Map of South Asia (see note)

This article deals with the geophysical region in Asia. For geopolitical trets, see South Asia.

The Indian subcontinent is a large section of the Asian continent consisting of countries lying substantially on the Indian tectonic plate. These include countries on the continental crust—Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Pakistan; island countries on the continental shelf—Sri Lanka, and island countries rising above the oceanic crust—Maldives. The term subcontinent signifies "having a certain geographical or political independence" from the rest of the continent,^[1] or "a vast and more or less self-contained subdivision of a continent."^[2] There is no agreement on what constitutes a subcontinent. cropped from PD image which image is that? RedWolf 01:51, Jan 11, 2005 (UTC) This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... cropped from PD image which image is that? RedWolf 01:51, Jan 11, 2005 (UTC) This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Map of South Asia (see note on Kashmir). ... Map of South Asia (see note on Kashmir) A subcontinent is a large part of a continent. ... World map showing the location of Asia. ... Animated, colour-coded map showing the various continents. ... The India or Indian Plate is a minor tectonic plate. ... The thickness of the Earths crust (km). ...  Sediment  Rock  Mantle  The global continental shelf, highlighted in cyan The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent, which is covered during interglacial periods such as the current epoch by relatively shallow seas (known as shelf seas) and gulfs. ... Age of oceanic crust Oceanic crust is the part of Earths lithosphere which underlies the ocean basins. ... Map of South Asia (see note on Kashmir) A subcontinent is a large part of a continent. ...

Nomenclature and usage

Although the term Indian subcontinent is often used geographically, it is not entirely a geographical term. The approximately equivalent but more geopolitical term, South Asia or Southern Asia, however, sometimes includes territories found external (but proximal) to the Indian Plate—Afghanistan and Myanmar (formerly Burma). The subcontinent is surrounded by three water bodies: the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea. Historically, in medieval times during the Islamic period the Indian subcontinent was known as Hindustan and included at one time or another various parts of the region, and "British India" or simply "India," during the British Raj period. Map of South Asia (see note on Kashmir). ... Look up Bay of Bengal in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Map of the Arabian Sea. ... Hindustan (Hindi: हिन्दुस्तान [Hindustān], Urdu: [Hindostān], from the (Sanskrit) HindÅ« + -stān, archaic Hindoostan) and the adjective Hindustani may relate to various aspects of four geographic areas: Hindustan: Land of the Hindus. ... The flag of British India British India, circa 1860 The British Raj (Raj in Hindi meaning Rule; from Sanskrit Rajya) was the British rule between 1858 and 1947 of the Indian Subcontinent, which included the present-day India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Burma (Myanmar), whereby these lands were under the colonial...

Until the end of the 19th century, the Indian subcontinent along with Southeastern Asia was collectively known Hither India (India Citerior) while Southeastern Asia was known as Further India (India Ulterior). These terms, however, are no longer in common usage with the exception of East Indies, which is mostly confined to historians and geographers (compare with West Indies). Location of Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is a subregion of Asia. ... This is a list of historians. ... A geographer is a scientist whose area of study is geography, the study of the physical environment and human habitat. ... “West Indian” redirects here. ...

Geography

See also: Geography of India, Geography of Pakistan, and Geography of Bangladesh

Geographically, the Indian subcontinent is a peninsular region south of the Himalayas and Karakoram mountain ranges and east of the Hindu Kush mountain range and Balochistan region, extending southward into the Indian Ocean between the Arabian Sea (to the southwest) and the Bay of Bengal (to the southeast). It covers about 4,480,000 km² (1,729,738 mi²) or 10 percent of the Asian continent; however, it accounts for about 40 percent of Asia's population. The geography of India is extremely diverse, with landscape ranging from snow-capped mountain ranges to deserts, plains, rainforests, hills and plateaus. ... Pakistan geologically overlaps both with the Indian and the Eurasian landplates. ... Map of Bangladesh Bangladesh is a low-lying, riverine country located in South Asia with a largely marshy jungle coastline of 710 kilometers (440 mi) on the northern littoral of the Bay of Bengal. ... Map of the Earth Geography (from the Greek words Geo (γη) or Gaea (γαια), both meaning Earth, and graphein (γραφειν) meaning to describe or to writeor to map) is the study of the earth and its features, inhabitants, and phenomena. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Perspective view of the Himalaya and Mount Everest as seen from space looking south-south-east from over the Tibetan Plateau. ... Karakoram is a mountain range spanning the borders between Pakistan, China, and India, located in the regions of Gilgit, Ladakh and Baltistan. ... The Hindu Kush or Hindukush (هندوکش in Persian) is a mountain range in Afghanistan as well as in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. ... Major ethnic groups in Pakistan and surrounding areas, in 1980. ... Map of the Arabian Sea. ... Look up Bay of Bengal in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

The Indian and Eurasian landplates run through Pakistan and Kashmir and often cause earthquakes in the region such as the October 2005 Kashmir Quake.

Geologically, most of this region is a subcontinent: it rests on a tectonic plate of its own, the Indian Plate (the northerly portion of the Indo-Australian Plate) separate from the rest of Eurasia, and was once a small continent before colliding with the Eurasian Plate and giving birth to the Himalayan range and the Tibetan plateau. Forming Carita on its northeastern frontier, even now the Indian Plate continues to move northward with the result that the Himalayas are growing taller by a few centimetres each decade. On its western frontier, the Indian Plate forms a conservative boundary with the Eurasian Plate. In addition, it is also home to an astounding variety of geographical features, such as glaciers, rainforests, valleys, deserts, and grasslands that are typical of much larger continents, in an area about half the size of the United States of America. Image File history File links Earthquake_Information_for_Pakistan. ... Image File history File links Earthquake_Information_for_Pakistan. ... The Kashmir earthquake (also known as the South Asia earthquake or Pakistan earthquake) of 2005 was a major earthquake whose epicenter was the Pakistan-administered disputed region of Kashmir. ... This article includes a list of works cited but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Map of South Asia (see note on Kashmir) A subcontinent is a large part of a continent. ... The tectonic plates of the world were mapped in the second half of the 20th century. ... The India or Indian Plate is a minor tectonic plate. ...  The Indo-Australian plate, shown in dull orange The Indo-Australian Plate is an overarching name for two tectonic plates that include the continent of Australia and surrounding ocean extending northwest to include the Indian subcontinent and adjacent waters. ... Eurasia African-Eurasian aspect of Earth Eurasia is the Earths largest landmass covering about 21215121321km² compared with the Americas (approximately 42,000,000 km²), Africa (approximately 30,000,000 km²), and Antarctica (approximately 13,000,000 km²). Eurasia comprises the traditional continents of Europe and Asia. ... Animated, colour-coded map showing the various continents. ...  The Eurasian plate, shown in green The Eurasian Plate is a tectonic plate covering Eurasia (a landmass consisting of the continents Europe and Asia) except that it does not cover the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian subcontinent, and the area east of the Verkhoyansk Range in East Siberia. ... Tibet Autonomous Region, Qinghai Province and Sichuan Province of China lie on the Tibetan Plateau. ... In plate tectonics, a transform boundary (also known as transform fault boundary, transform plate boundary, transform plate margin, slip boundary or conservative plate boundary) is said to occur when tectonic plates slide and grind against each other along a transform fault. ... Glacial and Glaciation redirect here. ... The Daintree Rainforest in Queensland, Australia. ... Fljótsdalur in East Iceland, a rather flat valley A valley or a low area between two hills dale (in Scotland, a glen) is a landform, which can range from a few square kilometres to hundreds or even thousands of square kilometres in area. ... This article is about arid terrain. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

Climate

See also: Climate of India

The climate of South Asia is called the Monsoon climate. It is quite opposite of the Mediterranean climate. For the monsoon climate, the weather in this region remains humid during summer and dry during winter. Instead of four seasons, it basically has two main seasons, the wet and dry. The monsoon climate favours the cultivation of jute, tea, rice, and various vegetables in this region. South Asia's climate varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in north. A semi-arid wasteland near Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu. ... Monsoon in the Vindhya mountain range, central India A monsoon is a rainy season which lasts for several months and has lasting climatic effects. ... The Mediterranean Sea is an intercontinental sea positioned between Europe to the north, Africa to the south and Asia to the east, covering an approximate area of 2. ... The word Jute is also used in reference to the Germanic people, the Jutes. ... Tea leaves in a Chinese gaiwan. ... Species Oryza glaberrima Oryza sativa Brown basmati rice Terrace of paddy fields in Yunnan Province, southern China. ...

Geological history

In the Eocene period the Indian subcontinent was an island continent in the Indian Ocean. It was originally part of Gondwanaland. See Continental drift. hfajhfiudshfas == == == --24. ... This article is about the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana. ... Plates in the crust of the earth, according to the plate tectonics theory Continental drift refers to the movement of the Earths continents relative to each other. ...

See also

• South Asia
• History of South Asia
• Indology
• Etymology of the names of India
• India (disambiguation)
• Plate tectonics
• Continental drift

Map of South Asia (see note on Kashmir). ... This article is about the History of South Asia. ... Indology is a name given by indologists to the academic study of the history, languages, and cultures of South Asia. ... The name India may refer to either the region of Greater India (the Indian subcontinent), or to the contemporary Republic of India contained therein. ... India (from Greek Ἰνδία, region of the Indus river) may refer to: In politics: Contemporary India (post-1947), officially known as the Republic of India In geography: the region east of the Indus river and south of the Himalaya (OED), see Hindustan the entire Indian subcontinent, including Peninsular India (see also... The tectonic plates of the world were mapped in the second half of the 20th century. ... Plates in the crust of the earth, according to the plate tectonics theory Continental drift refers to the movement of the Earths continents relative to each other. ...

Reference

1. ^ Oxford English Dictionary 2nd edition. 1989. Oxford University Press.
2. ^ Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. 2002. Merriam-Webster. retrieved 11 March 2007.