geography of southeast asia why was it called the cold war

The region is mostly populated by the Austronesians, who first expanded from the island of Taiwan, and later on during the early modern period, when East Asians such as the Han Chinese started to migrate south and became known as the Peranakans or Straits Chinese.īuddhism, Christianity, Islam and Hinduism are the most popular religions throughout the region, while Sikhism, Jainism, Chinese folk religion and various other traditional beliefs and practices are also prominent in some areas. Peoples of the East Indies comprise a wide variety of cultural diversity, and the inhabitants do not consider themselves as belonging to a single ethnic group. In colonial times, they were just 'natives'. It distinguishes them both from inhabitants of the Caribbean (which is also called the West Indies) and from the indigenous peoples of the Americas who are often called American Indians. The inhabitants of the East Indies are never called East Indians, as they are not linguistically related to South Asia, most specifically the Indo-Aryan languages. It does not, however, include the former Netherlands New Guinea, which is geographically considered to be part of Melanesia. The East Indies may also include the former French Indochina, former British territories Brunei, Hong Kong and Singapore and former Portuguese Macau and Timor. Dutch occupied colonies in the area were known for about 300 years as the Dutch East Indies till Indonesian independence.

( January 2023) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)ĭuring the era of European colonization, territories of the Spanish Empire in Asia were known as the Spanish East Indies for 333 years before the American conquest. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources.

Geography of southeast asia why was it called the cold war