Download Physical Geography of East Asia

Physical Geography of East Asia
Satellite View of China
The East Asian Realm
 Physical landforms
*Q1: What accounts for
- complex landforms?*
these
Tectonic Activity
Limited flat land:
*Q2: What are some
solutions to this problem?*
Terracing and irrigation.
Maximize agricultural productivity.
China
 The People's Republic of China (PRC)
Est. in 1949
China is ruled by the Communist Party of
China under a single-party system
China’s Geography
China
0
250
500
1,000
1,500
Miles
2,000
United States
 1. 3rd largest country in the
world.
 2. Comparable to the US
 3. 65% of the country is
mountainous.
 4. Arable land represents 12% of
the national territory as opposed
to 25% for the United States.
 5. Per capita (0.086 hectare) is
well below the world average.
Q3: What is this type of agriculture called? AND, why do you think that it
was developed?
Terraced farming; rugged terrain/topography/mountainous
Bodies of Water
Sea of
Japan
Pacific
Ocean
South
China
Sea
The Yellow River!
Huang He (Yellow River).
-Floods frequently.
-Extremely polluted
-Industrialization
along the river
The Yangtze River
Chang Jiang River
(Yangtze)
-Flood of 1998 left 14
million homeless.
-Home to the Three
Gorges Dam
-Created a
reservoir that
made 1,000 towns
and villages
disappear
The West River and the Pearl River
Xi Jang (West
River)
Important mineral
resources are along
this river
Zhu Jiang (Pearl River)
Most productive and
sustainable ecosystem in
the world.
 Q4: What is the name of
each river (One point per
name)
China
1. Huang He (Yellow River)
2. Chang Jiang (Yangtze
River)
1
2
3
3. Xi Jiang (West River)
OR Zhu Jiang (Pearl
River)
Mountains & Peaks
Altai Mts.
Tian Shan
Kunlun Shan
Himalayan
Mts.
Greater
Khingan
Kunlun Mountains
Located in the west
Where two of China’s great rivers begin
(Yellow and Yangtze)
Deserts & Plateaus
Gobi Desert
Taklamakan
Desert
Tibetan
Plateau
 Mongolian Plateau
Most who live here are sheep
herders and raise livestock
 Tibetan Plateau
Averages more than 3,000
feet above sea level
 Gobi Desert
Stretches more than 500,000
miles
Prime area for finding
dinosaur fossils
All three are scarcely
populated because of severe
climates and topography
China
Maritime border
Physical border
Turkic
Cultural border
Arid China Mongols
Gobi
Takla Makan
 The Chinese Realm
 East sea border.
 West: Deserts
and mountains.
 North: Deserts.
 South:
Himalayas.
*Q5: What will
these borders
Koreas
cause?*
Highland China
Tibetan
Political border
Tai
Miao-Yao
Isolation
Han
Taiwan
 Cultural
division
between the
Han realm and
the China of the
minorities.
China’s Climate Zones
Monsoon Precipitation Patterns
This region also
benefits/suffers from the
rainfall from monsoons
Sometimes receive
typhoons = tropical
storms
Winter Monsoons
Summer Monsoons
Precipitation in China
Summer Rainfall
Agricultural Regions in China
Arable Land
Warm Up
Composition Notebooks need to be turned
in on the stool.
Have notes out from yesterday ready to
go.
Major Chinese Industries
Major Industrial
Areas near
Beijing and
Shanghai
Fuels, Power, Minerals, & Metals in
China
Large reserves of
petroleum, coal, and
natural gas.
Mineral resources include
iron, lead, zinc, copper,
etc.
Allowed them to be selfsufficient for much of its
history
Environmental issues
Suffering from:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Deforestation
Desertification
Soil erosion
Coastal pollution
Flooding
Poor urban air
quality
 “The shrimp between the whales”
 *Q6: What are the two whales?*
Japan and China
Korea
0
50
100
200
300
Miles
China
!(
 About the size of Indiana.
!(
North Korea
!(
Sea of Japan
P'yongyang
!(
 Highly homogenous ethnicity and
linguistically
Demilitarized zone
!(
Inch`onSeoul
!(
!(
!(
Taejon
South Korea
!(
!(
!(
Chonju
Kwangju
!(
Taegu
!(
Pusan
Japan
 Religiously divided between
Christianity (49%) and Buddhism
(47%).
 75% urban with 27% of the
population living in Seoul (13
million).
Korea is practically
surrounded by water:
*Q7: What is this called?
Peninsula
Japan
Japan and the United States
Japan: Physical Geography
1. The homeland of Japan consists of four main
islands: Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and
Kyushu, and several hundred smaller islands.
2. Japan is formed largely of mountains
separated by narrow valleys.
3. Japan is part of the Pacific “Ring of Fire.”
There are about 60 volcanoes in Japan
4. Japan is subject to frequent and powerful
earthquakes.
Japan
 Physical constraints
 16% of the land is
habitable.
Hokkaido
Honshu
Kanto Plain
Yamato Plain Nobi Plain
Shikoku
Kyushu
Efficient
management of
existing agricultural
land.
Very Mountainous:
Little Arable Land
Mt. Fuji
Largest mountain in Japan. Last erupted in 1707)
Japan: Vegetation
2/3 of the entire country is forested and the
Japanese make use of wood in almost endless
ways
Terrace Farming of Rice
The Japanese Farm the
Sea
Tokyo
Fish Market
Natural Resources
Less abundant natural resources than China.
*Q7: What will this force Japan to do?*
Trade with other countries for what it needs
Industry
Taiwan
Now a free-market, multiparty democracy
Home of 23 million well-traveled, well-educated, and industrious
people.
!(
Fuzhou
!(
!(
!(
T'ainan
!(
0
50
100
T'aichung
Kaoshsiung
200 Miles
Taipei
 1. About 100 miles
from the coast of
southeast China.
Taiwan
!(
Fuzhou
Matsu
China
Taiwan
!(
Quemoy
!(
!(
T'ainan
!(
0
50
100
T'aichung
Taipei
 2. Similar constraints to
neighboring countries:
60% of the territory
is composed of
mountains.
Chungyang Range
covers about 50%
the land area.
25% usable for
agriculture.
Kaoshsiung
200 Miles
 3. Bulk of the
population lives in the
western coastal plain.
In a group of two….
Answer the following questions on a sheet
of paper to turn in:
1. How does East Asia’s physical
geography shape its historical philosophy
of isolation?
2. What are some similarities between
each of these regions?
3. What are some differences between
each of these regions?