Asian Studies in Credo: Southeast Asia

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

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.

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.

Country in southeast Asia, on the island of Timor in the Malay Archipelago.

Officially Socialist Republic of Vietnam, republic, 128,400 sq mi (332,642 sq km), Southeast Asia. Occupying the eastern coastline of the Southeast Asian peninsula, Vietnam is bounded by China on the north, by Laos and Cambodia on the west, and by the Gulf of Tonkin and the South China Sea on the east and south.

Khmer Kampuchea, officially Kingdom of Cambodia, constitutional monarchy, 69,898 sq mi (181,035 sq km), SE Asia. Phnom Penh is the capital and largest city. Cambodia is bordered by Thailand on the west and north, by Laos on the north, by Vietnam on the east, and by the Gulf of Thailand on the south.

Capital of Cambodia, lying in the south of the country

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.

Ancient kingdom of SE Asia established in the 6th cent. by the Cambodians, or Khmers.

Officially Lao People's Democratic Republic, republic, 91,428 sq mi (236,800 sq km), SE Asia. The capital and largest city is Vientiane. A landlocked nation, Laos is bordered by China on the north, by Vietnam on the east, by Cambodia on the south, and by Thailand and Myanmar on the west.

Capital, largest city, and chief port of Laos, lying in the north on the Mekong River

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.

Capital and chief port of Myanmar (Burma) on the Yangon River.

One of a recognised Burmese-Lolo group of SINO-TIBETAN LANGUAGES, Burmese reached its present predominance in coastal and central Burma relatively recently.

Thai Prathet Thai [land of the free], officially Kingdom of Thailand, constitutional monarchy, 198,455 sq mi (514,000 sq km), Southeast Asia. Occupying a central position on the Southeast Asia peninsula, Thailand is bordered by Myanmar on the west and northwest, by Laos on the north and east, by Cambodia on the southeast, and by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia on the south.

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.

Capital and port of Thailand, on the east bank of the River Chao Phraya

Capital of Chiang Mai prov., N Thailand, on the Ping River

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.

Province and autonomous district comprising the northern tip of Sumatra, Indonesia.

Although Bali is relatively small, it is densely populated and culturally and economically one of the most important islands of Indonesia.

Capital of Indonesia on the northwest coast of Java

The westernmost and second largest island of Indonesia.

Independent federation in Southeast Asia. Malaysia consists of two parts: West Malaysia, also called Peninsular Malaysia or Malaya, 50,700 sq mi (131,313 sq km), on the Malay Peninsula.

Capital of Malaysia

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.

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.

The northern part of the peninsula forms a part of Thailand; the southern part constitutes West Malaysia, the Malayan part of Malaysia.

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.

Capital of the Philippines, SW Luzon, on Manila Bay

Among the Austroneasian Languages of the Philippines.