Meanwhile, supported by aid from China and the Soviet Union, North Vietnam strengthened its air defenses. By November 1967, the number of American troops in Vietnam was approaching 500,000, and U.S. casualties had reached 15,058 killed and 109,527 wounded.
India is one example of a subcontinent because it is a part of the Asian continent. Its landmass is not connected to the Asian continent plate, thus not part of it. India is regarded as the largest nation in South Asia and also known as the South Asian subcontinent. The term is used culturally and politically.
It is a land of fabulous wealth and of extreme poverty. The subcontinent has a small elite of very wealthy people and a large and growing middle class. South Asia has almost one half of the worlds poor even though it has only 20% of the worlds population. In 1997 the Pakistan-based Human Development Center called the subcontinent the poorest, the most illiterate, the most malnourished, and the least gender-sensitive--indeed the most deprived--region of the world.