ABSTRACT
AtthepresenttimeMonsoonAsiaisdividedforthemostpartintolarge states.Eachisgovernedfromanationalcapital,andhasdefiniteboundaries exceptinafewremoteandmountainouspartswhereborderterritoryis disputed.Thesceneisdominatedbythreepoliticalentities,China,India andJapan,whichshoweverysignofretainingandenhancingtheir nationalstatus.Despiteweakgovernmentinsomeofthesmallercountries,theoverallpictureisofstrongcentralizedadministrationsthatare likelytoendure.Thishasnotalwaysbeenso.Formuchofhistorythe statesshownonthepoliticalmapoftodaydidnotexist.Forexample, therewasinthepoliticalsensenoIndia,noChina,noMalaya.Theregion wasdividedintocountlesslittlestates,somesosmallastooccupyonly minorrivervalleys.Boundarieswereunstable.Frequentlyastatewould becomestrongenoughtoannexitsneighboursandestablishabigger andmorepowerfulunitthatlasteduntilcorruptgovernmentandthe avariceoftherulinghousebecameintolerableandthepopulationrosein revolt.Thelargerunitwouldthenbreakupintoseveralindependent parts,orperhapsneighbouringprinceswouldmarchinanddividethe placeamongthemselves.Occasionally,however,onerulingfamilywould becomepowerfulenoughtoextenditsauthorityoverhundredsofmiles ofcountryandestablishforatimeacentralizedstatecomparableinarea withthebignationalstatesoftoday.Theselargestates,orempires,ofthe pastareparticularlyinterestingtogeographers.Thefollowingparagraphsoutlinethecircumstancesofsocietyandphysicalgeographyin whichtheycameabout.
