
The Himalayan Rim is the Asian region surrounding the
Himalayas
The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...
.
Definition
Geographically, it is surrounded by the
Iranian Plateau
The Iranian plateau or Persian plateau is a geological feature spanning parts of the Caucasus, Central Asia, South Asia, and West Asia. It makes up part of the Eurasian plate, and is wedged between the Arabian plate and the Indian plate. ...
in the west,
Hindu Kush
The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central Asia, Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and eastern Afghanistan into northwestern Pakistan and far southeastern Tajikistan. The range forms the wester ...
and
Karakoram
The Karakoram () is a mountain range in the Kashmir region spanning the border of Pakistan, China, and India, with the northwestern extremity of the range extending to Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Most of the Karakoram mountain range is withi ...
and
Pamir ranges in the northwest, the
Tibetan Plateau
The Tibetan Plateau, also known as the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau or Qingzang Plateau, is a vast elevated plateau located at the intersection of Central Asia, Central, South Asia, South, and East Asia. Geographically, it is located to the north of H ...
in the north, the
Indochinese Peninsula in the east, and the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...
in the south.
The
countries bordering the Himalayas include
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
(
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...
in particular) to the north,
Myanmar
Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...
to the east,
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
,
Bhutan
Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...
,
Nepal
Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...
,
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
to the south (see also:
Northern South Asia), and
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
to the west.
History
Pre-contemporary era
The Himalayas impacted the way that religions and cultures spread throughout Asia, as can be seen in the
spread of Buddhism along the Silk Road, or the way that Tibetans interacted with Indic Himalayan peoples throughout history.
In the early second millennium, Buddhism became
less prominent in South Asia, with Hinduism and Islam becoming the primary religions south of the Himalayas. By the early 16th century,
Guru Nanak
Gurū Nānak (15 April 1469 – 22 September 1539; Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ ਨਾਨਕ; pronunciation: , ), also known as ('Father Nanak'), was an Indian spiritual teacher, mystic and poet, who is regarded as the founder of Sikhism and is t ...
, the founder of Sikhism, brought the religion to the Himalayan Rim in his third
udasi
Udasis ( Gurmukhi: ਉਦਾਸੀ ਸੰਪਰਦਾ; ''udāsī saparadā'') (Devanagari: उदासी संप्रदाय), also spelt as Udasins, also known as Nanak Putras (meaning "sons of Nanak"), are a religious sect of ascetic ' ...
. During this time period, local Muslims, such as the
Khache of Tibet, were participating in trans-Himalayan trade networks.
In the 19th century, as the
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
had consolidated control over most of India, it began seeking influence and access to Himalayan routes and peripheral regions (see also:
Great Game
The Great Game was a rivalry between the 19th-century British Empire, British and Russian Empire, Russian empires over influence in Central Asia, primarily in Emirate of Afghanistan, Afghanistan, Qajar Iran, Persia, and Tibet. The two colonia ...
). Thus, in 1816, the
Treaty of Sugauli
The Treaty of Sugauli (also spelled Sugowlee, Sagauli and Segqulee), the treaty that established the boundary line of Nepal, was signed on 4 March 1816 between the East India Company and Guru Gajraj Mishra following the Anglo-Nepalese War of ...
was signed, affirming the
India-Nepal border and establishing better relations in the region.
Contemporary era
In postcolonial times, various conflicts have broken out along the Himalayan Rim, such as the
Chinese annexation of Tibet and the
Indo-China War of 1962, and in general, there are significant tensions between various neighboring countries in the region as a result of border disputes.
In the 21st century, disputes over fresh-water resources in the region are likely to intensify.
See also
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List of territorial disputes
Territorial disputes have occurred throughout history, over lands around the world. Bold indicates one claimant's full control; ''italics'' indicates one or more claimants' partial control.
Ongoing disputes between UN member/observer states ...
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Territorial disputes of the People's Republic of China
This article is about territorial disputes of the People's Republic of China (PRC). A territorial dispute is a disagreement over the possession or control of land between two or more political entities. Many of China's territorial disputes resul ...
**
Territorial disputes of India
There are several disputed territories of India. A territorial dispute is a disagreement over the possession or control of land between two or more sovereign states or over the possession or control of land by a new state and occupying power afte ...
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Indian Himalayan Region
The Indian Himalayan Region (abbreviated to IHR) is the section of the Himalayas within the Republic of India, spanning thirteen Indian states and union territories, namely Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, We ...
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Asian relations with Northeast India
Since India's 1947 independence, 98% of Northeast India's borders have been with other Asian countries, making it a strategic frontier region. The East Asia, East Asian countries of Japan and Korea have significant contemporary influence over and ...
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Third Pole
The Third Pole, also known as the Hindu Kush-Karakoram- Himalayan system (HKKH), is a mountainous region located in the west and south of the Tibetan Plateau. Part of High-Mountain Asia, it spreads over an area of more than across nine countrie ...
References
{{Himalayas
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