Mainland Southeast Asia

{{Redirect|Indochina|the French colonial regime|French Indochina}}

{{Infobox Continent

|title = Mainland Southeast Asia
Indochinese Peninsula
Indochina
Suvarṇabhūmi

|image = Topographic30deg N0E90.png

|area =

|population = 243,201,036 (1 July 2019)

|density =

|GDP_nominal = $1.485 trillion (2022)

|GDP_PPP = $2.877 trillion (2021)

|GDP_per_capita =

|demonym =

|countries = {{Flag|Cambodia}}
{{Flag|Laos}}
{{Flag|Malaysia}}
{{Flag|Myanmar|name=Myanmar}}
{{Flag|Thailand}}
{{Flag|Vietnam}}
{{Flag|Singapore}}

}}

Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west and the Pacific Ocean to the east. It includes the countries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam as well as Peninsular Malaysia.{{cite web |title=Southeast Asia |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Southeast-Asia |access-date=2025-04-08 |publisher=Britannica}}

The term Indochina (originally Indo-China) was coined in the early nineteenth century, emphasizing the historical cultural influence of Indian and Chinese civilizations on the area. The term was later adopted as the name of the colony of French Indochina (today's Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam). Today, the term Mainland Southeast Asia is more commonly used, in contrast to Maritime Southeast Asia for the island groups off the coast of the peninsula.

Terminology

File:Indochina map 1886.jpg]]

In Indian sources, the earliest name connected with Southeast Asia is {{ill|Yavadvipa|ms|Empayar Yawadwipa|lt=Yāvadvīpa}}.{{cite book|first=Paul|last=Wheatley|author-link=w:Paul Wheatley (geographer)|title=The Golden Khersonese: Studies in the Historical Geography of the Malay Peninsula before A.D. 1500|url=https://archive.org/details/goldenkhersonese0000unse|url-access=registration|location=Kuala Lumpur|publisher=University of Malaya Press|year=1961|oclc=504030596|pages= [https://archive.org/details/goldenkhersonese0000unse/page/177 177]–184}} Another possible early name of mainland Southeast Asia was Suvarṇabhūmi ("land of gold"),{{cite journal|last=Kitiarsa |first=Pattana |title=Missionary Intent and Monastic Networks: Thai Buddhism as a Transnational Religion |journal=Sojourn: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia |volume=25 |issue=1 |date=2010 |jstor=41308138 |doi=10.1355/sj25-1e |issn=0217-9520 |pages=115–116 |quote=King Asoka in the third century BC is widely cited as the model monarch who organized networks of missionaries to preach the teachings of the Buddha outside India including to Suvarnabhumi or mainland Southeast Asia.}} a toponym, that appears in many ancient Indian literary sources and Buddhist texts,{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wk4_ICH_g1EC&q=Suvarnabhumi+was+situated+in+Bengal.&pg=PA519 |title=Ancient Indian History and Civilization | author=Sailendra Nath Sen |year= 1999|publisher=New Age International |isbn= 9788122411980| access-date= November 30, 2018 }} but which, along with Suvarṇadvīpa ("island" or "peninsula of gold"), are also thought to refer to insular Southeast Asia.

The origins of the name Indo-China are usually attributed jointly to the Danish-French geographer Conrad Malte-Brun, who referred to the area as {{lang|fr|indo-chinois}} in 1804, and the Scottish linguist John Leyden, who used the term Indo-Chinese to describe the area's inhabitants and their languages in 1808.{{cite book |editor=Vimalin Rujivacharakul |display-editors=etal |title=Architecturalized Asia : mapping a continent through history |date=2013 |publisher=Hong Kong University Press |isbn=9789888208050 |page=89 }} Scholarly opinions at the time regarding China's and India's historical influence over the area were conflicting, and the term was itself controversial—Malte-Brun himself later argued against its use in a later edition of his Universal Geography, reasoning that it overemphasized Chinese influence, and suggested Chin-India instead.{{cite book |last=Malte-Brun |first=Conrad |title=Universal Geography, Or, A Description of All the Parts of the World, on a New Plan, According to the Great Natural Divisions of the Globe: Improved by the Addition of the Most Recent Information, Derived from Various Sources : Accompanied with Analytical, Synoptical, and Elementary Tables, Volume 2 |url = https://archive.org/details/universalgeogra20maltgoog |year=1827 |publisher=A. Finley |pages=[https://archive.org/details/universalgeogra20maltgoog/page/n294 262]–3 }} Nevertheless, Indo-China had already gained traction and soon supplanted alternative terms such as Further India and the Peninsula beyond the Ganges. Later, however, as the French established the colony of French Indochina (covering present-day Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam), use of the term became more restricted to the French colony,{{cite book |last1=Wesseling |first1=H. L. |title=The European Colonial Empires: 1815–1919 |date=2015 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781317895060 }} and today the area is usually referred to as Mainland Southeast Asia.{{cite book |last1=Keyes |first1=Charles F. |title=The golden peninsula : culture and adaptation in mainland Southeast Asia |date=1995 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |isbn=9780824816964 |edition=Pbk. reprint |page=1 }}

Biogeography

In biogeography, the Indochinese bioregion is a major region in the Indomalayan realm, and also a phytogeographical floristic region in the Oriental Paleotropical Kingdom. It includes the native flora and fauna of all the countries above. The adjacent Malesian Region covers the Maritime Southeast Asian countries, and straddles the Indomalayan and Australasian realms.{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/science/biogeographic-region|title=Biogeographic region – Fauna|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=15 December 2019|archive-date=15 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315094207/https://www.britannica.com/science/biogeographic-region|url-status=live}}

Geography

File:Koppen-Geiger Map v2 Southeastern Asia 1991–2020.svg

File:Mekong River in Laos (1490866472).jpg]]

The Indochinese Peninsula projects southward from the Asian continent proper. It contains several mountain ranges extending from the Tibetan Plateau in the north, interspersed with lowlands largely drained by three major river systems running in a north–south direction: the Irrawaddy (serving Myanmar), the Chao Phraya (in Thailand), and the Mekong (flowing through Northeastern Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam). To the south it forms the Malay Peninsula, located on which are Southern Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia; the latter is variably considered part of Mainland Southeast Asia or separately as part of Maritime Southeast Asia.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}} Most of it has a tropical climate except for subtropical places such as Northern Vietnam.{{cite web |url=https://www.worlddata.info/asia/vietnam/climate.php |title=Vietnam Climate |website=WorldData.info |access-date=2023-11-24}}

Culture

File:Ethnolinguistic Groups of Mainland Southeast Asia.png of mainland Southeast Asia]]

Mainland Southeast Asia contrasts with Maritime Southeast Asia, mainly through the division of largely land-based lifestyles in Indochina and the sea-based lifestyles of the Indonesian archipelago and Philippine archipelago, as well as the dividing line between the Austroasiatic, Tai–Kadai, and Sino-Tibetan languages (spoken in Mainland Southeast Asia) and the Austronesian languages (spoken in Maritime Southeast Asia). The languages of the mainland form the Mainland Southeast Asia linguistic area: although belonging to several independent language families, they have converged over the course of history and share a number of typological similarities.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}

The countries of mainland Southeast Asia received cultural influence from both India and China to varying degrees.{{cite book|title=The Houghton Mifflin Dictionary Of Geography|year=1997|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company|isbn=0-395-86448-8|editor=Marion Severynse|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/houghtonmifflind00houg}} Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand are all influenced by Indian culture, only Vietnam is influenced by Chinese culture but still has minor influences from India, largely via the Champa civilization that Vietnam conquered during its southward expansion.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}

Overall, Mainland Southeast Asia is predominantly Buddhist{{Cite encyclopedia| publisher = Central Intelligence Agency| title = Malaysia| encyclopedia = The World Factbook| date = 2016-09-28| url = https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/malaysia/| access-date = 24 January 2021| archive-date = 15 October 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211015225421/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/malaysia/| url-status = live}}{{Cite encyclopedia| publisher = Central Intelligence Agency| title = Thailand| encyclopedia = The World Factbook| date = 2016-09-28| url = https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/thailand/| access-date = 24 January 2021| archive-date = 10 June 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210610164345/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/thailand/| url-status = live}}{{Cite encyclopedia |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |title=Myanmar |encyclopedia=The World Factbook |date=2016-09-28 |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/burma/ |access-date=24 January 2021 |archive-date=1 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211201171209/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/burma/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite encyclopedia| publisher = Central Intelligence Agency| title = Cambodia| encyclopedia = The World Factbook| date = 2016-09-28| url = https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cambodia/| access-date = 24 January 2021| archive-date = 10 June 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210610095311/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cambodia/| url-status = live}}{{Cite encyclopedia| publisher = Central Intelligence Agency| title = Vietnam| encyclopedia = The World Factbook| date = 2016-09-28| url = https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/vietnam/| access-date = 24 January 2021| archive-date = 10 June 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210610173010/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/vietnam/| url-status = live}}{{Cite report| publisher = U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor| title = 2008 Report on International Religious Freedom| access-date = 2016-12-19| date = September 2008| url = https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2008| archive-date = 6 July 2019| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190706154039/https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2008/| url-status = live}} with minority Muslim and Hindu populations.{{Cite journal|last=SIDDIQUE|first=SHARON|date=1981|title=Some Aspects of Malay-Muslim Ethnicity in Peninsular Malaysia|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25797648|journal=Contemporary Southeast Asia|volume=3|issue=1|pages=76–87|jstor=25797648|issn=0129-797X|access-date=27 July 2021|archive-date=1 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401140444/https://www.jstor.org/stable/25797648|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|title=The Minority Muslim Experience in Mainland Southeast Asia: A Different Path|url=https://www.routledge.com/The-Minority-Muslim-Experience-in-Mainland-Southeast-Asia-A-Different-Path/Goodman/p/book/9781032005171|access-date=2021-07-27|website=Routledge & CRC Press|language=en|archive-date=27 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230427161138/https://www.routledge.com/The-Minority-Muslim-Experience-in-Mainland-Southeast-Asia-A-Different-Path/Goodman/p/book/9781032005171|url-status=live}}