Asia del Sur

"Asia del Sur, Sur de Asia o Asia Meridional es la subregión sureña de Asia (erróneamente conocida como el subcontinente indio) que abarca los países comprendidos entre la India. Desde el punto de vista geográfico se trata de la suma de la meseta iraní (al sur del Amu Darya y de Asia Central) y del el gran subcontinente de la India (al sur del Himalaya). Desde un punto de vista cultural Asia del Sur constituye el origen de los pueblos indoarios (también llamados arios) de lenguas indoiranias y se halla rodeado por el mundo árabe, los pueblos túrquicos y el lejano Oriente. A pesar de las características comunes descritas, estos países están escasamente cohesionados. Aunque los idiomas nacionales de todos estos países son lenguas indoeuropeas (excepto en Bután) existen grandes grupos no indoeuropeos especialmente en India. Además la zona se halla dividida entre países musulmanes y países de religiones dhármicas. Los principales enfrentamientos que han desestabilizado la zona son las guerras de Afganistán, el conflicto de Cachemira y la Guerra Civil de Sri Lanka."

"South Asia or Southern Asia is a term used to represent the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan SAARC countries and, , adjoining countries to the west and east. Topographically, it is dominated by the Indian Plate, which rises above sea level as Nepal and northern parts of India situated south of the Himalayas and the Hindu Kush. South Asia is bounded on the south by the Indian Ocean and on land (clockwise, from west) by West Asia, Central Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia. The terms "Indian subcontinent" and "South Asia" are sometimes used interchangeably. The current territories of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka form the countries of South Asia. In addition, with deviating definitions based on often substantially different reasons, the British Indian Ocean Territory, Mauritius, and the Tibet Autonomous Region are included as well. The population of South Asia is about 1.749 billion or about one fourth of the world's population, making it both the most populous and the most densely populated geographical region in the world. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is an economic cooperation organisation in the region which was established in 1985 and includes all eight nations comprising South Asia. Comprising Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives as the constituent countries, South Asia covers about 5.1 million km² (1.9 million mi²), which is 11.51% of the Asian continent or 3.4% of the world's land surface area. South Asia has both the largest population of Hindus in the world at about 1 billion and the largest population of Muslims in the world at 507 million in 2010. Overall, it accounts for about 39.49% of Asia's population (or over 24% of the world's population) and is home to a vast array of peoples."