The nations of South and Central Asia are as fascinating as they are diverse. Ranging from the former Soviet Republics of Central Asia to war-torn Afghanistan to the tiny mountain nation of Bhutan to the worlds second-most populous country India the region has been shaped by millennia of conquest population migration and most recently global geopolitics. The challenges currently facing South and Central Asia which include overpopulation food security environmental degradation and the ongoing search for democracy are as diverse as the nations themselves.