Indochina

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Indochina 1886

Dark green: always included, Light green: usually included, Red: sometimes included

Indochina, or the Indochinese Peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly east of India, south of China. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory to bordering countries.^{[citation needed]}

Historically, the countries of Mainland Southeast Asia were culturally influenced by China and India, but to varying degrees. Indochina refers to an area inhabited by different Mongoloid races having significant Indian cultural influences. Some Southeast Asian cultures, such as that of Laos and Thailand are heavily influenced by Indian culture as well as by Cambodian culture. Cambodia exhibits little Indian cultural influence, exhibiting many strong Chinese cultural influences, found in Cambodian cuisine and Cambodian clothing. Together with Java, these influences have been present since the era of the Khmer Empire.

Myanmar appears to be equally influenced by Indian and Chinese cultures.

Others, such as Vietnam, are more heavily influenced by Chinese culture, with only minor cultural influences from India, largely via the Champa civilization that Vietnam conquered during its southward expansion.

Malaysia and Singapore were at first strongly influenced by Indian culture followed by Islamic influences. Later, Chinese culture becomes a major influence following large numbers of Chinese immigration and settlement.

Today, most of these countries also show pronounced Western cultural influences which began during colonialism of western countries in Southeast Asia.

In a strict sense, Indochina comprises the territory of the former French Indochina:

However, in a wider sense, the cultural region is better described as Mainland Southeast Asia in which sense it also includes: