Indian subcontinent facts for kids
|
|
|
| Area | 4,440,000 km2 (1,710,000 sq mi) |
|---|---|
| Population | c. 1.8 billion |
| Demonym | South Asian Desi (colloquial) |
| Countries | |
| Dependencies |
Disputed (1)
|
| Languages | |
| Time zones |
List:
Bangladesh Standard Time (BST)
Bhutan Time (BTT) Indian Standard Time (IST) Maldives Time (MVT) Nepal Standard Time (NPT) Pakistan Standard Time (PKT) Sri Lanka Standard Time (SLST) |
| Largest cities | |
The Indian subcontinent is a term mainly used for the geographic region surrounded by the Indian Ocean: the Republic of India, Pakistan, Kashmir (disputed region), Nepal, Sikkim, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka (Ceylon), Bhutan and Myanmar (Burma) and few other countries.
The subcontinent was once part of Gondwana, the ancient southern supercontinent.
Although the terms "Indian subcontinent" and "South Asia" are often used interchangeably to denote the region, the geopolitical term of South Asia frequently includes Afghanistan, which is not considered part of the subcontinent.
Contents
Name
In many historical sources, the region surrounding and southeast of the Indus River was referred to simply as "India". Historians continue to use this term to refer to the whole of the Indian subcontinent in discussions of history up until the era of the British Raj. During this period, "India" came to refer to a distinct political entity that later became a nation-state.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term subcontinent signifies a "subdivision of a continent which has a distinct geographical, political, or cultural identity" and also a "large land mass somewhat smaller than a continent". Its use to signify the Indian subcontinent is evidenced from the early twentieth century when most of the territory was either part of the British Empire or allied with them. It was a convenient term to refer to the region comprising both British India and the princely states.
The term has been particularly common in the British Empire and its successors, while the term South Asia is the more common usage in Europe and North America.
Geology
The Indian subcontinent was formerly part of Gondwana, a supercontinent formed during the late Neoproterozoic and early Paleozoic. Gondwana began to break up during the Mesozoic, with Insular India separating from Antarctica 130-120 million years ago and Madagascar around 90 million years ago, during the Cretaceous. Insular India subsequently drifted northeastwards, colliding with the Eurasian Plate nearly 55 million years ago, during the Eocene, forming the Indian subcontinent. The zone where the Eurasian and Indian subcontinent plates meet remains geologically active, prone to major earthquakes.
Physiographically, it is a peninsular region in South Asia delineated by the Himalayas in the north, the Hindu Kush in the west, and the Arakanese in the east. It extends southward into the Indian Ocean with the Arabian Sea to the southwest and the Bay of Bengal to the southeast. Most of this region rests on the Indian Plate and is isolated from the rest of Asia by large mountain barriers. Laccadive Islands, Maldives and the Chagos Archipelago are three series of coral atolls, cays and Faroes on the Indian plate along with the Chagos–Laccadive Ridge, a submarine ridge that was generated by the northern drift of the Indian Plate over the Réunion hotspot during the Cretaceous and early Cenozoic times. The Maldives archipelago rises from a basement of volcanic basalt outpourings from a depth of about 2000 m forming the central part of the ridge between Laccadives and the Great Chagos Bank.
Geography
This natural physical landmass in Southern Asia is the dry-land portion of the Indian Plate, which has been relatively isolated from the rest of Eurasia. The Himalayas (from Brahmaputra River in the east to Indus River in the west), Karakoram (from Indus River in the east to Yarkand River in the west) and the Hindu Kush mountains (from Yarkand River westwards) form its northern boundary. In the west it is bounded by parts of the mountain ranges of Hindu Kush, Spīn Ghar (Safed Koh), Sulaiman Mountains, Kirthar Mountains, Brahui range, and Pab range among others, with the Western Fold Belt along the border (between the Sulaiman Range and the Chaman Fault) is the western boundary of the Indian Plate, where, along the Eastern Hindu Kush, lies the Afghanistan–Pakistan border. In the east, it is bounded by Patkai, Naga, Lushai and Chin hills. The Indian Ocean, Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea form the boundary of the Indian subcontinent in the south, south-east and south-west.
Given the difficulty of passage through the Himalayas, the sociocultural, religious and political interaction of the Indian subcontinent has largely been through the valleys of Afghanistan in its northwest, the valleys of Manipur in its east, and by maritime routes. More difficult but historically important interaction has also occurred through passages pioneered by the Tibetans. These routes and interactions have led to the spread of Buddhism out of the subcontinent into other parts of Asia. The Islamic expansion arrived into the subcontinent in two ways: through Afghanistan on land, and to the Indian coast through the maritime routes on the Arabian Sea.
Related pages
See also
In Spanish: Subcontinente indio para niños
