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British and a high degree of Western influence. Following World War II, South Asia became a major battleground in the Cold War, with the Soviet Union and the United States and its allies backing opposite sides in the civil wars that shaped the political landscape in the postcolonial power vacuum. South Asia has tremendous ethnic and religious diversity: Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh are Muslim, while India is Hindu and Buddhist. The legacy of imperialism also heightened ethnic rivalries, as the government became something that one ethnic group could control for its own benefit. For instance, when British India was granted independence in

Traders and customers crowd into the market in the ancient city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on the Silk Road of Central Asia.

1947, it was felt that a unified state could never represent the interests of both Muslims and Hindus and keep the peace. The result was the partition, or division,

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S OUTH AND C ENTRAL A SIA