Indian subcontinent
.svg)
The Indian subcontinent is a region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. The subcontinent is currently divided into the nations of Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan.[1]
Although the terms "Indian subcontinent" and "South Asia" are often also used interchangeably to denote a wider region which includes, in addition, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka, the "Indian subcontinent" is more of a geophysical term, whereas "South Asia" is more geopolitical.[2] "South Asia" frequently also includes Afghanistan, which is not considered part of the subcontinent even in extended usage.[3]
Name
Historically, the region surrounding and southeast of the Indus River was often simply referred to as India in many historical sources. Even today, historians use this term to denote the entire Indian subcontinent when discussing history up until the era of the British Raj. Over time, however, "India" evolved to refer to a distinct political entity that eventually became a nation-state (today the Republic of India).[4]
Notes
- ↑ "Indian subcontinent (noun)", Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, March 2025, doi:10.1093/OED/1205710598, retrieved 31 March 2025,
The part of Asia south of the Himalayas which forms a peninsula extending into the Indian Ocean between the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, now divided between India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
(subscription required) - ↑ "Indian subcontinent (noun)", Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, March 2025, doi:10.1093/OED/1205710598, retrieved 31 March 2025,
(subsidiary remark) Also used with wider application to include Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. The term is roughly equivalent to South Asia, esp. in the wider use, although Indian subcontinent is sometimes considered to be more of a geophysical description, and South Asia more geopolitical.
- ↑ Jim Norwine & Alfonso González, The Third World: states of mind and being, pages 209, Taylor & Francis, 1988; Quote: ""The term "South Asia" also signifies the Indian Subcontinent""
Raj S. Bhopal, Ethnicity, race, and health in multicultural societies, pages 33, Oxford University Press, 2007; Quote: "The term South Asian refers to populations originating from the Indian subcontinent, effectively India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka;
Lucian W. Pye & Mary W. Pye, Asian Power and Politics, pages 133, Harvard University Press, 1985; Quote: "The complex culture of the Indian subcontinent, or South Asia, presents a tradition comparable to Confucianism."
Mark Juergensmeyer, The Oxford handbook of global religions, pages 465, Oxford University Press US, 2006
Sugata Bose & Ayesha Jalal, Modern South Asia, page 3, Routledge, 2004 - ↑ "Indian subcontinent Map, Countries, Population, & History". Encyclopædia Britannica. 20 September 2022. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
Further reading
Indian subcontinent, Wikipedia
