East Asia
Physical Geography
Relative Location
2
Introduction
– East Asia is the most populous region in the world
• China is the most populous country, and the oldest
continuous national culture
– China and Japan have been rivals from time to time
– East Asia has experienced colonization, and has
seen both internal and international conflict
– Japan is extremely wealthy, but poverty may be found in parts of
the region
– Eastern China is undergoing rapid economic
development
– East Asia is one of the core areas of the world
economy and an emerging center of political power
1. China is home to some of
the world’s largest cold
deserts.
– Gobi (largest desert in Asia)
– Taklimakan (the sea of death)
2. Three major rivers are a lifeline to Asia
A. Yangtze (longest)
D. Pearl RiverIncreasing in Importance as
B. Huang He (Yellow)
China grows, modernizes and
industrializes
C. Mekong
All greatly influence the way people live in Asia!
Chinese civilization began on the Yellow
River
• Loess – fertile topsoil
spread by wind; largely
agricultural society
3. China’s civilization developed over a
long period in considerable isolation,
protected by physiographic barriers and
by sheer distance from other cultures.
4. Mountains & Plateaus are major
feature of topography
• Himalayas & Tibetan Plateau
• 4/5th of Japan is mountainous terrain, thus
not a lot of arable land. (WHAT DOES THAT MEAN???)
• Korea also features many mountainous
areas.
Tibetan Plateau
 All told, some two billion people in more than a dozen
countries—nearly a third of the world's population—depend
on rivers fed by the snow and ice of the plateau region.
•
5. China’s
enormous
population is
strongly
concentrated in
the
country’s
eastern
regions.
Western areas
remain
comparatively
empty and
unproductive.
WHY?
…and in Japan
• Most of the
population lives
in coastal plains
and/or river
valleys.
• Kanto Plain very
crowded (area
around Tokyo)
• 20,000 ppl. Per
sq. mile
Cost of living in Japan…
Subway pushers in Tokyo!
6. East Asia features many islands
& archipelagos
-Chain of islands
Japan is an archipelago of over 3000 tiny islands.
7. The Ring of Fire is
a narrow band of
volcanoes that nearly
encircles the Pacific
Ocean. 75% of
world’s active
volcanoes are here.
Mt. Fuji
Jan. 1995 earthquake
Tsunami of 2011
8. “The Land of Rice & Fish”
• Rice is a staple
• 90% of this crop is grown in
East Asia & consumed there.
• The majority of people in E.
Asia eat rice 2 or 3 times a day.
______
• North of the Yangtze River, the
climate is more suited for wheat
growing
______
• The close access to water=diet of
fish.
Terrace Farming
9. China is so large and diverse
and its divided into REGIONS
•
•
•
•
•
•
East
South central
North
Northeast
Northwest
Southwest
10. NATURAL RESOURCES VARY GREATLY ACCORDING TO REGION
• China: very rich in
natural resources
– Oil, coal, iron, etc.
• Japan is limited in
natural resources
& is dependent on
other nations