A European Informational Website
learn more
The Indian subcontinent is a large section of the Asian continent consisting of countries lying substantially on the Indian tectonic plate. These include countries on the continental crust—Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Pakistan; island countries on the continental shelf—Sri Lanka, and island countries rising above the oceanic crust—Maldives. The term subcontinent signifies "having a certain geographical or political independence" from the rest of the continent,[1] or "a vast and more or less self-contained subdivision of a continent."[2] There is no agreement on what constitutes a subcontinent.