duPont Library: Asian Studies: Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia: Topic Page
This region has 10 independent countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Brunei: Topic Page
Country comprising two enclaves on the northwest coast of the island of Borneo, bounded to the landward side by Sarawak and to the northwest by the South China Sea.

Timor: Topic Page
Largest and most easterly of the Lesser Sunda Islands, in the Malay Archipelago; area 33,610 sq km/12,973 sq mi. It is divided into West Timor, under Indonesian rule, and the country of East Timor
East Timor: Topic Page
Country in southeast Asia, on the island of Timor in the Malay Archipelago.

Vietnam: Topic Page
Officially Socialist Republic of Vietnam, republic (2005 est. pop. 83,536,000), 128,400 sq mi (332,642 sq km), Southeast Asia. MORE

Cambodia: Topic Page
Khmer Kampuchea, officially Kingdom of Cambodia, constitutional monarchy (2005 est. pop. 13,607,000), 69,898 sq mi (181,035 sq km), SE Asia. Phnom Penh is the capital and largest city.
Phnom Penh: Topic Page
Capital of Cambodia, lying in the south of the country
Khmer Language: Topic Page
Khmer belongs to the Mon-Khmer group of languages within the Austroasiatic family. Khmer and Vietnamese are the only two AUSTROASIATIC LANGUAGES that are national languages in a modern state.
Khmer Empire: Topic Page
Ancient kingdom of SE Asia established in the 6th cent. by the Cambodians, or Khmers.

Laos: Topic Page
Officially Lao People's Democratic Republic, republic (2005 est. pop. 6,217,000), 91,428 sq mi (236,800 sq km), SE Asia. The capital and largest city is Vientiane.
Viangchan: Topic Page
apital, largest city, and chief port of Laos, lying in the north on the Mekong River

Myanmar: Topic Page
Country in Southeast Asia, bounded northwest by India and Bangladesh, northeast by China, southeast by Laos and Thailand, and southwest by the Bay of Bengal.
Yangon: Topic Page
Capital and chief port of Myanmar (Burma) on the Yangon River.
Burmese Language: Topic Page
One of a recognised Burmese-Lolo group of SINO-TIBETAN LANGUAGES, Burmese reached its present predominance in coastal and central Burma relatively recently.

Thailand: Topic Page
Thai Prathet Thai [land of the free], officially Kingdom of Thailand, constitutional monarchy (2005 est. pop. 65,444,000), 198,455 sq mi (514,000 sq km), Southeast Asia.
Thai Language: Topic Page
The best known of the TAI LANGUAGES, Thai is the national language of Thailand, spoken by the great majority of the population in the central and southern parts of the country.
Bangkok: Topic Page
Capital and port of Thailand, on the east bank of the River Chao Phraya
Chiang Mai: Topic Page
Capital of Chiang Mai prov., N Thailand, on the Ping River

Indonesia: Topic Page
Country in southeast Asia, made up of 13,677 islands situated on or near the Equator, between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It is the world's fourth most populous country, surpassed only by China, India, and the USA.
Aceh: Topic Page
Province and autonomous district comprising the northern tip of Sumatra, Indonesia.
Bali: Topic Page
Although Bali is relatively small, it is densely populated and culturally and economically one of the most important islands of Indonesia.
Jakarta: Topic Page
Capital of Indonesia on the northwest coast of Java
Sumatra: Topic Page
The westernmost and second largest island of Indonesia.

Malaysia: Topic Page
Malaysia consists of two parts: West Malaysia, also called Peninsular Malaysia or Malaya (1990 est. pop. 14,400,000), 50,700 sq mi (131,313 sq km), on the Malay Peninsula
Kuala Lumpur: Topic Page
Capital of Malaysia
Malay: Topic Page
Member of any of a large group of peoples comprising the majority population of the Malay Peninsula and archipelago, and also found in southern Thailand and coastal Sumatra and Borneo.
Malay Language: Topic Page
For at least a thousand years Malay has been the principal lingua franca of ‘insular southeast Asia’, of the great Malay Archipelago which is now politically divided between Indonesia and Malaysia.
Malay Peninsula: Topic Page
The northern part of the peninsula forms a part of Thailand; the southern part constitutes West Malaysia, the Malayan part of Malaysia.

Philippines: Topic Page
Country in southeast Asia, on an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands west of the Pacific Ocean and south of the Southeast Asian mainland.
Manila: Topic Page
Capital of the Philippines, SW Luzon, on Manila Bay
Tagalog Language: Topic Page
Among the Austroneasian Languages of the Philippines.