The East Asian Realm
Mongolia
N. Korea
China
Himalayas
and Tibetan Plateau
Hunan
Plateau
S. Korea
Coastal
Plains
Guangdong
Plains
South
China Sea
Japan
Taiwan
Pacific Ocean
Hong Kong
0
250
500
1,000 Miles
B
China
• Geography
China
0
250
500
1,000
1,500
Miles
2,000
United States
– A factor of unity as well
as diversity.
– 3rd largest country in the
world.
– Comparable surface
with Europe and the
United States:
• U.S.: 3.6 million square
miles.
• China: 3.7 million square
miles.
– It is a lot but not
China
•
4
•
1
2
•
3
•
1- Huang He (Yellow River).
– Can carry up to 40%
sediment weight (highest in
the world).
– Subject to flooding,
especially in its delta.
– Changed course many times.
2- Chang Jiang (Yangtze).
– Longest river, China’s main
street (6,300 km).
– Flood of 1998 left 14 million
homeless.
3- Pearl River delta system
– Most productive and
sustainable ecosystem in the
world.
– Rice paddies and fish ponds.
4- Heilong Jiang (Amur).
– China's border with Russia.
China
Pasture and
oasis
Wheat Dominant
Rice Dominant
Double-crop rice
• Agricultural diversity
– North: continental climate
growing wheat, sorghum
and corn.
– South: subtropical
climate growing rice.
– A China of the West with
pastoralism and oasis
agriculture.
Japan
– Small-sized country; the size of California.
– Average-sized population (127 millions).
– Very limited array of resources:
• Favored the development of trade.
• What Japan does not have on its national territory is obtained
through trade.
• Its industrial corporations and its banks are controlling a
significant array of resources.
– Domination of the Pacific Asian economy:
• Vast national market.
• Productive labor force.
• Financial power.
• Technological innovator.
Japan
•
Hokkaido
Honshu
Kanto Plain
Yamato Plain Nobi Plain
Shikoku
Kyushu
Physical constraints
– Physical geography increases the
territorial exiguity.
– 16% of the land is habitable.
– Fight against the scarcity of space:
• Long narrow valleys.
• Concentration of agricultural
productivity.
• Efficient management of
existing agricultural land.
– Kanto plain:
• 30.5% of the population.
• 8.3% of the surface of Japan.
• 50% of the flat territory.
– Most of the Japanese population
lives on an area the size of
Indiana.
South Korea
•
0
50
100
200
300
Miles
China
!(
!(
North Korea
!(
Sea of Japan
P'yongyang
!(
Demilitarized zone
!(
Inch`onSeoul
!(
!(
South Korea
!(
!(
!(
!(
Taejon
Chonju
Kwangju
!(
Taegu
!(
Pusan
Japan
Geography
– “The shrimp between the
whales”.
– About the size of Indiana.
– Population of 48 million.
– Highly homogenous ethnicity
and linguistically (100%
Korean).
– Religiously divided between
Christianity (49%) and
Buddhism (47%).
– 75% urban with 27% of the
population living in Seoul (13
million).
– 5 million Koreans live oversea:
• 1 million in the United
States.
Taiwan
•
!(
Fuzhou
Matsu
China
Taiwan
!(
Quemoy
!(
!(
T'ainan
!(
0
50
100
T'aichung
Kaoshsiung
200 Miles
Taipei
Geographical Context
– About 150 km (100 miles) from
the coast of southeast China.
– About the size of Idaho.
– Similar constraints than
neighboring countries:
• 60% of the territory is
composed of mountains.
• Chungyang Range covers
about 50% the total land
area.
• 25% usable for agriculture.
– Bulk of the population lives in the
western coastal plain.
– Quemoy and Matsu islands:
• Used for defensive purposes.
Agriculture and GDP Composition by Sector
CHINA:
Agriculture: rice, potatoes, sorghum, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, cotton, other
fibers, oilseed; pork and other livestock products; fish
GDP composition by sector :
l agriculture: 19%
l industry: 48%
l services: 33% (1994 est.)
JAPAN:
Agriculture: rice, sugar, beets, vegetables, fruit; pork, poultry, dairy
products, eggs; world's largest
fish catch of 10 million metric tons in 1991
GDP composition by sector :
l agriculture: 2.1%
l industry: 40.2%
l services: 57.7% (1994)
NORTH KOREA:
Agriculture: rice, corn, potatoes, soybeans, pulses; cattle, pigs, pork,
eggs
GDP composition by sector :
l agriculture: 25%
l industry: 60%
l services: 15% (1995 est.)
SOUTH KOREA:
Agriculture: rice, root crops, barley, vegetables, fruit; cattle, pigs,
chickens, milk, eggs;
fish catch of 2.9 million metric tons, seventh largest in world
GDP composition by sector :
l agriculture: 8%
l industry: 45%
l services: 47% (1991 est.)
TAIWAN:
Agriculture: rice, wheat, corn, soybeans, vegetables, fruit, tea; pigs,
poultry, beef, milk;
fish catch increasing, reached 1.4 million metric tons in 1988
GDP composition by sector :
l agriculture: 3.6%
l industry: 37.3%
l services: 59.1% (1994 est.)
North
South
RICE
Terrace Making North and South