East Asia: Physical
Geography
Land and Water
East Asia’s Landforms
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Huge region!!!
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China takes up most
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Very mountainous, but has variety too
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3rd largest country in the world
Mountains
Hills
Plateaus (mountains with flat top)
Plains
Deserts
Coastal Areas
Shaped by forces inside Earth

50 million years ago…
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Part of continent collides and creates Himalaya Mts.
“Ring of Fire”- volcanoes and earthquakes create Pacific
Islands
China: “Land of Extremes”
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Home of oldest civilization in
world

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More than 1 billion people!!!
Mountains and deserts take
up 2/3’s of China

Huge mountains (Himalaya
Mountains)
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Huge plateau surrounded by
Himalayas in Tibet
Rivers

Yangzi
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3,915 miles long!
Deep enough for ships!
Huang He
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400 million live along its
banks
Irrigates the North China
Plain
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Makes super fertile,
covered w/ deposits of
loess, a brownish, yellow
fertile soil
Japan: An Island Country

Japan is an
archipelago- a
group of islands

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4 main islands and
over 3,000 smaller
ones
All major cities
located on coasts
b/c 80% of land is
unlivable mts.
The Koreas
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Land of great beauty!
Single peninsula- strip
of land surrounded by
water on 3 sides
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occupied by 2 countries
separated by the 38th
Parallel since end of
WW2
Peninsula stretches
into Yellow Sea and
Sea of Japan
Over 70% of land is
steep mts.
Geography and Population

Population not spread evenly
across land
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Few live in mts., deserts, &
highlands
But… 1.5 Billion still live in
region!
Means… people crowd into
coasts and plains (easy to live
there & grow crops)
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Population Density- number
of people per sq. mile
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½ pop. of Japan live in 3% of
land
China largely rural… 70% live
in farms
In Japan… 80% of pop. in
cities
South Korea pop. at 10
million
East Asia: Physical
Geography
Climate and Vegetation
East Asia’s Climate Regions

Like the USA, East Asia has same
type of climate regions.
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Tropical Wet- very hot and very wet
Arid and Semiarid- dry very little moisture
Humid Subtropical- hot summers, cool
winters
Continental- warm/hot summers, cold
winters
What Impacts Climate?

Monsoons- extreme winds
that blow across a region at
specific times of year

Winds bring rain west
from Pacific
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Rain starts as drizzle in
June
Cause hot, humid
weather and heavy rains
by July
By fall, winds increase
and become typhoons,
or hurricanes occurring
in Pacific
Winter… icy cold winds
and blizzard snow
Climate Affects…
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Influences everything!!!
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Natural Vegetation
Agriculture
What People Can Grow
How Often They Can Plant
How Easily and When They Can Harvest
Foods They Eat
Clothes They Wear
EVERYTHING!!!
Climate Affects…

Vegetation

Plant life must be strong!

Able to withstand…

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Bamboo
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grows fast in wet season
can survive dry season
Shrubs
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seasonal changes
temperature extremes
rain extremes
low bushes that don’t
require much water;
survive in the deserts
Deciduous Forests
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trees that leaf and berry
then drop them
Climate Affects…

The Life of the People

What People Can Grow
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Temperature extremes and amount of
precipitation limits
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How Often They Can Plant
How Easily and When They Can
Harvest
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Wet seasons irrigate soil (good thing)
But can also cause floods that wipe out
crops (bad thing
Foods They Eat
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Rice needs warmth grown in south
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People in southern Asia eat more
In north, its cooler grain and wheat
grow better
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Certain plants need specific amounts
People here eat more dishes with
noodles
Clothes They Wear
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Temperature extremes dictate the
layers
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North is cooler… people wear more
South is warmer… thinner materials
East Asia: Physical
Geography
Natural Resources
Using East Asia’s Resources
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Many found in East
Asia
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Lands and waters filled
w/ huge variety
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Some too hard or
expensive to get
Gold, sliver, copper
Coal, iron (together
they make steel)
Hydroelectricity
Oil

est. 74 billion barrels
below Takla Makan
Desert
Minerals

Koreas
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Limited mineral resources
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Coal, iron, tungsten, graphite
N. Korea- developing nation,
country w/ little industry or
technology
S. Korea- developed nation,
country w/ many industries and a
well developed economy
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Japan
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Exports many manufactured
goods, sells them to other nations
Modern industrial nation
Has few mineral resources of own
(must import)
China
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Large supply of nat’l resources
Mined copper, tin, and iron for
2,000 years
Huge oil reserves
One of world’s largest supplies of
coal
Forests
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Parts covered w/ large
forests
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BUT…
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Like most other
countries, they cut w/o
care
New programs to
plant trees might bring
them back but will
take quite a while!!!
For Now… must
import, or buy from
other countries
Waters
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Rugged mts. and heavy rainfall perfect for
hydroelectricity- power plants that use running
water to create electricity
Pacific Ocean
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Huge resource for food
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Where cold and warm water currents meet, tiny plants thrive
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Attract a variety of fish
Fishing is a huge industry!!!
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Poles, nets, huge fishing boats
Aquaculture (sea farming)
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In shallows, people raise fish in cages
Reefs provide beds for shrimp and oysters
Lakes and Rivers provide fish too
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Twice as many freshwater fish caught in East Asia than the
rest of world
Fertile Lands: A Valuable
Resource
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Huge pop. means must use
ALL land for farming
Much not farmable
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10% in China
11% in Japan
14% in Korea
So use the unusable
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Terrace farming
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Notches cut into mts.
Sides of roads and
railroad tracks
Double-crop, or grow 2
crops on same land inbetween them
Livestock is rare
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Crops take up less room