South-East Asian

Southeast Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China and east of India. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic and volcanic activity. more...

Home
Antique Clocks
Antique Furniture
Antiquities
Architectural Antiques
Asian/ Oriental Antiques
Chinese
Indian
Islamic/ Middle Eastern
Japanese
Other Asian/ Oriental...
South-East Asian
Tibetan
Maps
Silver

Southeast Asia consists of two geographic sections: the Asian mainland, and Island arcs and archipelagoes to the east and southeast. Culturally, the region has been influenced by its two large neighbors (China and India), with Myanmar being a part of Undivided India and Vietnam considered the most Chinese-influenced.

The part of the region that lies on the Asian mainland is the most homogeneously Buddhist region of the world, while in the archipelagic section of the region Islam and Christianity predominate.

Name and definition

Southeast Asia frequently refers to the area consisting of the following, although in general and certain specific usage, the area it refers to can be narrower or broader (e.g. including the southern coastal China as well as Bangladesh, South India, Sri Lanka, and Maldives).

Brunei; Myanmar (formerly Burma); Cambodia; East Timor (Timor Leste); Indonesia; Lao PDR (Laos); Malaysia (formerly Malaya, Sarawak, North Borneo and Singapore); Philippines; Singapore; Thailand (formerly Siam); Vietnam;

All of the above are members of the Association of South East Asian Nations, except Timor Leste, which is a candidate.

The area, together with part of South Asia, was in the past known as the East Indies or simply Indies.

Although politically external territories of Australia, Christmas Island and the Cocos Islands are culturally part of Southeast Asia.

Although politically a part of India, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are considered to be geographically part of Southeast Asia.

History

Solheim and others have shown evidence for a Nusantao (Nusantara) maritime trading network ranging from Vietnam to the rest of the archipelago as early as 5000 BCE to 1 CE)

Historical ties

See also: Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, Imperialism in Asia, Indianized kingdom, Japanese foreign policy in Southeast Asia, List of tributaries of Imperial China, and The Ugly American

The Indian Ocean is comparatively more tranquil than the Southern Ocean, which aided the colonization of Madagascar by the Malay people, and the commerce between West Asia and Southeast Asia. The Indian Ocean is far calmer and thus opens to trade earlier than the Atlantic or Pacific. The powerful monsoons also meant ships could easily sail them west early in the season, then wait a few months and return eastwards.

Read more at Wikipedia.org