South Asia is home to nearly one fifth of the population of the world.  With its incredible variety of ethnic races, cultures, languages, political, agro- and ecosystems, this region can be mind-boggling to the new arrival.  One great advantage of this bewildering array of things, people and places, of course, is that it offers something for everyone.  For students, the problem is that there are so many things to see, so many areas to study, that one or two semesters may seem woefully inadequate.

Most of the countries in this region, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and India, share a common history of colonization by the British.  Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives make up the other countries of South Asia.  Politically, all are now independent, but neo-colonization is rampant with big multi-nationals ruling over the economy of these countries. Geographically and sociologically, the scene changes drastically every time you look. 

Sri Lanka, an emerald green tear drop in the South of the Indian Ocean, fragrant with the smell of tea, is peopled mainly by two cultures so widely different that the country is today torn by civil war.   The Maldives is an island nation washed by the Arabian Sea, a republic with an elected President.  More than 7000 islands make up this little country. 

Nepal, the only Hindu kingdom in the world, is set right up in the snow-capped Himalayas.  Its citizens probably have never seen a flat horizon in their lives!  Bangladesh is a nation in danger of being totally submerged by the ocean because of global warming.  It faces a daily tragedy of huge influxes of refugees from Myanmar (Burma).   Bhutan, another Himalayan Kingdom, boasts a bachelor king!  Pakistan, the land of the Pathans, lies in the shelter of towering, rugged mountains.  The name itself conjures up its colorful past of wars and heroes.  India is a timeless land of contrasts; the old and the new meet here and mingle till one cannot distinguish between the two.  The largest nation in this region, India is a secular state, but a deep religiousness pervades her people.  The heat of the Thar desert is set against the ice of the great Himalayas; the pale skinned Northerner is a citizen, as are the shorter, darker people of the South.

South Asia is region of a myriad possibilities and discoveries.  Sri Lanka, called ‘Serendib’ in ancient times, gave the English language a world which best describes the area: where you find something nice when you weren’t looking for it, that’s Serendpity.