Southeast Asia

Knowledge about Southeast Asia’s prehistory has undergone many changes over the years due to archeological discoveries made since the 1960s. According to fossil records, Southeast Asia was inhabited by hominids over one million years ago. The fossil remains of Homo sapiens date back approximately 40,000 years.

It has been observed that the level of seawater is deeper than in 7000 BCE. Conditions were created for a more varied environment, leading to extensive differentiation in human development. Early human development was observed in the Hoabinhian period from about 3000 to 5000 BCE.

Across Southeast Asia, a similar pattern of stone tools has been seen among the hunting and gathering societies. The people of the Southeast Asian region developed its cultural landscape locally. World War II changed Southeast Asia to a great extent. Modern Southeast Asia has witnessed significant economic growth, closer regional ties, and traditional growth as countries developed.

The people of Southeast Asia are closely tied to the global community. Modern Southeast Asian countries came into existence during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The region is comprised of eleven countries located between the Indian and Pacific Oceans: Brunei, Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The total area covered by Southeast Asia is three times more than that of Great Britain, France, and Germany combined. It is one of the most populated regions in the world, with around 698 million inhabitants. Southeast Asia has 5,000,000 square miles of land and sea. Mainland Southeast Asia consists of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and Singapore. The archipelagic nations are Indonesia and the Philippines. Malaysia is both mainland and insular. Brunei is a small sultanate on the main peninsula.

Southeast Asia is a very large region of Asia. To the south and east of the mainland lie a string of archipelagos. It is situated between India to the east and China to the south. The Malay Peninsula functions as a bridge between the two regions of Southeast Asia.

Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelago in Southeast Asia. Brunei is a developed country and lies on the island of Borneo. Cambodia has one of the best economic records in Asia. Timor-Leste is the youngest and newest state, gaining independence in 2002. Laos is a landlocked Southeast Asian country. Malaysia is a multicultural country. Myanmar is the second-largest country in Southeast Asia. Thailand is a tourist country. Singapore is the smallest island city-state in the Southeast Asian region. Vietnam has one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.

Southeast Asia is the most diverse region on Earth. The Chinese call Southeast Asia Nanyang, the Japanese call the region Nan’yō, and South Asians call it Suvarnabhūmi.

Historical Perspective

Human settlements dating back to about 40,000 to 50,000 BCE have been discovered in Malaysia and the Philippines. Southeast Asia developed mainly in the Mesolithic period. Animal domestication, farming, and food production occurred in Southeast Asia during this period. The Austronesian people began ironworking around 2500 BCE.

Influenced by India and China, agrarian and maritime kingdoms were formed in Southeast Asia. Trade relations and Hindu and Buddhist influences grew in these regions and began shaping the history of Southeast Asia. Europeans came for trade purposes and European colonization grew significantly from the end of the 1850s. This had a tremendous impact on Southeast Asia. Labor immigrants came to Southeast Asia from India and China. Japanese invasion and occupation were also seen in the different regions of Southeast Asia.

The political model of Southeast Asia throws light on how the region is comprised. The Burmese, Vietnamese, and Khmer people governed much of Indo-China. Between the seventeenth and twentieth centuries, after European colonization, the countries within the Southeast Asian region grew independently.

Geography and Climate

Southeast Asia has natural vegetation that is abundant, varied, and unlike vegetation in other areas of the world. There are tropical evergreen forests and open tropical deciduous forests. There are a variety of plants and trees, most of which are of the Dipterocarpaceae family. Mangrove belts of about thirty varieties abound in Southeast Asia. On the mainland slopes, there are oak, magnolia, and maple trees.

Southeast Asia has diverse wildlife. The Oriental or Indian zoogeographical region is made up of the eastern half of Southeast Asia. The Australian zoogeographical region borders the south and the east. The Celebes, the Moluccas, and the Lesser Sunda Islands make up a transition zone along the eastern portion of insular Southeast Asia.

Southeast Asia sits on three of Earth’s tectonic plates: the Eurasian, Indian-Australian, and Pacific plates. Over geologic time, the land has undergone considerable faulting, folding, uplifting, and volcanic activity. There are many differences between mainland Southeast Asia and the islands of Southeast Asia. Most of the lowland areas in Southeast Asia contain rivers, valleys, uplands, and deltas.

There are five major river systems, which are the Irrawaddy, Salween, Chao Phraya, Mekong, and Red River. They flow from west to east in the islands of Southeast Asia. The Mekong is the largest river in mainland Southeast Asia. It is considered one of the world's great river systems and has the largest drainage system.

Southeast Asia has a long and regular monsoon season as it falls in the tropical and subtropical climate zones. Near sea levels, the temperature remains fairly constant throughout the year. The annual average temperature remains 80°F throughout the Southeast Asian region, except in northern Vietnam. The region comprises about 20 percent of plants, animals, and marine species present across the globe. The three countries of this region—Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines—have four biodiversity hotspots from among the twenty-five present all over the world. These countries have Montane ecosystems of ferns, orchids, and mosses.

Though the Southeast Asian region is rich in biodiversity, it is facing threats to its biological resources due to climate changes and human factors. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) states that illegal trading of endangered species is a booming industry in Southeast Asia. The extinction of species due to deforestation and destruction of natural habitats is of concern.

Economy

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was formed on August 8, 1967. After Southeast Asia was taken within the folds of the world economy, it has witnessed uneven economic development and population growth. There is a clear distinction between the wealthy and the poor. All the ASEAN countries have been linked by domestic air transport system, road transport, and communication infrastructures. This has given a tremendous boost to the entire Southeast Asian region.

Agriculture dominates in some regions of Southeast Asia, and in other areas, industrialization has made an impact. The mining of metals and considerable reserves of oil and natural gas have helped in its market value. Internal and external trade activity of the different countries within Southeast Asia has helped in the progress of its economy.

Brunei is an oil-rich sultanate. About 90 percent of the country's economy depends on the oil and gas industry. This caused economic fluctuations in the early and mid-2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Cambodia's economy made rapid progress in the early twenty-first century in the economic and human resource areas. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Cambodia's economy experienced an average annual growth rate of 7.6 percent from 1995 to 2019, largely due to tourism, real estate, construction, and manufacturing exports. According to the World Bank, by the mid-2010s, it reached middle-income status. However, in 2020, the economy decreased by over 3 percent, before a 5.2 percent increase in 2022. Bali in Indonesia is a small island, which attracts tourists from all over the globe and thus, its economy is helped by the tourism industry. Laos is fast becoming popular as a tourist destination and its economy is boosted by the tourism industry. Malaysia has a GDP of 6.5 percent average for almost 50 years. It also has the best economic record in Southeast Asia. After its independence, Myanmar progressed as a resource-rich country. However, after the military coup in 2021, the economy decreased by 18 percent, a record decline. Through the early and mid-2020s, the country’s economy continued struggling due to sanctions, domestic conflicts, and environmental issues like flooding. Thailand’s economy is boosted by its tourism industry. Singapore is a trading city with major exports of consumer electronics, pharmaceuticals, medical and optical devices, and information technology products. Vietnam has one of the world's fastest-growing economies and has gained popularity as a tourist destination.

Demographics

The countries within the Southeast Asian region vary considerably in terms of life expectancy. The healthcare programs in developed Southeast Asian nations are significantly better than those in the underdeveloped countries of Cambodia and Laos. The life expectancy in Singapore is the highest, and it is the lowest in Cambodia and Myanmar.

There is a great deal of population migration within Southeast Asian countries. The growth in transport immensely helped people move from one place to another. Since the mid-1970s, there has been a significant refugee movement within the region, particularly the movement of Vietnamese to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Hong Kong.

Nearly three-fourths of the people in Southeast Asia live in nonurban areas. Certain areas in this region, such as Java, Hanoi, Bangkok, and Manila, have high-density populations. Urbanization rapidly increased in developing countries like Singapore and the Philippines in the twenty-first century.

Although the eleven Southeast Asian countries have different religions and spoken languages, and the population varies between countries, a common commercial and cultural inheritance pattern unites the entire region.

Bibliography

Andaya, Barbara Watson. "Introduction to Southeast Asia." Asia Society, asiasociety.org/education/introduction-southeast-asia. Accessed 9 Feb. 2025.

Dayley, Robert, and Clark D. Neher. Southeast Asia in the New International Era. 9th ed., Westview, 2024.

Gascoigne, Bamber. "History of Southeast Asia." HistoryWorld, www.historyworld.net/history/SoutheastAsia/685?section=ToThe10thCenturyAd. Accessed 9 Feb. 2025.

Hill, Ronald. Southeast Asia: People, Land and Economy. Unwin, 2002.

Lockard, Craig A. Southeast Asia in World History. Oxford UP, 2009.

Osborne, Milton. Southeast Asia: An Introductory History. 14th ed., Allen & Unwin, 2024.

Walker, Tommy. "What Is behind Vietnam's Economic Success Story?" Deutsche Welle, 15 Oct. 2024, www.dw.com/en/what-is-behind-vietnams-economic-success-story/a-70501290. Accessed 9 Feb. 2025.