East and Southeast Asia
Introduction
EAST AND SOUTHEAST ASIA
European Name?
Far East
When you think of the “Far East”, what countries
come to mind?
The region is over 3500 miles from north to south.
Geographically, this means they have a number of
________________. How does this affect them
climatically?
latitudes
Houston’s
approx.
latitude
The varied landforms that
makeup E & SE Asia
Vast deserts
World’s highest mtns.
Archipelagos
and volcanic
activity
Dense jungles
The region is part of the most active fault lines on
Earth, the “Ring of Fire.”
The building blocks and the
destroyers of the region.
Earthquakes and Volcanoes.
CULTURE
Why is a common
term for East Asia
the “Orient.”
The ancient Greeks
“oriented” their maps
towards the East,
where the sun rises.
E
The topography of China has served to keep many
invaders (and diffusion) out.
Deserts
Great Wall
Mountains
Oceans keep
land based
invaders out.
The Mongols were the
exception to this rule.
Name a great East Asian explorer similar to
Columbus, Magellan, De Gama?
In fact, up until the 1400’s, Chinese ships
roamed the Indian Ocean. Then, the emperors
turned inward, closed off contact and became:
xenophobic
The Chinese
always felt
they were the
center of the
world.
Printing (books)
Though their
culture turned
inward, the
Chinese
invented many
items that
diffused to the
West.
Paper
Noodles
Gunpowder
Compass
In the 1300’s, the Silk Road opened a diffusion
route between Europe and the East. While the
Europeans found many goods that they wanted
(silk especially,) the Chinese found little they
wanted from Europe.
How do most East Asians still Most still live in small
make a living?
farming villages.
Intensive subsistence
farming
Culture:
Many of the
alphabets of East
Asia use a series of
symbols, or,
pictograms, rather
than the letters we
are familiar with.
Culture
In many East Asian
countries, overcrowding
is a problem. The
population density is high,
particularly in Japan.
In China and Japan both,
the population must live
on less than 20% of the
total land area. Why?
Mountains and deserts.
How do they adapt?
They build up.
POPULATION CARTOGRAM
Note: Japan is really about the size of California
while China is about the same size as the USA.
The population issue in East Asia is critical, although
China and Japan have vastly different problems.
With over 1.3 billion people, China instituted a
“one baby” policy to reduce population
growth. Has it worked? What is a by-product
of the policy (see the pyramid.)
How is the population pyramid
of Japan different from its
neighbor China?
What could you attribute the
difference to?
Political and
Economic
Mao Zedong ruled China
from 1949 until the
1980’s as a strict
Communist country.
His command economy programs such
as the Cultural Revolution and the
Great Leap Forward devastated the
country, killing millions.
With the exception of China, North Korea, Vietnam,
and Laos, countries of E & SE Asia are generally
democratic. Like China, Vietnam has opened its
economy to a form capitalism (free market.)
While China still has a Communist government, their
economy has turned towards capitalism. Today they
are one of the largest exporters in the world.
The USA trade deficit
with China is over 200
billion dollars (2005.)
Japan is the #2
economic power in
the world.
National symbol
of Japan-Mt. Fuji
A mix
between the
modern and
traditional.
One of the
most densely
populated
countries.
Tokyo
Many Japanese
businessmen work long
hours and want to avoid
a long commute home.
An innovation in Japan
has been the “capsule
hotels.” These have
caught on and can be
found in major cities.
About 120 yen to the dollar.
While the economies of East Asia are growing
rapidly, their GDP per capita remains low compared
to the West. Exceptions?
Infant Mortality Rate is still
High in S & E Asia
USA 7 per 1,000
Beginning in the 1980’s, Taiwan, Singapore, South
Korea and Hong Kong experienced an economic
boom, becoming developed countries (*Hong Kong is
now part of China.)
These countries were called the “economic
dragons or tigers.”
Singapore is a
city/state that is
located a the tip of the
Malay Peninsula. It is
considered one of the
safest and cleanest
cities in the world.
What does Singapore’s relative location have to do
with their success?
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!
Today the economies of Japan, Singapore, South
Korea, and Taiwan are built on technology, but like
the new “dragons” or “tigers”, their initial success
was built on:
Cheap labor costs.
Many believe that the 21st century will be the “Asian
Century.”
Tokyo
Shanghai
Kuala
Lumpur
Hong Kong