South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethnic-cultural terms. As commonly conceptualized, the modern states of South Asia include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. South Asia borders East Asia to the northeast, Central Asia to the northwest, West Asia to the west and Southeast Asia to the east. Topographically, it is dominated by the Indian subcontinent and is bounded by the Indian Ocean in the south, and the Himalayas, Karakoram, and Pamir Mountains in the north.
While South Asia had never been a coherent geopolitical region, it has a distinct geographical identity
Timur defeats the Sultan of Delhi, Nasir-u Din Mehmud, in the winter of 1397–1398
Emperor Shah Jahan and his son Prince Aurangzeb in Mughal Court, 1650
British Indian Empire in 1909. British India is shaded pink, the princely states yellow.
Asia is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometers, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which has long been home to the majority of the human population, was the site of many of the first civilizations. Its 4.7 billion people constitute roughly 60% of the world's population.
Ptolemy's Asia
The Silk Road connected civilizations across Asia.
The Mongol Empire at its greatest extent. The gray area is the later Timurid Empire.
The Himalayan range is home to some of the planet's highest peaks.