South India
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of area. South India lies in the peninsular Deccan Plateau and is bounded by the Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal in the west, south and east respectively. The geography of the region is diverse, encompassing two mountain ranges — the Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats and a plateau heartland. Godavari, Krishna, Tungabhadra and Kaveri rivers are important non-perennial sources of water. Inhabitants of South India are referred to as South Indians. A majority of South Indians speak one of the five Dravidian languages — Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Tulu. During its history, a number of dynastic kingdoms ruled over parts of South India whose invasions across southern and southeastern Asia impacted the history and cultures of modern nation-states such as Sri Lanka, Philippines,Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. The region was colonised by Britain and gradually incorporated into the British Empire.
