People and Places^271
FIND OUT MORE. Buddhism 289 • Continents 39 • Farming 66 • Islands 42 • Volcanoes 44
WHAT WAS THE ASIAN TSUNAMI?
On 26 December 2004, an undersea earthquake in
the Indian Ocean set off a tsunami (giant wave),
up to 30 m (100 ft) high. The so-called Asian
Tsunami devastated the shoreline of many Asian
countries, including parts of Indonesia, Sri
Lanka, Thailand, and southern India, killing
more than 280,000 people.
WHERE IS THE RING OF FIRE?
The “Ring of Fire” is an arc of active volcanoes
running through maritime southeast Asia and around
the Pacific Ocean. The volcanoes sit along the edges
of plates that make up the Earth’s crust. When the
plates move against each other they cause earthquakes
and volcanic eruptions on the islands of this region.
WHAT IS THE MAIN RELIGION ON THE MAINLAND?
Buddhism is the most important religion in mainland
southeast Asia, and the area has thousands of
monasteries and ornate Buddhist temples. In
Thailand, 95 per cent of the people are Buddhist
and nearly every village has its own temple or wat,
which is the centre of village life.
4 BUDDHIST MONK,
BANGKOK, THAILAND
This Thai man’s orange robes and
shaven head signify that he is a
Buddhist monk. He kneels at the
feet of a statue of the Buddha
inside a Bangkok temple.1 PETRONAS TOWERS,
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA
At 452 m (1,483 ft), the
Petronas Towers are among the
tallest buildings in the world.
They contain shops, businesses,
a museum, and a mosque.4 JAKARTA, JAVA, INDONESIA
Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia,
is a crowded, modern city. Once
part of the Dutch Empire, its old
colonial buildings are now
overshadowed by the skyscrapers
of a modern economy.Two 88-storey towers
are linked by a skybridge
on the 42nd floorMYANMAR (BURMA)
Capital city: Nay Pyi Taw
Area: 678,500 sq km
(261,969 sq miles)
Population: 49.6 million
THAILAND
Capital city: Bangkok
Area: 514,000 sq km
(198,455 sq miles)
Population: 67.4 million
LAOS
Capital city: Vientiane
Area: 236,800 sq km
(91,428 sq miles)
Population: 6.2 million
VIETNAM
Capital city: Hanoi
Area: 329,560 sq km
(127,243 sq miles)
Population: 86.2 million
CAMBODIA
Capital city: Phnom Penh
Area: 181,040 sq km
(69,900 sq miles)
Population: 14.5 million
MALAYSIA
Capital city: Kuala Lumpur;
Putrajaya (administrative)
Area: 329,750 sq km
(127, 316 sq miles)
Population: 27 million
SINGAPORE
Capital city: Singapore
Area: 647.5 sq km
(250 sq miles)
Population: 4.8 million
BRUNEI
Capital city: Bandar Seri
Begawan
Area: 5,770 sq km
(2,228 sq miles)
Population: 392,300
INDONESIA
Capital city: Jakarta
Area: 1,919,440 sq km
(741,096 sq miles)
Population: 227.3 million
PHILIPPINES
Capital city: Manila
Area: 300,000 sq km
(115,830 sq miles)
Population: 90.3 million
EAST TIMOR
Capital city: Dili
Area: 14,874 sq km
(5,743 sq miles)
Population: 1.1 millionWHO ARE THE LITTLE TIGERS?
Many southeast Asian countries, such as Singapore,
the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia, are known
as “Little Tigers” because of their fast-growing “tiger”
economies and industrial enterprise. These countries
benefit from cheap, plentiful labour, and export
manufactured goods such as clothes and electronics.
SOUTHEAST ASIA