The Indo-Pacific: Redefining Asia

Catalog description

Takes a fresh look at the region of the world we know as Asia, thought to have originally been named by the ancient Greeks to identify the lands to their east, or alternatively from an Assyrian word, asu, meaning 'east.' Contemporary definitions of Asia shift, but usually refer to that part of the global land mass east of the Urals to the shores of the Pacific Ocean and from the Arctic Ocean south to the equator, except for a few Southeast Asian islands. In recent years, the term Asia-Pacific has been replaced by the term Indo-Pacific in recognition of the presence of a significant percentage of traditional 'Asia' in the Indian Ocean area (including India, which has overtaken China in population) and the long-standing relationships that exist between the large countries of the mainland, such as China, and the various island nations of the Pacific Ocean. Introduces the Indo-Pacific, which accounts for more than 1/3 of the Earth's land mass and contains more diversity than any other region on the planet, giving students a better appreciation for the reality of the region and its impact on the rest of the globe.