I want to introduce you to Zomia. Zomia is the 8th largest country in the world by area, spanning over 2.5 billion square kilometers. It hosts a vibrant and diverse population of over 130 million people, comparable in size to the likes of Japan and Mexico.
Zomia’s history starts in 1997 when anthropologist Jean Michaud finds a new angle to approach the extremely diverse Southeast Asian region. Academics struggled up till then to find the right toolkit that could be applied to a region bursting with unique cultures and peoples. With hundreds if not thousands of different languages, dozens of different religions, an extensive range of social structures and customs, Southeast Asia is an anthropologist’s wet dream, rivaled only by the rich diversity found in Papua New Guinea.
But Michaud realizes that despite its overwhelming diversity, a dividing line can be discerned between those living in the ‘highlands’ and those living in low-lying, flat areas.