South Asia
South Asia is the region south of the Himalayas, centred on the Indian subcontinent. Its eight core countries are home to nearly 2 billion people — about a quarter of humanity — on roughly 3.5% of the world's land area.
About South Asia
South Asia stretches from the Hindu Kush and the Iranian Plateau in the west to the hills along India's border with Myanmar in the east, and from the Himalayas and Karakoram in the north to Sri Lanka and the Maldives in the Indian Ocean. India, Pakistan and Bangladesh make up most of its land and people. Nepal and Bhutan sit on the southern flank of the Himalayas, Afghanistan lies in the mountainous north-west, and Sri Lanka and the Maldives are the region's two island states. AsiaMap.net also places Iran here, following the UN geoscheme, which brings the total to 9 countries; most other definitions count 8.
Few regions are as densely settled. The Indo-Gangetic Plain, watered by the Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra, has supported large farming populations since the Indus Valley Civilisation, whose cities such as Harappa and Mohenjo-daro flourished from around 2600 to 1900 BCE. Four world religions began here — Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism — and the region also holds some of the world's largest Muslim populations (see religions of Asia). Most of South Asia's languages belong to the Indo-Aryan branch of Indo-European (Hindi, Bengali, Urdu, Punjabi, Nepali, Sinhala) or to the Dravidian family of southern India and northern Sri Lanka (Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam); the wider picture is on the languages of Asia page.
Modern borders are mostly recent. British rule ended with the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947; Sri Lanka became independent in 1948, the Maldives in 1965, and Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan, in 1971. Nepal and Bhutan were never colonised. Kashmir remains disputed: parts of it are administered by India, Pakistan and China, and maps from each country show the boundary differently.
Countries in South Asia
Quick facts: AsiaMap.net counts 9 countries in South Asia, following the UN geoscheme, which places Iran in Southern Asia. Most other definitions — including the 8-member South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) — leave Iran out, giving 8 countries. Iran is also listed on our West Asia map.
- Afghanistan
- Bangladesh
- Bhutan
- India
- Iran (often counted in West Asia instead)
- Maldives
- Nepal
- Pakistan
- Sri Lanka
South Asian countries and capitals
| Country | Capital | Area (km²) | Population (2025 est.) | Time zone |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| India | New Delhi | 3,287,263 | 1,463.9 million | UTC+5:30 |
| Pakistan | Islamabad | 881,912 | 255.2 million | UTC+5 |
| Bangladesh | Dhaka | 148,460 | 175.7 million | UTC+6 |
| Iran* | Tehran | 1,648,195 | 92.4 million | UTC+3:30 |
| Afghanistan | Kabul | 652,864 | 43.8 million | UTC+4:30 |
| Nepal | Kathmandu | 147,516 | 29.6 million | UTC+5:45 |
| Sri Lanka | Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte | 65,610 | 23.2 million | UTC+5:30 |
| Bhutan | Thimphu | 38,394 | 796,682 | UTC+6 |
| Maldives | Malé | 298 | 529,676 | UTC+5 |
*Iran is in Southern Asia under the UN geoscheme but is more often grouped with West Asia and the Middle East. Population figures are UN World Population Prospects estimates for 2025. Sri Lanka's official capital is Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, a suburb of Colombo, which remains the largest city and commercial centre. Islamabad replaced Karachi as Pakistan's capital in the 1960s. Together the nine countries cover about 6.87 million km² and hold about 2.09 billion people; without Iran, the figures are about 5.22 million km² and 1.99 billion. Every capital in Asia is listed on the capitals of Asia page.
How South Asia is defined
There is no single official list of South Asian countries, and the main groupings differ at the edges:
- SAARC and the World Bank: the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, founded in Dhaka in 1985, has eight members — Afghanistan (which joined in 2007), Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The World Bank's South Asia region uses the same eight countries. This is the most common definition.
- UN geoscheme: the UN Statistics Division's "Southern Asia" adds Iran, giving nine. AsiaMap.net uses this grouping for its country data, which is why Iran is counted here.
- The Indian subcontinent: a geographical term for the land on the Indian tectonic plate south of the Himalayas — India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, usually with Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Afghanistan and Iran lie outside it.
- Edge cases: Afghanistan is sometimes treated as part of Central Asia, and Myanmar, which borders India and Bangladesh, is occasionally included in broad definitions, although it is normally counted in Southeast Asia.
Physical geography
The region is shaped by the collision of the Indian plate with Asia, which pushed up the Himalayas and continues to make northern South Asia earthquake-prone. Its main landforms are:
- The Himalayas and Karakoram along the northern rim, with the world's two highest mountains: Mount Everest (8,849 m) on the Nepal–China border and K2 (8,611 m) on the border between Pakistani-administered Kashmir and China. Kangchenjunga (8,586 m), the third highest, is on the Nepal–India border. The Hindu Kush runs across Afghanistan into northern Pakistan. More on the mountain ranges of Asia page.
- The Indo-Gangetic Plain, a vast lowland built from river sediment across Pakistan, northern India and Bangladesh. The Ganges and Brahmaputra meet in Bangladesh to form the world's largest river delta, whose seaward edge holds the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest on Earth, shared by Bangladesh and India. See rivers of Asia.
- The Deccan Plateau, the ancient upland of peninsular India, framed by the Western and Eastern Ghats.
- Deserts and plateaus: the Thar Desert on the India–Pakistan border, and the dry Iranian Plateau and Afghan highlands in the west (see deserts of Asia).
- Islands: Sri Lanka, separated from India by the shallow Palk Strait, and the Maldives, a chain of some 1,190 coral islands grouped in atolls. The Maldives is the lowest-lying country in the world, with an average ground level of only about 1.5 m above the sea.
Climate
Most of South Asia runs on the monsoon. From about June to September, moist south-westerly winds from the Indian Ocean bring the bulk of the year's rain to India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, and the timing of the monsoon's arrival matters enormously for farming. Meghalaya in north-east India, where Mawsynram and Cherrapunji (Sohra) are among the wettest places on Earth, can receive more than 11,000 mm of rain a year. The months before the monsoon are the hottest, and temperatures above 45 °C are common across the plains of Pakistan and northern India. Winters are cool and dry in the north and mild in the south.
The west is much drier. The Thar Desert, southern Pakistan, Afghanistan and most of Iran have arid or semi-arid climates, while the high Himalaya and Karakoram are alpine, holding the largest volume of glacier ice outside the polar regions. Sri Lanka and the Maldives are tropical all year, with rain from both the south-west and north-east monsoons. Cyclones from the Bay of Bengal regularly strike Bangladesh and eastern India, and low-lying Bangladesh and the Maldives are among the countries most exposed to sea-level rise.
Population and economy
South Asia contains three of the world's eight most populous countries. India overtook China as the most populous country in 2023, according to UN estimates, and has about 1.46 billion people. Pakistan (about 255 million) ranks fifth in the world and Bangladesh (about 176 million) eighth; Bangladesh is also the most densely populated large country, with more than 1,100 people per km². The region's population is young, and most people still live in rural areas, although cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Dhaka, Karachi and Lahore are among the largest urban areas in the world.
India has the region's largest economy by far and is one of the five largest in the world by nominal GDP, with strengths in IT and business services, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing and agriculture. Bangladesh is one of the world's biggest exporters of ready-made garments. Pakistan's economy rests on agriculture, textiles and services, and remittances from workers abroad are important across the region, especially in Nepal. Bhutan earns much of its income from hydropower sold to India, the Maldives depends on tourism, and Sri Lanka is rebuilding after the economic crisis and debt default of 2022. Iran has large oil and gas reserves but its economy is constrained by international sanctions. Afghanistan, governed by the Taliban since August 2021, is the poorest country in the region and relies heavily on humanitarian aid. Income levels for every country are compared on our Asian countries by GDP per capita list.
The region also uses some unusual clocks: India and Sri Lanka keep UTC+5:30, Nepal UTC+5:45, Afghanistan UTC+4:30 and Iran UTC+3:30 — the details are on the time zones in Asia page. For travel distances between the region's cities, try Delhi to Mumbai, Delhi to Karachi or the distance calculator.
Frequently asked questions
How many countries are in South Asia?
Most definitions, including SAARC and the World Bank, count 8 countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The UN geoscheme adds Iran, making 9, and AsiaMap.net follows the UN grouping.
Is Iran part of South Asia?
Only in some classifications. The UN geoscheme places Iran in Southern Asia, but Iran is more commonly considered part of West Asia and the Middle East, and it is not a member of SAARC.
Which is the largest country in South Asia?
India is the largest by both area (about 3.29 million km²) and population (about 1.46 billion). If Iran is included, it is the second largest by area, at about 1.65 million km².
Which is the smallest country in South Asia?
The Maldives, with about 298 km² of land and roughly 530,000 people. It is also the smallest country in Asia by area.
Is Afghanistan in South Asia or Central Asia?
Both groupings are used. Afghanistan is a member of SAARC and is placed in Southern Asia by the UN, but its northern regions share history, peoples and languages with Central Asia, and some definitions put it there.
What is the difference between South Asia and the Indian subcontinent?
The Indian subcontinent is a physical term for the land south of the Himalayas on the Indian plate — mainly India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, often with Sri Lanka and the Maldives. South Asia is a political grouping that usually also includes Afghanistan.