GEO-130 Southeast Asia

What regions are Southeast Asia divided into?

Mainland SE Asia and Insular SE Asia.

What does the complicated tectonic situation in SE Asia create?

It creates volcanism and earthquakes.

Where did a 7.7 magnitude earthquake occur in SE Asia?

Mandalay, Myanmar.

The crustal blocks on either side of the Sagaing Fault move how much?

They move an average of ~23mm/year.

What plates caused the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami?

The Indo Australian Plate and the Burma Microplate.

What are key geographical features of Mainland SE Asia?

Rugged uplands and broad lowlands associated with large rivers. The Northern boundary lies in a cluster of mountains.

What is the longest river in SE Asia?

The Mekong River (2,700 miles long). Runs through Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia with a delta in Vietnam.

Characteristics of the Mekong River:

Has rich soil,

One of the world’s great producers of rice.

How can farmers in Mainland SE Asia grow rice even during the dry season?

Because they can use the Mekong’s water to irrigate their fields.

What is the climate like at the equator?

Warm and sunny year-round.

What is the climate like as you just start to get away from the equator?

Warm with a dry season and a rainy season in the summer.

What are the 3 main climates of SE Asia?

Equatorial climate,

Tropical savanna climate,

Temperate oceanic climate.

What are the environmental issues of SE Asia?

Deforestation,

Coastal pollution,

Poor urban air quality,

Earthquake/volcano hazards,

Coral reefs at risk.

What have the forests lost since the 1960s been replaced with?

Palm oil plantations and other agriculture.

What 2 countries are the world’s first and second largest producers of palm oil?

Indonesia and Malaysia.

Where does half of the world’s tropical timber come from?

Borneo.

In what SE Asia countries are most of the forests gone?

Thailand, Philippines, peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, and Java.

What SE Asia countries have active deforestation?

Borneo, Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam.

Where is the main area of forest in SE Asia left?

Irayan and Jaya.

What are the causes of the air pollution crisis in SE Asia?

Burning forests, coal-fired power plants, manufacturing plants, and vehicles.

What does periodic drought lead to in SE Asia?

forest fires that can ignite peat bogs.

When is air pollution worst in SE Asia?

During the dry season.

Where are 37 of the 40 most polluted cities in the world?

Southeast Asia.

What is the name Southeast Asia a product of?

The Cold War.

What is ASEAN

Association of Southeast Asian Nations

What did ASEAN start as?

A pro-west anti-communist bloc.

(Now more economic in nature.)

How long have Chinese been involved with and moving to SE Asia?

2,000 years, since the 17th c.

Buddhism originated in India and came to SE Asia:

in Angkor Wat in 10th-12th c.

Where is Buddhism most prevent in SE Asia?

Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

Where is Christianity most prevalent in SE Asia?

Philippines, West Timor, parts of Sulawesi and Sumatra (Indonesia).

Where is Islam most prevalent in SE Asia?

Malaysia, Indonesia, Southern Philippines, Brunei, and Southern Thailand.

What is a large but scattered religion in SE Asia?

Animism.

Where is Mahayana Buddhism?

Vietnam

Where is Theravada Buddhism?

Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Thailand

What country is the world’s largest Muslim nation?

Indonesia

How many constitutions has Thailand had?

20

What framework have the Thailand constitutions been written under?

Constitutional monarchy.

What is Thailand’s current form of government?

Part democracy, part dictatorship. (Current ruler is King Maha Vajiralongkorn Rama X.)

What percentage of Indonesia is Islam?

~87%

When was Islam brought to Indonesia?

12th-16th c by merchants from the Middle East.

What percentage of Indonesia is Christian?

11%

Prior to Islam, what were the religions of the central islands?

Hindu and Buddhist

Why are the Philippines mostly Christian?

It was a colony of Spain for over 300 years — it left a Roman Catholic legacy.

Throughout SE Asia, most ethnic Chinese:

are Buddhist

Syncretism is

the blending of various cultural systems (prominent throughout SE Asia.)

How many ethnic Chinese are in SE Asia?

~30 million

What are the ethnicities of Malaysia?

52% Malay,

30% Chinese,

9% Tribal,

8% Indian.

What percentage of Indonesia is Chinese?

4%

Thailand in the 18th c. had a slave system that tied up Thais, this led to what ethnic groups working in the free market?

Chinese and Indian laborers.

What percentage of Thai citizens are ethnic Chinese?

11-14%. (They are very assimilated, they have Thai names but are identified by Chinese ancestry.

Where are external populations on SE Asia?

Mountain regions.

What are Hill Tribes?

Ethnic groups that often don’t have citizenship.

Where do Hill Tribes live?

N. Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Burma.

(Often are displaced by war.)

What is the number of languages in Indonesia?

742 (737 are living languages, 2 are second language without mother-tongue speakers, and 3 are extinct.)

In Indonesia, in response to the religious diversity, the government instituted an official philosophy:

Pancasila.

What are the 5 principals of Pancasila?

1. Belief in the one and only God.

2. Just and civilized humanity.

3. The unity of Indonesia.

4. Democracy.

5. Social justice.

Where have there been occasional crackdowns on independence movements?

West Papua in the late 90s; Aceh in 2001-2002.

About half of the Papuan Indonesia inhabitants are migrants from:

other parts of Indonesia.

Aceh is home to:

the most orthodox Muslims in SE Asia. (The Acehnese have demanded an Islamic state.)

What lead to a peace agreement between the government and the Free Aceh movement?

A tsunami in 2004 that devastated parts of Aceh.

Parts of Indonesia, such as the Maluku Islands have seen:

Christian/Muslim violence.

Soils across the region if SE Asia are not very fertile. What are the exceptions?

Java and river floodplains and deltas.

What are the types of agriculture in SE Asia?

Swidden in the uplands,

Plantation agriculture,

Rice cultivation.

Features of Swidden agriculture:

Slash and burn,

Transfers nutrients from forest to soil (after several years the plots are abandoned and reforested.)

What do some farmers turn to growing in swidden agriculture?

Cash crops like poppies for heroin.

What is the Golden Triangle?

An area in the mountains of SE Asia known for opium production for global drug trade (one of the largest opium producing areas since the 1950s.)

What is a plantation?

An extensive commercial agriculture focusing on one crop.

What crops are grown on plantations in SE Asia?

Coconuts, rubber, oil, palms, sugar cane, tea, and coffee.

Where is the labor from on SE Asia plantations?

India and China.

What is grown in SE Asia lowlands?

Rice cultivation.

What are the delta areas of SE Asia?

Irrawaddy (Myanmar), Chao Phraya (Thailand), Mekong (Vietnam).

Many countries in SE Asia have these types of cities:

Primate cities.

What are primate cities?

Single, large cities that are much bigger than all the others (usually 3-4 times larger than the next largest city in the country.

Primate cities in SE Asia:

Manila, Philippines; Bangkok, Thailand; Kuala Lumper, Malaysia; Jakarta, Indonesia.

What causes a primate city to develop?

Historical legacies,

Economic concentration,

Migration patterns

In Manila:

Half of the population lives in squatter settlements.

In Singapore:

There are no squatter settlements or slums.

What city is the communications and financial hub of SE Asia?

Singapore

SE Asia countries that are examples of tiger economics:

Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore.

What tempted the tiger economics of SE Asia?

The economic crisis of 1997.

In the 1950s the Philippines has the best educated population and was most promising for economic development. What halted that?

The 20 year ruling of highly corrupted Dictator Ferdinand Marcos. (The country was kept afloat by foreign remittances.)

What type of government does Singapore have?

Only partly democratic government.

What is the main growth engine of Malaysia?

High tech manufacturing.

What part of Malaysia makes it unbalanced in wealth distribution?

Eastern part is relatively poor,

Chinese are often wealthier than Malays.

Before European colonialism, all countries in mainland SE Asia were:

Kingdoms.

Which SE Asian country was the oldest kingdom?

Cambodia (over 1,000 years ago.)

Which SE Asia countries were independent states by the 1300s?

Burmese, Siamese, Lao, and Vietnamese.

Current boundaries of Indonesia, Philippines, and Malaysia are the result of:

European colonialism.

What was the main kingdom of mainland SE Asia in c. 900?

The Khmer Kingdom.

Why did the Portuguese colonize the Maluku Islands and Indonesia in c. 1500?

The spice trade.

Why did Spain colonize the lowland Philippines in the late 1500s?

It was a base for silver trade between China and the Americas.

Why did the British colonize Singapore, the Malay Peninsula, and northern Borneo?

To secure sea lanes linking South Asia and China.

When did the French colonize Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos (French Indochina)?

The 19th c.

When did the Dutch colonize Indonesia?

1700s

When did the United States colonize the Philippines?

1898.

Which SE Asia country was the only one not to be colonized?

Thailand.

Where did Japan colonize SE Asia from 1942-1945?

The entire SE Asia region.

When did SE Asia gain independence?

1948-1950s (Brunei in 1984, Singapore in 1965.)

What happened after France withdrew from Vietnam?

Vietnam was divided into communist north and a south allied with the United Sates. (Civil war began.)

Where did the Vietnam war extend to?

Laos and Cambodia.