document_title: South Asia

question_text: what is the most developed country in south asia

question_tokens: what is the most developed country in south asia

text: South Asia

text: Definitions[edit]

text: The total area of South Asia and its geographical extent is not clear cut as systemic and foreign policy orientations of its constituents are quite asymmetrical.[19] Aside from the central region of South Asia, formerly part of the British Empire, there is a high degree of variation as to which other countries are included in South Asia.[20][21][22][23]

text: Modern definitions of South Asia are consistent in including Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives as the constituent countries.[24][25][26][27][28][29] Myanmar is included by some scholars in South Asia, but in Southeast Asia by others.[21][30] Some do not include Afghanistan,[21] others question whether Afghanistan should be considered a part of South Asia or the Middle East.[31][32]

text: The current territories of Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, which were the core of the British Empire prior to 1947, form the central region of South Asia, in addition to Afghanistan,[24][25][26][27][28][29] which was a British protectorate until 1919, after the Afghans lost to the British in the Second Anglo-Afghan war. The mountain countries of Nepal and Bhutan, and the island countries of Sri Lanka and Maldives are generally included as well. Myanmar (formerly Burma) is often added, and by various deviating definitions based on often substantially different reasons, the British Indian Ocean Territory and the Tibet Autonomous Region are included as well.[19][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40]

text: The common concept of South Asia is largely inherited from the administrative boundaries of the British Raj,[41] with several exceptions. The Aden Colony, British Somaliland and Singapore, though administered at various times under the Raj, have not been proposed as any part of South Asia.[42] Additionally Burma was administered as part of the Raj until 1937, but is now considered a part of Southeast Asia and is a member state of ASEAN. The 562 princely states that were protected by but not directly ruled by the Raj became administrative parts of South Asia upon joining Union of India or Dominion of Pakistan.[43][44][45] Geopolitically, it had formed the whole territory of Greater India,[30][46]

text: 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.[47][48] China and Myanmar have also applied for the status of full members of SAARC.[49][50] 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.[51] 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,[52][53] and the same goes for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).[54][55]

text:
Definition by South Asian Studies programs

When the Centre for South Asian Studies at the University of Cambridge was established, in 1964, it promoted the study of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan,[56][57][58][59] the Himalayan Kingdoms (Nepal, Bhutan, and Sikkim[60]), and Burma (now Myanmar). It has since included Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, the Philippines and Hong Kong.[61]
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.[62][63] The South Asian Studies Program of Rutgers University and the University of California, Berkeley Centre for South Asia Studies also include the Maldives.[64][65]
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".[66] The similar program of Columbia University includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka in their study and excludes Burma.[67]
See also: Indology

tag: div

text: 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[68] only for statistical purposes.[69] 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.[70] 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.[71]

text: The British Indian Ocean Territory is connected to the region by a publication of Jane's for security considerations.[72] The region may also include the disputed territory of Aksai Chin, which was part of the British Indian princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, but is now administered as part of the Chinese autonomous region of Xinjiang.[73]

text: The inclusion of Myanmar in South Asia is without consensus, with many considering it a part of Southeast Asia and others including it within South Asia.[21][30] Afghanistan was of importance to the British colonial empire, especially after the Second Anglo-Afghan War over 1878–1880. Afghanistan remained a British protectorate until 1919, when a treaty with Vladimir Lenin included the granting of independence to Afghanistan. Following India's partition, Afghanistan has generally been included in South Asia, with some considering it a part of Southwest Asia.[19] During the Soviet war in Afghanistan (1979–1989) American foreign policy considered Pakistan and Afghanistan in Southwest Asia, while others included it as a part of South Asia.[7] There is no universal agreement among scholars on which countries should be included within South Asia.[21]

text: In the past, a lack of a coherent definition for South Asia resulted in not only a lack of academic studies, but also in a lack interest for such studies.[74] The confusion existed also because of the lack of a clear boundary – geographically, geopolitical, socio-culturally, economically or historically – between South Asia and other parts of Asia, especially the Middle East and Southeast Asia.[75] Identification with a South Asian identity was also found to be significantly low among respondents in an older two-year survey across Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.[76] However, modern definitions of South Asia are very consistent in including Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives as the constituent countries.[24][25][26][27][28][29]

text: Indian subcontinent[edit]

text: According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term "subcontinent" signifies a "subdivision of a continent which has a distinct geographical, political, or cultural identity" and also a "large land mass somewhat smaller than a continent".[77][78] Historians Catherine Asher and Cynthia Talbot state that the term "Indian subcontinent" describes a natural physical landmass in South Asia that has been relatively isolated from the rest of Eurasia.[79] The Indian subcontinent is also a geological term referring to the land mass that drifted northeastwards from ancient Gondwana, colliding with the Eurasian plate nearly 55 million years ago, towards the end of Palaeocene. This geological region largely includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.[80]

text: The use of the term Indian subcontinent began in the British Empire, and has been a term particularly common in its successors.[81] This region has also been labelled as "India" (in its classical and pre-modern sense), "Greater India", or as South Asia.[30][46]

text: According to anthropologist John R. Lukacs, "the Indian Subcontinent occupies the major landmass of South Asia",[82] while the political science professor Tatu Vanhanen states, "the seven countries of South Asia constitute geographically a compact region around the Indian Subcontinent".[83] According to Chris Brewster, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan constitute the Indian subcontinent; with Afghanistan and Maldives included it is more commonly referred to as South Asia.[84] The geopolitical boundaries of Indian subcontinent, according to Dhavendra Kumar, include "India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and other small islands of the Indian Ocean".[85] Maldives, the country consisting of a small archipelago southwest of the peninsula, is considered part of the Indian subcontinent.[86]

text: The terms "Indian subcontinent" and "South Asia" are sometimes used interchangeably.[33][81] The South Asia term is particularly common when scholars or officials seek to differentiate this region from East Asia.[87] According to historians Sugata Bose and Ayesha Jalal, the Indian subcontinent has come to be known as South Asia "in more recent and neutral parlance."[88] This "neutral" notion refers to the concerns of Pakistan and Bangladesh, particularly given the recurring conflicts between India and Pakistan, wherein the dominant placement of "India" as a prefix before the subcontinent might offend some political sentiments.[30]

text: There is no globally accepted definition on which countries are a part of South Asia or Indian subcontinent.[21][22][23] While Afghanistan is not considered as a part of the Indian subcontinent, Afghanistan is often included in South Asia.[23] Similarly, Myanmar is included by some scholars in South Asia but not in Indian subcontinent.[30]

text: Geography[edit]

text: According to Saul Cohen, early colonial era strategists treated South Asia with East Asia, but in reality the South Asia region excluding Afghanistan is a distinct geopolitical region separated from other nearby geostrategic realms, one that is geographically diverse.[89] The region is home to a variety of geographical features, such as glaciers, rainforests, valleys, deserts, and grasslands that are typical of much larger continents. It is surrounded by three water bodies – the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea – and has acutely varied climate zones. The tip of the Indian Peninsula had the highest quality pearls.[90]

text: Boundary[edit]

text: The boundaries of South Asia vary based on how the region is defined. South Asia's northern, eastern, and western boundaries vary based on definitions used, while the Indian Ocean is the southern periphery. Most of this region rests on the Indian Plate and is isolated from the rest of Asia by mountain barriers.[91][92] Much of the region consists of a peninsula in south-central Asia, rather resembling a diamond which is delineated by the Himalayas on the north, the Hindu Kush in the west, and the Arakanese in the east,[93] and which extends southward into the Indian Ocean with the Arabian Sea to the southwest and the Bay of Bengal to the southeast.[33][35]

text: According to Robert M. Cutler – a scholar of Political Science at Carleton University,[94] the terms South Asia, Southwest Asia and Central Asia are distinct, but the confusion and disagreements have arisen because of geopolitical movement to enlarge these regions into Greater South Asia, Greater Southwest Asia and Greater Central Asia. The frontier of Greater South Asia, states Cutler, between 2001–2006 has been geopolitically extended to eastern Iran and western Afghanistan in the west, and in the north to northeastern Iran, northern Afghanistan, and southern Uzbekistan.[94]

text: Indian plate[edit]

text: Most of this region is a subcontinent resting on the Indian Plate, the northerly portion of the Indo-Australian Plate, separated from the rest of the Eurasian Plate. The Indian Plate includes most of South Asia, forming a land mass which extends from the Himalayas into a portion of the basin under the Indian Ocean, including parts of South China and Eastern Indonesia, as well as Kunlun and Karakoram ranges,[95][96][97][page needed] and extending up to but not including Ladakh, Kohistan, the Hindu Kush range and Balochistan.[98][99][100] It may be noted that geophysically the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Tibet is situated at the outside of the border of the Subcontinental structure, while the Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan are situated inside that border.[101]

text: It was once a small continent before colliding with the Eurasian Plate about 50–55 million years ago and giving birth to the Himalayan range and the Tibetan plateau. It is the peninsular region south of the Himalayas and Kuen Lun mountain ranges and east of the Indus River and the Iranian Plateau, extending southward into the Indian Ocean between the Arabian Sea (to the southwest) and the Bay of Bengal (to the southeast).

text: Climate[edit]

text: The climate of this vast region varies considerably from area to area from tropical monsoon in the south to temperate in the north. The variety is influenced by not only the altitude, but also by factors such as proximity to the sea coast and the seasonal impact of the monsoons. Southern parts are mostly hot in summers and receive rain during monsoon periods. The northern belt of Indo-Gangetic plains also is hot in summer, but cooler in winter. The mountainous north is colder and receives snowfall at higher altitudes of Himalayan ranges.

text: As the Himalayas block the north-Asian bitter cold winds, the temperatures are considerably moderate in the plains down below. For most part, the climate of the region is called the Monsoon climate, which keeps the region humid during summer and dry during winter, and favours the cultivation of jute, tea, rice, and various vegetables in this region.

text: South Asia is largely divided into four broad climate zones:[103]

text:
The northern Indian edge and northern Pakistani uplands have a dry subtropical continental climate
The far south of India and southwest Sri Lanka have a equatorial climate
Most of the peninsula have a tropical climate with variations:

Hot subtropical climate in northwest India
Cool winter hot tropical climate in Bangladesh
Tropical semi-arid climate in the center

The Himalayas have an Alpine climate

text: Maximum relative humidity of over 80% has been recorded in Khasi and Jaintia Hills and Sri Lanka, while the area adjustment to Pakistan and western India records lower than 20%–30%.[103] Climate of South Asia is largely characterized by monsoons. South Asia depends critically on monsoon rainfall.[104] Two monsoon systems exist in the region:[105]

text:
The summer monsoon: Wind blows from southwest to most of parts of the region. It accounts for 70%–90% of the annual precipitation.
The winter monsoon: Wind blows from northeast. Dominant in Sri Lanka and Maldives.

text: The warmest period of the year precedes the monsoon season (March to mid June). In the summer the low pressures are centered over the Indus-Gangetic Plain and high wind from the Indian Ocean blows towards the center. The monsoons are second coolest season of the year because of high humidity and cloud covering. But, at the beginning of June the jetstreams vanish above the Tibetan Plateau, low pressure over the Indus Valley deepens and the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) moves in. The change is violent. Moderately vigorous monsoon depressions form in the Bay of Bengal and make landfall from June to September.[103]

text: Statistical data[edit]

text:
Country
[106][106][107][108][107]
Capital
[108][109][110]
Area
(km2)
[111]
Population
(2017)[112]
Density
(per km2)
Nominal GDP
(2017)[113]
GDP per capita
(2017)[114]

HDI
(2016)[115]

 Afghanistan
Kabul
652,864
34,169,169
53.3
$20.57 billion
$559
0.479

 Bangladesh
Dhaka
147,610
164,827,718
1,116.6
$248.85 billion
$1,520
0.579

 Bhutan
Thimphu
38,394
792,877
20.6
$2.31 billion
$2,870
0.607

 India
New Delhi
3,287,263
1,342,512,706
408.4
$2.450 trillion
$1,850
0.624

 Maldives
Malé
298
375,867
1,261.3
$3.58 billion
$9,950
0.701

   Nepal
Kathmandu
147,181
29,187,037
198.3
$23.32 billion
$799
0.558

 Pakistan
Islamabad
881,913
207,774,520
223.1
$304.4 billion
$1,629
0.550

 Sri Lanka
Colombo
65,610
20,905,335
318.6
$84.02 billion
$3,930
0.766

tag: table

text: History[edit]

text: Ancient era[edit]

text: The history of core South Asia begins with evidence of human activity of Homo sapiens, as long as 75,000 years ago, or with earlier hominids including Homo erectus from about 500,000 years ago.[116] The Indus Valley Civilization, which spread and flourished in the northwestern part of South Asia from c. 3300 to 1300 BCE in present-day Northern India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, was the first major civilization in South Asia.[117] A sophisticated and technologically advanced urban culture developed in the Mature Harappan period, from 2600 to 1900 BCE.[118]

text: The earliest prehistoric culture have roots in the mesolithic sites as evidenced by the rock paintings of Bhimbetka rock shelters dating to a period of 30,000 BCE or older,[note 2] as well as neolithic times.[note 3] According to anthropologist Possehl, the Indus Valley Civilization provides a logical, if somewhat arbitrary, starting point for South Asian religions, but these links from the Indus religion to later-day South Asian traditions are subject to scholarly dispute.[119]

text: The Vedic period, named after the Vedic religion of the Indo-Aryans,[note 4] lasted from c. 1900 to 500 BCE.[121][122] The Indo-Aryans were pastoralists[123] who migrated into north-western India after the collapse of the Indus Valley Civilization,[120][124] Linguistic and archaeological data show a cultural change after 1500 BCE,[120] with the linguistic and religious data clearly showing links with Indo-European languages and religion.[125] By about 1200 BCE, the Vedic culture and agrarian lifestyle was established in the northwest and northern Gangetic plain of South Asia.[123][126][127] Rudimentary state-forms appeared, of which the Kuru-Pañcāla union was the most influential.[128][129] The first recorded state-level society in South Asia existed around 1000 BCE.[123] In this period, states Samuel, emerged the Brahmana and Aranyaka layers of Vedic texts, which merged into the earliest Upanishads.[130] These texts began to ask the meaning of a ritual, adding increasing levels of philosophical and metaphysical speculation,[130] or "Hindu synthesis".[131]

text: The Indo-Aryans brought with them their language[132] and religion.[133][134] The Vedic beliefs and practices of the pre-classical era were closely related to the hypothesised Proto-Indo-European religion and the Indo-Iranian religion,[135] the latter being "a syncretic mixture of old Central Asian and new Indo-European elements".[136] The Vedic religion history is unclear and "heavily contested", states Samuel.[137]

text: Increasing urbanisation of India between 800 and 400 BCE, and possibly the spread of urban diseases, contributed to the rise of ascetic movements and of new ideas which challenged the orthodox Brahmanism.[138] These ideas led to Sramana movements, of which Mahavira (c. 549–477 BCE), proponent of Jainism, and Buddha (c. 563-483), founder of Buddhism, were the most prominent icons.[139]

text: The Greek army led by Alexander the Great stayed in the Hindu Kush region of South Asia for several years and then later moved into the Indus valley region. Later, the Maurya Empire extended over much of South Asia in the 3rd century BCE. Buddhism spread beyond the Indian subcontinent, through northwest into Central Asia. The Bamiyan Buddhas of Afghanistan and the edicts of Aśoka suggest that the Buddhist monks spread Buddhism (Dharma) in eastern provinces of the Seleucid Empire, and possibly even farther into West Asia.[140][141][142] The Theravada school spread south from India in the 3rd century BCE, to Sri Lanka, later to Southeast Asia.[143] Buddhism, by the last centuries of the 1st millennium BCE, was prominent in the Himalayan region, Gandhara, Hindu Kush region and Bactria.[144][145][146]

text: From about 500 BCE through about 300 CE, the Vedic-Brahmanic synthesis or "Hindu synthesis" continued.[131] Classical Hindu and Sramanic (particularly Buddhist) ideas spread within Indian subcontinent, as well outside South Asia.[147][148][149] The Gupta Empire ruled over a large part of the subcontinent between 4th and 7th centuries, a period that saw the construction of major temples, monasteries and universities such as the Nalanda.[150][151][152] During this era, and through the 10th century, numerous cave monasteries and temples such as the Ajanta Caves, Badami cave temples and Ellora Caves were built in South Asia.[153][154][155]

text: Medieval era[edit]

text: Islam came as a political power in the fringe of South Asia in 8th century CE when the Arab general Muhammad bin Qasim conquered Sindh and Multan in southern Punjab in modern-day Pakistan.[156] By 962 CE, Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms in South Asia were under a wave of raids from Muslim armies from Central Asia.[157] Among them was Mahmud of Ghazni, who raided and plundered kingdoms in north India from east of the Indus river to west of Yamuna river seventeen times between 997 and 1030.[158] Mahmud of Ghazni raided the treasuries but retracted each time, only extending Islamic rule into western Punjab.[159][160]

text: The wave of raids on north Indian and western Indian kingdoms by Muslim warlords continued after Mahmud of Ghazni, plundering and looting these kingdoms.[161] The raids did not establish or extend permanent boundaries of their Islamic kingdoms. The Ghurid Sultan Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad began a systematic war of expansion into north India in 1173.[162] He sought to carve out a principality for himself by expanding the Islamic world.[158][163] Mu'izz sought a Sunni Islamic kingdom of his own extending east of the Indus river, and he thus laid the foundation for the Muslim kingdom that became the Delhi Sultanate.[158] Some historians chronicle the Delhi Sultanate from 1192 due to the presence and geographical claims of Mu'izz al-Din in South Asia by that time.[164] The Delhi Sultanate covered varying parts of South Asia, and was ruled by a series of dynasties, called Mamluk, Khalji, Tughlaq, Sayyid and Lodi dynasties. Muhammad bin Tughlaq came to power in 1325, launched a war of expansion and the Delhi Sultanate reached it largest geographical reach over the Indian subcontinent during his 26-year rule.[165] A Sunni Sultan, Muhammad bin Tughlaq persecuted non-Muslims such as Hindus, as well as non-Sunni Muslims such as Shia and Mahdi sects.[166][167][168]

text: Revolts against the Delhi Sultanate sprang up in many parts of South Asia during the 14th century. After the death of Muhammad bin Tughlaq, the Bengal Sultanate came to power in 1352 CE, as the Delhi Sultanate began disintegrating. The Bengal Sultanate remained in power through the early 16th century. It was reconquered by the armies of the Mughal Empire. The state religion of the Bengal Sultanate was Islam, and the region under its rule, a region that ultimately emerged as the modern nation of Bangladesh, saw a growth of a syncretic form of Islam.[169][170] In the Deccan region, the Hindu kingdom Vijayanagara Empire came to power in 1336 and remained in power through the 16th century, after which it too was reconquered and absorbed into the Mughal Empire.[171][172]

text: About 1526, the Punjab governor Dawlat Khan Lodī reached out to the Mughal Babur and invited him to attack Delhi Sultanate. Babur defeated and killed Ibrahim Lodi in the Battle of Panipat in 1526. The death of Ibrahim Lodi ended the Delhi Sultanate, and the Mughal Empire replaced it.[173]

text: Modern era[edit]

text: The modern history period of South Asia, that is 16th-century onwards, witnessed the start of the Central Asian dynasty named the Mughals, with Turkish-Mongol roots and Sunni Islam theology. The first ruler was Babur, whose empire extended the northwest and Indo-Gangetic Plain regions of South Asia. The Deccan and northeastern region of the South Asia was largely under Hindu kings such as those of Vijayanagara Empire and Ahom kingdom,[174] with some regions such as parts of modern Telangana and Andhra Pradesh under local Sultanates such as the Shia Islamic rulers of Golconda Sultanate.[175]

text: The Mughal Empire continued its wars of expansion after Babur's death. With the fall of Rajput kingdoms and Vijayanagara, its boundaries reached all of west, as well as the Marathi and Kannada speaking regions of the Deccan peninsula. The Mughal Empire was marked by a period of artistic exchanges and a Central Asian and South Asian architecture synthesis, with remarkable buildings such as the Taj Mahal.[176] It also marked an extended period of religious persecution.[177] Two of the religious leaders of Sikhism, Guru Arjan and Guru Tegh Bahadur were arrested under orders of the Mughal emperors, asked to convert to Islam, and executed when they refused.[178][179][180] Religious taxes on non-Muslims called jizya were imposed. Buddhist, Hindu and Sikh temples were desecrated. However, not all Muslim rulers persecuted non-Muslims. Akbar, a Mughal ruler for example, sought religious tolerance and abolished jizya.[181] After his death, the persecution of non-Muslims in South Asia returned.[182] The persecution and religious violence in South Asia peaked during Aurangzeb era, with him issuing orders in 1669, to all his governors of provinces to "destroy with a willing hand the schools and temples of the infidels, and that they were strictly enjoined to put an entire stop to the teaching and practice of idolatrous forms of worship".[183][184] In Aurangzeb's time, almost all of South Asia was claimed by the Mughal Empire. However, this claim was violently challenged in various regions of South Asia, particularly by the Sikh Guru Gobind Singh in the northwest,[185] and by Shivaji in the Deccan regions.[186]

text: Maritime trading between South Asia and European merchants began after the Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama returned to Europe. After the death of Aurangzeb and the collapse of the Mughal Empire, the region came under the rule of many small Islamic sultanates and Hindu kingdoms. British, French, Portuguese colonial interests struck treaties with these rulers, and established their trading ports. In the northwest South Asia, a large region was consolidated into the Sikh Empire by Ranjit Singh.[187][page needed][188] After his death, the British Empire expanded their interests till the Hindu Kush region. In the east, the Bengal region was split into Muslim East Bengal and Hindu West Bengal, by the colonial British empire, in early 1900s, a split that was reversed. However, after the World War II, at the eve of India's independence, the region was split again into East Pakistan and West Bengal. East Pakistan became Bangladesh in 1971.[citation needed]

text: Regional groups of countries[edit]

text:
Name of country/region, with flag
Area
(km2)
Population
Population density
(per km2)
Capital or Secretariat
Currency
Countries included
Official languages
Coat of Arms

Core Definition (above) of South Asia
5,220,460
1,726,907,000
330.79
N/A
N/A
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
N/A
N/A

UNSD of South Asia
6,778,083
1,702,000,000
270.77
N/A
N/A
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
N/A
N/A

SAARC
4,637,469
1,626,000,000
350.6
Kathmandu
N/A
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
English
N/A

BBIN
3,499,559
1,465,236,000
418.69
N/A
N/A
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal
N/A
N/A

SASEC
3,565,467
1,485,909,931
416.75
N/A
N/A
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives
N/A
N/A

text: Demographics[edit]

text: The population of South Asia is about 1.749 billion which makes it the most populated region in the world.[189] It is socially very mixed, consisting of many language groups and religions, and social practices in one region that are vastly different from those in another.[190]

text: Largest urban areas[edit]

text: South Asia is home to some of the most populated cities in the world. Delhi, Karachi, Mumbai, and Dhaka are four of the world's largest megacities.

text:
Rank
City
Province/State
Country
Population[191]
Area (km2)[191]
Density (/km2)[191]
Classification

1
Delhi
Delhi Union Territory
 India
24,998,000
2,072
12,100
Union territory

2
Karachi
Sindh
 Pakistan
24,300,000[192][193]
945
23,400
Metropolis

3
Mumbai
Maharashtra
 India
17,712,000
546
32,400
Megacity

4
Dhaka
Dhaka Division
 Bangladesh
15,669,000
360
43,500
City corporation

5
Kolkata
West Bengal
 India
14,667,000
1,204
12,200
Megacity

6
Lahore
Punjab
 Pakistan
10,052,000
790
12,700
Metropolis

7
Bengaluru
Karnataka
 India
9,807,000
1,116
8,400
Metropolis

8
Chennai
Tamil Nadu
 India
9,714,000
375
25,900
Metropolis

9
Hyderabad
Telangana
 India
8,754,000
971
10,000
Metropolis

10
Ahmedabad
Gujarat
 India
7,186,000
464
20,600
Metropolis

text: Languages[edit]

text: There are numerous languages in South Asia. The spoken languages of the region are largely based on geography and shared across religious boundaries, but the written script is sharply divided by religious boundaries. In particular, Muslims of South Asia such as in Afghanistan and Pakistan use the Arabic alphabet and Persian Nastaliq. Till 1971, Muslim Bangladesh (then known as East Pakistan) too mandated only Nastaliq script, but thereafter has adopted regional scripts and particularly Bengali. Non-Muslims of South Asia, and some Muslims in India, on the other hand use their traditional ancient heritage scripts such as those derived from Brahmi script for Indo-European languages and non-Brahmi scripts for Dravidian languages and others.[194]

text: The Nagari script has been the primus inter pares of the traditional South Asian scripts.[195] The Devanagari script is used for over 120 South Asian languages,[196] including Hindi,[197] Marathi, Nepali, Pali, Konkani, Bodo, Sindhi and Maithili among other languages and dialects, making it one of the most used and adopted writing systems in the world.[198] The Devanagari script is also used for classical Sanskrit texts.[196]

text: The largest spoken language in this region is Hindi, followed by Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, Gujarati and Punjabi.[194] In the modern era, new syncretic languages developed in the region such as Urdu that is used by Muslim community of northern Indian subcontinent (particularly Pakistan and northern states of India).[199] The Punjabi language spans three religions: Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism. The spoken language is similar, but it is written in three scripts. The Sikh use Gurmukhi alphabet, Muslim Punjabis in Pakistan use the Nastaliq script, while Hindu Punjabis in India use the Gurmukhi or Nāgarī script. The Gurmukhi and Nagari scripts are distinct but close in their structure, but the Persian Nastaliq script is very different.[200]

text: English, with British spelling, is commonly used in urban areas and is a major economic lingua franca of South Asia.[201]

text: Religions[edit]

text: In 2010, South Asia had the world's largest population of Hindus, Jains and Sikhs,[12] about 600 million Muslims,[12] as well as over 25 million Buddhists and 35 million Christians.[17] Hindus make up about 63 percent or about 1 billion and Muslims at 31 percent or 600 million[15][16] of the overall South Asia population,[202][203] while Buddhists, Jains, Christians and Sikhs constitute most of the rest. The Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs and Christians are concentrated in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan, while the Muslims are concentrated in Afghanistan (99%), Bangladesh (90%), Pakistan (96%) and Maldives (100%).[12]

text: Indian religions are the religions that originated in the Indian subcontinent; namely Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism.[204] The Indian religions are distinct yet share terminology, concepts, goals and ideas, and from the Indian subcontinent spread into East Asia and southeast Asia.[204] Early Christianity and Islam were introduced into coastal regions of South Asia by merchants who settled among the local populations. Later Sindh, Balochistan, and parts of the Punjab region saw conquest by the Arab caliphates along with an influx of Muslims from Persia and Central Asia, which resulted in spread of both Shia and Sunni Islam in parts of northwestern region of South Asia. Subsequently, under the influence of Muslim rulers of the Islamic sultanates and the Mughal Empire, Islam spread in South Asia.[205][206]

text:
Afghanistan[207]
Islam (99%), Hinduism, Sikhism and Christianity (1%)

Bangladesh[208]
Islam (90%), Hinduism (9%), Buddhism (0.6%), Christianity (0.3%), Others (0.1%)

Bhutan[209]
Buddhism (75%), Hinduism (25%)

India[209][210]
Hinduism (79.5%), Islam (14.5%), Christianity (2.3%), Sikhism (1.7%), Buddhism (0.7%), Jainism (0.4%), Others (0.9%)

Maldives[211]
Sunni Islam (100%) (One must be a Sunni Muslim to be a citizen on the Maldives[212][213])

Nepal[214]
Hinduism (82%), Buddhism (9.0%), Islam (4.4%), Kirat (3.1%), Christianity (1.4%), Others (0.8%)

Pakistan[215]
Islam (96.28%), Hinduism (2%), Christianity (1.59%), Ahmaddiyya (0.22%)

Sri Lanka[216]
Buddhism (70.19%), Hinduism (12.61%), Islam (9.71%), Christianity (7.45%).

text: Economy[edit]

text: India is the largest & fastest growing economy in the region (US$2.180 trillion) and makes up almost 82% of the South Asian economy; it is the world's 7th largest in nominal terms and 3rd largest by purchasing power adjusted exchange rates (US$8.020 trillion).[217] India is the only member of powerful G-20 major economies and BRICS from the region. It is the fastest growing major economy in the world and one of the world's fastest registering a growth of 7.3% in FY 2014–15. Pakistan has the next largest economy($250 billion) and the 5th highest GDP per capita in the region,[218] followed by Bangladesh and then by Sri Lanka which has the 2nd highest per capita and is the 4th largest economy in the region. According to a World Bank report in 2015, driven by a strong expansion in India, coupled with favorable oil prices, from the last quarter of 2014 South Asia become the fastest-growing region in the world[219]

text: The Major Market stock exchanges in the region are Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) with market Capitalization of $1.68 trillion (11th largest in the world), National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) with market capitalization of $1.64 trillion (12th largest in the world), and Karachi Stock Exchange with market capitalization of $60 billion.[220]

text: Economic data is sourced from the International Monetary Fund, current as of April 2017, and is given in US dollars.[221]

text:
Country
[106][106][107][108][107]
Currency
Population
(2017)[112]
Nominal GDP
(2017)[113]
GDP per capita
(2017)[114]

GDP growth
(2017)[222]

Inflation
(2017)[223]

Main industries

 Afghanistan
؋ Afghani
34,169,169
$20.57 billion
$559
3%
6%
Textiles, Soap, Furniture, Shoes, Fertilizer

 Bangladesh
৳ Taka
164,827,718
$248.85 billion
$1,520
6.9%
6.4%
Jute, Cotton, Garments, Paper, Leather

 Bhutan
Nu. Ngultrum
792,877
$2.31 billion
$2,870
5.9%
4.1%
Cement, Woods, Fruits, Liquor, Ca C2

 India
₹ Rupee
1,342,512,706
$2.450 trillion
$1,850
7.2%
4.8%
Software, Petroleum, Chemicals, Agriculture

 Maldives
ރ Rufiyaa
375,867
$3.58 billion
$9,950
4.1%
2.5%
Fishing, Tourism, Shipping, Coconuts

   Nepal
रु Rupee
29,187,037
$23.32 billion
$799
5.5%
6.7%
Tourism, Garment, Food, Beverage, Metals

 Pakistan
₨ Rupee
207,774,520
$304.4 billion
$1,629
5%
4.3%
Textiles, Apparel, Foods, Pharmaceuticals, Agriculture, Leather

 Sri Lanka
රු Rupee
20,905,335
$84.02 billion
$3,930
4.5%
5.8%
Rubber, Tea, Coconuts, Tobacco, Insurance

text: Health and nutrition[edit]

text:
Afghanistan
Bangladesh
Bhutan
India
Maldives
Nepal
Pakistan
Sri Lanka

Population undernourished (2015)[224]
26.8%
16.4%
N/A
15.2%
5.2%
7.8%
22%
22%

Population below poverty line (CIA Factbook)[225]
35.8%
31.5%
12%
29.8%
16%
25.2%
22.3%
8.9%

text: According to WHO, South Asia is home to two out of the three countries in the world still affected by polio, Pakistan and Afghanistan, with 306 & 28 polio cases registered in 2014 respectively.[226] Attempts to eradicate polio have been badly hit by opposition from militants in both countries, who say the program is cover to spy on their operations. Their attacks on immunization teams have claimed 78 lives since December 2012.[227]

text: According to the World Bank's 2011 report, based on 2005 ICP PPP, about 24.6% of the South Asian population falls below the international poverty line of $1.25/day.[228] Afghanistan and Bangladesh rank the highest, with 30.6% and 43.3% of their respective populations below the poverty line. Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka have the lowest number of people below the poverty line, with 2.4%, 1.5% and 4.1% respectively. India has lifted the most people in the region above the poverty line between 2008 and 2011, around 140 million. As of 2011, 21.9% of India's population lives below the poverty line, compared to 41.6% in 2005.[229][230]

text: The World Bank estimates that India is one of the highest ranking countries in the world for the number of children suffering from malnutrition. The prevalence of underweight children in India is among the highest in the world, and is nearly double that of Sub Saharan Africa with dire consequences for mobility, mortality, productivity and economic growth.[231]

text: According to the World Bank, 70% of the South Asian population and about 75% of South Asia's poor live in rural areas and most rely on agriculture for their livelihood[232] according to the UN's Food and Agricultural Organisation. In 2015, approximately 281 million people in the region were malnourished. The report says that Nepal reached both the WFS target as well as MDG and is moving towards bringing down the number of undernourished people to less than 5% of the population.[224] Bangladesh reached the MDG target with the National Food Policy framework – with only 16.5% of the population undernourished. In India, the malnourished comprise just over 15 percent of the population. While the number of malnourished people in neighborhood has shown a decline over the last 25 years, the number of under-nourished in Pakistan displays an upward trend.There were 28.7 million hungry in Pakistan in the 1990s – a number that has steadily increased to 41.3 million in 2015 with 22% of the population malnourished. Approximately 194.6 million people are undernourished in India, which accounts for the highest number of people suffering from hunger in any single country.[224][233]

text: The 2006 report stated "the low status of women in South Asian countries and their lack of nutritional knowledge are important determinants of high prevalence of underweight children in the region". Corruption and the lack of initiative on the part of the government has been one of the major problems associated with nutrition in India. Illiteracy in villages has been found to be one of the major issues that need more government attention. The report mentioned that although there has been a reduction in malnutrition due to the Green Revolution in South Asia, there is concern that South Asia has "inadequate feeding and caring practices for young children".[234]

text: Governance[edit]

text:
Country
Capital
Forms of
government

Head
of state

Head of
government

Legislature
Official
languages

Coat
of arms

 Afghanistan
Kabul
Unitary presidential
Islamic republic

President
House of Elders,
House of the People

Pashto
Dari

 Bangladesh
Dhaka
Unitary parliamentary
constitutional republic

President
Prime Minister
Jatiya Sangsad
Bangla

 Bhutan
Thimphu
Unitary parliamentary
constitutional monarchy

King
Prime Minister
National Council,
National Assembly

Dzongkha

 India
New Delhi
Federal parliamentary
constitutional republic

President
Prime Minister
Rajya Sabha,
Lok Sabha

Hindi
English

 Maldives
Malé
Unitary presidential
constitutional republic

President
People's Majlis
Dhivehi

   Nepal
Kathmandu
Federal parliamentary
constitutional republic

President
Prime Minister
Legislature Parliament
Nepali

 Pakistan
Islamabad
Federal parliamentary
Islamic republic

President
Prime Minister
Senate,
National Assembly

Urdu
English

 Sri Lanka
Colombo
Unitary semi-presidential
constitutional republic

President
Prime Minister
Parliament
Sinhalese
Tamil
English

text: Countries and territories from extended definitions[edit]

text:
country
or region

Capital
Administrative
division type

Head of
government

Area
(km2)

Population
Official
languages

Coat
of arms

 British Indian
Ocean Territory

Diego
Garcia

British Overseas
Territory

Commissioner
54,400
2,500
English

 Myanmar
Naypyidaw
Unitary parliamentary
constitutional republic

State Counsellor
676,578
51,486,253
Burmese

 Tibet SAR
(China)

Lhasa
Autonomous
region of China

Chairman
1,228,400
3,180,000
Tibetan,
Mandarin

text: India[235][236][237] and Pakistan[238][239] are the dominant political powers in the region. India is by far the largest country in the area covering around three-fourths the land area of the subcontinent.[citation needed] India has the largest population of around three times the combined population of the 6 other countries in the subcontinent.[240] India is also the world's largest democracy[241] India's annual defence budget for 2013–14 is $39.2 Billion[242] which is equal to the whole Pakistan's Federal budget of $39.3 billion for 2014–15.[243]

text: Bangladesh is a unitary state and parliamentary democracy.[244] Bangladesh also stands out as one of the few Muslim-majority democracies. “It is a moderate and generally secular and tolerant — though sometimes this is getting stretched at the moment — alternative to violent extremism in a very troubled part of the world”, said Dan Mozena, the U.S. ambassador to Bangladesh. Although Bangladesh's legal code is secular, more citizens are embracing a conservative version of Islam, with some pushing for sharia law, analysts say. Experts say that the rise in conservatism reflects the influence of foreign-financed Islamic charities and the more austere version of Islam brought home by migrant workers in Persian Gulf countries.[245]

text: Diplomacy among the countries of South Asia has been mainly driven by populist politics, with the centre-stage taken by India-Pakistan conflict ever since their independence in 1947, and then the creation of Bangladesh under tense circumstances in 1971. During the height of Cold war, the elite political leaders of Pakistan aligned with the US, while India played crucial role in forming the Non-Aligned Movement and while maintaining goodwill relations with the USSR.

text: Pakistan's governance is one of the most conflicted in the region. The military rule and the unstable government in Pakistan has become a concern for the South Asian region. In Nepal, the governance has struggled to come in the side of democracy and it only showed signs in the recent past, basically in the 21st century, to support the democratic system. The political situation in Sri Lanka has been dominated by an increasingly assertive Sinhalese nationalism, and the emergence of a Tamil separatist movement under LTTE, which was suppressed in May 2009. Myanmar's politics is dominated by a military Junta, which has sidelined the democratic forces led by Aung San Suu Kyi.

text:
Governance and education index rankings of South Asian countries

Afghanistan
Bangladesh
Bhutan
India
Maldives
Nepal
Pakistan
Sri Lanka

Inequality-adjusted HDI (2016)[246] (global ranking of 187)
166
141
135
127
114
142
149
65

Corruption Perception Index (2016)[247] (global ranking of 168)
169
145
27
79
95
131
116
95

The Worldwide
Governance Indicators (2015)[248]

Government Effectiveness
8%
24%
68%
56%
41%
13%
27%
53%

Political stability and absence
of violence/terrorism

1%
11%
89%
17%
61%
16%
1%
47%

Rule of law
2%
27%
70%
56%
35%
27%
24%
60%

Voice and accountability
16%
31%
46%
61%
30%
33%
27%
36%

Population below poverty line (2011)[249]
35.8%
31.5%
23.7%
21.9%
16%
25.2%
21.4%
8.9%

Primary School Enrollment[250]
29%
90%
85%
92%
94%
96%
73%
98%

Secondary School Enrollment[251]
49%
54%
78%
71%
N/A
67%
38%
99%


document_title: King Arthur (2004 film)

question_text: who played the leader of the saxons in king arthur

root

text: King Arthur (2004 film)

text: Plot[edit]

text: This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (July 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: Arthur (Clive Owen) is portrayed as a Roman cavalry officer, also known as Artorius Castus, the son of a Roman father and a Celtic mother, who commands a unit of Sarmatian auxiliary cavalry in Britain at the close of the Roman occupation in 467 A.D. Arthur is loyal to Rome and a devout Catholic, but follows the teachings of Pelagianism, which many consider heretical. He and his men guard Hadrian's Wall against the Woads, a group of native Britons who are rebels against Roman rule, led by the mysterious Merlin (Stephen Dillane).

tag: p

text: Arthur and his remaining knights Lancelot (Ioan Gruffudd), Bors (Ray Winstone), Tristan (Mads Mikkelsen), Gawain (Joel Edgerton), Galahad (Hugh Dancy) and Dagonet (Ray Stevenson) expect to be discharged from their service to the Empire after faithfully fulfilling a fifteen-year commitment.

text: However, on the night when they are to receive their freedom, Bishop Germanus (Ivano Marescotti) sends them on a final and possibly suicidal mission to rescue an important Roman family living north of Hadrian's Wall. Marius Honorius (Ken Stott) faces impending capture by the invading Saxons, who are invading from mainland Europe, led by their king Cerdic (Stellan Skarsgård) and his son Cynric (Til Schweiger). According to Germanus, Marius' son Alecto is the Pope's favourite godson and may be "destined to be Pope one day". Though angry, the knights follow Arthur once more but only after he and Lancelot argue over Arthur's deeply held beliefs.

text: At the remote estate, Arthur discovers that Marius has immured pagans, including a Woad named Guinevere (Keira Knightley) and a small boy named Lucan. Arthur defies Marius and frees the captives before deciding to take everyone, along with Marius' family, back to Hadrian's Wall.

text: One night, Guinevere takes Arthur to meet with Merlin, the leader of the Woads and her father. At first, Arthur thinks Guinevere has betrayed him, but Merlin has come in peace. It is revealed in a flashback that Arthur's mother had died in a Woad attack when he was a boy. Arthur's famous sword, Excalibur, had belonged to his father and marked his burial mound. Arthur had pulled it from the mound in an effort to rescue his mother from a burning building. Merlin suggests an alliance between the Woads and the Sarmatian knights against the invading Saxons.

text: Marius then betrays the group, takes Lucan hostage and attempts to kill Dagonet but is shot by Guinevere with an arrow. While moving on to the south, Alecto informs Arthur that Germanus executed Pelagius after being insulted by his teachings of equality. Tristan returns from scouting the area and tells Arthur that a Saxon army is close behind them. The knights stay behind to delay the Saxons and allow the refugees to escape. They soon encounter the Saxons at an ice-covered lake bordered on each side by steep cliffs. Greatly outnumbered, Arthur, Guinevere and the knights attempt to repel them with arrows. The battle is won when Dagonet runs to the middle of the ice and breaks it with an axe at the cost of his life. Many Saxons are also killed, and the rest are forced to turn back.

text: Upon their return to the wall, Germanus awards the knights their discharge papers and Dagonet is buried. Guinevere attempts to persuade Arthur to remain in Britain and defend the people from the Saxons. The pair share an encounter in Arthur's room, only to be interrupted by the Saxon army's arrival. Despite Lancelot's pleas, Arthur decides to stay and defend the wall, sending his knights away to live the rest of their lives in freedom.

text: Now in command of the Woad forces, Arthur prepares to face the Saxon army. As the knights are leading the evacuation, they hear the Saxon drums and turn back to join Arthur.

text: In the climactic "Battle of Badon Hill" set just south of Hadrian's Wall, the Woads catapult flaming missiles at the Saxon army. When the hosts meet, Guinevere engages in combat with Cynric. Cerdic fights and kills Tristan before facing off with Arthur. Meanwhile, Cynric disarms Guinevere and is engaged by Lancelot. Cynric shoots Lancelot with a Saxon crossbow. Lancelot then throws his sword into Cynric and kills him. Lancelot dies with Guinevere at his side. Arthur kills Cerdic and the Saxons are defeated.

text: While he realises that his ideal Rome exists only in his dreams, Arthur despairs over the deaths of his men. The film ends with the marriage of Arthur and Guinevere, after which Merlin proclaims him to be their king. United by their defeat of the Saxons and the retreat of the Romans, Arthur promises to lead the Britons against future invaders. Three horses that had belonged to Tristan, Dagonet and Lancelot run free across the landscape, as the closing narrative from Lancelot describes how fallen knights live on in tales passed from generation to generation.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Clive Owen as Arthur
Ioan Gruffudd as Lancelot
Mads Mikkelsen as Tristan
Joel Edgerton as Gawain
Hugh Dancy as Galahad
Ray Winstone as Bors the Younger
Ray Stevenson as Dagonet
Keira Knightley as Guinevere
Stephen Dillane as Merlin
Stellan Skarsgård as Cerdic
Til Schweiger as Cynric
Sean Gilder as Jols
Pat Kinevane as Horton
Ivano Marescotti as Bishop Germanus
Ken Stott as Marius Honorius
Lorenzo De Angelis as Alecto
Stefania Orsola Garello as Fulcinia
Alan Devine as British Scout
Charlie Creed-Miles as Ganis
Johnny Brennan as Lucan
David Murray as Merlin's Lieutenant

tag: ul

text: Production[edit]

text: The film was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Antoine Fuqua; David Franzoni, the writer of the original draft script for Gladiator, wrote the screenplay. The historical consultant for the film was John Matthews, an author known for his books on esoteric Celtic spirituality, some of which he co-wrote with his wife Caitlin Matthews. The research consultant was Linda A. Malcor, co-author of From Scythia to Camelot: A Radical Reinterpretation of the Legends of King Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table, and the Holy Grail, in which possible non-Celtic sources for the Arthurian legends are explored.

text: The film's main set, a replica of a section of Hadrian's Wall, was the largest film set ever built in Ireland, and was located in a field in County Kildare.[1] The replica was one kilometre long, which took a crew of 300 building workers four and a half months to build.[2] The fort in the film was based on the Roman fort named Vindolanda, which was built around 80 AD just south of Hadrian's Wall in what is now called Chesterholm in Northern England.

text: Relationship with Arthurian legend[edit]

text: This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: Cinematic versus traditional portrayal[edit]

text: The film's storyline is not taken from the traditional sources, but is a work of creative fiction. The only notable exception to this is the inclusion of the Saxons as Arthur's adversaries and the Battle of Badon Hill. Most traditional elements of Arthurian legend are dropped, such as the Holy Grail and Tristan's lover Iseult. The film barely includes the love triangle between Arthur, Lancelot and Guinevere; whilst Guinevere and Arthur are romantically involved, only a few sequences depict a possible relationship between Lancelot and Guinevere. The film does not feature Kay and Bedivere. Along with Gawain, they already appear as Arthur's companions in very early Welsh sources, like Culhwch and Olwen in the Mabinogion.

text: The knights' characterisations in Arthurian legend are also dropped. For example, the film's portrayal of a boorish and lusty Bors, the father of many children, differs greatly from his namesake whose purity and celibacy allowed him to witness the Holy Grail according to legend. The cinematic portrayal of Bors is therefore much closer to the traditional depiction of Sir Kay than his legendary namesake. Lancelot and Galahad are portrayed as having similar ages, whereas according to traditional versions they are father and son respectively (the film's approach is also found in modern Arthurian fiction — such as Bernard Cornwell's The Warlord Chronicles, in which they are brothers).

text: The cinematic portrayal of Guinevere as a Celtic warrior who joins Arthur's knights in battle is a drastic alteration from the demure "damsel in distress" of courtly romance.[3] Although there is historical and mythological precedent for "sword-swinging warrior queens", such as the British Boudica of the Iceni, Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd of Wales, or the various Celtic war goddesses, the film's portrayal of Guinevere is actually closer to the Queen Medb of the Irish Táin Bó Cúailnge.[3] However, no source, early or late, describes Guinevere as either a warrior or a rustic Celt; in fact, in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, which contains one of the oldest accounts of the character, Guinevere has Roman blood while Arthur is an indigenous Celt.

text: Despite the film's alleged historical angle, Merlin was not originally part of the legends. It is generally agreed that he is based on two figures—Myrddin Wyllt (Myrddin the Wild), and Aurelius Ambrosius, a highly fictionalised version of the historical war leader Ambrosius Aurelianus. The former had nothing to do with Arthur and flourished after the Arthurian period. The composite Merlin was created by Geoffrey of Monmouth.

text: Differences between the film and the Arthurian legend[edit]

text: In the film, Arthur's father is a Roman general from the Imperial Roman army and his mother is a Celtic woman. In the historical notes of the legend, Arthur's father is Uther Pendragon, a famous Romano-British commander and one of Britain's earlier kings, and his mother is Igraine, a beautiful young woman who was once the wife of Gorlois, the Duke of Cornwall and one of Uther's loyal subjects.

text: Arthur's knights are described differently in the film and the legend. In the film, Lancelot, Tristan, Bors and the other Knights of the Round Table are Sarmatian knights fighting for the glory of the Roman Empire. In historical notes, the Knights of the Round Table are Britons, knights of Romano-Celtic Britain fighting for the freedom of Britain against the Saxons.

text: Other references to Arthurian legend[edit]

text: Dagonet, a self-sacrificing warrior in the film, has Arthur's court jester as his namesake. The character appears in Le Morte d'Arthur and Idylls of the King. Also in the film, Lancelot fights using two swords. This may be a reference to the ill-fated Sir Balin, the "Knight with Two Swords", but this epithet refers to his cursed sword rather than his fighting style.

text: Tristan has a pet hawk. In Welsh legends, a figure named Gwalchmai is commonly considered identical with Gawain (both are nephews of Arthur); a popular though unlikely proposed meaning of his name is "hawk of May".[4]

text: The role of traitor, typically ascribed to Mordred, is given a smaller part in the form of a young British scout, played by Alan Devine, who betrays his people to the Saxons. The character is unnamed, but called "British Scout" in the credits. Tristan kills the traitor with an arrow from the other side of Hadrian's Wall during the climactic battle.

text: Relationship with other works[edit]

text: Italian historian and novelist Valerio Massimo Manfredi claimed that the movie was almost a plagiarism of his 2002 novel The Last Legion, due to several similarities between the two works.[5] These similarities include the reuse of some tropes and happenings present in the book and, especially, the attempt to give historical reliability to the main characters with the concept of King Arthur having Roman origins. Indeed, the events of the movie suggest a theory that is largely different from the one on which Manfredi's novel is based, in which Artorius Castus isn't even mentioned, and neither is the Sarmatian auxiliary army. According to Manfredi, King Arthur's release and its commercial failure were among the main causes of the problems related to the movie adaptation of his novel, that was in development hell until its release in 2007.

text: Historical notes[edit]

text: Despite the film's supposedly historically grounded approach, much artistic licence is taken regarding historical figures, peoples, events, religion, wardrobe and weaponry. The film places the story of Arthur not in its better-known medieval setting, but in the (still plausible) earlier times of antiquity, the early dawn of the Middle Ages – as did the earliest versions of the Arthur story. It would appear that the Arthur depicted in the film is based most closely upon Ambrosius Aurelianus, the Romano-Briton who fought against the Saxons in the 5th century, and was probably the leader of the Romano-British at the Battle of Mons Badonicus (Mount Badon). Nevertheless, Arthur's full name in the film is Artorius Castus, referring to Lucius Artorius Castus, a historical Roman active in Britain in the 2nd or 3rd century.[6] It is specified Arthur was given the ancestral name of a legendary leader.

text: The film is loosely based on the "Sarmatian hypothesis", formulated by C. Scott Littleton and Ann C. Thomas in 1978, which holds that the Arthurian legend has a historical nucleus in the Sarmatian heavy cavalry troops stationed in Britain,[7] referencing the similarities between the legends of king Arthur and the older legends of Nartian king Batraz. In the 2nd century, 5,500 Iazyges were transported there as auxiliaries during the Marcomannic Wars.[8] However, the hypothesis is not accepted by scholars who say it lacks a solid base.[9]

text: Roman political issues[edit]

text: In the film, the Roman legions withdraw from Britain in AD 467; in reality, it was completed in the year 410, nearly 60 years before.[citation needed] Similarly, the opening text dictates that "King Arthur and his Knights rose from a real hero who lived [...] in a period often called the Dark Ages". The film, however, is set in 467. The Dark Ages actually occurred in Sub-Roman Britain after the last Emperor of the Western Roman Empire, Romulus Augustus, was deposed by Odoacer in 476, nine years after the date for the setting of the film. The current Roman Emperor in the film's time would have been Anthemius.

text: The Roman family which Arthur rescues lives north of Hadrian's Wall. This mission would be unlikely because the Wall represented the extent of Roman rule in Britain, except for brief periods of occupation during the 2nd century AD during which time they got as far north as Falkirk in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, where pieces of the Antonine Wall are still visible; particularly in Callendar Park.[citation needed] Romanized client states such as that of the Votadini did exist north of the wall even into the Sub-Roman era.

text: Britons and Saxons[edit]

text: The Picts are called "Woads".[6][10] This word is a reference to one plant the Picts may have used to make blue paint;[6] however, the use of woad by the Picts is contested by scholars,[8] and the historical Picts were never known by this name.[11] In an interview Antoine Fuqua stated that they used "Wodes" (sic) instead of "Picts" because they thought the latter sounded "a little weird".[12] Nevertheless, John Matthews said in an online article that the name substitution was "meant to echo similar belittling titles given to enemies".[6]

text: The 9th century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle mentions the arrival of the Saxon leaders Cerdic and Cynric in Britain (at Hampshire) in 495.[13] According to the Chronicle Cynric succeeded Cerdic as king of Wessex in 534 (Cerdic was the founder of the kingdom).[14] Thus the two could not have died at the battle of Mount Badon. The battle is thought to have been fought sometime between 490 and 516.[15]

text: The Saxons are shown attacking Hadrian's Wall from the north. By 467 the Saxons were already occupying parts of Britain far south of the wall.[16] Later in the film, Cerdic stops a warrior from raping a woman because it would lead to less-than-pure Saxon blood. This scene references the long-held belief that the Anglo-Saxons eradicated the Romano-Britons from the eastern part of the island. This contention, largely based on linguistic evidence, has been challenged by modern genetic analysis, which suggests extensive mixing between Anglo-Saxon and Briton populations. Some historians (and fiction writers[17]) have even suggested that Cerdic himself was at least part Briton. His name "Cerdic" has been argued to be a Germanised form of a Celtic name such as Ceretic or Caradoc.

text: Military technology[edit]

text: Historically, Sarmatians were armoured in the manner of cataphracts (full-length coats of scale armour); the film's Sarmatians are armoured with a mishmash of pseudo-Roman, Turkish, Mongol and Hunnic designs. The Saxons historically used bows (to a limited extent) and spears instead of crossbows during the period. Though there is evidence for the use of some form of crossbows by Romans (calling them manuballistae) and, some claim, the Picts,[6] the weapon was still not widely used in England until much later.

text: Similarly, the Woads use a trebuchet-like weapon to hurl flaming missiles at the Saxons, though the trebuchet was not re-introduced to Britain until the Siege of Dover in 1216.[citation needed] The Romans, however, reportedly used an early form of the trebuchet in their sieges.[citation needed]

text: Roman soldiers displayed in the film are depicted as legionaries with 2nd century armour. By AD 400, legionaries were no longer in use and comitatenses were the new replacements.[citation needed]

text: Religious inaccuracies[edit]

text: The real Pelagius was a monk, not a bishop. He engaged Saint Augustine of Hippo in a debate on the theological issue of the relationship between grace and free will. However, the film confuses the issue of political freedoms and social choices (which were not issues in political debate in the 5th/6th centuries) with the principle of free will in relationship to God. When Arthur informs the people that "You ...were free from your first breath!", Roger Ebert notes that he is both "anticipating by a millennium or so the notion that all men are born free, and overlooking the detail that his knights have been pressed into involuntary servitude."[18] The Pelagian heresy denied original sin with its doctrine of the bondage of the will and the need for healing by God's grace.[19] Nor was Pelagius executed for heresy in Rome as the film indicates. He is believed to have died decades before 467 AD, likely of old age.[19]

text: St. Germanus of Auxerre's second (and last) mission to Britain was twenty years before (447 AD) and he died the following year.[20] Germanus is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church and Anglican Communion and, although portrayed in the film as a cruel and pompous aristocrat, historically he "extended his hospitality to all sorts of persons, washed the feet of the poor and served them with his own hands, while he himself fasted."[21]

text: The film implies that the Pope (who in 467 was Pope Hilarius) was in control of the Western Roman Empire, although it was actually ruled by the Emperor and de facto controlled by the Magistri Militum and other regional governors. The Pope would not gain the political power to grant lands and other comparable privileges until centuries after the setting of the film. The film seems to be implying a literal interpretation of the Donation of Constantine, a document purportedly written in the 4th century, but in actuality an 8th-century forgery.

text: Promotion[edit]

text: Elements of the film's promotion have likewise been criticized as historically unsound. Its tagline "The True Story Behind the Legend" has been criticised as false.[8][22] A trailer for the film claims that historians now agree that Arthur was a real person because of alleged "recent" archaeological findings, yet there is no consensus amongst historians on Arthur's historicity[8][23] and no recent archaeological find proves Arthur's existence; the so-called "Arthur stone", discovered in 1998 in securely dated 6th century contexts amongst the ruins at Tintagel Castle in Cornwall, created a stir but has subsequently been of little use as evidence.[24][25]

text: Reception[edit]

text: The film holds a 31% 'Rotten' rating on Rotten Tomatoes as of February 7, 2015, with 58 positive of 185 reviews being positive with the critics consensus being "The magic is gone, leaving a dreary, generic action movie".[26] David Edelstein of Slate called the film "profoundly stupid and inept" and added, "it's an endless source of giggles once you realise that its historical revisionism has nothing to do with archeological discoveries and everything to do with the fact that no one at Disney would green-light an old-fashioned talky love triangle with a hero who dies and an adulterous heroine who ends up in a nunnery."[27] A. O. Scott of the New York Times further remarked that the film was "a blunt, glowering B picture, shot in murky fog and battlefield smoke, full of silly-sounding pomposity and swollen music (courtesy of the prolifically bombastic Hans Zimmer). The combat scenes, though boisterous and brutal, are no more coherent than the story, which requires almost as much exposition as the last Star Wars film. Luckily there is an element of broad, brawny camp that prevents King Arthur from being a complete drag."[28]

text: Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times, however, had a more positive response to the film and awarded it three out of four stars, writing, "That the movie works is because of the considerable production qualities and the charisma of the actors, who bring more interest to the characters than they deserve. There is a kind of direct, unadorned conviction to the acting of Clive Owen and the others; raised on Shakespeare, trained for swordfights, with an idea of Arthurian legend in their heads since childhood, they don't seem out of time and place like the cast of Troy. They get on with it."[29]

text: Robin Rowland criticised critics who disliked the film for its Dark Age setting.[3] Rowland pointed out that several Arthurian novels are set in the Dark Ages, like Rosemary Sutcliff's Sword at Sunset and Mary Stewart's Merlin trilogy (The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills and The Last Enchantment). However, these works have little in common with the film's story and Sarmatian angle. In response to criticism of the setting consultant on the film Linda A. Malcor said: "I think these film-makers did a better job than most could have done when it comes to giving us something besides knights in tin foil and damsels in chiffon.... [they] deserve a lot of praise for the effort that they made."[22] Fellow Arthurian scholar Geoffrey Ashe's opinion was negative.[22]

text: Director's cut[edit]

text: An unrated director's cut of the film has been released; it has extra footage of battle scenes as well as more scenes between Lancelot and Guinevere, whose traditional love triangle with Arthur is only hinted at here. The battle scenes are also bloodier and more graphic.

text: Several scenes are also omitted from the director's cut, including one where the knights sit around a camp fire asking about their intended Sarmatian life, in which Bors reveals that his children do not even have names, most simply have numbers. In addition, a sex scene between Guinevere and Arthur is shifted to be chronologically before he is informed of the incoming Saxons towards Hadrian's Wall. This seemingly minor change arguably helps the story flow more smoothly. In the original film he is seen in full battle armour, contemplating a broken image of Pelagius on his floor, and then is disturbed by a call to come outside. When he comes outside, he is hastily putting on a shirt, and his hair is disheveled. In the Director's Cut, after an intimate moment between Arthur and Guinevere explaining Arthur's morals, they carry on into their sexual encounter, and are thus disturbed so that Arthur can be briefed on the Saxons. During the sexual encounter, he is wearing the same outfit he wears during the briefing. The scene where he is examining Pelagius's image is removed.

text: Marketing[edit]

text: Despite these many drastic diversions from the source material (including the Welsh Mabinogion), the producers of the film attempted to market it as a more historically accurate version of the Arthurian legends. Other liberties were taken with the actors' appearances: Keira Knightley's breasts were enlarged for the US theatrical film poster. This practice angered Knightley, who says that it "comes from market research that clearly shows that other women refuse to look at famous actresses and stars with small breasts." Later in 2006, Knightley claimed she is "not allowed to be on a magazine cover in the US without at least a C cup because it 'turns people off'."[30]

text: Video game[edit]


document_title: Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb

question_text: who plays the pharaoh in night at the museum 2

text: Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb

text: Plot[edit]

text: In 1938 Egypt, a team of archaeologists discover the tomb of pharaoh Ahkmenrah, including a young Cecil Fredericks, finding the magical Tablet of Ahkmenrah. The locals warn the group that removing the tablet will end its magic. In present-day New York City, Larry Daley remains the night guard of the American Museum of Natural History. He, Theodore Roosevelt, Sacagawea, Attila the Hun, Jedediah, Octavius and Dexter the capuchin monkey help re-open the Hayden Planetarium. A new wax Neanderthal resembling Larry named Laaa is introduced, identifying Larry as his father. Ahkmenrah shows Larry that the tablet is corroding, which later causes the exhibits to act erratically, causing mayhem at the planetarium's reopening. Afterwards, Larry catches his son Nick throwing a house party, who plans on taking a gap year to sort out his life.

text: Larry reunites with Cecil, now in retirement, who realises the end of the tablet's magic will cause the exhibits to become lifeless. Cecil explains Ahkmenrah's parents, Merenkahre and Shepseheret, may be able to restore the tablet's power, but are located in the British Museum. Larry convinces the museum's curator, Dr. McPhee, to let him ship Ahkmenrah to London to restore the tablet, convinced that McPhee knows its secrets. Larry and Nick travel to the British Museum, bypassing the night guard Tilly. To Larry's surprise, Roosevelt, Sacagawea, Attila, Jed, Octavius, Dexter, and Laaa have come as well. Laaa is left to stand guard while the others search the museum, the tablet bringing its own exhibits to life.

text: They are joined by a wax Sir Lancelot who helps them fight off the aggressive museum exhibits like a Xiangliu statue and a Triceratops skeleton. Jedediah and Octavius fall through a ventilation shaft, but are rescued from an erupting Pompeii model by Dexter. The group find Ahkmenrah's parents, learning the tablet's power can be regenerated by moonlight, since it is empowered with the magic of Khonsu. Lancelot mistakes the tablet for the Holy Grail and steals it, leaving to find Camelot. Larry and Laaa are locked in the employee break room by Tilly but escape, Laaa remaining behind to distract Tilly, but they become attracted to each other.

text: Lancelot crashes a performance of the musical Camelot, starring Hugh Jackman and Alice Eve as King Arthur and Queen Guinevere, but Larry and the others chase him to the theatre roof, where the New York exhibits begin to die. Lancelot then sees that the quest was about them and gives the tablet back. The moonlight restores the tablet's power, saving the exhibits. They decide that Ahkmenrah and the tablet should stay with his parents, even if it means the New York exhibits will no longer come to life. Back in New York, Larry spends some final moments with his friends before sunrise.

text: Three years later, Larry, having taken the blame for the planetarium incident thus giving McPhee his job back, now works as a teacher, and a travelling British Museum exhibit comes to New York. Tilly becomes the new night guard, and gives the tablet to Dr. McPhee, showing him its power, and allowing the exhibits to awaken again. Outside, Larry watches them party inside.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Ben Stiller as Larry Daley, a security guard at the American Museum of Natural History.[4]

Stiller also plays Laaa, a Neanderthal who resembles Larry.

Robin Williams as Theodore Roosevelt, the wax statue of the 26th President of the United States.[4]
Owen Wilson as Jedediah, a cowboy diorama miniature.[4]
Steve Coogan as Octavius, a Roman soldier miniature.[4]
Ricky Gervais as Dr. McPhee, the director of the Museum of Natural History.[4]
Rachael Harris as Madeline Phelps, the chairwoman of the American Museum of Natural History.
Dan Stevens as Sir Lancelot, the wax statue of the legendary Knight of the Round Table.[5]
Rebel Wilson as Tilly, the night security guard at the British Museum.[4]
Skyler Gisondo as Nick Daley, the son of Larry Daley.[6] He was previously played by Jake Cherry in the first two films.
Rami Malek as Ahkmenrah, the mummy of an ancient pharaoh.[4]
Patrick Gallagher as Attila the Hun, the statue of the leader of the Huns.[4]
Mizuo Peck as Sacagawea, the polyurethane model of the Lemhi Shoshone woman who is Theodore Roosevelt's girlfriend.[4]
Ben Kingsley as Merenkahre, the mummy of an ancient pharaoh and Ahkmenrah's father.[7]
Dick Van Dyke as Cecil "C.J." Fredericks, a retired security guard from the first film.[8]

Percy Hynes White plays the younger Cecil "C.J." Fredericks

Mickey Rooney as Gus, a retired security guard from the first film.[8]
Bill Cobbs as Reginald, a retired security guard from the first film.[8]
Andrea Martin as Rose, an archivist at the Museum of Natural History.
Brennan Elliott as Robert Fredericks, C.J.'s father in the prologue.
Matt Frewer as Archibald Stanley, an archeologist who accompanies Robert and Cecil in the prologue.
Anjali Jay as Shepseheret, the mummy of a Great Royal Wife of Merenkahre and mother of Ahkmenrah.
Crystal the Monkey as Dexter, a Capuchin monkey.
Hugh Jackman as Himself (uncredited)
Alice Eve as Herself (uncredited)

text: Voices[edit]

text:
Robin Williams as Garuda Artifact.
Brad Garrett as Easter Island Head.
Regina Taufen as New York Reporter.

text: Production[edit]

text: On January 21, 2010, co-writer Thomas Lennon said to Access Hollywood, "I think it's a really outstanding idea to do Night at the Museum 3, in fact. I wonder if someone's not even already working on a script for that. I cannot confirm that for a fact, but I cannot deny it for a fact either... It might be in the works."[9] In an October 2011 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Stiller confirmed the sequel, however, he said that it was only in the "ideas stage".[10] In February 2013 it was announced that the film, directed by Shawn Levy, would be released on December 25, 2014.[11] On September 10, 2013, it was announced that shooting would start in February 2014.[12]

text: On November 8, 2013, actor Dan Stevens was cast as Lancelot.[5] On November 15, 2013, it was announced that Skyler Gisondo would be replacing Jake Cherry in the role of Nicky Daley.[6] On December 18, 2013, it was announced that Stiller, Robin Williams, and Ricky Gervais would be returning for the sequel.[13] On January 9, 2014, it was announced that Rebel Wilson would play a security guard in the British Museum.[4] On January 14, 2014, the film's release date was moved up from December 25, 2014, to December 19, 2014.[14] On January 23, 2014, it was announced Ben Kingsley would play an Egyptian Pharaoh at the British Museum.[15] Principal photography and production began on January 27, 2014.[16][17] On May 6, 2014, it was announced that the film would be titled Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb.[18] In May 2014, principal photography ended.[19]

text: Music[edit]

text: Alan Silvestri returned to score the final installment of the trilogy.[20][21]

text:
Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Film score by Alan Silvestri

Released
January 6, 2015 (2015-01-06)

Recorded
2014

Genre
Film score

Length
56:52

Label
Varese Sarabande

text: Track listing[edit]

text: Varese Sarabande released a soundtrack album of the score on January 6, 2015.[22][23][24]

text: All tracks written by Alan Silvestri.

text:
Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

No.
Title
Length

1.
"The Ahkmenrah Expedition"
3:34

2.
"Performance Prep"
2:02

3.
"LOL"
2:22

4.
"The Grand Re-Opening"
3:13

5.
"The End Will Come"
2:19

6.
"Sneak And Greet"
3:25

7.
"Sir Lancelot"
3:33

8.
"Where Are Jed And Octavius?"
2:50

9.
"Main Hall"
3:24

10.
"Xiangliu"
3:46

11.
"Male Bonding"
2:15

12.
"The Legend of the Tablet"
3:11

13.
"The Escher Fight"
3:45

14.
"Camelot"
3:49

15.
"The Quest"
2:35

16.
"Seeing Your Boy Become A Man"
3:14

17.
"Laaa Love"
1:53

18.
"A Farewell Kiss"
2:40

19.
"Teddy's Goodbye"
3:02

Total length:
56:52

text: Release[edit]

text: The film premiered at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City on December 11, 2014.[25] It was then released on December 19, 2014 in the United States.[26]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb grossed $113.7 million in North America, and $249.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $363.2 million against a budget of $127 million.[2]

text: In North America, early analysts were predicting a potential $25–$28 million opening.[27][28] In North America, the film was released on December 19, 2014 across 3,785 theaters.[29] It opened Friday, December 19, 2014 and earned $5.6 million on its opening day, placing at number three at the box office.[30] The film underperformed expectations during its opening weekend, earning $17.1 million, which was relatively lower than the openings of the original film ($30.4 million) and its sequel ($54.1 million).[31] The film debuted at number two at the box office behind The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.[32] According to 20th Century Fox, the movie's audience was 51% male, with 54% of the audience under the age of 25. In CinemaScore polls conducted during the opening weekend, cinema audiences gave the film an average grade of "B+", on an A+ to F scale.[32]

text: The film began its international rollout the same weekend as the North American premiere and earned $10.4 million from 27 markets in its opening weekend, debuting at #3 behind at the box office behind The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies and Penguins of Madagascar.[33][34][35][36] The film expanded to an additional 40 markets in its second week and grossed $31.2 million.[37] It topped the box office outside North America in its fourth weekend with a total gross of $46.2 million, primarily because of China, where it opened at #1 with $26 million.[38] The other highest opening figures were from Mexico ($5.85 million), Brazil ($3.1 million), Malaysia ($3.07 million), the UK ($3 million), Australia ($2.8 million), Germany ($2.1 million) and Singapore ($2 million).[37][33][39]

text: For the weekend of January 16, 2015, the film grossed $17.8 million, which includes a $3.9 million debut in South Korea.[40]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received a 48% approval rating, based on 104 reviews, with an average score of 5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "While not without its moments, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb is a less-than-inspired sendoff for the trilogy."[41] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 47 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[42] In CinemaScore polls conducted during the opening weekend, cinema audiences gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[32]

text: Scott Foundas of Variety gave the film a positive review, praising the visual effects and calling the production values "topnotch", and admiring Guillermo Navarro's work. He added, "A most enjoyable capper to director Shawn Levy and producer Chris Columbus' cheerfully silly and sneakily smart family-entertainment juggernaut... offers little in the way of secrets of surprises, but should add much holiday cheer to Fox's box-office coffers."[43] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film three stars out of five and said, "The third part in what absolutely no one is calling the Night at the Museum 'trilogy' turns out to be a good-natured and entertainingly surreal panto fantasy."[44] Glenn Kenny awarded the film 2½ stars out of 4 praising the Indiana Jones themed-set while criticizing the performances of the cast and said, "As talent-packed as any Night at the Museum picture may be—in this third installment... —one doesn't come to a movie of this sort expecting anybody's best work. Or at least one certainly shouldn't, because it won't materialize."[45] Stephanie Zacharek of The Village Voice gave the film a positive review, saying "The third installment, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb may be the best, and even the generally wound-too-tight Ben Stiller – once again playing a bemused Museum of Natural History guard – is easy to tolerate."[46] Claudia Puig of USA Today gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying "Where the previous films felt frenetic and forced, this outing feels breezier, more enjoyable and less contrived."[47] Joe Neumaier of the New York Daily News gave the film three out of five stars, saying "There's a serenity to museum visits, especially if it's a place you know and love. Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, amazingly, recaptures that feeling in big-studio franchise form."[48]

text: Bill Goodykoontz of The Arizona Republic gave the film two out of five stars, saying "Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb is a rather lackluster affair, a cash grab that tries to aim a little higher but confuses sappy shortcuts with real emotion."[49] Joe McGovern of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B, saying "It's kind of fun, unembarrassingly, and not least of all because the people who made it look like they had a good time doing so."[50] Tom Long of The Detroit News gave the film a B, saying "There are some key elements that make this Night at the Museum sequel work better than its predecessor."[51] Stephen Whitty of the Newark Star-Ledger gave the film two out of four stars, saying "The exhibits in this Night at the Museum may still come to life nightly. But their latest movie stays stubbornly inert."[52] Tom Russo of The Boston Globe gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying "Seeing Ben Stiller, the late Robin Williams, and their magically roused gang together again, this time in London, is initially all about indulgent, nostalgic smiles rather than new wows. But then comes the movie's exceptionally clever and fresh final act, which delivers genuine surprise along with many laughs."[53] Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph gave the film three out of five stars, saying "The third Night at the Museum film starts strongly, with its heart in the past... It's an exciting opening, and perhaps too exciting for the film's own good. It's hard not to be disappointed when the plot moves back to the present and settles into the time-honoured formula of digitised creatures running riot and famous people in fancy dress doing shtick."[54] Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a negative review, saying "Despite relocating across the pond to the esteemed British Museum, the creaky Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb fails to capitalize on the comic potential provided by that change of venue."[55]

text: Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club gave the film a C+, saying "Secret of the Tomb plays it as a source of corny jokes, pop-culture references, and father-son bonding moments. In other words, it's exactly the kind of film that shouldn't be expected to engage with its assorted bizarre subtexts – but what a movie it could be if it did."[56] Sara Stewart of the New York Post gave the film two out of four stars, saying "For piquing kids' interest in history and nature, you could do worse than this goofy Ben Stiller franchise. But its third installment is more meh than manic, too reliant on wide shots of the ragtag Museum of Natural History cohorts striding down corridors. You get the feeling returning director Shawn Levy is ready to hang it up."[57] Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film one and a half stars out of five, saying "The dialogue is schmaltzy and often painfully unfunny. The special effects are often so 1980s-bad, one wonders if it was a deliberate choice, to make the creepy visuals of sculptures dancing and paintings moving less frightening to young viewers. Time and again, terrific actors sink in the equivalent of cinematic quicksand, helpless against the sucking sound of this movie."[58] Drew Hunt of Slant Magazine gave the film one out of four stars, saying "None of the entries in the Night at the Museum series could ever pass for high art, but a wealth of comedic talent gave the first two installments a madcap energy that somewhat forgave their childish premises. Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, the third and supposedly final edition in the franchise, is nothing more than an uncomfortably transparent contractual obligation."[59]

text: Accolades[edit]

text:
Award
Category
Recipient(s)
Result
Ref(s)

Teen Choice Awards
Choice Movie: Comedy
Nominated
[60]

Choice Movie Actor: Comedy
Ben Stiller
Nominated

Kids' Choice Awards
Favorite Movie Actor
Ben Stiller
Won
[61][62]

text: Home media[edit]

text: Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb was released on Blu-ray and DVD on March 10, 2015.[63] The film debuted in second place on the home media charts behind The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1.[64]