Made In China

-GEOGRAP

HY-By Adam O’Farrill

Introduction

• Ancient China did and continues to have a widely

varied and culturally and economically important geography and environment.

• China has a huge amount of land; 9,596,960 square kilometers at that, which is slightly more than the United States’ land area at 9,158,960 square kilometers.

• With that great amount of land, they also had many ocean connections (trade, cultural diffusion, etc.) because of their sea area of 4.7 million square kilometers.

• This huge amount of sea area allowed for uncharted trade routes that could be extremely helpful to China’s economics, which is a way geography affects government in China.

• China is a very mountainous region, with the Himalaya Mountains between it and India.

• China has many different landforms- mountains, 33%; plateaus, 26%; basins, 19%; plains, 12%; and hills, 10%.

• Mount Everest, which is part of the Himalaya mountain range, is at times referred to as the “roof of the world.” Mount Everest is located in Tibet, China, and there’s always snow on it because of its incredible altitude of over 4000 meters.

• China also has many deserts, but its most notable one is Gobi Desert, which is the fourth-largest desert in the world. It is used often cattle grazing, but not as often for farming.

• The Yellow River (Huang He) is the second longest river in China, and it’s one of the most silt-laden rivers in the world, which is why back during Ancient China, lots of people lived around there.

• The Yangtze River is the most extensive river in China, and the third-longest river in the world, next to the Nile River in Africa, and the Amazon in South America. With plenty of rainfall all year round, the Yangtze River is named the golden watercourse.

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Himalaya Mountains Gobi Desert Yangtze River

• China has many major cities that have historic importance.

• Xi’an (which used to be called Chang’an) was the capital for 12 dynasties, including the Zhou, Qin, Tang, and more.

• Beijing was the capital of the Ming Dynasty, and has been the key military and trading center for China for a long, long time.

• Leung, George. “Reclamation and Sediment Control in the Middle Yellow River Valley.” Water International, Vol. 21, No. 1. March 1996 http://www.cis.umassd.edu/~gleung/geofo/geogren.html

• Discovery Channel. “Key Historical Cities.” Discovery Channel. http://www.discoverychannel.co.uk/ancient_china/land_of_china/cities/index.shtml

• “Yangtze River”. China Culture http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_travel/2003-09/24/content_34069.htm

• “Geographical Features”. Natural Conditions http://www.china.org.cn/english/en-shuzi2004/zr/dltz.htm

• “Ancient Chinese Environment”. History for Kids http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/china/environment/