Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia Physical Map

CROSS-LINK: Small Island Nations and Rising Sea Levels

Countries in Southeast Asia

Cambodia

• Capital: Phnom Penh
• Population: 17,000,000

Indonesia

• Capital: Jakarta
• Population: 278,000,000 

Laos 

• Capital: Vientiane
• Population: 7,600,000 

Malaysia 

• Capital: Kuala Lumpur
• Population: 34,000,000 

Myanmar (Burma)

• Capital: Naypyidaw*
• Population: 55,000,000 

 Papua New Guinea 

• Capital: Port Moresby

Philippines 

• Capital: Manila
• Population: 117,000,000 

Singapore

• Capital: Singapore
• Population: 6,000,000  

 Thailand 

• Capital: Bangkok
• Population: 72,000,000 

Timor-Leste:

• Capital: Dili
• Population: 1,300,000 

Vietnam 

• Capita: Hanoi
• Population: 99,000,000 

Southeast Asia Political Map

South East Asian Capitals by Population (from worldatlas.com):

Jakarta: 10,187,595
Bangkok: 8,280,925
Singapore: 5,312,400
Hanoi: 3,398,889
Phnom Penh: 2,011,725
Manila: 1,652,171
Kuala Lumpur: 1,381,830
Naypyidaw: 925,000
Port Moresby: 307,643
Vientiane: 287,579

Dili: 222,0000

Further Reading and Investigation:

• The capital of Myanmar was changed from Rangoon to Naypyidaw in Nov. of 2005.
• Click here for an article on changing capitals

• Indonesia is currently building a new capital.
• Click here to learn more about it. 

• Myanmar is currently experiencing a deadly civil war that was triggered by a 2021 coup.  
• Click here to see a viral video of the 2021 unfolding (primary source) in which a woman filming herself doing a dancing routine accidentally captured footage of the country’s unfolding 2021 coup in the background.
• This primary source should be an interesting selection for both students and educators, as well as tying the contents of the page to current events.

Oceania

Hybrid Physical/Political Map of Oceania from https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/map/oceania_map.htm

Australia and Oceania: Human Geography, from National Geographic

• a region made up of thousands of islands throughout the Central and South Pacific Ocean

Countries in Oceania:

Australia

• Capital: Canberra

Fiji

• Capital: Suva

Kiribati 

• Capital: Tarawa

Marshall Islands 

• Capital: Majuro

Micronesia (Palikir)

• Capital: Palikir

Nauru 

• Capital: Yaren (de facto)

New Zealand

• Capital: Wellington 

Niue

• Capital: Alofi

Palau

• Capital: Melekeok

Samoa

• Capital: Apia

Solomon Islands

• Capital: Honiara

Tonga

• Capital: Nuku'alofa

Tuvalu

• Capital: Funafuti

Vanuatu

• Capital: Port-Vila

Oceania Capitals by Population (from worldatlas.com):
Wellington: 381,900
Canberra: 354,644
Suva: 84,410
Honiara: 59,288
Apia: 39,813
Port-Vila: 38,000
Tarawa: 30,000
Majuro: 25,400
Nuku'Alofa: 22,400
Palikir: 9,900
Funafuti: 4,492
Alofi: 1,400

Further Reading and Investigation:

• At one point, much of Oceania with the exception of Tonga was under the control of foreign powers.
• Click here to learn more about colonization and imperialism in Oceania.

• Polynesians settled many of the islands of Oceania long before the arrival of European and Asian empires.
• Click here to learn more about them. 

Flag of Guam How the United States Ended Up with Guam

 How did the Pacific Islands’ geography affect their initial settlement by humans? 

a.) The Pacific Islands were too isolated to be settled until the arrival of Europeans, who had ships capable of traveling the long distances between islands. 

b.) The Pacific Islands were first settled by seafaring peoples such as the Polynesians, whose excellent navigation skills allowed them to travel between islands in canoes long before the arrival of European or Asian imperialist powers.

c.) The Pacific Islands are mostly sandy and constantly shifting with the waves, making human settlement almost impossible until the 21st century.

The correct answer is b. Seafaring peoples such as the Polynesians possessed incredible navigation skills. This allowed them to settle many islands centuries (if not thousands of years) before imperialist powers arrived, disproving option a. There is fresh water on numerous islands and they are not just sandbars shifting in the waves, so option c is incorrect as well. 

Question by Jeremy Spevack (February 2024)

Sources

CIA factbook
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html

more country info
http://www.aneki.com/profiles/

more maps

U TX libraries
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/cia08/new_zealand_sm_2008.gif