East Asia

Asia and the Pacific

Land and Water

• Landforms– China is the world’s third-largest country in land after Russia and

Canada.• Mountains• Highlands• Plateaus

• Other areas are mountainous like China, but they lack its wide plains and plateaus– Mongolia– North Korea– South Korea– Taiwan– Japan

Land and Water

• Japan and the Koreas– Narrow plains are found mainly along coasts

and rivers

• About 50 million years ago a huge piece of a continent collided with Asia.– Now called India, located SW of China– Collision caused the Earth’s surface to fold

and buckle, forming the Himalaya Mountains and other mountain ranges in China as well as the plateau of Tibet

Land and Water

• Natural forces also shaped the land in Japan– Earthquakes forced some parts of the country

to rise and others to sink– Erupting volcanoes piled up masses of lava

and ash, forming new mountains.– In many parts of E. Asia earthquakes and

volcanoes are still changing the landscape.

Land and Water

• China is a land of extremes– Home to the oldest civilization on Earth– One billion people—most people of any nation

in the world– Mountains and deserts take up over 2/3 of

China– Desert is a dry region of extreme

temperatures and little vegetation.

Land and Water

• The Himalaya Mountains contain Mount Everest and other mountains nearly as tall

• Part of the Himalayan range is located in the area of China called Tibet.

• A high plateau surrounded by mountains covers much of Tibet

• China’s most important rivers, the Yangzi and the Huang begin in this region

Land and Water

• The Yangzi flows 3,915 miles to the East China Sea.– is the only river in E. Asia that is deep

enough for cargo ships to sail on.– 400 million people live along the banks of the

Huang He.• It runs through one of the most fertile regions of

China• The N. China Plain is covered with deposits of

loess (a brownish yellow fertile soil.

Land and Water

• Japan– Is an archipelago—a group of islands in the

western Pacific Ocean.– Four major islands – Over 3,000 smaller ones.– Every major Japanese city is located on the

coast– Nearly 80% of the country is mountainous

Land and Water

• The Koreas: “Land of Golden Embroidery”– Rocky peaks, narrow canyons, and rushing

stream make Korea a land of great beauty.– A peninsula—a piece of land nearly

surrounded by water.– Stretches out into the Yellow Sea and the Sea

of Japan– World’s most mountainous regions.– 70% of the land consists of steep and rocky

slopes

Land and Water

– Compared with the mountains of China and Japan, these ranges are not very high

– Since 1945 (the end of WWII) Korea has been divided into two separate countries

• North Korea• South Korea

Geography and Population

• The population of E. Asia is not spread evenly across the land.– Few people live in the deserts, highlands, and

mountains– 1.5 billion people make their homes in this

region– People crowd into the lowland and coastal

areas, where it is easier to live and grow food

Geography and Population

• These parts of E. Asia have a very high population density, or average number of people living in a square mile.– E. Asia, level ground must be shared by cities,

farms and industries.• ½ the population of Japan is crowded on less than

3% of the country’s total land• Most of the population of China is located in the

East.

Geography and Population

• E. Asia is largely rural

• 70% of china’s people live in rural areas.

• E. Asia also has some of the largest cities in the world.

• Japan—nearly 80% of the people live in cities.– Seoul, South Korea, has a population of about

10 million