EAST ASIA
Bell Ringer: Can you label China,
Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea,
and Taiwan
Landforms
• East Asia stretches from
the western provinces of
China to the eastern
coast of Japan.
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Mongolia
Taiwan
N. Korea
South Korea
• East Asia include high
mountains, vast deserts,
cold climates, and Pacific
waters.
Landforms
Mountains and Plateaus
•Mountains have limited
contact between China
and other parts of Asia.
•Kunlun Mountains:
Source of River water in
Asia
•Qinling Shandi
Mountains divide the
Northern part of China
from the South
River Systems
•Huang He, Chang jiang,
and the Xi Jiang have all
been critical to the
development of East Asia
•They provide crop
irrigation, hydroelectric
power, and
transportation.
Human Environment Interaction
• The Three Gorges Dam: will help
control the flooding of the Chang
Jiang River. (the 3rd longest river in
the world)
–Generates power
–Allows ships to sail into China
• This is the biggest dam in the entire
world, cost 37 billion dollars to build.
• 13 cities, 140 towns, and more than
1,600 villages have been submerged
under the world's largest reservoir.
An official count of 1.3 million
people were relocated.
• By shifting a significant mass of
water, the dam will literally SLOW
THE ROTATION OF THE EARTH
China
• Because of China’s
geography it has followed
its own direction.
• In it’s early history, China
was ruled by dynasties.
– Dynasty is a series of rulers
from the same family.
– Shang Dynasty, Zhou
Dynasty, Qin Dynasty, Han
Dynasty, Qing Dynasty,
Life sized soldiers
buried with Shi
Huangdi (Qin Dynasty)
Great Wall
• China was attacked by
invaders from the
steppes of Central Asia.
• The Chinese built and
extended the Great
Wall over many
centuries in an attempt
to keep out invaders
from Mongolia.
Nationalists vs. Communists
• By the 1900’s, people in China wanted to form
a republic. This led to the formation of the
Nationalist Party.
• Another party known as the Chinese
Communist Party also became powerful during
this time.
• The two parties fought for control of China.
• In 1949, Mao Zedong, the leader of the
Communist party, took control of what is now
known as The People’s Republic of China.
– The Nationalists in China fled to Taiwan.
The Koreas
• The Ancestors of Koreans today probably
migrated from China
• Korea was united under dynasties for
hundreds of years until Japan took over in
1910.
• The Japanese continued to rule Korea until
they were defeated in World War II
• After the war the Soviet Union controlled
North Korea and the United States
North Korea and South Korea
• In 1950, Korean troops from the North
invaded South Korea.
• US and South Korean troops were able to
push North Korea to the 38th Parallel, that
still divides North and South Korea today.
• In 1953, a treaty was signed that officially
divided the Communist North Korea from the
Democratic South Korea.