SOUTHEAST

ASIA
The Countries of
Southeast Asia
REGIONS OF THE REALM

• MAINLAND REGION
– VIETNAM (PREVIOUSLY NORTH &
SOUTH VIETNAM)
– CAMBODIA (PREVIOUSLY FRENCH
INDO-CHINA)
– LAOS (PREVIOUSLY FRENCH INDO-
CHINA)
– THAILAND
– MYANMAR (PREVIOUSLY BURMA)

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 MAINLAND REGION
• 5 STATES: VIETNAM, LAOS,
CAMBODIA, THAILAND, MYANMAR
• BUDDHISM DOMINATES THE
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE
• A MULTICULTURAL AND MULTIETHNIC
REGION
• ONE OF THE LEAST URBANIZED
REALMS IN THE WORLD
• SOME COUNTRIES HAVE MORE THAN
ONE CORE AREA (VIETNAM,
MYANMAR)

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 VIETNAM
• CAPITAL: HANOI

• “Tiny dragon of
southeast asia”

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Vietnam Literature
• Rich, varied expressing over the
centuries.
• Depicts humor, realism, and irony
of the Vietnamese people
KINGDOM OF CAMBODIA

• CAPITAL: PHNOM PENH

• “Land of the
khmers”

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 LAOS
• CAPITAL: VIENTIANE

• “Land of a
million
elephant”

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Laos

• Secular texts - much richer

than religious texts
– popular and classical
lietrature are well known at all
levels of society although
authors names are unknown
and texts are undated and
undatable
• 1. Stories, legends and poem of
oral tradition are satirical in tone
• Stories called sysva have strong
moral and education content
KINGDOM OF THAILAND
• CAPITAL: BANGKOK
• “Land of the free”

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Thailand
• Religion
– Jataka Tales a.k.a Aesops Fables
– Fate and Karma
– Buddhist Concepts of Merit and
Demerit
– The Theme of Rice - gather as much
as you need for one day
MYANMAR
• One of world’s
poorest countries
• CAPITAL:NYAPYITAW

• “ Land of the
golden
pagodas”

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Burma
• Buddhism
• Anti-government, expose’ of
government corruption
INSULAR SOUTHEAST ASIA
• A SUB-REALM OF PENINSULAS
AND ISLANDS
• SOUTHEAST ASIA’S SOUTHERN
AND EASTERN PERIPHERY
• COMPRISED OF 5 STATES, ALL OF
WHICH HAVE COLONIAL
HISTORIES
– MALAYSIA
– INDONESIA
– PHILLIPINES
– SINGAPORE
– BRUNEI
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INSULAR SOUTHEAST ASIA
• FRAGMENTED POLITICAL
ENTITIES
• A MULTICULTURAL AND MULTI-
ETHNIC REGION
• ISLAM PREVAILS
• COLONIAL LEGACIES PERSIST

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MALAYSIA

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MALAYSIA

• CAPITAL: KUALA LUMPUR

•“Land of the
indigenous malays”

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SINGAPORE
• CAPITAL: SINGAPORE

•“land of
shipbuilders”

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INDONESIA

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 INDONESIA
• CAPITAL: JAKARTA

•“Largest
archipelago in
the world”

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Indonesian
• Ramayana - The Journey of Rama
– Purpose: To conquer evil with good
– Important Notions: Meditation,
Power of Language, Hierarchy/caste
 •One of the newest
little countries in
the world
East •CAPITAL: DILI
Timor
• “Timor
Leste”

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BRUNEI

BRUNEI

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BRUNEI
• CAPITAL: BANDAR SERI
BEGAWAN

•“Richest nation
in southeast
asia”

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PHILIPPINES
• Republic of the
Philippines (1946)
• Insurgencies
• Over 7,000 islands
• Three island groups
– Luzon & Mindoro
– Visayan
– Mindanao

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PHILLIPINES

•CAPITAL: MANILA
•“ PEARL OF THE
ORIENT SEA”

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Philippines
• Literature based on expressive
Culture
– epics
– myths
– legends, tales
– riddles, proverbs and rituals
– balagtasan
LITERATURE:

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SOUTHEAST ASIA:
The Countries
The End!