from the World Economic Outlook is for 2020. Later years are unavailable.</ref>
| align="right" |''$20,136 (2020)''
| align="right" |''$611 (2020)''
| align="right" |''$80,912 (2020)''
| align="right" |''$2,456 (2020)''
| align="right" |''-2.4% (2020)''
| align="right" |''5.6% (2020)''
| align="right" |{{Increase}}0.478 (''<span style="color:red">low</span>'')
| align="right" |No data
|-
|{{Country|Bangladesh}}
| align="right" |$460,751 (10.41%)
| align="right" |$2,734
| align="right" |$1,345,646 (8.97%)
| align="right" |$7,985
| align="right" |7.2%
| align="right" |6.1%
| align="right" |{{Increase}}0.661 (''<span style="color:orange">medium</span>'')
| align="right" |{{Increase}}0.465 (''<span style="color:red">low</span>'')
|-
|{{Country|Bhutan}}
| align="right" |$2,707 (0.06%)
| align="right" |$3,562
| align="right" |$9,937 (0.07%)
| align="right" |$13,077
| align="right" |4.0%
| align="right" |7.7%
| align="right" |{{Increase}}0.666 (''<span style="color:orange">medium</span>'')
| align="right" |{{Increase}}0.450 (''<span style="color:red">low</span>'')
|-
|{{Country|India}}
| align="right" |$3,468,566 (78.35%)
| align="right" |$2,466
| align="right" |$11,665,490 (77.74%)
| align="right" |$8,293
| align="right" |6.8%
| align="right" |6.9%
| align="right" |{{Increase}}0.633 (''<span style="color:orange">medium</span>'')
| align="right" |{{Increase}}0.538 (''<span style="color:red">low</span>'')
|-
|{{Country|Maldives}}
| align="right" |$5,900 (0.13%)
| align="right" |$15,097
| align="right" |$12,071 (0.08%)
| align="right" |$30,888
| align="right" |8.7%
| align="right" |4.3%
| align="right" |{{Increase}}0.747 (''<span style="color:lightgreen">high</span>'')
| align="right" |{{Increase}}0.568 (''<span style="color:orange">medium</span>'')
|-
|{{Country|Nepal}}
| align="right" |$39,028 (0.88%)
| align="right" |$1,293
| align="right" |$141,161 (0.94%)
| align="right" |$4,677
| align="right" |4.2%
| align="right" |6.3%
| align="right" |{{Increase}}0.602 (''<span style="color:orange">medium</span>'')
| align="right" |{{Increase}}0.430 (''<span style="color:red">low</span>'')
|-
|{{Country|Pakistan}}
| align="right" |$376,493 (8.50%)
| align="right" |$1,658
| align="right" |$1,512,476 (10.08%)
| align="right" |$6,662
| align="right" |6.0%
| align="right" |12.10%
| align="right" |{{Increase}}0.544 (''<span style="color:red">low</span>'')
| align="right" |{{Increase}}0.386 (''<span style="color:red">low</span>'')
|-
|{{Country|Sri Lanka}}
| align="right" |$73,739 (1.67%)
| align="right" |$3,293
| align="right" |$318,690 (2.12%)
| align="right" |$14,230
| align="right" |-8.7%
| align="right" |48.2%
| align="right" |{{Increase}}0.782 (''<span style="color:lightgreen">high</span>'')
| align="right" |{{Increase}}0.686 (''<span style="color:orange">medium</span>'')
|-
!'''South Asia'''<ref>Individual country percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding. Afghanistan not included in 2022 totals due to year mismatch. World Economic Outlook also does not count Afghanistan in the South Asia subtotals.</ref>
! '''$4,427,184 (100%)'''
! '''$2,385'''
! '''$15,005,471 (100%)'''
! '''$8,085'''
! '''6.4%'''
! '''8.1%'''
! {{Increase}}0.639 (''<span style="color:orange">medium</span>'')
!-
|}

According to the World Bank's 2011 report, based on 2005 ICP PPP, about 24.6% of the South Asian population was below the international poverty line of $1.25/day.<ref>{{cite web |title=Poverty & Equity Data Portal |url=http://povertydata.worldbank.org/poverty/region/SAS |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150215193607/http://povertydata.worldbank.org/poverty/region/SAS |archive-date=15 February 2015 |access-date=6 June 2015 |website=World Bank}}</ref> Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka had the lowest number of people below the poverty line, with 2.4%, 1.5% and 4.1% respectively.

According to the 2023 MPI (multidimensional poverty index) report by the UN, around 20% of South Asians are poor.<ref>{{Cite web |title=25 Countries Halved Multidimensional Poverty Within 15 Years, but 1.1 Billion Remain Poor {{!}} United Nations Development Programme |url=https://www.undp.org/press-releases/25-countries-halved-multidimensional-poverty-within-15-years-11-billion-remain-poor |access-date=2023-09-01 |website=UNDP |language=en}}</ref>

51.7% of Afghanistan's population was under the MPI poverty threshold in 2019,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Half of Afghans suffer from multidimensional poverty: gov't |url=http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-03/31/c_137938494.htm |access-date=2023-09-01 |work=Xinhua News Agency}}</ref> while 24.1% of Bangladesh's population was under the threshold in 2021.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2021-12-08 |title=24.1% Bangladeshis multidimensionally poor: Report |url=https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/241-bangladeshis-multidimensionally-poor-report-340777 |access-date=2023-09-01 |work=The Business Standard |language=en}}</ref> India lifted 415 million people from MPI-poverty from 2005/06 to 2019/21; 16.4% of India's population was MPI-poor in 2019/2021, compared to 55.1% in 2005/2006.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=2023-07-11 |title=UN praises 'remarkable' India as 415 million exit poverty levels in 15 years |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/india-poverty-levels-415-million-15-years-united-nations-101689054752864.html |access-date=2023-09-01 |website=Hindustan Times |language=en}}</ref> 10% of India's population was under the international poverty line of $2.15/day in 2021.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kumar |first=Manoj |date=2023-07-17 |title=One-tenth of India's population escaped poverty in 5 years - government report |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/india/one-tenth-indias-population-escaped-poverty-5-years-government-report-2023-07-17/ |access-date=2023-09-01}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
! rowspan="2" |Country<br /><ref name="CIA Names">{{Cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2142.html |title=Field Listing :: Names |publisher=CIA |access-date=28 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701201536/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2142.html |archive-date=1 July 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="UN_Names">{{cite web |url=http://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/UNGEGN/docs/9th-uncsgn-docs/UNGEGN%20WG%20Country%20Names%20Document%20-%20August%202009.pdf |title=UNGEGN List of Country Names |publisher=United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names |year=2007 |access-date=28 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728144159/http://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/UNGEGN/docs/9th-uncsgn-docs/UNGEGN%20WG%20Country%20Names%20Document%20-%20August%202009.pdf |archive-date=28 July 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Europa">{{cite web |url=http://publications.europa.eu/code/en/en-5000500.htm#fn-tw1 |title=List of countries, territories and currencies |publisher=Europa |date=9 August 2011 |access-date=10 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807122658/http://publications.europa.eu/code/en/en-5000500.htm#fn-tw1 |archive-date=7 August 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref>
! colspan="4" |Population below poverty line (at $1.9/day)
! rowspan="2" |Global Hunger Index (2021)<ref name="Archived copy">{{cite web |url=https://www.globalhungerindex.org/ranking.html |title=Global Hunger Index Scores by 2021 GHI Rank |website=www.globalhungerindex.org |access-date=2 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220225183607/https://www.globalhungerindex.org/ranking.html |archive-date=25 February 2022 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
! rowspan="2" |Population under-nourished (2015)<ref name="fao.org">{{cite web|title=UN|url=http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4624e.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924011158/http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4624e.pdf|archive-date=24 September 2015|access-date=3 June 2015}}</ref>
! rowspan="2" |[[Biology:Life expectancy|Life expectancy]] (2019)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.688 |title=GHO &#124; Life expectancy and Healthy life expectancy - Data by country |publisher=World Health Organization |access-date=2 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220105113304/https://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.688 |archive-date=5 January 2022 |url-status=dead}}</ref> (global rank)
! colspan="3" |Global wealth report (2019)<ref name="CS 2019-1">{{Cite web|title=Global wealth report|url=https://www.credit-suisse.com/about-us/en/reports-research/global-wealth-report.html|access-date=25 October 2019|website=[[Company:Credit Suisse|Credit Suisse]]|date=October 2019}}</ref><ref name="CS 2019-2">{{Cite web|title=Global wealth report 2019|url=https://www.credit-suisse.com/media/assets/corporate/docs/about-us/research/publications/global-wealth-report-2019-en.pdf|access-date=25 October 2019|website=[[Company:Credit Suisse|Credit Suisse]]}}</ref><ref name="CS 2019-3">{{Cite web|title=Global wealth databook 2019|url=https://www.credit-suisse.com/media/assets/corporate/docs/about-us/research/publications/global-wealth-databook-2019.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191023104250/https://www.credit-suisse.com/media/assets/corporate/docs/about-us/research/publications/global-wealth-databook-2019.pdf|archive-date=23 October 2019|access-date=25 October 2019|website=[[Company:Credit Suisse|Credit Suisse]]|date=October 2019}}</ref>
|- style="background:#ececec;"
![[Organization:World Bank|World Bank]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Poverty headcount ratio at national poverty lines (% of population) {{!}} Data|url=http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.NAHC?locations=CO&view=map&year_high_desc=true|access-date=26 August 2017|website=World Bank}}</ref> (year)
!2022 Multidimensional Poverty Index Report (MPI source year)<ref>{{Cite report |url=https://hdr.undp.org/content/2022-global-multidimensional-poverty-index-mpi |title=2022 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) |last=Nations |first=United |date=2022-10-17 |publisher=United Nations |language=en}}</ref>
!Population in Extreme poverty (2022)<ref>{{Cite web|title=World Poverty Clock|url=https://worldpoverty.io/|access-date=27 February 2022|website=worldpoverty.io|language=en}}</ref>
!CIA Factbook (2015)<ref name="CIA Factbook">{{cite web|title=The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2046.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151109070125/https://www.cia.gov/Library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2046.html|archive-date=9 November 2015|access-date=23 August 2016|website=cia.gov}}</ref>
![[Finance:List of countries by total wealth|Total national wealth]] in billion USD (global rank)
!Wealth per adult in USD
!Median wealth per adult in USD (global rank)
|-
|'''{{Country|Afghanistan}}'''
| align="right" |54.5% (2016)
| align="right" |55.91% (2015–16)
| align="right" |18%
| align="right" |36%
| align="right" |28.3 (103rd)
| align="right" |26.8%
| align="right" |63.2 (160th)
| align="right" |25 (116th)
| align="right" |1,463
| align="right" |640 (156th)
|-
|'''{{Country|Bangladesh}}'''
| align="right" |24.3% (2016)
| align="right" |24.64% (2019)
| align="right" |4%
| align="right" |31.5%
| align="right" |19.1 (76th)
| align="right" |16.4%
| align="right" |74.3 (82nd)
| align="right" |697 (44th)
| align="right" |6,643
| align="right" |2,787 (117th)
|-
|'''{{Country|Bhutan}}'''
| align="right" |8.2% (2017)
| align="right" |37.34% (2010)
| align="right" |4%
| align="right" |12%
| align="right" |No data
| align="right" |No data
| align="right" |73.1 (99th)
| align="right" |No Data
| align="right" |No Data
| align="right" |No Data
|-
|'''{{Country|India}}'''
| align="right" |21.9% (2011)
| align="right" |16.4% (2019-21)
| align="right" |3%
| align="right" |29.8%
| align="right" |27.5 (101st)
| align="right" |15.2%
| align="right" |70.8 (117th)
| align="right" |12,614 (7th)
| align="right" |14,569
| align="right" |3,042 (115th)
|-
|'''{{Country|Maldives}}'''
| align="right" |8.2% (2016)
| align="right" |0.77% (2016–17)
| align="right" |4%
| align="right" |16%
| align="right" |No data
| align="right" |5.2%
| align="right" |79.6 (33rd)
| align="right" |7 (142nd)
| align="right" |23,297
| align="right" |8,555 (74th)
|-
|'''{{Country|Nepal}}'''
| align="right" |25.2% (2010)
| align="right" |17.50% (2019)
| align="right" |8%
| align="right" |25.2%
| align="right" |19.1 (76th)
| align="right" |7.8%
| align="right" |70.9 (116th)
| align="right" |68 (94th)
| align="right" |3,870
| align="right" |1,510 (136th)
|-
|'''{{Country|Pakistan}}'''
| align="right" |24.3% (2015)
| align="right" |38.33% (2017–18)
| align="right" |5%
| align="right" |12.4%
| align="right" |24.7 (94th)
| align="right" |22%
| align="right" |69.3 (144th)
| align="right" |465 (49th)
| align="right" |4,096
| align="right" |1,766 (128th)
|-
|'''{{Country|Sri Lanka}}'''
| align="right" |4.1% (2016)
| align="right" |2.92% (2016)
| align="right" |5%
| align="right" |8.9%
| align="right" |16 (65th)
| align="right" |22%
| align="right" |76.9 (54th)
| align="right" |297 (60th)
| align="right" |20,628
| align="right" |8,283 (77th)
|}

The major stock exchanges in the region are Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) with market Capitalization of $3.5 trillion ([[Finance:List of stock exchanges|10th largest in the world]]), National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) with market capitalization of $3.55 trillion ([[Finance:List of stock exchanges|9th largest in the world]]), Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), and Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) with market capitalization of $72&nbsp;billion.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.psx.com.pk/ |title=Company Profile |website=Pakistan Stock Exchange |access-date=30 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180630185944/https://www.psx.com.pk/ |archive-date=30 June 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Economic data is sourced from the [[Organization:International Monetary Fund|International Monetary Fund]], current as of April 2017, and is given in US dollars.<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2015/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=83&pr.y=16&sy=2015&ey=2015&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=193,273,223,156,924,922,132,184,134,534,536,136,158,112,111,542&s=NGDPD,PPPGDP&grp=0&a=|title=Report for Selected Countries and Subjects|website=International Monetary Fund|access-date=7 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010173821/http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2015/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=83&pr.y=16&sy=2015&ey=2015&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=193%2C273%2C223%2C156%2C924%2C922%2C132%2C184%2C134%2C534%2C536%2C136%2C158%2C112%2C111%2C542&s=NGDPD%2CPPPGDP&grp=0&a=|archive-date=10 October 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Education==
[[File:Durbar High School 6.jpg|thumb|Durbar High School, oldest secondary school of Nepal, established in 1854 CE]]
[[File:Sri Lanka Photo159.jpg|thumb|Lower class school in Sri Lanka]]
[[File:College of Natural Resources, Royal University of Bhutan-min.jpg|thumb|College of Natural Resources, Royal University of Bhutan]]

One of the key challenges in assessing the quality of education in South Asia is the vast range of contextual difference across the region, complicating any attempt to compare between countries.<ref name=SZ13>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 13, United Nations Children's Fund, Regional Office for South Asia, Nepal, 2018</ref> In 2018, 11.3&nbsp;million children at the primary level and 20.6&nbsp;million children at the lower secondary level were out-of-school in South Asia, while millions of children completed primary education without mastering the foundational skills of basic numeracy and literacy.<ref name=ESAFS>[https://www.unicef.org/rosa/what-we-do/education#:~:text=Education%20is%20a%20basic%20human,are%20out%2Dof%2Dschool. Education: South Asia], UNICEF</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% of children attending primary and lower secondary schools attain 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/>

In South Asia, classrooms are teacher-centred and rote-based, while children are often subjected to corporal punishment and discrimination.<ref name=ESAFS/> Different South Asian countries have different education structures. While by 2018 India and Pakistan has two of the most developed and increasingly decentralised education systems, Bangladesh still had a highly centralised system, and Nepal is in a state of transition from a centralized to a decentralized system.<ref name=SZ13/> In most South Asian countries children's education is theoretically free; the exceptions are the Maldives, where there is no constitutionally guaranteed free education, as well as Bhutan and Nepal, where fees are charged by primary schools. But parents are still faced with unmanageable secondary financial demands, including private tuition to make up for the inadequacies of the education system.<ref name=Oxfam4>[https://oxfamilibrary.openrepository.com/bitstream/handle/10546/120598/pi-girls%27-education-south-asia-192305-en.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Girls' Education in South Asia], page 4, Education and Gender Equality Series, Programme Insights, Oxfam GB. February 2006</ref>

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/>

According to UNICEF, girls face incredible hurdles to pursue their education in the region,<ref name=ESAFS/> while UNESCO estimated in 2005 that 24 million girls of primary-school age in the region were not receiving any formal education.<ref>[https://en.unesco.org/gem-report/report/2006/literacy-life Global Monitoring Report 2006: Literacy for Life], UNESCO, Paris</ref><ref>[https://oxfamilibrary.openrepository.com/bitstream/handle/10546/120598/pi-girls%27-education-south-asia-192305-en.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Girls' Education in South Asia], page 1, Education and Gender Equality Series, Programme Insights, Oxfam GB. February 2006</ref> Between 1900 and 2005, most of the countries in the region had shown progress in girls' education with Sri Lanka and the Maldives significantly ahead of the others, while the gender gap in education has widened in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Bangladesh made the greatest progress in the region in the period increasing girls' secondary school enrolment from 13 percent to 56 percent in ten years.<ref name=ERC>{{cite book |last1=Unterhalter |first1=Elaine |last2=Rajagopalan |first2=Rajee |last3=Challender |first3=Chloe |year=2005 |title=A Scorecard on gender equality and girls' education in Asia 1990-2000 |publisher=UNESCO |location=Bangkok |isbn=92-9223-041-7}}</ref><ref name=Oxfam2>[https://oxfamilibrary.openrepository.com/bitstream/handle/10546/120598/pi-girls%27-education-south-asia-192305-en.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Girls' Education in South Asia], page 2, Education and Gender Equality Series, Programme Insights, Oxfam GB. February 2006</ref>

With about 21 million students in 700 universities and 40 thousand colleges India had 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>
[[File:IOE,Central Campus.jpg|thumb|244x244px|IInstitute of Engineering, Pulchowk Campus, Nepal]]
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="2"| Parameters
!Afghanistan|| Bangladesh|| Bhutan || India || Maldives || Nepal || Pakistan || Sri Lanka
|-
| colspan="2" |Primary School Enrollment<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.PRM.NENR|title=School enrollment, primary (% net) {{!}} Data|website=World Bank|access-date=26 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150701185547/http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.PRM.NENR|archive-date=1 July 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>
|29%||90%||85%||92%||94%||96%||73%||98%
|-
| colspan="2" |Secondary School Enrollment<ref>{{cite web|url=http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.SEC.ENRR/countries|title=Gross enrolment ratio, secondary, both sexes (%) – Data|website=World Bank|access-date=3 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150516152545/http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.SEC.ENRR/countries|archive-date=16 May 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>
|49%||54%||78%||68%||N/A||72%||45%||96%
|}

==Health and nutrition==
[[File:Babyimmunization.jpg|thumb|upright|Child getting vaccine in Bangladesh under the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI)]]

According to [[Organization:World Health Organization|World Health Organization]] (WHO), South Asia is home to two out of the three countries in the world still affected by polio, Pakistan and Afghanistan, with 306 & 28 polio cases registered in 2014 respectively.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.polioeradication.org/Infectedcountries/Afghanistan.aspx|title=GPEI|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150706045955/http://www.polioeradication.org/Infectedcountries/Afghanistan.aspx|archive-date=6 July 2015}}</ref> Attempts to eradicate polio have been badly hit by opposition from militants in both countries, who say the program is cover to spy on their operations. Their attacks on immunization teams have claimed 78 lives since December 2012.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1151027 |title=Lost — The battle against polio |last1=Haider |first1=Sajjad |last2=Khan |first2=Shameen |newspaper=Dawn |date=31 December 2014 |access-date=4 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150605081706/http://www.dawn.com/news/1151027 |archive-date=5 June 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Organization:World Bank|World Bank]] estimates that India is one of the highest ranking countries in the world for the number of children suffering from [[Medicine:Malnutrition|malnutrition]]. The prevalence of underweight children in India is among the highest in the world and is nearly double that of Sub Saharan Africa with dire consequences for mobility, mortality, productivity, and economic growth.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/0,,contentMDK:20916955~pagePK:146736~piPK:146830~theSitePK:223547,00.html|title= World Bank Report|access-date= 13 March 2009|publisher= The World Bank|year= 2009|quote= World Bank Report on Malnutrition in India|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081218015506/http://www.worldbank.org.in/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/INDIAEXTN/0,,contentMDK:20195738~menuPK:295591~pagePK:141137~piPK:141127~theSitePK:295584,00.html|archive-date= 18 December 2008|url-status= live}}</ref>

[[File:PRT Farah visits Children's Supplemental Feeding Center in Farah City 130119-N-LR347-327.jpg|thumb|left|A weekly child examination performed at a hospital in [[Place:Farah, Afghanistan|Farah, Afghanistan]]]]

According to the World Bank, 64% of South Asians lived in rural areas in 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |title=World Bank Open Data |url=https://data.worldbank.org/ |access-date=2023-09-01 |website=World Bank Open Data}}</ref> In 2008, about 75% of South Asia's poor lived in rural areas and most relied on agriculture for their livelihood<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/EXTSAREGTOPAGRI/0,,contentMDK:20750711~menuPK:452772~pagePK:34004173~piPK:34003707~theSitePK:452766,00.html|title=Agriculture in South Asia|publisher=World Bank|access-date=21 February 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706154611/http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/EXTSAREGTOPAGRI/0,,contentMDK:20750711~menuPK:452772~pagePK:34004173~piPK:34003707~theSitePK:452766,00.html|archive-date=6 July 2008|url-status=live}}</ref> according to the UN's Food and Agricultural Organisation.

In 2021, approximately 330 million people in the region were malnourished.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hunger in Asia |url=https://www.compassion.com/poverty/hunger-in-asia.htm |access-date=2023-09-01 |website=www.compassion.com |language=en}}</ref> A 2015 report says that Nepal reached both the WFS target as well as MDG and is moving towards bringing down the number of undernourished people to less than 5% of the population.<ref name="fao.org" /> Bangladesh reached the MDG target with the National Food Policy framework{{snd}}with only 16.5% of the population undernourished. In India, the malnourished comprise just over 15 percent of the population. While the number of malnourished people in the neighborhood has shown a decline over the last 25 years, the number of under-nourished in Pakistan displays an upward trend. There were 28.7 million hungry in Pakistan in the 1990s{{snd}}a number that has steadily increased to 41.3&nbsp;million in 2015 with 22% of the population malnourished. Approximately 194.6&nbsp;million people are undernourished in India, which accounts for the highest number of people suffering from hunger in any single country.<ref name="fao.org" /><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1184959|title=India home to world's largest number of hungry people: report|newspaper=Dawn|date=29 May 2015|access-date=4 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150604142045/http://www.dawn.com/news/1184959|archive-date=4 June 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

The 2006 report stated, "the low status of women in South Asian countries and their lack of nutritional knowledge are important determinants of high prevalence of underweight children in the region". Corruption and the lack of initiative on the part of the government has been one of the major problems associated with nutrition in India. Illiteracy in villages has been found to be one of the major issues that need more government attention. The report mentioned that although there has been a reduction in malnutrition due to the Green Revolution in South Asia, there is concern that South Asia has "inadequate feeding and caring practices for young children".<ref name="southasiahunger">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6046718.stm|title='Hunger critical' in South Asia|work=BBC News|date=13 October 2006|access-date=4 January 2010|first=Geeta|last=Pandey|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090112084920/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6046718.stm|archive-date=12 January 2009|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Governance and politics ==
=== Systems of government ===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Country
!Capital
!Form of government
!Head of state
!Head of government
!Legislature
!Official language
!Currency
! width="90px" |Coat of arms / National Emblems
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap;" |{{Country|Afghanistan}}
|[[Place:Kabul|Kabul]]
|[[Earth:Unitary state|Unitary]] totalitarian provisional theocratic [[Religion:Islamic state|Islamic]] [[Social:Emirate|emirate]]
|Supreme Leader
|Prime Minister
|Leadership&nbsp;Council<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jones |first1=Seth G. |title=Afghanistan's Future Emirate? The Taliban and the Struggle for Afghanistan |journal=CTC Sentinel |date=December 2020 |volume=13 |issue=11 |url=https://ctc.usma.edu/afghanistans-future-emirate-the-taliban-and-the-struggle-for-afghanistan/ |access-date=2 November 2022 |publisher=Combating Terrorism Center |archive-date=11 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220211092128/https://ctc.usma.edu/afghanistans-future-emirate-the-taliban-and-the-struggle-for-afghanistan/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|[[Social:Pashto|Pashto]]<br>Dari
|'''؋''' Afghani
| style="text-align:center;" | [[File:Arms of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.svg|50x50px|link=Emblem of Afghanistan]]
|-
| style="white-space:nowrap;" |{{Country|Bangladesh}}
|[[Place:Dhaka|Dhaka]]
|[[Earth:Unitary state|Unitary]] [[Social:Parliamentary system|parliamentary]] [[Social:Republic|constitutional republic]]
|President
|Prime Minister
|Jatiya Sangsad
|[[Social:Bengali language|Bengali]]<br>[[Social:English language|English]]
|'''৳''' Taka
| style="text-align:center;" |[[File:Coat of arms of Bangladesh.svg|50x50px|link=Coat of arms of Bangladesh]]
|-
|{{Country|Bhutan}}
|[[Place:Thimphu|Thimphu]]
|[[Earth:Unitary state|Unitary]] [[Social:Parliamentary system|parliamentary]] [[Social:Constitutional monarchy|constitutional monarchy]]
|King
|Prime Minister
|National Council<br>National Assembly
|Dzongkha
|'''Nu.''' [[Finance:Bhutanese ngultrum|Ngultrum]]
| style="text-align:center;" |[[File:Emblem of Bhutan.svg|50x50px|link=Emblem of Bhutan]]
|-
|{{Country|India}}
|[[Place:New Delhi|New Delhi]]
|[[Social:Federal republic|Federal]] [[Social:Parliamentary system|parliamentary]] constitutional republic
|President
|Prime Minister
|Rajya Sabha<br>Lok Sabha
|[[Social:Hindi|Hindi]]<br>[[Social:English language|English]]
|'''₹''' Indian rupee
| style="text-align:center;" |[[File:Emblem of India.svg|85x85px|link=Emblem of India]]
|-
|{{Country|Maldives}}
|[[Place:Malé|Malé]]
|[[Earth:Unitary state|Unitary]] [[Social:Presidential system|presidential]] constitutional republic
| colspan="2" style="text-align: center;"|President
|People's Majlis
|Maldivian
|'''ރ''' [[Finance:Maldivian rufiyaa|Rufiyaa]]
| style="text-align:center;" |[[File:Emblem of Maldives.svg|56x56px|link=Emblem of Maldives]]
|-
|{{Country|Nepal}}
|[[Place:Kathmandu|Kathmandu]]
|[[Social:Federal republic|Federal]] [[Social:Parliamentary system|parliamentary]] constitutional republic
|President
|Prime Minister
|National Assembly<br>House of Representatives
|[[Social:Nepali language|Nepali]]
|'''रु''' [[Finance:Nepalese rupee|Nepalese rupee]]
| style="text-align:center;" |[[File:Emblem of Nepal.svg|57x57px|link=Emblem of Nepal]]
|-
|{{Country|Pakistan}}
|[[Place:Islamabad|Islamabad]]
|[[Social:Federal republic|Federal]] [[Social:Parliamentary system|parliamentary]] Islamic republic
|President
|Prime Minister
|Senate<br>National Assembly
|[[Social:Urdu|Urdu]]<br>[[Social:English language|English]]
|'''₨''' [[Finance:Pakistani rupee|Pakistani rupee]]
| style="text-align:center;" |[[File:State emblem of Pakistan.svg|57x57px|link=State emblem of Pakistan]]
|-
|{{Country|Sri Lanka}}
|[[Place:Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte|Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte]]
|[[Earth:Unitary state|Unitary]] [[Social:Semi-presidential system|semi-presidential]] constitutional republic
|President
|Prime Minister
|Parliament
|[[Social:Sinhala language|Sinhala]]<br>[[Social:Tamil language|Tamil]]<br>[[Social:English language|English]]
|'''රු/₨''' Sri Lankan rupee
| style="text-align:center;" |[[File:Emblem of Sri Lanka.svg|71x71px|link=Emblem of Sri Lanka]]
|}

{{multiple image
| align             = right
| direction         = vertical
| width             = 220
| image1            = New Delhi government block 03-2016 img3.jpg
| caption1          = Sansad Bhavan, New Delhi, India
| image2            = Parliament House, Islamabad by Usman Ghani.jpg
| caption2          = Parliament House, [[Place:Islamabad|Islamabad]], Pakistan
| image3            = National Assembly (25967498804).jpg
| caption3          = Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban, [[Place:Dhaka|Dhaka]], Bangladesh
| image4            =
| caption4          = Sri Lankan Parliament Building, Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, Sri Lanka
}}

India is a [[Philosophy:Secular state|secular]] [[Social:Federation|federative]] [[Social:Parliamentary system|parliamentary republic]] with the prime minister as head of government. With the most populous functional democracy in world<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/india-worlds-largest-democracy/10104.html |title=India: world's largest democracy |website=BBC Learning Zone Class Clips |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110114055717/http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/india-worlds-largest-democracy/10104.html |archive-date=14 January 2011}}</ref> and the world's longest written constitution,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/kids/Celebrate-the-supreme-law/article14011992.ece|title=Celebrate the supreme law|last=Krithika|first=R.|date=21 January 2016|work=The Hindu|access-date=24 July 2018|publisher=N. Ram|issn=0971-751X|oclc=13119119}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=India's Constitution|last=Pylee|first=Moolamattom Varkey|publisher=R. Chand & Company|year=1994|isbn=978-81-219-0403-2|edition=5th rev. and enl.|location=New Delhi|pages=3|oclc=35022507}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.history.com/news/which-country-has-the-worlds-shortest-written-constitution|title=Which country has the world's shortest written constitution?|last=Nix|first=Elizabeth|date=9 August 2016|work=[[Unsolved:History (U.S. TV network)|History]]|access-date=24 July 2018|publisher=A&E Networks}}</ref> India has been stably sustaining the political system it adopted in 1950 with no regime change except that by a democratic election. India's sustained democratic freedoms are unique among the world's newer establishments. Since the formation of its republic abolishing British law, it has remained a democracy with civil liberties, an active Supreme Court, and a largely independent press.{{sfn|Metcalf|Metcalf|2006|p = 304}} India leads region in [[Social:Democracy Index|Democracy Index]]. It has a [[Social:Multi-party system|multi-party system]] in its internal regional politics{{sfn|Burnell|Calvert|1999|p = 125}} whereas alternative transfer of powers to alliances of Indian left-wing and right-wing political parties in national government provide it with characteristics of a [[Social:Two-party system|two-party state]].<ref name="Political Parties in India">{{cite web|title = Political Parties in India|url = http://electionaffairs.com/parties/parties.html|publisher = electionaffairs.com|access-date = 7 August 2012|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150707215933/http://electionaffairs.com/parties/parties.html|archive-date = 7 July 2015}}</ref> India has been facing notable internal religious conflicts and separatism however consistently becoming more and more stable with time.

The foundation of Pakistan lies in the Pakistan movement which began in [[History:British Raj|colonial India]] based on Islamic nationalism. Pakistan is a [[Social:Federal republic|federal]] [[Social:Parliamentary system|parliamentary]] Islamic republic and was the world's first country to adopt Islamic republic system to modify its republican status under its otherwise secular constitution in 1956. Pakistan's governance is one of the most conflicted in the world. The military rule and the unstable governments in Pakistan have become a concern for the South Asian region. Out of 22 appointed Pakistani Prime ministers, none of them have ever been able to complete a full term in office.<ref>{{Cite magazine |title = No One Has Ever Completed a Term as Pakistan's PM|url = https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/07/25/no-one-has-ever-completed-a-term-as-pakistans-pm/|date = 25 July 2018|access-date = 18 October 2019|magazine=Foreign Policy}}</ref> The nature of Pakistani politics can be characterized as a [[Social:Multi-party system|multi-party system]].

The [[Earth:Unitary state|unitary]] [[Social:Semi-presidential system|semi-presidential]] constitutional republic of Sri Lanka is the oldest sustained democracy in Asia. Tensions between the Sinhalese and the Tamils led to the emergence of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a separatist Sri Lankan Tamil militant group and the outbreak of the Sri Lankan Civil War. The war, which ended in 2009, would undermine the country's stability for more than two and a half decades.<ref name="mod-defeat">{{cite news |title=LTTE defeated; Sri Lanka liberated from terror |date=18 May 2009 |url=http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20090518_10 |work=Ministry of Defence |access-date=19 October 2019|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090521113622/http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20090518_10 |archive-date=21 May 2009  }}</ref> Sri Lanka, however, has been leading the region in [[Engineering:Human Development Index|HDI]] with per capita GDP well ahead of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Sri Lanka has a [[Social:Multi-party system|multi-party system]], and the political situation in Sri Lanka has been dominated by an increasingly assertive ideology of Sinhalese nationalism.

Bangladesh is a [[Earth:Unitary state|unitary]] [[Social:Parliamentary system|parliamentary republic]]. The law of Bangladesh defines it as Islamic<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd/sections_detail.php?id=367&sections_id=24549%7CSection|title=2A. The state religion|access-date=18 March 2015}}</ref> as well as secular.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd/sections_detail.php?id=367&sections_id=24560%7CSection|title=12.}}</ref> The nature of Bangladeshi politics can be characterized as a [[Social:Multi-party system|multi-party system]]. Bangladesh is a [[Earth:Unitary state|unitary state]] and parliamentary democracy.<ref>{{cite web|title=The world factbook-Bangladesh|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/bangladesh/ |publisher=CIA|access-date=6 June 2014}}</ref> Bangladesh also stands out as one of the few Muslim-majority democracies. "It is a moderate and generally secular and tolerant — though sometimes this is getting stretched at the moment — alternative to [[Social:Violent extremism|violent extremism]] in a very troubled part of the world", said Dan Mozena, the U.S. ambassador to Bangladesh. Although Bangladesh's legal code is secular, more citizens are embracing a conservative version of [[Religion:Islam|Islam]], with some pushing for sharia law, analysts say. Experts say that the rise in conservatism reflects the influence of foreign-financed Islamic charities and the more austere version of Islam brought home by migrant workers in Persian Gulf countries.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Gowen|first1=Annie|title=Bangladesh's political unrest threatens economic gains, democracy| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/bangladeshs-political-unrest-threatens-economic-gains-democracy/2014/03/22/baf1807c-a369-11e3-84d4-e59b1709222c_story.html|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=6 June 2014| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140702060029/http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/bangladeshs-political-unrest-threatens-economic-gains-democracy/2014/03/22/baf1807c-a369-11e3-84d4-e59b1709222c_story.html|archive-date=2 July 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>

By the 18th century, the Hindu [[History:Gorkha Kingdom|Gorkha Kingdom]] achieved the unification of Nepal. Hinduism became the state religion and Hindu laws were formulated as national policies. A small oligarchic group of Gorkha region based Hindu Thakuri and Chhetri political families dominated the national politics, military and civic affairs until the abdication of the Rana dynasty regime and establishment of Parliamentary democratic system in 1951, which was twice suspended by Nepalese monarchs, in 1960 and 2005. It was the last Hindu state in world before becoming a secular democratic republic in 2008. The country's modern development suffered due to the various significant events like the 1990 Nepalese revolution, 1996–2006 Nepalese Civil War, April 2015 Nepal earthquake and the 2015 Nepal blockade by India leading to the grave 2015–2017 Nepal humanitarian crisis. There is also a huge turnover in the office of the Prime Minister of Nepal leading to serious concerns of political instability. The country has been ranked one of the poor countries in terms of GDP per capita but it has one of the lowest levels of [[Philosophy:Hunger|hunger]] problem in South Asia.<ref name="Archived copy"/> When the stability of the country ensured as late as recent, it has also made considerable progress in development indicators outpacing many other South Asian states.

Afghanistan has been a [[Earth:Unitary state|unitary]] [[Social:Theocracy|theocratic]] [[Religion:Islamic state|Islamic]] [[Social:Emirate|emirate]] since 2021. Afghanistan has been suffering from one of the most unstable regimes on earth as a result of multiple foreign invasions, civil wars, revolutions and terrorist groups. Persisting instability for decades have left the country's economy stagnated and torn and it remains one of the most poor and least developed countries on the planet, leading to the influx of Afghan refugees to neighboring countries like [[Religion:Iran|Iran]].<ref name="AfgCIA"/>

Bhutan is a Buddhist state with a [[Social:Constitutional monarchy|constitutional monarchy]]. The country has been ranked as the least corrupt and most peaceful country in the region, with the most economic freedom, in 2016.

[[History:Maldives|Maldives]] is a unitary presidential republic with Sunni Islam strictly as the state religion.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Governance and stability
! colspan="2"| Parameters
!Afghanistan|| Bangladesh|| Bhutan || India || Maldives || Nepal || Pakistan || Sri Lanka
|-
| colspan="2" | Fragile States Index<ref name = "FSI 2020">{{cite web|title = Fragile States Index 2020|url = https://fundforpeace.org/2020/05/11/fragile-states-index-2020/ |publisher=The Fund for Peace|date = 11 May 2020|access-date = 25 September 2020}}</ref>
| 102.9
| 85.7
| 69.5
| 75.3
| 66.2
| 82.6
| 92.1
| 81.8
|-
| colspan="2" | [[Social:Corruption Perceptions Index|Corruption Perceptions Index]] (2019)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.transparency.org/cpi2019?/news/feature/cpi-2019|title=Corruption Perceptions Index 2019|website=Transparency International|date=24 January 2020 |access-date=4 March 2020}}</ref> (Global rank out of 179 countries)
| 16 (173rd) || 26 (146th) || 68 (25th) || 41 (80th) || 29 (130th) || 34 (113th) || 32 (120th) || 38 (93rd)
|-
| rowspan="4" | The Worldwide Governance<br />Indicators (2015)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://info.worldbank.org/governance/wgi/#reports|title=Worldwide Governance Indicators|year=2015|website=World Bank|access-date=25 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140705084108/http://info.worldbank.org/governance/wgi/#reports|archive-date=5 July 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>
| Government Effectiveness
|8%|| 24% || 68% || 56% || 41% || 13% || 27% || 53%
|-
| Political stability and absence<br />of violence/terrorism
|1%|| 11% || 89% || 17% || 61% || 16% || 1% || 47%
|-
| Rule of law
|2%|| 27% || 70% || 56% || 35% || 27% || 24% || 60%
|-
| Voice and accountability
| 16%|| 31% || 46% || 61% || 30% || 33% || 27% || 36%
|}

=== Regional politics ===
{{Multiple image
 | align = right
 | direction = vertical
 | width = 220
 | image2 =
 | caption2 = Indian soldiers in Batalik during the Kargil War (1999) between India and Pakistan
 | caption4 = Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh, with Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, in New York (2019)
}}

India has been the [[Social:Regional power|dominant geopolitical power in the region]]{{sfn|Buzan|2004|p=71}}<<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.twq.com/04winter/docs/04winter_perkovich.pdf |title=Is India a Major Power? |last=Perkovich |first=George |journal=The Washington Quarterly |issue=27.1 Winter 2003–04 |access-date=12 August 2020|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227014858/http://www.twq.com/04winter/docs/04winter_perkovich.pdf |archive-date=27 February 2008 }}</ref><ref name="Regions and powers">{{harvnb|Buzan|Wæver|2003|p=55}}</ref> and alone accounts for most part of the landmass, population, economy and military expenditure in the region.{{sfn|Ali|Aitchison|2005}} India is a [[Organization:G20|major economy]], member of G4, has world's [[Finance:List of countries by military expenditures|third highest military budget]]<ref>{{Cite news|author=Shaurya Karanbir Gurung|title=India third largest military spender in world, after US and China|url=https://m.economictimes.com/news/defence/global-military-spending-saw-largest-increase-in-decade-in-2019-china-india-in-top-3-study/articleshow/75404166.cms|newspaper=The Economic Times|date=27 April 2020|access-date=12 August 2020}}</ref> and exerts strong [[Social:Greater India|cultural]] and political influence over the region.<ref name="college">{{cite journal |last=Fussman |first=Gérard | title= History of India and Greater India |journal=La Lettre du Collège de France |issue=4 |pages=24–25 |year=2008–2009 |url=https://journals.openedition.org/lettre-cdf/756 |access-date=12 August 2020|doi=10.4000/lettre-cdf.756|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="ASAN">{{Cite journal |author=Deepa M. Ollapally |title=India's Evolving National Identity Contestation: What Reactions to the "Pivot" Tell Us|url=http://www.theasanforum.org/indias-evolving-national-identity-contestation-what-reactions-to-the-pivot-tell-us/|access-date=12 August 2020|language=en|journal=The Asan Forum|volume=8|issue=4|issn=2288-5757|date=July–August 2020|orig-year=2014}}</ref> Sometimes referred as a [[Social:Great power|great power]] or emerging superpower primarily attributed to its large and expanding economic and military abilities, India acts as fulcrum of South Asia.<ref>{{Cite web|first=Immanuel|last=Wallerstein|title=India: The In-Between Great Power|url=https://iwallerstein.com/india-the-in-between-great-power/|date=1 June 2017|access-date=12 August 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|first=Madhavi|last=Bhasin|title=India's Role in South Asia Perceived Hegemony or Reluctant Leadership?|url=https://silo.tips/downloadFile/india-s-role-in-south-asia-perceived-hegemony-or-reluctant-leadership|format=PDF|access-date=12 August 2020}}</ref>

Bangladesh, {{wipe|Pakistan}} and Sri Lanka are [[Social:Middle power|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=Clingendael Institute |access-date=18 May 2019}}</ref>{{sfn|Buzan|2004|pp=71, 99}}

During the Partition of India in 1947, subsequent violence and territorial disputes left relations between India and Pakistan sour and very hostile<ref>{{cite book |first=Stephen P. |last=Cohen |year=2004 |title=The Idea of Pakistan|url=https://archive.org/details/ideaofpakistan00cohe |url-access=registration |publisher=Brookings Institution Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/ideaofpakistan00cohe/page/59 59] |isbn=978-0-8157-9761-6 |quote=American scholar Allen Mcgrath}}</ref> and various confrontations and wars which largely shaped the politics of the region and contributed to the emergence of Bangladesh as an independent country.<ref>{{cite book|title=Crossing the Frontiers of Conflict in the North East and Jammu and Kashmir: From Real Politik to Ideal Politik|author=V.K. Nayar|year=2005|page=198|publisher=Shipra Publications |isbn=978-81-7541-218-7|quote=Though Indian victory in the India- Pakistan War 1971 and the liberation of Bangladesh refurbished India's image}}</ref> With [[Place:Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]], India founded the Non-Aligned Movement but later entered an agreement with the former [[Place:Soviet Union|Soviet Union]] following Western support for Pakistan.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hanhimaki|2004|p=165}}</ref> Amid the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, US sent its USS ''Enterprise'' to the Indian Ocean in what was perceived as a nuclear threat by India.<ref name=Santosh>{{cite book
|last = Burne
|first = Lester H.
|title = Chronological History of U.S. Foreign Relations: 1932–1988
|publisher = Routledge
|year= 2003
|isbn = 0-415-93916-X }}</ref> India's 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 series of nuclear tests for [[Engineering:Thermonuclear weapon|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>

The [[Religion:Soviet–Afghan War|Soviet invasion of Afghanistan]] in 1979 accelerated efforts to form a union to restrengthen deteriorating regional security.<ref name="NIHCR in Islamabad">{{cite web|last=Muhammad|first=Jamshed Iqbal|title=SAARC: Origin, Growth, Potential and Achievements |url=http://www.nihcr.edu.pk/Latest_English_Journal/SAARC_Jamshed_Iqbal.pdf|work=National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research in Islamabad|access-date=11 November 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131111092347/http://www.nihcr.edu.pk/Latest_English_Journal/SAARC_Jamshed_Iqbal.pdf |archive-date=11 November 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> After agreements, the union, known as the [[Organization:South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation|South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation]] (SAARC), was finally established in Dhaka in December 1985.<ref name="About SAARC">{{cite web |url=http://www.mohe.gov.af/saarc.afg/about%20us.html |title=About SAARC |website=SAARC Secretariat |access-date=11 November 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111090614/http://www.mohe.gov.af/saarc.afg/about%20us.html |archive-date=11 November 2013  }}</ref> However, deterioration of India-Pakistan ties have led India to emphasize more on sub-regional groups [[Organization:South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation|SASEC]], BIMSTEC and BBIN.

South Asia continues to remain the least integrated region in the world. While 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 = [[Organization:World Bank|World Bank]]}}</ref>

[[Social:Populism|Populism]] is a general characteristic of internal politics of India.<ref>{{Cite magazine |title = The Global Populist Surge Is More than Just a Western Story—Just Look at Asia|url = https://thediplomat.com/2016/12/the-global-populist-surge-is-more-than-just-a-western-story-just-look-at-asia/|date = 10 December 2016|access-date = 23 October 2019|magazine= The Diplomat}}</ref>

==== Regional groups of countries ====
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|- style="background:#ececec;"
! Name
! Area<br />(km<sup>2</sup>)
! [[Earth:List of countries and dependencies by population|Population]]
! Population density<br />(per km<sup>2</sup>)
! Capital or Secretariat
! Currency
! Countries
! Official language
! Coat of arms
|-
| Core definition of South Asia
| style="text-align:right;"| 5,220,460
| style="text-align:right;"| 1,726,907,000

| style="text-align:right;"| 330.79
| {{n/a}}
| {{n/a}}
| Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, {{wipe|India}}, [[History:Maldives|Maldives]], Nepal, {{wipe|Pakistan}}, Sri Lanka
| {{n/a}}
| {{n/a}}
|-
| UNSD definition of Southern Asia
| style="text-align:right;"| 6,778,083
| style="text-align:right;"| 1,702,000,000
| style="text-align:right;"| 270.77
| {{n/a}}
| {{n/a}}
| Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, {{wipe|India}}, [[Religion:Iran|Iran]], [[History:Maldives|Maldives]], Nepal, {{wipe|Pakistan}}, Sri Lanka
| {{n/a}}
| {{n/a}}
|-
| [[Organization:South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation|SAARC]]
| style="text-align:right;"| 4,637,469
| style="text-align:right;"| 1,626,000,000
| style="text-align:right;"| 350.6
| style="text-align:center;"| [[Place:Kathmandu|Kathmandu]]
| {{n/a}}
| Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, {{wipe|India}}, [[History:Maldives|Maldives]], Nepal, {{wipe|Pakistan}}, Sri Lanka
| style="text-align:center;"| [[Social:English language|English]]
| {{n/a}}
|-
| [[Organization:South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation|SASEC]]
| style="text-align:right;"| 3,565,467
| style="text-align:right;"| 1,485,909,931
| style="text-align:right;"| 416.75
| {{n/a}}
| {{n/a}}
| Bangladesh, Bhutan, {{wipe|India}}, [[History:Maldives|Maldives]], Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka
| {{n/a}}
| {{n/a}}
|-
| BBIN
| style="text-align:right;"| 3,499,559
| style="text-align:right;"| 1,465,236,000
| style="text-align:right;"| 418.69
| {{n/a}}
| {{n/a}}
| Bangladesh, Bhutan, {{wipe|India}}, Nepal
| {{n/a}}
| {{n/a}}
|}

==See also==

<!-- -->
<!-- {{Main|Outline of South Asia|Index of South Asia-related articles}} -->
<!-- * Bibliography of South Asia -->
* ''A Region in Turmoil: South Asian Conflicts since 1947'' by Rob Johnson
* Afghanistan–Pakistan border skirmishes
* South Asian cuisine
* [[Biology:Genetics and archaeogenetics of South Asia|Genetics and archaeogenetics of South Asia]]
* [[Earth:Indian subcontinent|Indian subcontinent]]
* List of tallest buildings and structures in the Indian subcontinent
* List of territorial disputes
* South Asia Olympic Council
* South Asian Football Federation
* South Asian Games

=== Broader regions ===

* Global Southeast, South Asia and Southeast Asia
* India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

== References ==
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{{reflist|30em}}

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{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Citation |last=Anthony |first= David W. |year= 2007 |title=The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World |publisher= Princeton University Press |ref=none}}
* {{Citation |last=Beckwith |first=Christopher I. |year=2009 |title=Empires of the Silk Road |publisher= Princeton University Press |ref=none}}

== External links ==
{{Commons}}
* [http://www.worldbank.org/en/region/sar South Asia], The World Bank
* [https://dsal.uchicago.edu/ Digital South Asia Library], University of Chicago
* [http://www.asia.si.edu/collections/edan/southAsian.cfm South Asian and Himalayan Arts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006204801/http://www.asia.si.edu/collections/edan/southAsian.cfm |date=6 October 2017 }}, Freer and Sackler Galleries, Smithsonian
* [https://www.brookings.edu/topic/south-asia/ South Asia], Brookings Institution
* [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
|East      = [[Place:Southeast Asia|Southeast Asia]]
|Southeast = Bay of Bengal<br />Indian Ocean
|South     = [[Earth:Indian Ocean|Indian Ocean]]
|Southwest = Arabian Sea
|West      = West Asia
|Northwest = Central Asia<br />West Asia
}}{{South Asian topics}}{{Regions of Asia}}


[[Category:Regions of Asia]]
[[Category:Asia-Pacific]]

{{Sourceattribution|South Asia}}