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| Area | 5,134,641 km2 (1,982,496 sq mi) |
|---|---|
| Population | 1.94 billion (2022)[1] |
| Population density | 362.3/km2 (938/sq mi) |
| GDP (PPP) | $15.1 trillion (2022)[2] |
| GDP (nominal) | $4.47 trillion (2022)[3] |
| GDP per capita | $2,350 (nominal) (2022) $8,000 (PPP) (2022)[4] |
| HDI |  0.641 (2019)(medium)[5] |
| Ethnic groups | Indo-Aryan, Iranian, Dravidian, Sino-Tibetan, Austroasiatic, Turkic etc. |
| Religions | Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism, Irreligion |
| Demonym |
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| Countries | |
| Dependencies | |
| Languages | Official languages (national level) Other official languages (provincial/regional level) |
| Time zones | |
| Internet TLD | .af, .bd, .bt, .in, .io, .lk, .mv, .np, .pk |
| Calling code | Zone 8 & 9 |
| Largest cities | |
| UN M49 code | 034 – Southern Asia142 – Asia001 – World |
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethnic-cultural terms. As commonly conceptualised, South Asia consists of the countries Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka,[6] with Afghanistan also often included.[7]
Topographically, it is dominated by the Indian subcontinent and defined largely by the Indian Ocean in the south, and the Himalayas, Karakoram, and Pamir mountains in the north.[citation needed] The Amu Darya, which rises north of the Hindu Kush, forms part of the northwestern border.[citation needed] On land (clockwise), South Asia is bounded by Western Asia, Central Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia.
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is an economic cooperation organization in the region which was established in 1985 and includes all eight nations comprising South Asia.[8] The core countries of South Asia have a total area of 4.4 million km2 (1.7 million sq mi), which is 10% of the Asian continent.[6] The population of the region, under the broader definition, is about 1.9 billion[1] or about one-fourth of the world's population, making it both the most populous and the most densely populated geographical region in the world.[9]
In 2022, South Asia had the world's largest populations of Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Jains, and Zoroastrians.[10] South Asia alone accounts for 90.47% of Hindus, 95.5% of Sikhs, and 31% of Muslims worldwide, as well as 35 million Christians and 25 million Buddhists.[11][12][13][14]
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
UN WPP 2019 2was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "GDP, current prices". International Monetary Fund.
- ^ "GDP, current prices, Purchasing power parity; billions of international dollars, Billions of U.S. dollars". International Monetary Fund.
- ^ "GDP per capita, current prices". International Monetary Fund.
- ^ "Human Development Report 2020 – "Human Development Indices and Indicators"" (PDF). HDRO (Human Development Report Office) United Nations Development Programme. p. 346. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
- ^ a b "Indian Subcontinent Archived 21 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine". Encyclopedia of Modern Asia. Macmillan Reference USA (Gale Group), 2006: "The area is divided between five major nation-states, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, and includes as well the two small nations of Bhutan and the Maldives Republic... The total area can be estimated at 4.4 million square kilometres or exactly 10 percent of the land surface of Asia."
- ^ "South Asia | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
- ^ SAARC Summit. "SAARC". SAARC Summit. Archived from the original on 16 December 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
- ^ "South Asia Regional Overview". South Asian Regional Development Gateway. Archived from the original on 21 November 2008.
- ^ Diplomat, Akhilesh Pillalamarri, The. "How South Asia Will Save Global Islam". The Diplomat. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
- ^ "Religion population totals in 2010 by Country". Pew Research Center. 2012. Archived from the original on 9 December 2016.
- ^ Pechilis, Karen; Raj, Selva J. (2013). South Asian Religions: Tradition and Today. Routledge. p. 193. ISBN 978-0-415-44851-2.
- ^ "Region: Asia-Pacific". Pew Research Center. 27 January 2011. Archived from the original on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
- ^ "10 Countries With the Largest Muslim Populations, 2010 and 2050". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. 2 April 2015. Archived from the original on 4 May 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).