Why southeast asia

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A second feature is the extensive lowland plains separated by forested hills and mountain ranges. These fertile plains are highly suited to rice-growing ethnic groups, such as the Thais, the Burmese, and the Vietnamese, who developed settled cultures that eventually provided the basis for modern states. The highlands were occupied by tribal groups, who displayed their sense of identity through distinctive styles in clothing, jewelry, and hairstyles. A third feature of mainland Southeast Asia is the long coastline.

Despite a strong agrarian base, the communities that developed in these regions were also part of the maritime trading network that linked Southeast Asia to India and to China. The islands of maritime Southeast Asia can range from the very large for instance, Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Luzon to tiny pinpoints on the map Indonesia is said to comprise 17, islands.

Because the interior of these islands were jungle clad and frequently dissected by highlands, land travel was never easy. Southeast Asians found it easier to move by boat between different areas, and it is often said that the land divides and the sea unites. The oceans that connected coasts and neighboring islands created smaller zones where people shared similar languages and were exposed to the same religious and cultural influences. The modern borders created by colonial powers—for instance, between Malaysia and Indonesia—do not reflect logical cultural divisions.

A second feature of maritime Southeast Asia is the seas themselves. Apart from a few deep underwater trenches, the oceans are shallow, which means they are rather warm and not very saline. This is an ideal environment for fish, coral, seaweeds, and other products. Though the seas in some areas are rough, the region as a whole, except for the Philippines, is generally free of hurricanes and typhoons. However, there are many active volcanoes and the island world is very vulnerable to earthquake activity.

A distinctive feature of Southeast Asia is its cultural diversity. Of the six thousand languages spoken in the world today, an estimated thousand are found in Southeast Asia. Archeological evidence dates human habitation of Southeast Asia to around a million years ago, but migration into the region also has a long history. In early times tribal groups from southern China moved into the interior areas of the mainland via the long river systems.

Linguistically, the mainland is divided into three important families, the Austro-Asiatic like Cambodian and Vietnamese , Tai like Thai and Lao , and the Tibeto-Burmese including highland languages as well as Burmese. Languages belonging to these families can also be found in northeastern India and southwestern China. Around four thousand years ago people speaking languages belonging to the Austronesian family originating in southern China and Taiwan began to trickle into island Southeast Asia.

In the Philippines and the Malay-Indonesian archipelago this migration displaced or absorbed the original inhabitants, who may have been related to groups in Australia and New Guinea. Almost all the languages spoken in insular Southeast Asia today belong to the Austronesian family.

A remarkable feature of Southeast Asia is the different ways people have adapted to local environments. In premodern times many nomadic groups lived permanently in small boats and were known as orang laut, or sea people. The deep jungles were home to numerous small wandering groups, and interior tribes also included fierce headhunters. In some of the islands of eastern Indonesia, where there is a long dry season, the fruit of the lontar palm was a staple food; in other areas, it was sago.

On the fertile plans of Java and mainland Southeast Asia sedentary communities grew irrigated rice; along the coasts, which were less suitable for agriculture because of mangrove swamps, fishing and trade were the principal occupations.