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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.


Other Word Forms

  • South Asian adjective

Etymology

Origin of South Asia

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Meanwhile, Devraj Sanyal, chairman and CEO of Universal Music India and South Asia and senior vice president of strategy, Africa, the Middle East and Asia, will serve on Excel’s board of directors under the agreement.

From The Wall Street Journal

Renewables like solar and wind broke all sorts of records in 2025, surpassing coal as a source of electricity worldwide, with the impact being felt most in Africa and South Asia.

From Salon

A pillowy-soft naan - a leavened flatbread popular in South Asia - paired with rich, creamy butter chicken gravy is one of the most popular comfort foods in the region, and it's also one of the most popular Indian dishes abroad.

From BBC

"Specialised cooks, called naan bais, made and experimented with the flatbread, using adjectives to highlight their innovations. For example, the naan-e-warqi was a flatbread with thin, flaky layers while the naan-e-tangi was a smaller bread that absorbed gravies well," says Neha Vermani, a historian of South Asia.

From BBC

"It reminds me a lot of music from South Asia, melded with the pentatonic scale which reminds me more of Arab music, along with the African percussion sounds that come through," said concert-goer Joseph Badawi-Crook.

From BBC