Transcript Physical feature notes on East Asia

EAST ASIAN GEOGRAPHY
Introduction
– East Asia is the most populous region in the world
– China is the most populous country, and the oldest
continuous national culture
– Eastern China is undergoing rapid economic
development
– China and Japan have been rivals from time to time
– East Asia has experienced colonization, and has seen
both internal and international conflict
– Japan is extremely wealthy, but poverty may be
found in parts of the region
– East Asia is one of the core areas of the world
economy and an emerging center of political power
East Asian
Physical
Features
PHYSIOGRAPHY
Globalization & Diversity:
Rowntree, Lewis, Price, Wyckoff
4

East Asia’s Physical Geography
 Large
area gives it large regional climatic variability
 Similar latitude extent to U.S.
 Climate of southern China like Florida; climate of northern
China like Canada
– Japan’s Physical Environment
 Subtropical in the south and nearly subarctic in the north Climatic variations in the east and west
 85% of the country is mountainous
– Japan’s forests come from favorable climate, history
of forest conservation
 Limited alluvial plains used for intensive agriculture
– Kanto Plain, Kansai Basin, and Nobi Basin

East Asia’s Physical Geography (cont.)
– Taiwan’s Environment
 Central
and eastern regions are rugged and
mountainous; west is dominated by an alluvial
plain; mild winter climate; still has extensive forests
– Chinese Environments
 Southern
China: rugged mountains and hills
interspersed with lowland basins
 Northern China: Gobi Desert, North China Plain,
Loess Plateau
– Korean Landscapes
 Mountainous
country with scattered alluvial basins
 South Korea has better farmlands than North
Korea
#1. East Asia features
many islands &
archipelagos
Japan is an archipelago
Chain of islands
Over 3000 tiny islands
The Ring of
Fire is a
narrow band of
volcanoes that
nearly
encircles the
Pacific Ocean.
75% of world’s
active
volcanoes are
here.
#2
Mt. Fuji
Jan. 1995 earthquake
Tsunami of 2011
#3
 China
is home to 3 of
the world’s largest cold
deserts.
– Gobi (largest desert in
Asia)
– Taklimakan (the sea of
death)
– Chang Tang
(plateau of Tibet)
#4
 Three
Asia
major rivers are a lifeline to
– Yangtze (longest)
– Huang He (Yellow)
– Mekong
 Greatly
in Asia
influence the way people live
Chinese civilization began on the
Yellow River
 Loess
– fertile
topsoil spread by
wind; largely
agricultural
society
#5. China’s civilization
developed over a long
period in considerable
isolation, protected
by physiographic
barriers and by sheer
distance from other
cultures.


The
Himalayas
in the
South
The Takla
Makan&
Gobi
deserts to
West &
North
#6: Mountains & Plateaus are
major feature of topography
 Himalayas
& Tibetan Plateau
 4/5th
of Japan is mountainous
terrain, thus not a lot of arable land.
 Korea
also features many
mountainous areas.
Tibetan Plateau

All told, some two billion people in more than a dozen countries—
nearly a third of the world's population—depend on rivers fed by
the snow and ice of the plateau region.
.

7. China’s enormous
population is strongly
concentrated in the
country’s eastern
regions. Western areas
remain comparatively
empty and unproductive.
In Japan
 Most
of the population lives
in coastal plains and/or river
valleys.
 Kanto
Plain very crowded
 20,000
ppl. Per sq. mile
Subway pushers in Tokyo
#8: “The Land of Rice & Fish”
 Rice
is a staple
 90% of this crop is grown in East
Asia & consumed there.
 The majority of people in E. Asia eat
rice 2 or 3 times a day.
 North of the Yangtze River, the
climate is more suited for wheat
growing
 The close access to water=diet of
fish.
#9: Natural Resources vary
greatly according to region
 China:
very rich in
natural resources
– Oil, coal, iron, etc.
 Japan
is limited in
natural resources &
is dependent on
other nations
#10: Much
of
Southeast
Asia is
covered by
rainforest
What kind of
effects would
this have?
The Great Wall
Several
walls were
built over a long period
Protection from
Mongol horsemen from
the north –
communication system
Monumental
engineering feat – they
claim it can be seen
from orbit in space
Northern China: The Great Wall
Environmental Geography: Resource
Pressures in a Crowded Land

Flooding, Dam-Building, and Related Issues
– China’s Yangtze River is an important resource (3rd
largest volume)
– The Three Gorges Controversy
Chinese government wants to dam the Yangtze
(Chang Jiang) River with the largest hydroelectric
dam in the world
–Purpose: control floods & generate electricity
–Problems: Will jeopardize animal species,
flood a major scenic attraction, and displace
up to 2 million people
Three Gorges
Dam Under
Construction