ASIA
HUMAN
GEOGRAPHY

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5 Themes of Geography for Asia
Relative Location: South of Russia,
East of Europe, North of Australia
Place: Culturally, Asia has many similarities and differences. Physical features cause human and climate divisions (Himalayas separating
India and China).
Movement: Mekong River flows through many countries (China through to Vietnam); major shipping resources; Silk Road
(ancient roadway carrying merchants, ideas, facilitating trade
Region: South, East, & Southeast;
Rice Bowl: region in China devoted to rice farming; technology region
(Japan, Taiwan, South Korea);
Indian Subcontinent
Human Environment Interaction: terrace farming

Population Density
4
World Average = 117/mi 2
Pacific
East Asia
Austral
Realm
36
315
341
865
7.6
82
52
53
176
0
42
22
200
265
400 600
People per square mile
800
874
1000

Population
Map of
South
Asia
5
Globalization & Diversity: Rowntree, Lewis,
Price, Wyckoff

6
Globalization & Diversity: Rowntree, Lewis,
Price, Wyckoff

Globalization & Diversity: Rowntree, Lewis,
Price, Wyckoff

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POPULATION DENSITY COMPARISON
United States - Bangladesh
Alabama
4.8 million people
91 people/ sq. mile
UNITED
STATES
77 people/ sq mile
133,000,000
50,300
BANGLADESH
2,644 people/ sq mile

TIME OUT!
Name countries that make up…
East Asia
South Asia
Southeast Asia
Central Asia

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Population and Settlement
Southeast Asia is less than 30% urbanized
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Many of region’s countries have primate cities
(single, large urban settlements that overshadow all others)
 Efforts to encourage growth of secondary cities
 Squatter settlements are common in this region
Jakarta, Indonesia 9.6 million
Bandung,
Indonesia
2.3 million
Bandung (2 nd ),
Surabaya (3 rd ), and Medan
(4 th )combined
7.1 million

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Population and Settlement
Migration and the Settlement
Landscape
 South Asia is one of the least urbanized regions of the world
 Majority live in compact rural villages
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Rural-to-urban migration because lack of prosperity in agriculture
Most settlement near fertile soils and dependable water sources
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Urbanization in East Asia
City Systems of Japan, and South
Korea
 South Korea noted for urban primacy
 Urban Primate City – the concentration of urban population in a single city
 Japan: Megalopolis; a huge zone of metropolitan areas

TIME OUT!
1.) What is a primate city?
2.) What is a megalopolis?
3.) What can be inferred about a country that is extremely rural and many of its people engage in agriculture for a living?

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Population and Settlement
 India has more than 1 billion people
 Concern about producing enough food
 Overcrowding, poor sanitation, services
 Pakistan has 145 million people
 Low rate of female contraception
“According to official figures, the projected population for Pakistan in 2015 is 191 million, up from the 170 million in 2011, making it the sixth most populous nation on earth. By 2050 it is expected to climb into fourth place .
 Bangladesh has 133.5 million people
 Has one of the highest settlement densities in the world
This is bad news for a country that has struggled to provide its people with adequate food, health care or education . Malnutrition rates are high and are linked to 50 percent of infant and child deaths; there is one doctor for every 1,183 people; and the literacy rate
of 57 percent is among the lowest in South Asia.”
-IRIN – Integrated Regional Information
Networks (a service of the UN Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Population and Settlement
 Urban South Asia
 About 25% of the South Asian population resides in urban areas
 Many live in bustees (sprawling squatter settlements, slums)
 Mumbai (Bombay)
 Largest city in South Asia
 Financial, commercial, and industrial center
 Lessfortunate immigrants live in “hutments”
– crude shelters built on formerly busy sidewalks
 Delhi/New Delhi
 More than 11 million people
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India’s capital, has British colonial imprint
 Air pollution a problem

https://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=Criq7INq_yM
Watch this!

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 China: only 30% urban
 Japan: 92% urban
 Taiwan is most densely populated; 22 million;
1,500 per square mil
NORTH KOREA: 55% of the land on peninsula,
1/3 of the population, extremely rural
SOUTH KOREA: 45% of the land, 2/3s of the population, highly urbanized, modern factories
70 million on peninsula…North 20 mill, South 50
Mill); 1,150 per square mile

TIME OUT!
1.) What are some problems associated with overpopulation in India and Pakistan?
2.) What is unique about the slums of Mumbai?

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 A city-state, with modern infrastructure and no squatter settlement
Top 3 most densely populated in the world!

TIME OUT!
1.) Settlement throughout
Asia is a matter of
________________.
(highly urban/modern cities mixed with extremely rural/impoverished areas)
2.) What are some of the less urban parts of Asia?
3.) What places are known for being urban and industrial?

Asia and the Demographic
Transition
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Think-pair-share with a partner answering the following:
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Draw out the DTM together stages 1-4. Can you do it without notes?
Brainstorm: based on your prior knowledge of Asia what factors, events, and economic characteristics have had an effect on the transition of Asian countries through the
DTM.

Using the demographic statistics below, place a dot on the DTM handout where you think that country would go. On the back of the handout explain WHY you think that country is in that stage.
Country
Bangladesh
South Korea
Japan
India
Vietnam
CBR
1950: 48.3
2012: 21.5
1950: 35.8
2012: 10.2
1950: 28.2
2012: 5.2
1950: 21.6
2012: 33.9
1950: 44.7
2012: 5.2
CDR
20.9
6.3
16.4
5.1
10.9
10.1
12.5
7.0
24.2
5.2
NIR
27.4
15.2
19.4
4.9
17.3
-2.0
15.2
21.7
20.6
12.0

Place a dot and label it based on the CBR & CDR statistics given

TIME OUT!
Let’s discuss the demographic transition model.

Can you guess the country? How does history relate to the DTM…why the red?

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We are going to look at some population pyramids. Think-pair-share with a partner and analyze like the human geographer that you are.
Each group will share one observation with the class!

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Total fertility rates
0 0.5
2.06
1.66
1.65
1.44
1.24
1
Globalization & Diversity: Rowntree, Lewis,
Price, Wyckoff
1.5
2

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PERCENTAGE OF THE POPULATION
AGE GROUP
1990 2025
0-14 Years 18.4% 14.9%
15-24 Years
25-64 Years
15.4%
54.5%
11.6%
49.6%
65+ Years 11.7% 23.9%
______________________________________________________
100% 100%
SOURCE: UNITED NATIONS WORLD POPULATION
Globalization & Diversity: Rowntree, Lewis,
PROSPECTS 1990 (NEW YORK: UNITED NATIONS, 1991)

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/201
4/09/15/national/japans-populationcentenarians-continuesgrow/#.VD3go2ddWSo
Japan’s population of centenarians continues to grow
AP
SEP 15, 2014
Reaching the century mark remains a relative rarity for humans, but it is increasingly less so, and perhaps nowhere more than in rapidly aging Japan. The number of Japanese who are at least 100 years old, known as centenarians, has reached 58,820, according to the latest government estimate, released before Respect for the Elderly Day on Monday. A Japanese woman is the oldest person in the world, 116-year-old Misao Okawa, according to Guinness
World Records. The oldest man is also Japanese, 111-year-old Sakari Momoi. Somewhat appropriately, one of the kanji in Momoi’s surname means “100,” and his given name translates as flourishing or the prime of life. Advances in health care are contributing to increased longevity in Japan and elsewhere. Japan now has 46.21 centenarians for every 100,000 people.
In Japan, women live longer, with nearly 90 percent of the country’s centenarians females.
Japan ranks near the top in average life expectancies: 86.61 years for women and 80.21 years for men.

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Why Asia’s Greying Matters
Asia, long associated with its youthful armies of factory workers, is growing older fast. That threatens to slow the region’s turbo-charged growth in the years to come, and means investors will need to shift their Asian holdings to match the region’s maturing profile.
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For some, that could mean shifting over time from markets in greying nations, such as China, South Korea and Taiwan, and into Asia’s more youthful economies –
India, Indonesia and the Philippines.
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Asia’s population is aging faster than any other region’s. While Japan’s population is already shrinking, in others population growth is slowing to nearly a halt. The average number of children born to women in South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore is currently the lowest in the world, according to the CIA World
Factbook.
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The result is a declining number of workers due to retirement, and this means losing productivity due to not having the numbers of young labor to replace.

TIME OUT!
1.) What are the causes of
Japan’s declining population?

Rural village, China
Shanghai, China

Pagoda in China Mosque in Indonesia

Clothing factory in
Bangladesh
Sony electronic components assembly in Japan

Rice farming in
Nepal
Rice farming in Indonesia

Public transportation in India
Public transportation in South Korea

Ulan Bator, capital of Mongolia
Tokyo, capital of
Japan

TIME OUT!
Who can wrap up the main points of this first wave of information?
Topics to consider: population distribution, settlement patterns, issues caused by population growth, demographic transition causes and effects…anything else?