Category: Asia

SOUTH EAST ASIA
Southeast Asia consists of numerous, mostly mountainous islands, the Malacca peninsula and a mainland tip in the north, mainly occupied by Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. In terms of natural space, mountain barriers and the climatic boundary between the tropics and subtropics result in clear demarcations from East, Central and South Asia.

Typical is the high intensity of tectonic activities – be it through volcanism, earthquakes or crust movements – within the geologically young island groups lying on plate boundaries. This particularly affects those plate edges that border deep-sea trenches, as in the case of the Philippines. Borneo, on the other hand, forms a relatively stable core. On large islands such as Sumatra, there is a contrast between the mountain ranges reaching considerable heights and extensive, often swampy plains. By comparing the inaccessible coasts of Borneo and the fertile volcanic soils of Java, it becomes clear how natural spatial conditions influence the population density. For more information about the continent of Asia, please check ehealthfacts.org.