<P> The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), a contiguous block of countries, started in 1985 with seven countries--Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka--and added Afghanistan as an eighth member in 2007 . China and Myanmar have also applied for the status of full members of SAARC . This bloc of countries include two independent countries that were not part of the British Raj--Nepal, and Bhutan . Afghanistan was a British protectorate from 1878 until 1919, after the Afghans lost to the British in the Second Anglo - Afghan war . The World Factbook, based on geo - politics, people, and economy defines South Asia as comprising Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, British Indian Ocean Territory, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka . The South Asia Free Trade Agreement incorporated Afghanistan in 2011, and the World Bank grouping of countries in the region also includes all eight members comprising South Asia and SAARC as well, and the same goes for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). </P> <P> The Centres for South Asian Studies at both the University of Michigan and the University of Virginia include Tibet along with the eight members of SAARC in their research programs, but exclude the Maldives . The South Asian Studies Program of Rutgers University and the University of California, Berkeley Centre for South Asia Studies also include the Maldives . </P> <P> The South Asian Studies Program of Brandeis University defines the region as comprising "India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, and in certain contexts Afghanistan, Burma, Maldives and Tibet". The similar program of Columbia University includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka in their study and excludes Burma . </P> <P> The United Nations Statistics Division's scheme of sub-regions include all eight members of the SAARC as part of Southern Asia, along with Iran only for statistical purposes . Population Information Network (POPIN) includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burma, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka as part of South Asia . Maldives, in view of its characteristics, was admitted as a member Pacific POPIN subregional network only in principle . The Hirschman--Herfindahl index of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific for the region includes only the original seven signatories of SAARC . </P>

Why is the population of south asia a concern for the region