IndiaCapital: New Delhi. The largest of the nine countries by area.
Sri LankaLegislative capital: Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte. Colombo is the executive and judicial capital.
PakistanCapital: Islamabad, since 1967. Karachi was the first capital.
IranCapital: Tehran. On the UN list for Southern Asia, not in SAARC.
AfghanistanCapital: Kabul. Landlocked. It joined SAARC in 2007.
BangladeshCapital: Dhaka. India surrounds it on three sides.
NepalCapital: Kathmandu. Landlocked between China and India.
BhutanCapital: Thimphu. Landlocked. India's state of Sikkim separates it from Nepal.
MaldivesCapital: Malé. The smallest country in Asia, a chain of atolls.
Seas and ocean 3
Arabian SeaThe part of the northern Indian Ocean west of India.
Bay of BengalThe Indian Ocean's northeastern part, east of India.
Indian OceanThe third largest ocean, with Asia on its north.
How this list was compiled: List of countries: United Nations M49 standard, region 034 Southern Asia, nine member states with their M49 codes (https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methodology/m49/), and the UN list of member states (https://www.un.org/en/about-us/member-states). Capitals: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_national_capitals (Sri Lanka has two, Pakistan moved its capital in 1967) with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Jayawardenepura_Kotte (also known as Kotte, adjacent to Colombo), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhutan, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maldives, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepal and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan. Official names: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states and the country articles above. Older spellings accepted: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhaka (Dacca), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tehran (Teheran). SAARC dates and the two lists: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Asia. Landlocked countries: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_landlocked_countries. Area ranks: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_area. Water: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabian_Sea, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_of_Bengal, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Ocean. All read on 2026-09-20. Capital and city points: Natural Earth 5.1.2 populated places (https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvkelso/natural-earth-vector/v5.1.2/geojson/ne_10m_populated_places_simple.geojson, downloaded 2026-09-19), put through the projection of the drawing. Water points: inside the Natural Earth 5.1.2 marine polygon of the same name (ne_50m_geography_marine_polys). Boundary policy: https://www.naturalearthdata.com/downloads/50m-cultural-vectors/50m-admin-0-countries-2/ (boundaries by de facto status), read 2026-09-20. Licence: own work
The drawing: Drawn for this site from Natural Earth 5.1.2, ne_50m_admin_0_countries_lakes (scale 1:50,000,000), https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvkelso/natural-earth-vector/v5.1.2/geojson/ne_50m_admin_0_countries_lakes.geojson, downloaded 2026-09-19. Lambert azimuthal equal-area projection centred on 32°N 87°E. Outlines simplified; small islands are left out. 4 places are too small to draw at this scale and shown as a dot. Licence: public domain (Natural Earth terms of use: https://www.naturalearthdata.com/about/terms-of-use/)
How it works
This Southern Asia blank map prints with a number on nine countries, the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal. Take the numbers off for a plain outline, or print the names. The answer key prints separately.
Read the full guide
Print the map, then the key
Choose Blank, Numbered or Named, then press Print this map. Switch Capitals on to add a star at each of the nine capitals. Print the answer key gives the numbered list on its own sheet. Quiz yourself on this map asks the same twelve places on screen.
Which list the map follows
The nine countries are the United Nations list for Southern Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. If your class list leaves out Iran, tell students to skip number 4. In Kashmir the lines follow Natural Earth, which draws each part with the country that administers it. The page takes no side.
On the blank version, Bhutan and the Maldives are too small to write on. Draw a line out to the margin and write there.
For a capitals sheet, switch Capitals on and print Numbered. The answer key then lists each capital after its country.
Sri Lanka's star marks Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, the legislative capital. Colombo, the executive and judicial capital, is next to it, so accept either name.
Questions and answers
Can I print the map without the numbers?
Yes. Choose Blank and press Print this map. The sheet is then the outline with the borders between the countries and nothing written on it. Choose Named for a labeled copy to study from.
Does the map show the capitals?
Yes. Switch Capitals on and a star marks each of the nine capitals, from Tehran in the west to Dhaka in the east. On the Named map each star carries its name. Other cities, such as Mumbai or Karachi, are not drawn.
What is the difference between South Asia and Southern Asia?
Southern Asia is the United Nations name for a statistical region of nine countries. South Asia is the everyday name, and it often means the eight members of SAARC, the regional association, which does not include Iran. This map prints all nine.
Where does the outline come from?
It is drawn for this site from Natural Earth's public domain country file at a scale of 1 to 50 million. At that scale small islands drop out and the Maldives would vanish, so the Maldives is drawn as one ringed dot.