Transcript The Geography of Japan and Korea

The Geography of Japan and Vietnam
Japan Size Comparisons
California
Physical size: 163,695 sq. miles
Population: 38,041,430
Pop. Density: 232 people per sq m
Japan
Physical size: 145,882 sq. miles
Population: 127,817,277
Pop. Density: 876 people per sq m
Japan Terrain
Japan and the United States
---1/25
Area (small)
Area (small)
377,887 square kilometers
(145,902 square miles)
Population (high density):
127,288,419 (2008 est)
The map of Japan-- Isolated
Bodies
of
Water
Surrounded by water
Ishikari R.
Sea of
Japan
Shinano R.
Abundant
seafood
Inland Sea
Tone R.
Pacific
Ocean
Kitani Mts.
Hokkaido
Mountains &
Peaks Islands
Kitakami Mts.
Honshu
Shikuku
Kyushu
Okinawa
Mt. Fuji
Global Tectonic Plates
Japan–On the Ring of Fire
Many earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, (tsunamis-harbor waves)
Website
Issues
–Isolation
-Limited area to live. Buildings are tall and vulnerable during natural disasters
–Natural Disasters-Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Tsunamis
–Limited farm land
–Few natural resources
Kobe Earthquake -- January 17, 1995
► 7.2 Richter scale
► 5,500 deaths
Kobe Earthquake -- January 17, 1995
Raw Materials
Nuclear Issues in Japan
March 11, 2011
What happened?
•Magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck northeast Japan
•The earthquake triggered a tsunami that destroyed a vast stretch of coastline
•The tsunami sparked a triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant
Effects
• Radioactive material in water, soil, and food supply
• 156, 000 people displaced
• WHO predicts health risks will be minimal ??????? Estimate 1,000 may die
due to exposure to radioactive material
• Effects on animals and the environment are not known yet
17
Vietnam
•
Vietnam is one of the ten countries
that compose Southeast Asia
•
It is bordered by China on the north,
Cambodia and Laos on the west, the
Gulf of Tonkin to the northeast, the
Gulf of Thailand to the southwest, and
the South China Sea to the east.
•
The country is divided into 3 regions:
• North
• Central
• South
• North Vietnam
• With Hanoi as the urban center, northern
Vietnam developed more rapidly than other
sections of the country
• Fertile soil of the Red River allowed for an
agrarian-based society to develop and prosper
• Central Vietnam
• Central Vietnam is very narrow. In some sections,
only 50 kilometers separates neighboring country,
Laos, from the sea.
• Due to the limited land area, most inhabitants are
employed in sea-related activities
• South Vietnam
• Southern Vietnam corresponds to America’s “Wild
West”
• The frontier area is underdeveloped compared to the
rest of the country, however, the rich land of the
Mekong Delta today makes the area the world’s third
leading exporter of rice
The Vietnam War (Conflict)
War was never officially declared
Cold War era military conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia
Lasted from 1 November 1955 to 30 April 1975 (US troop
involvement ended 15 August 1973)
Goal: Contain communism
Domino Theory-if one country in Asia fell to communism they
all would fall
DMZ-Demilitarized Zone-17th
parallel
North Vietnam
•Led by Communists
•Ho Chi Minh-leader
•Vietcong
South Vietnam
•Supported by the US
•Wanted a democratic Vietnam
•58,000 US Servicemen and women
died-Many under the age of 20
•Many Vietnamese died
Rain Forests
• 50% of Vietnam covered with
jungle-like rain forests
• 4/5 covered by trees & tropical
vegetation
• Also sandy beaches & grassy
prairies
• Home to elephants, wild boar,
tigers
“Two baskets of rice slung on a pole.” The baskets are the deltas of the
Red River in the north and the Mekong in the south, and the carrying
pole is a series of mountain chains along the western border.”
Population
• Vietnam is size of
New Mexico
• 13th most populous
nation in world
• 91 million residents
Climate
• Warm and Humid
• Monsoon season is from June to November
• The monsoon brings intense heat and typhoons, along with
heavy rain
• Average yearly rainfall is 59 inches, though Hanoi receives
72 inches annually
Houses on the Red River and Mekong Delta are
elevated on poles as an adaptation to thwart the
powerful rivers that regularly overflow their banks.
Rice is Life
• Rice fields extend over more than
12 million acres
• The rice kernels provide food, while
the rest of the plant is utilized for
making flour, beer, wine, fuel,
fertilizer, straw mats, and garments.
Nothing goes to waste.
“The Farmer’s Calendar”
The twelfth moon for potato growing,
the first for beans, the second for eggplant.
In the third, we break the land
to plant rice in the fourth while the rains are strong.
The man plows, the woman plants,
and in the fifth: harvest, and the gods are good—
an acre yields five full baskets this year.
I grind and pound the paddy, strew husks
to cover manure,
and feed the hogs with bran.
Next year, if the land is extravagant,
I shall pay the taxes for you.
In plenty or in want, there will still be you and me,
always the two of us.
Isn’t that better than always prospering, alone?