Southeast Asia or Southeastern Asia is the geographical southeastern subregion of Asia, consisting of the regions that are south of China, southeast of the Indian subcontinent and north-west of Australia. Southeast Asia is bordered to the north by East Asia, to the west by South Asia and the Bay of Bengal, to the east by Oceania and the Pacific Ocean, and to the south by Australia and the Indian Ocean. Apart from the British Indian Ocean Territory and two out of 26 atolls of Maldives in South Asia, Southeast Asia is the only other subregion of Asia that lies partly within the Southern Hemisphere. The majority of the subregion is still in the Northern Hemisphere. East Timor and the southern portion of Indonesia are the only parts that are south of the Equator. In contemporary definition, Southeast Asia consists of two geographic regions: Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula and historically as Indochina, comprising Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Peninsular Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Maritime Southeast Asia, also known as the Malay Archipelago and historically as Nusantara, comprising the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (India), Brunei, East Malaysia, East Timor, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Singapore. The region lies near the intersection of geological plates, with both heavy seismic and volcanic activities. The Sunda Plate is the main plate of the region, featuring almost all Southeast Asian countries except Myanmar, northern Thailand, northern Laos, northern Vietnam, and northern Luzon of the Philippines. The mountain ranges in Myanmar, Thailand, and Peninsular Malaysia are part of the Alpide belt, while the islands of the Philippines are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire. Both seismic belts meet in Indonesia, causing the region to have relatively high occurrences of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. It covers about 4,500,000 km2 (1,700,000 sq mi), which is 10.5% of Asia or 3% of Earth's total land area. Its total population is more than 655 million, about 8.5% of the world's population. It is the third most populous geographical region in Asia after South Asia and East Asia. The region is culturally and ethnically diverse, with hundreds of languages spoken by different ethnic groups. Ten countries in the region are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a regional organization established for economic, political, military, educational and cultural integration amongst its members.
Southeast Asia
Setting
for Setting in The New Cultural Representation of Assassin's Creed Information
Suggested by benpopplewell
The Master Hidden One and Mentor Serey Sayavong (formerly Kasikor Srae) stands before his apprentices in the shadows of an Angkorian temple, as he views the Brotherhood as a machine. He loves his country so much that he has become a master mentor to his own students to ensure that country survives. If an apprentice is defective or "human," it is discarded or purged to save the whole nation. "Look at your hands! Are they stained with the soil of the paddy, or the blood of the Javanese oppressors? I was born Kasikor Srae—a creature of the mud in the smoke of burning stalks. I watched our lifeblood—our rice—turn to ash while the Javanese laughed and heard the screams of those who could not fight. I left that boy in the fire so that a man of iron could rise. I watched the rice fields turn to ash and That man died in the flames. I fled into the shadows of the jungle, not as a victim, but as a seed planted in the dark. The jungle taught me what the village could not survive the monsters of the Order. Today, only Serey Sayavong remains. I am Serey Sayavong. To the people—the elders, the children, the farmers—you are their shield. You will feed them. You will love them. You will ensure that no stomach in this Empire is empty while the Star Stone shines. There is no room for the human heart. In this Bureau, a 'mistake' is a death sentence for a thousand innocents. I will not tolerate the rot of human error. There is no 'trying' in the Hidden Ones—there is only the Creed and the Result. If you are lazy, you are a traitor. If you talk back, you are a cancer. If you harm an innocent person or a child of this Empire, I will not just expel you; I will erase you. We feed the people, we guard the Star Stone, and we obey without question. To let go of your past is to become a weapon. To hold onto your ego is to die. You think freedom is the right to be idle? You think independence is a gift? No. Independence is bought with the sweat of the farmer and the blood of the Hidden One. We are the hidden roots that allow the Khmer lotus to bloom. Work until your bones ache or find your way to the gates of the underworld. Work. Bleed. Obey. For the Khmer, for the King, and for the Brotherhood!". "The Master and Mentor of the Hidden One — Serey Sayavong".
