Location & Physical Characteristics of Southeast Asia (Araling Panlipunan 7)

Vocabulary flashcards covering the key geographic terms, continental facts, directional concepts, and regional classifications discussed in the lecture on the location and physical characteristics of Southeast Asia.

Continent

The largest continuous mass of land on Earth; there are seven such major landmasses.

Seven Continents

Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.

Asia

World’s largest continent in both area (≈44.58 million km²) and population (>4.7 billion); linguistically and culturally diverse.

Africa

Second-largest continent (≈30.37 million km²) with about 1.3 billion people and over 2,000 spoken languages.

North America

Third-largest continent (≈24.71 million km²) with ≈579 million inhabitants; major languages include English, Spanish, and French.

South America

Fourth-largest continent (≈17.84 million km²) housing ≈430 million people; Portuguese and Spanish dominate linguistically.

Europe

≈10.18 million km², ≈740 million population; highly multilingual and regarded as the cradle of Western civilization.

Australia (Continent)

Smallest continent (≈7.7 million km²) with >25 million people; Australian English is the main language.

Antarctica

Fifth-largest by area (≈14 million km²); coldest, driest, windiest continent with no permanent residents—only research stations.

Cardinal Directions

The four main points—North, East, South, and West—used for basic navigation on maps and globes.

Intermediate Directions

The points midway between cardinal directions: Northeast, Southeast, Southwest, and Northwest.

Latitude

Imaginary east-west lines (parallels) that measure distance north or south of the Equator.

Equator

0° latitude; divides Earth into Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

Longitude

Imaginary north-south lines (meridians) that measure distance east or west of the Prime Meridian.

Prime Meridian

0° longitude; reference line passing through Greenwich, England, from which east–west distance is measured.

Hemisphere

Half of Earth, divided either north–south by the Equator or east–west by the Prime Meridian.

Tropic of Cancer

Latitude 23° 26′ 22″ N; northern boundary of the tropics.

Tropic of Capricorn

Latitude 23° 26′ 22″ S; southern boundary of the tropics.

Southeast Asia

Region south of China and east of India; historically dubbed "Farther India" and "Little China" due to cultural influences.

Mainland Southeast Asia

Peninsular part between the South China Sea and Indian Ocean; includes Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and western Malaysia.

Insular Southeast Asia

Island portion of the region; includes Indonesia, the Philippines, Brunei, Timor-Leste, and eastern Malaysia.

Five Regions of Asia

Northern Asia, Western Asia, Southern Asia, Eastern Asia, and Southeast Asia.

“Asu”

Aegean root word meaning “place where the sun rises”; origin of the name Asia.

Philippines

An archipelagic nation in Insular Southeast Asia; part of the world’s largest continent, Asia.

Malaysia (Dual Category)

Country spanning both Mainland (Peninsular Malaysia) and Insular (Sabah & Sarawak on Borneo) Southeast Asia.