Southeast Asia | Map, Islands, Countries, Culture, & Facts

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data-icon="toc"></em> <a class="font-serif font-weight-bold text-black link-blue" href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Southeast-Asia">Southeast Asia</a> </div> <button aria-label="Close" class="js-sections-close-button btn-link btn-sm btn d-lg-none position-absolute top-0 p-10 right-0" > <em class="material-icons font-26" data-icon="close"></em> </button> </div> <div class="section-content pl-10 pr-20 pl-sm-50 pr-sm-60 pl-lg-5 pr-lg-10 pt-10 pt-lg-0 bg-gray-50 clear-catfish-ad"> <div class="toc mb-20"> <div class="font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-15 mb-15 mt-20"> Table of Contents </div> <ul class="list-unstyled my-0" data-level="h1"><li data-target="#ref1"><div class="pl-25"><a class="link-gray-900 w-100" href="/place/Southeast-Asia">Introduction</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li><li data-target="#ref52751"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/Southeast-Asia#ref52751">Land</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref52752"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/Southeast-Asia#ref52752">Geology and relief</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref52753"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/Southeast-Asia/Mainland-Southeast-Asia">Mainland Southeast Asia</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref52754"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/Southeast-Asia/Mainland-Southeast-Asia#ref52754">Insular Southeast Asia</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref52755"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/Southeast-Asia/Drainage">Drainage</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref52756"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/Southeast-Asia/Drainage#ref52756">Soils</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref52757"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/Southeast-Asia/Drainage#ref52757">Climate</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref52758"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/Southeast-Asia/Drainage#ref52758">Temperatures</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref52759"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/Southeast-Asia/Drainage#ref52759">Precipitation</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref52760"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/Southeast-Asia/Plant-life">Plant life</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref52761"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/Southeast-Asia/Plant-life#ref52761">Animal life</a></li></ul></div></li><li data-target="#ref52762"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/Southeast-Asia/People">People</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref52763"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/Southeast-Asia/People#ref52763">Settlement patterns</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref52764"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/Southeast-Asia/People#ref52764">Ethnic composition</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref52765"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/Southeast-Asia/Linguistic-composition">Linguistic composition</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref52766"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/Southeast-Asia/Linguistic-composition#ref52766">Religions</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref52767"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/Southeast-Asia/Linguistic-composition#ref52767">Demographic trends</a></li></ul></div></li><li data-target="#ref52768"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/Southeast-Asia/Economy">Economy</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref52769"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/Southeast-Asia/Economy#ref52769">Agriculture</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref52770"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/Southeast-Asia/Industry">Industry</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref52771"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/Southeast-Asia/Industry#ref52771">Trade</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref52772"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/Southeast-Asia/Industry#ref52772">Transportation and communications</a></li></ul></div></li></ul> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Southeast-Asia/additional-info">References & Edit History</a> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="/facts/Southeast-Asia">Related Topics</a> </div> <div class="tlr-media-slider pb-10 mb-30"> <a class="section-header link-gray-900 font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mb-10 mx-10" href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Southeast-Asia/images-videos">Images</a> <div class="slider js-slider position-relative 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Frederick</div> <div class="editor-description font-12 font-serif mt-5 clamp-description text-black">Associate Professor of History, Ohio University, Athens. Author of <i>Visions and Heat: the Making of the Indonesian Revolution </i>and others.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> William H. Frederick</span>, <div class="editor-popover popover p-0"> <a class="d-block p-20 gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor" href="/contributor/Thomas-R-Leinbach/3725" > <div class="editor-title font-16 font-weight-bold">Thomas R. Leinbach</div> <div class="editor-description font-12 font-serif mt-5 clamp-description text-black">Professor of Geography, University of Kentucky, Lexington. 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They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link font-12 "> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div> <div class="last-updated font-12 font-serif"> <span class="text-gray-700"> Last Updated: <time datetime="2024-11-23T00:00:00CST" >Nov 23, 2024</time> •</span> <a class="byline-edit-history" href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Southeast-Asia/additional-info#history" rel="nofollow">Article History</a> </div></div> </div> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button d-none d-sm-block js-sections-inline-button module-spacing btn d-lg-none"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <div class="d-flex d-sm-none flex-row"> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button js-sections-inline-button module-spacing"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <button class="ai-ask-button btn border-2 ai-ask-button btn border-2 module-spacing btn-sm js-inline-ai-ask-button btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400 p-10 ml-5"> Ask the Chatbot a Question </button> </div> <div class="bg-gray-50 p-15 rounded module-spacing recent-news d-flex flex-column float-false"> <div> <h2 class="font-weight-bold font-14 m-0 d-inline"> News <span class="text-gray-600">•</span> </h2> <div class="recent-news-item first-recent-news-item d-inline"> <a class="font-14 gtm-ap-news-link" href="/news/556489/8b499ecc32faad18cf52e00f5691c744" rel="nofollow">Deadly alcohol poisoning casts shadow over the Laotian backpacker town</a> <span class="font-14 text-gray-600"> <span>•</span> Nov. 23, 2024, 8:39 AM ET (AP) <button class="btn btn-link d-inline p-0 font-12 js-toggle-recent-news"> <span class="text-gray-500">...</span><span>(Show more)</span> </button> </span> </div> </div> <div class="rest-of-recent-news-items"> <div class="recent-news-item mt-5"> <a class="font-14 gtm-ap-news-link" href="/news/556489/764c8679b557f84472e0ab1647f0695e" rel="nofollow">Second Australian teen dies in tainted alcohol case in Laos that has killed 6 tourists</a> <span class="font-14 text-gray-600"> <span>•</span> Nov. 22, 2024, 10:36 AM ET (AP) </span> </div> <div class="recent-news-item mt-5"> <a class="font-14 gtm-ap-news-link" href="/news/556489/5ed7c8e19cd931f0748bddf97a2c542d" rel="nofollow">At UN climate talks, "sewage" beer from Singapore highlights water scarcity and innovations</a> <span class="font-14 text-gray-600"> <span>•</span> Nov. 21, 2024, 9:08 AM ET (AP) </span> </div> <div class="recent-news-item mt-5"> <a class="font-14 gtm-ap-news-link" href="/news/556489/0fff658a80f81d2745c1234f5912a6c2" rel="nofollow">Southeast Asian defense chiefs discuss regional security with US, China and other partner nations</a> <span class="font-14 text-gray-600"> <span>•</span> Nov. 21, 2024, 7:51 AM ET (AP) </span> </div> <div class="recent-news-item mt-5"> <a class="font-14 gtm-ap-news-link" href="/news/556489/b1faff217074149f801a49c8b86eeda9" rel="nofollow">US defense chief regrets China's decision not to meet during Southeast Asian security talks</a> <span class="font-14 text-gray-600"> <span>•</span> Nov. 20, 2024, 8:26 PM ET (AP) </span> </div> <button class="js-toggle-recent-news d-flex btn btn-unstyled font-14 pr-10 rounded-sm mt-10" aria-label="Toggle additional news items"> Show less <em class="material-icons" data-icon="expand_less"></em> </button> </div> </div><span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref1"><span class="marker PREMOD1 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph"><strong><span id="ref510034"></span>Southeast Asia</strong>, vast <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/region-geography" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">region</a> of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Asia" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Asia</a> situated east of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Indian-subcontinent" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Indian subcontinent</a> and south of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/China" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">China</a>. It consists of two dissimilar portions: a continental projection (commonly called mainland Southeast Asia) and a string of archipelagoes to the south and east of the mainland (insular Southeast Asia). Extending some 700 miles (1,100 km) southward from the mainland into <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/East-Indies" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">insular Southeast Asia</a> is the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Malay-Peninsula" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Malay Peninsula</a>; this peninsula structurally is part of the mainland, but it also shares many ecological and cultural <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="affinities" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/affinities" data-type="MW">affinities</a> with the surrounding islands and thus functions as a bridge between the two regions.</p><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Mainland Southeast Asia is divided into the countries of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Cambodia" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Cambodia</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Laos" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Laos</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Myanmar" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Myanmar</a> (Burma), <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Thailand" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Thailand</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Vietnam" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Vietnam</a>, and the small city-state of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Singapore" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Singapore</a> at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula; Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, which occupy the eastern portion of the mainland, often are collectively called the Indochinese Peninsula. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Malaysia" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Malaysia</a> is both mainland and insular, with a western portion on the Malay Peninsula and an eastern part on the island of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Borneo-island-Pacific-Ocean" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Borneo</a>. Except for the small sultanate of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Brunei" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Brunei</a> (also on Borneo), the remainder of insular Southeast Asia consists of the archipelagic nations of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Indonesia" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Indonesia</a> and the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Philippines" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Philippines</a>.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Southeast Asia stretches some 4,000 miles at its greatest extent (roughly from northwest to southeast) and <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="encompasses" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/encompasses" data-type="MW">encompasses</a> some 5,000,000 square miles (13,000,000 square km) of land and sea, of which about 1,736,000 square miles is land. <span id="ref510035"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Mount-Hkakabo" class="md-crosslink ">Mount Hkakabo</a> in northern Myanmar on the border with China, at 19,295 feet (5,881 meters), is the highest peak of mainland Southeast Asia. Although the modern nations of the region are sometimes thought of as being small, they are—with the exceptions of Singapore and Brunei—comparatively large. Indonesia, for example, is more than 3,000 miles from west to east (exceeding the west-east extent of the continental United States) and more than 1,000 miles from north to south; the area of Laos is only slightly smaller than that of the United Kingdom; and Myanmar is considerably larger than France.</p><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD4 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">All of Southeast Asia falls within the tropical and subtropical climatic zones, and much of it receives considerable annual precipitation. It is subject to an <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="extensive" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/extensive" data-type="EB">extensive</a> and regular monsoonal weather system (i.e., one in which the prevailing winds reverse direction every six months) that produces marked wet and dry periods in most of the region. Southeast Asia’s landscape is characterized by three intermingled physical elements: mountain ranges, plains and plateaus, and water in the form of both shallow seas and extensive drainage systems. Of these, the rivers probably have been of the greatest historical and cultural significance, for waterways have decisively shaped forms of settlement and agriculture, determined fundamental political and economic patterns, and helped define the nature of Southeast Asians’ worldview and distinctive cultural syncretism. It also has been of great importance that Southeast Asia, which is the most easily accessible tropical region in the world, lies strategically astride the sea passage between <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/East-Asia" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">East Asia</a> and the Middle Eastern–Mediterranean world.</p><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD5 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Within this broad outline, Southeast Asia is perhaps the most <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="diverse" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/diverse" data-type="MW">diverse</a> region on Earth. The number of large and small ecological <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="niches" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/niches" data-type="MW">niches</a> is more than matched by a staggering variety of economic, social, and cultural niches Southeast Asians have developed for themselves; hundreds of ethnic groups and languages have been identified. Under these circumstances, it often is difficult to keep in mind the region’s underlying unity, and it is understandable that Southeast Asia should so often be treated as a miscellaneous collection of <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="cultures" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cultures" data-type="MW">cultures</a> that simply do not quite fit anywhere else.</p><a class="link-module shadow-sm d-block qa-quiz-module" href="/quiz/all-about-asia" data-link-module-iframe-link=""> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/85/94385-131-9978C6A9/Forbidden-City-Beijing.jpg" alt="Roofs of the Forbidden City, Beijing, China" class="rounded-sm mr-15" width="70" /> <div class="line-clamp clamp-5"> <div class="module-title bg-green">Britannica Quiz</div> <div class="font-weight-semi-bold mt-5">All About Asia</div> </div> </a><span class="marker MOD5 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD6 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Yet from ancient times Southeast Asia has been considered by its neighbors to be a region in its own right and not merely an extension of their own lands. The Chinese called it Nanyang and the Japanese Nan’yō, both names meaning “South Seas,” and South Asians used such terms as Suvarnabhūmi (Sanskrit: “Land of Gold”) to describe the area.</p><span class="marker MOD6 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD7 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Modern scholarship increasingly has yielded evidence of broad commonalities uniting the peoples of the region across time. Studies in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/historical-linguistics" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">historical linguistics</a>, for example, have suggested that the vast majority of Southeast Asian languages—even many of those previously considered to have separate origins—either sprang from common roots or have been long and inseparably intertwined. Despite inevitable variation among societies, common views of gender, family structure, and social <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="hierarchy" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hierarchy" data-type="MW">hierarchy</a> and mobility may be discerned throughout mainland and insular Southeast Asia, and a broadly common commercial and cultural inheritance has continued to affect the entire region for several millennia. These and other commonalities have yet to produce a conscious or precise Southeast Asian identity, but they have given substance to the idea of Southeast Asia as a definable world region and have provided a framework for the comparative study of its components.</p><div class="module-spacing"> <DIV class="marketing-INLINE_SUBSCRIPTION marketing-content" data-marketing-id="INLINE_SUBSCRIPTION"><style> .student-promo-banner-wrapper { container-type: inline-size; margin-bottom: 15px; } @container (min-width: 475px) { .student-promo-banner { flex-direction: row; } .student-promo-banner-img-wrapper { margin-bottom: 0; margin-right: 10px; justify-content: flex-start; } .student-promo-banner-text-wrapper { text-align: left; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 10px; } .student-promo-banner-button-wrapper { margin-right: 0; } }</style> <div class="student-promo-banner-wrapper"> <div class="student-promo-banner d-flex flex-column align-items-center bg-blue rounded p-20"> <div class="student-promo-banner-img-wrapper mb-20 mr-0 d-flex justify-content-center"> <img class="rounded" style="max-width: 100px; min-width: 80px" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/marketing/BlueThistle.webp" /> </div> <div class="student-promo-banner-text-wrapper ml-0 mb-10 text-center text-white"> <div class="h2 mb-10">Get Unlimited Access</div> <div class="h4 font-weight-semi-bold">Try Britannica Premium for free and discover more.</div> </div> <div class="student-promo-banner-button-wrapper d-flex justify-content-center align-items-center ml-auto mr-auto"> <a class="btn btn-m btn-orange" href="https://premium.britannica.com/premium-membership/?utm_source=premium&utm_medium=inline-cta&utm_campaign=black-friday-2024">Subscribe</a> </div> </div> </div> </DIV></div><div class="one-good-fact-module"> </div><span class="marker MOD7 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="md-signature"><a href="/contributor/William-H-Frederick/4052">William H. Frederick</a></span><span class="marker h2"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref52751"> <h2 class="h1">Land</h2> <section data-level="2" id="ref52752"> <h2 class="h2">Geology and relief</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD8 mod-inline"></span><div class="assemblies"><div class="w-100"><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="61733" data-asm-type="image"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/25/4025-004-2FD370EA/Southeast-Asia-map-features-Elevation-Cities-Boundaries.jpg" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center media-overlay-link card-media" data-href="/media/1/556489/61733"><picture><source media="(min-width: 680px)" srcset="https://cdn.britannica.com/25/4025-004-2FD370EA/Southeast-Asia-map-features-Elevation-Cities-Boundaries.jpg"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/25/4025-004-2FD370EA/Southeast-Asia-map-features-Elevation-Cities-Boundaries.jpg?w=300" alt="Physical features of Southeast Asia" data-width="320" data-height="350" loading="eager"></picture><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/25/4025-004-2FD370EA/Southeast-Asia-map-features-Elevation-Cities-Boundaries.jpg" data-href="/media/1/556489/61733">Physical features of Southeast Asia</a><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div></figcaption></figure></div></div><p class="topic-paragraph">The physiography of <span id="ref510036"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Southeast-Asia" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Southeast Asia</a> has been formed to a large extent by the convergence of three of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Earth" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Earth</a>’s major crustal units: the Eurasian, Indian-Australian, and Pacific plates. The land has been subjected to a considerable amount of <span id="ref510037"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/diastrophism" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">faulting</a>, folding, <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="uplifting" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/uplifting" data-type="EB">uplifting</a>, and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/volcanism" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">volcanic activity</a> over <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/geologic-time" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">geologic time</a>, and much of the region is mountainous. There are marked structural differences between the mainland and insular portions of the region.</p><span class="marker MOD8 mod-inline"></span> </section></section><span class="marker end-of-content"></span><span class="marker after-article"></span></div> <div id="chatbot-root"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ai-dialog-placeholder"></div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article></div> </div></div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Topic","templateName":"DESKTOP","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":8,"pageId":556489,"pageLength":891,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.130.14"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/dist/topic-page.js?v=3.130.14' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"D","adLeg":"D","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","pageSubtype":null,"articleTemplateType":"PAGINATED","gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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Southeast Asia | Map, Islands, Countries, Culture, & Facts | Britannica