Southeast Asia
This part of your GEOTREX adventure brings you to Southeast Asia. The people of Southeast Asia come from a variety of cultural, religious, and ethnic backgrounds. Some of the population live in small rural villages. The rest live in large modern cities. Southeast Asia has undergone rapid economic growth in recent years. This has created new opportunities as well as new challenges. In this topic, you will learn about the cultural and economic characteristics of Southeast Asia.
Essential Questions
- What are the major regions and cities of Southeast Asia?
- What cultural influences and landscapes define Southeast Asia?
- What characteristics define the economic activities of Southeast Asia?
Warm-Up
Indonesia includes more than 17,000 islands. Its population is approximately 264 million, and the GDP is the sixth largest in the world. Malaysia is a much smaller island. Its population is approximately 32 million, but the country’s abundant natural resources have stimulated its economic growth.
Take a moment to view the graphs showing the population growth trends for both Indonesia and Malaysia. What trends do you notice? What are some possible reasons for these trends?