Glossary - Dragons and Tigers: A Geography of South, East and Southeast Asia - page 497

Sunderbans An area of ever-shifting mangrove, mudflats, is-
lands, and distributary channels found in the Indus and
Brahmaputra delta in the Bay of Bengal.
Sunna The way of life prescribed in Islam, based on the teach-
ings of Muhammed and the Koran.
Supply chain The division of products into specialized disas-
semblies to drive down costs, improve quality and reduce the
time it takes to get the product to market.
Sustainable development

Three Gorges Dam World' s largest water conservation proj-
ect on the Yangzi River in China. Three Gorges has the world' s
most powerful hydroelectric dam and improved shipping
from the east to the interior. However, thousands of acres of
farmland were lost and countless numbers of residents were
forcibly relocated. In addition, numerous important natural
habitats and cultural sites were destroyed.
Tied aid The linking of foreign aid to structural adjustment
or specific activities or purchases.
Tienanmen Square Large parade square in Beijing. Site of
ruthlessly crushed “democracy” protests in 1989.
Time-space convergence More space can be covered in less
time due to improvements in transportation and comm-
unication.
Timor Gap The disputed ocean and seabed between Australia
and Indonesia.
T Tokaido megalopolis Urbanized, industrialized region from
T Tokyo to Osaka. Named for the old T Tokaido Road.
T Tonkin Region of the Red River delta in northern Vietnam.
Under French colonial rule, T Tonkin was one of the five terri-
tories of the Indochinese Union.
T Topographic barrier An area of raised relief (such as the
Himalayas) that prevents the passage of wind or other
phenomena.
T opography Landforms such as mountains and valleys.
T oponyms Place names.
T Total Fertility Rate (TFR) The number of children a woman
would have if age-specific birth rates remained constant
throughout her childbearing years—age 15 to 45 or 15 to 49.
T Township and village enterprises Economic enterprises es-
tablished in China' s rural areas to provide employment and
discourage out-migration.
Trans-border development region

Development that sustains envi-

ronmental integrity .
Swidden Shifting cultivation in Southeast Asia.
Tagalog The official language of the Philippines.
Taiping Rebellion An uprising against the corrupt and inef-
fective Manchu rulers of China. It began in 1850 and ended in
1864 with the loss of 20 million lives.
T ais Principle ancestors of the Thai, Lao, and Shan peoples.
Tai is a cultural and linguistic term used to denote the various
Tai people who became differentiated into a larger number of
separate identities.
Taiwanese Everyone who lives on the island of Taiwan.
Tamil Language of the Dravidian Hindus in Sri Lanka and the
state of Tamil Nadu in India.
Tamil Eelam The proposed name for an independent state
that was being fought for until 2010 by the Tamil Tigers in
northern Sri Lanka.
Tamil Tigers A militant Tamil group of northern Sri Lankans
who were agitating for an independent state called Tamil
Eelam. They were defeated by the Sri Lankan army in 2010.
Tantric Buddhism Also called V ajrayana Buddhism; it devel-
oped in north India in the seventh century and spread to the
Himalayas where it was influenced by Tibetan shamanism.
Official religion of Bhutan and Sikkim.
T Techno-Archipelago A series of technopolises linked by in-
formation and communication channels.
T Technobelt Zone selected for research and development and
linked by communication and telecommunication.
T Technopoles Places where information and technology dis-
seminate from. In India, Bangalore' is “silicon valley” is an ex-
ample of a technopole.
T echnopolis A network of science cities centering on a
“mother city” and connected to a major metropolis.
T echnoscapes V ast, intertwined and overlapping channels of
communication produced by flows of technology , hardware,
and software disseminated by transnational or supranational
corporations, organizations, and agencies.
T erai A marshy plain in southern Nepal situated 900 feet
(270 m) above sea level.
Theravada Buddhism The school of Buddhism practiced in
Sri Lanka and most of Southeast Asia. It stresses the responsi-
bility of the individual for his or her own salvation through the
accumulation of merit by good behavior and religious activity .
38th parallel The line of latitude that divides North and
South Korea into two nations. The parallel division was insti-
tuted in 1945 by the Soviets and Americans.

An economic develop-

ment zone in adjacent political units.
Transgenic plants Human-engineered plants.
T Transmigrasi People who move from crowded areas of
Indonesia to open up and populate frontier regions.
Transmigration of souls In Hinduism, the changing of peo-
ple' s life status through rebirth according to the merits of their
behavior.
Transnational enterprise An economic, social, or political
entity with ties to several nations.
Tree line The line above which the growing season and the
soil depth do not support trees.
Tribal areas Mountainous, tribal, and fractious regions, espe-
cially those in the western boundary of South Asia, where
tribal chiefs and religions leaders rule.
Tropical cyclone A violent storm created by a deep, circular,
low-pressure cell. Called a typhoon in the Pacific.
Tsunamis Seismic sea waves caused by earthquakes.
Tundra A subarctic environment above the tree line that is a
zone of low-lying flora, mosses, and lichens.
Typhoon In the Pacific, a violent storm created by a deep, cir-
cular, low-pressure cell. Widely known as a tropical cyclone.