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South Asia faces the Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean and the Arabian sea to the south and the mighty Himalaya mountain range to the north. The west borders the Middle East and the east borders Mainland Southeast Asia. The countries that make up South Asia are
Bangladesh,
Bhutan,
India,
Maldives,
Nepal and
Sri Lanka. South Asia houses over one fifth of the world's total population. The terrain is comprised of the great plains of India plus the Eastern and Western Ghats ranges and of course the famous Himalayan Mountains. Mount Everest can be found within the Himalayan range along with many of the world's other highest peaks. Everest stands at a height of 8848m. The Karakoram Highway or Silk Road runs from China along the mountain range of Karakoram and was once an important trade route. The mighty Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers both flow from India, into Bangladesh and out into the Mouths of the Ganges in the Bay of Bengal. The Indus River is also huge. It runs 3180 km from Southwest Tibet and into the Arabian Sea. The main industry of South Asia is textiles and this is especially the case within heavily industrialized India. More than 60% of the workforce in South Asia works within agriculture and fertile areas within the monsoon belt are good areas in which to grow rice and other staple crops. |
