This article deals with the geophysical region in Asia. For geopolitical treatments, see South Asia.

Map of South Asia (see note on Kashmir)

A subcontinent is a small part of a continent. There is no agreement on what constitutes a subcontinent. Generally, however, a subcontinent is split from the rest of a continent by something like a mountain range or by tectonic plates. India is considered a subcontinent because it juts out from Asia by the Himalayan mountains. The phrase the Subcontinent, used on its own in English, commonly means the Indian subcontinent i.e. South Asia.

Cultural subcontinents

The term the Indian subcontinent is used also culturally and politically. It includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Maldives, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka. The region has wide geographical variations like desert, plateau, rainforest, mountains and a myriad of languages, races and religions.

Sometimes subregions of continents are dubbed subcontinents because their culture is so different from the rest of the continent, such as Central America, Europe, and the Middle East.

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Subcontinent"