The document discusses key issues facing South Asia: rapid population growth, extreme weather, and territorial disputes caused by religious and ethnic differences. It covers how population growth in the region has contributed to social and economic problems due to lack of resources and how education can help control growth. The region experiences a yearly cycle of monsoon-caused floods and droughts that have serious physical, economic and political consequences. It also describes the long-standing territorial dispute between India and Pakistan over Kashmir and the danger this poses given both countries now have nuclear weapons.

1. Today’s Issues:
South Asia
South Asia faces the challenges of rapid
population growth, destructive weather, and
territorial disputes caused by religious and
ethnic differences.
NEXT

2. SECTION 1 Population Explosion
SECTION 2 Living with Extreme Weather
Today’s Issues:
South Asia
Case Study Territorial Dispute
NEXT

3. Section 1
Population Explosion
• Explosive population growth in South Asia
has contributed to social and economic ills in
the region.
• Education is key to controlling population
growth and improving the quality of life in
South Asia.
NEXT

4. Growing Pains
Rapid growth
• In 2000, India’s population reached 1 billion
• Rapid growth means many citizens lack life’s basic
necessities
- food, clothing, shelter
• South Asia must manage population growth so
economies can develop
SECTION
1
Continued . . .
Population Explosion
NEXT

5. SECTION
1
Population Grows
• India’s population was 300 million in 1947; has
since tripled
• So large that even 2% growth rate produces
population explosion
• Unless rate slows, India will have 1.5 billion by 2045
- would be the world’s most populous country
(passing China)
• India, Pakistan, Bangladesh among top 10 most
populous countries
- region has 22% of world’s population, lives on 3%
of world’s land
continued Growing Pains
Continued . . .
NEXT

6. SECTION
1
Inadequate Resources
• Region has widespread poverty, illiteracy—inability
to read or write
- poor sanitation, health education lead to disease
outbreaks
• Every year, to keep pace, India would have to:
- build 127,000 new schools and 2.5 million new
homes
- create 4 million new jobs
- produce 6 million more tons of food
continued Growing Pains
NEXT

7. Managing Population Growth
Smaller Families
• India spends nearly $1 billion a year encouraging
smaller families
• Programs have only limited success
- Indian women marry before age 18, start having
babies early
- to poor, children are source of money (begging,
working fields)
- children can later take care of elderly parents
- have more kids to beat high infant mortality
SECTION
1
Continued . . .
NEXT

8. SECTION
1
Education is a Key
• Growth factors can be changed with education, but
funds are limited
- India spends under $6 per pupil a year on
education
- U.S. spends $6,320 per pupil a year
• Education could break cycle of poverty, raise living
standards
- improves females’ status with job opportunities
- better health care education could lower infant
mortality rates
continued Managing Population Growth
NEXT

9. Section 2
Living with Extreme
Weather
• South Asia experiences a yearly cycle of
floods, often followed by drought.
• The extreme weather in South Asia leads to
serious physical, economic, and political
consequences.
NEXT

10. The Monsoon Seasons
Summer and Winter Wind Systems
• Annual cycle of extreme weather makes life difficult
• Monsoon is wind system, not a rainstorm; two
monsoon seasons
• Summer monsoon—blows moist from southwest,
across Indian Ocean
- blows June through September, causes
rainstorms, flooding
• Winter monsoon—blows cool from northeast,
across Himalayas, to sea
- blows October through February, can cause
drought
Living with Extreme Weather
SECTION
2
NEXT

11. Impact of the Monsoons
Physical Impact
• Summer monsoons nourish rain forests, irrigate
crops
- floodwaters bring rich sediment to soil, but can
also damage crops
• Cyclones are common with summer monsoons
- called hurricanes in North America
- cause flooding, widespread destruction
- 1970 Bangladesh cyclone killed 300,000
• Winter monsoon droughts turn lush lands into arid
wastelands
SECTION
2
Continued . . .
NEXT

12. SECTION
2
Economic Impact
• Floods, droughts make agriculture difficult
- countries buy what they can’t grow; famine looms
• Weather catastrophes also destroy homes, families
- people often too poor to rebuild, governments
lack funds to help
• People build: houses on stilts, concrete cyclone
shelters, dams
• Region gets international aid and billions of dollars
in loans
- aid can’t keep up with disasters, debts result
continued Impact of the Monsoons
NEXT
Continued . . .

13. SECTION
2
Political Tensions
• Weather conditions also cause political disputes
• India builds Farakka dam across Ganges before it
enters Bangladesh
- India wants to bring water to city of Kolkata
- dam leaves little water for Bangladesh
- many of Bangladesh’s farmers lose land, illegally
flee to India
- dispute is settled in 1997 with a treaty specifying
water rights
continued Impact of the Monsoons
NEXT

14. Case Study Territorial Dispute
BACKGROUND
• Kashmir territory is strategically located at foot of
Himalayas
• Territory of 12 million people surrounded by
Pakistan, China, India
• India and Pakistan have fought three wars over
Kashmir since 1947
• Dispute threatens region’s stability, countries’
economic well-being
• Danger increases now that both countries have
nuclear weapons
How Can India and Pakistan
Resolve Their Dispute Over
Kashmir?
NEXT

15. Case Study
Partitioning
• British left India in 1947 and partitioned—divided—
the subcontinent
- created two independent countries
- India is predominantly Hindu, Pakistan is mostly
Muslim
• Britain lets each Indian state choose which country
to join
- Muslim states join Pakistan, Hindu states
remain in India
NEXT
A Controversy Over Territory
Continued . . .

16. Case Study
Politics and Religion
• Kashmir’s problem: population is Muslim, but its
leader was Hindu
• Maharajah of Kashmir wants an independent
nation
- but is forced to cede territory to India in 1947
• Pakistan invades; a year later India still controls
much of Kashmir
• India, Pakistan fight two more wars over Kashmir
in 1965, 1971
- dispute remains unresolved; each country still
controls part
- China has had a small portion since 1962
NEXT
continued A Controversy Over Territory
Continued . . .

17. Case Study
A Question of Economics
• Indus River flows through Kashmir
- many of its tributaries originate in the territory
• Indus is critical source of drinking, irrigation water
in Pakistan
- Pakistan doesn’t want India to control that
resource
• Kashmir is a strategic prize neither side will give
up
continued A Controversy Over Territory
NEXT

18. Case Study
Dangerous Testing
• India and Pakistan each test nuclear weapons in
1998
- raise fears that the 50-year-old dispute could go
nuclear
- after tests, both countries vow to seek political
solution
• Border clashes continue
- Pakistan supports Kashmir Muslims fighting
Indian rule
NEXT
A Nuclear Nightmare
Continued . . .

19. Case Study
A Question of Priorities
• Both India and Pakistan have large populations,
widespread poverty
- both overspend on troops, arms, nuclear
programs
- that money could be used for education and
social programs
• Resolving Kashmir problem would bring peace
- the quality of people’s lives could start
improving
- resolution could reduce the region’s political
tensions
continued A Nuclear Nightmare
NEXT

20. This is the end of the chapter presentation of
lecture notes. Click the HOME or EXIT button.

21. Print Slide Show
1. On the File menu, select Print
2. In the pop-up menu, select Microsoft PowerPoint
If the dialog box does not include this pop-up, continue
to step 4
3. In the Print what box, choose the presentation format
you want to print: slides, notes, handouts, or outline
4. Click the Print button to print the PowerPoint
presentation
CONTINUE