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Reference has already been made to the main transport systems that linked Asia and the Western world. Until the 19th century the land, or caravan, routes, supplemented by oceangoing vessels, were predominant. In the latter half of the 19th century there was a major shift to seagoing vessels. Rail and road transport has become important for moving passengers within individual states and for transporting bulk goods over longer distances. Concurrently, there has been considerable development of ports and harbours—including container facilities in the larger ports—which have been linked to their hinterlands by rail and road. Air transport has proved to be not only the speediest but also often the cheapest means of transport, especially for costly items of relatively small weight and bulk. Air transport has played a particularly important role in landlocked countries—such as Afghanistan, Nepal, and Laos—and in the opening up of relatively inaccessible and fragmented areas, such as Indonesia.
Within Asian countries, diesel trucks, buses, and jeeps have been replacing draft animals for internal traffic, as roads and highways have been extended in most countries. Motorbikes and motorcycles have also become common in many areas for hauling goods short distances. Carts hauled by draft animals (mostly oxen or buffalo) are still used where roads are unpaved or poorly maintained, and they may be seen in large cities of the poorer regions.
Inland navigation is important in certain countries; a good river and canal system is capable of carrying goods and passengers at small cost over considerable distances. Among the countries with well-developed inland water transport systems are Bangladesh, the countries of mainland Southeast Asia, and China. There are also great riverine ports such as Kolkata (Calcutta) in India, Yangon (Rangoon) in Myanmar, Bangkok in Thailand, and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. Oceangoing ships can navigate the Mekong River to inland ports such as Phnom Penh, in Cambodia, and can sail up the Yangtze River to Wuhan, China. Ultimately, it may be possible to connect even Laos with the sea by improving navigation facilities on the Mekong. The Yangtze, Sungari, and Xi rivers of China provide a wide network of routes for motorized barges, supplementing traditional water transport.
A number of pipelines have been constructed to move petroleum products, especially in Southwest Asia, western Siberia, and the Caucasus region. Pipelines have considerable advantages, such as economy and speed, but they also have the disadvantage of being subject to sabotage and to political vicissitudes when they cross international boundaries. For example, the war between Russian troops and rebels in Chechnya was partly about control over possible pipeline routes between the Caspian and Black seas.
Chakravarthi V. Narasimhan Thomas R. Leinbach Graham P. Chapman