Transcript Geo-Asia-MainlandSoutheast Asia-2013

Southeast Asia-MAINLAND
COUNTRIES
WHAT THE COUNTRIES OF MAINLAND
SOUTHEAST ASIA HAVE IN COMMON
• Monsoons (seasonal winds), that bring very
wet summers and somewhat dry winters
• The majority of the people live in rural villages
• The majority of the people learn their living by
farming and the main crop is rice. Many use
water buffalo to pull the plow
• The majority of the people follow the religion
of Buddhism & Buddhist monks in their
orange robes are a common sight.
Myanmar (used to be called Burma)
• Two rivers, the
Irrawaddy and the
Salween, flow
through Myanmar
• Mountains lie on
the western and
eastern borders.
Myanmar
• About 2/3 of the people
earn their living by
farming.
• Rice is the main crop
• Although some use
tractors, many still use
plows pulled by water
buffalo
Myanmar
• Has thick forests &
produces about
75% of the world’s
teakwood
• However, forests
are declining
because of
deforestation, the
cutting of too many
trees
Myanmar-house in the Irrawaddy
Delta
• About 75% live in
rural areas.
• Many people build
homes on poles
above the ground
for protection from
floods and wild
animals
Myanmar
• Yangon is the
capital, and is
known for its
gold covered
Buddhist
temples.
• Buddhism is
the main
religion
Myanmar
• Myanmar has a very repressive government in
which the military leaders rule. It has a
socialist economy, in which most businesses
are owned and run by the government.
• The Padaung tribe,
known for the long
necked women, are
found in Myanmar and
Thailand.
THAILAND
• The name Thailand means “land of
the free”. It was never a colony of a
European government.
• It’s old name was Siam. Famous
movies set in Thailand include “The
King and I”, and “Anna and the King
of Siam”, which are based on a true
story about a teacher from Great
Britain who came to be a teacher for
the children of the King of Siam.
• Thailand still has a king, so it can be called a
Constitutional Monarchy.
• However, much power seems to be in the
hands of military leaders, although its
government is not nearly as repressive as that
of Myanmar.
King Bhumibol-86
years old
• Thailand is very friendly to visitors, and
tourism is an important industry.
• It has modern buildings as well as traditional
temples called wats.
• Buddhist temples and Buddhist monks are a
common sight.
• Many young boys in Thailand
become monks, at least for a time,
often after the death of a
grandparent, in order to help the
grandparent get to paradise
(nirvana).
• Novice monks wake up at 5:00 and
mediate
• After that they have free time and
play video games.
• Then they walk through villages
with the older monks to beg for
food.
Emerald Temple, Bangkok
• Capital:
Bankok
Shedagon Pagoda, Yangon
Buddhist Monks
LAOS
• Remote and
landlocked.
• The Mekong
River flows
through Laos
• Laos is economically poor
• It has a communist government
• Its industry is undeveloped because of
isolation and years of civil war
• Most people are farmers who grow rice along
the Mekong River
Reclining Buddha-Laos
Cambodia
• Most people
belong to the
Khmer ethnic
group and live in
rural villages.
• The main
religion is
Buddhism.
• The capital is Phnom Penh
• The Mekong River through it.
• 1000 years ago
Cambodia was the
center of the ancient
Khmer Empire.
• From the 1800s to the
mid 1950s, it was ruled
by the French.
• In the 1980s it had a
civil war, and then a
very cruel dictator
named Pol Pot who
caused the death of
about a million
Cambodians.
• Now Cambodia has
brought back its king
and is a
Constitutional
Monarchy.
Angkor Wat
• Most famous
site in
Cambodia:
Angkor Wat,
which is a
Hindu temple
built in the
1100s.
• It represents
the Hindu
view of the
universe.
• There is a
moat around
it which
represents the
ocean.
• The tallest
towers
represents the
home of the
gods.
Vietnam
• Has a long curving
coastline along
the Gulf of
Tonkin, the South
China Sea, and
the Gulf of
Thailand
• The Mekong River
forms a swampy
delta in the south.
• In the 1950s-early 1970s,
there was a civil war
between the Communists in
the north, and the noncommunists in the south.
• This led to the Vietnam War,
when the U.S. sent troupes
to help South Vietnam.
China helped North Vietnam
• The U.S. gave up and
withdrew in 1973. The
Communists took over
South Vietnam, and
reunited the country. Now
there is just one Vietnam.
• The country is now reunited, and the
government is communist. Recently, the
government has become more open to
western ideas, and have loosened control of
the economy.
• The capital is Hanoi, located in the north.
• The largest city is Ho Chi Minh city (which
used to be Saigon, the capital of South
Vietnam).