South Asia

American  

[south ey-zhuh, ey-shuh] / ˈsaʊθ ˈeɪ ʒə, ˈeɪ ʃə /

noun

1. the countries and land area of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, India, the Maldives, Nepal, and Pakistan.

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Other Word Forms

• South Asian
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of South Asia

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

But across Europe, East Asia and South Asia, the turn is toward nuclear power.

From Salon • May 21, 2026

Sadanand Dhume writes the biweekly East is East column on India and South Asia.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 6, 2026

South Asia has a long history of people assigned male at birth but who identify as female.

From Barron's • May 3, 2026

These days, al-Qaida is broken up into several affiliates in sometimes overlapping geographical areas: the Sahel, North and West Africa; Syria; Somalia; Yemen; and finally, a very small group in South Asia.

From Slate • Apr. 21, 2026

Almost forty species of cotton exist worldwide, of which four have been domesticated, two in the Americas, two in the Middle East and South Asia.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann