Southeast Asia

The religious diversity of Southeast Asia from ancient times to the present encapsulates the history of the global spread of some of the world's major religions. The region, which is east of India, south of China, and north of Australia, is usually [Page 1209]grouped into two sections: mainland Southeast Asia, which includes Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, and island Southeast Asia, which includes Singapore, Indonesia, East Timor, Brunei, and the Philippines. Malaysia can be placed in either category: One part of it is the Malay Peninsula that juts southward from the mainland; the two other parts, Sabah and Sarawak, are located in northern Borneo—a large island that Malaysia shares with Indonesia. Papua New Guinea is sometimes included in Southeast Asia and sometimes ...