South Asia

South Asia is a geo-cultural region comprising the modern states of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, and the Maldives. Often Afghanistan is also included, sometimes with the northern part of Afghanistan placed in Central Asia.

It includes the region sometimes called the Indian subcontinent. It contains well over a fifth of the world's population and, after Sub-Saharan Africa, is also one of the world's poorest regions.

See also: History of South Asia