Southeast Asia

C

Soils and Farming

The soils of Southeast Asia’s volcanic islands and river floodplains and deltas are fertile. Rice is the leading crop in most of the region. Other food crops of Southeast Asia include corn, sweet potatoes, cassava, and fruits. Although much of the rest of the region is covered with dense vegetation, the soils of the forests and highlands are generally not fertile. High temperatures and high precipitation leach out the valuable minerals and break down the humus formed by decaying vegetable matter. Many of these soils cannot support cultivated crops for more than a short time.

D

Natural Resources

Southeast Asia is rich in mineral resources. A significant portion of the world’s tin comes from Southeast Asia, particularly from Indonesia. Petroleum, coal, copper, and gold are also mined extensively in the region.

The region’s dense forests also yield important resources. Important hardwoods logged include teak, ebony, and mahogany. Other forest products that are commercially exploited and exported are sandalwood (a soft, fragrant wood), coconuts, and abaca (a fiber used to make Manila hemp).

III

People of Southeast Asia

More than 570 million people live in Southeast Asia (2005 estimate). Indonesia, one of the most populous countries in the world, accounts for more than 42 percent of the total.

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A

Rural and Urban Areas

About 60 percent of Southeast Asian people live in rural areas. The rural share is much higher in the countries of Indochina, particularly Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. Most of the region’s rural people live in small farming villages. Houses are often built on bamboo stilts to protect them from the floods that occur during the rainy season. There are heavier concentrations of people in the larger fertile river deltas and on some of the islands, such as Java in Indonesia and Luzon in the Philippines.

Despite the region’s generally low rates of urbanization, Southeast Asia is also home to huge, modern metropolises. The region’s largest cities include Jakarta, in Indonesia; Yangon, in Myanmar; Manila, in the Philippines; Singapore; Bangkok, in Thailand; and Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, in Vietnam. Some of Southeast Asia’s cities are growing financial and high-tech industry capitals. The skyline of Kuala Lumpur, in Malaysia, features the Petronas Towers, among the tallest skyscrapers in the world.

B

Population Characteristics

The population of Southeast Asia is divided among many ethnic groups. Each of the countries of Indochina has a nationally dominant group: Khmer in Cambodia, Lao in Laos, Burman in Myanmar, Thai in Thailand, and Vietnamese in Vietnam. In Indonesia, Malaysia, East Timor, and the Philippines, Malay and Chinese peoples form the majority of the population. The Chinese came to Southeast Asia in large numbers beginning in the 19th century.

Among the many languages spoken in Southeast Asia are Malay (called Bahasa Indonesia in Indonesia and Bahasa Malaysia in Malaysia), Filipino, Vietnamese, Thai, Burmese, Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Tamil (an Indian language), and various tribal dialects. Most Indonesians and Malaysians adhere to Islam, while most of the people of Indochina are Buddhists, and most Filipinos and East Timorese are Christians. Other religions of the region include Hinduism, Confucianism, and Daoism.