Geography and People of East Asia

China’s Population

• Most populated country• home to over 1.3 billion

people– 1/5 of world’s population

• Where do most people live? Why?

• Third largest nation• Mountains cover about

80% of land, few flat areas• only about 10% good for

farming

China’s People

• 95% are HAN- ethnic Chinese

• homogenous society• language- Mandarin is

official dialect• Multiple minority

ethnic groups

A Land of Beauty

Pagoda in Beijing

A Land of Contrasts: Traditional…

Buddhist monk in Beijing

Chengdu: Capital of Sichuan Province

…and Modern

Beijing at night

China Reaches Outer Space, 2003

The use of names similar to those of famous foreign brands is common throughout China.

Terrace Farming• Due to lack of farm

land• To develop more

farmland• cut fields into sides of

hills

Tibetan Plateau- Relative location?

Movement and collision of tectonic plates created the mountains and plateaus

Llasa

Gobi Desert

Potential for oil reserves far greater than the US

Petroleum trucks in the Taklimakan Desert

Himalayas

Huang He

• Yellow River• loess- yellow-brown

soil carried into river by the wind

• “River of sorrow”• second longest river in

China

In some places in China’s Shanxi Province (northeast), the loess is so thick and firm that people can build energy-efficient, cave-like houses in it.

Chang Jiang• Yangtze River

– longest river in China– major river for trade– Shanghai port

• Three Gorges Dam– Hydroelectric power – very controversial

• flooding• force people to move

– @ 3 million ppl

Japan• Archipelago: define?

• Located along the Pacific Ring of Fire

• Very volcanic, not part of the continental shift

• numerous earthquakes

• Mount Fuji – volcano– Japan’s most cultural

symbol

• over 3000 islands