Unit 1PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF ASIA

Vocabulary Words

1. Geography 13. Pressure 25. Temperature

2. Continents 14. Current 26. Steppe

3. Boundary 15. Topography 27. Coniferous

4. Population 16. Vegetation 28. Peat

5. Uninhabited 17. Huge

6. Latitude 18. Swampy

7. Hemisphere 19. Frozen

8. Landscape 20. Permanent

9. Climate 21. Lichen

10. Coastal 22. Moss

11. Plateaus 23. Continental

12. Plains 24. Vast

The Physical Geography of Asia

Over 400 years ago, Europeans divided the world into four continents: Africa, America, Asia and Europe.

At this time, nothing was known about Antarctica or Australia. Each of the four continents represented the four corners of the world: Europe in the north, Africa in the south, the America in the west and Asia in the east.

Asia is part of a large mass known as Eurasia which also includes Europe. Asia is the central and eastern part of Eurasia.

Geologically, Asia and Europe are not separate land masses

QUICK FACTS ABOUT ASIA

About 60 percent of the worlds population live in Asia

Everest is the worlds highest mountain peak, Everest is in the Himalayas at 8, 848 meters

The lowest land area is around the Dead Sea which is 400 meters below sea level

The north of Siberia has the coldest land temperature on Earth

The Assam territorial boundary in India has the highest annual record of rainfall in the world

Asia cities have the highest population densities in the world

Some cities areas of Asia are uninhabited

Mt. Everest

The Dead Sea

Physical Geography is the study of the natural environments and features around us. This includes the land (topography), water(hydrology), weather(climatology) and living things(biogeography).

A. Physical features:

Asia is the largest continent (44,391, 162 square kilometer), comprising one-third of the total land area in the world. Asia is five times larger than Australia (the smallest continent) but has 120 times the population. The distance from north to south is approximately 6, 500 kilometers, and east to west 9, 600 kilometers.

B. Location and Area

Mainland Asia is in the northern hemisphere.

oTo the North is the Arctic Ocean. The northernmost point is Russia, at latitude 770 degrees , 45 minutes North

o To the East is the Pacific Ocean. The easternmost point is in Russia, at longitude 169 degrees , 40 minutes West

o To the South is the Indian Ocean. The southernmost point is in Malaysia, approximately 150 kilometers north of Equator, at latitude 1 degree, 15 minutes North

oTo the West are the Red Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains and the Ural Mountains. The westernmost point is in Turkey at longitude 26 degrees, 4 minutes East.

oThe exact boundary between Asia and Europe is not fixed.

C. Climate

Mainland Asia is in the Northern Hemisphere and covers an area stretching from the Arctic to the equator

The central region of a large mass, such as Asia, has more extreme climate than the coastal regions. This is because of the influence of large bodies of water which moderates the local climate. Temperature differences between day and night and between summer and winter can be large in the center of Asia.

Altitudes also affects the local climate, for example the flat plains of Delhi at latitude 28 degrees north never have snowfall but the Himalayan peaks at the same latitude are covered with snow and ice all year round. High plateaus have more extreme temperature than low plains.

The seasonal monsoon winds greatly influence large areas of Asia. Monsoon winds are the result of the difference between temperature and atmospheric pressure between the continental land mass and the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

The large movements of air masses in the summer also create storms from Indian Ocean and typhoons from the Pacific Ocean.

GEOGRAPHICAL REGIONS OF ASIA - Based on topography, climate and vegetation, Asia is often divided into

the following sub – regions:

1. North Asia 2. Central Asia 3. South Asia 4. East Asia 5. West Asia 6. South-east Asia

Each region can be subdivided into climate zones and vegetation zones. Each region may have more than one type of climate and vegetation zone and may share similar types of zones with other regions. Each region is described on the next page and the dominant climate and vegetation zones are also described.

NORTH ASIA

North Asia consist almost entirely of Siberia, a huge area of cold, flat land in the

Northeast of Russia. Siberia makes up about three-quarters of the total area of

Russia. Despite its vast area, most of the region is sparsely populated due to the

extremely cold climate and land which is infertile or permanently frozen.The main

geographical zones in

North Asia

West Plains

Central PlateauEastern

Mountains

The West Siberian Plain is very flat and very swampy in the short

summer, but frozen in the long winter.

The Central Plateau is extremely ancient and very rich in minerals,

the conditions for mining are very difficult.

In the extreme north near the arctic coast is the arctic zone, also

called the Tundra. The winters are very long and extremely cold

and the soil is permanently frozen and snow-covered. The tundra is

treeless and the natural vegetation is lichen and moss.

In the north of the region is the semi-arctic zone, also called Taiga.

The natural vegetation includes long stretches of coniferous forest.

The taiga has long winters and very cold weather

Location: Siberia has

borders with Mongolia (3, 441

km) and China (3,605 km.)

Climate: The climate is continental, with

short, warm summers and very long, cold

winters. Ice and snow cover most of the

region for about six months of the year.

The average temperature is -28Celsius on

the coast to -50 degrees Celsius inland.

Landscape: The Ural Mountains in the west are a

north south range that divides Western Russia and

Siberia in Asia. Most Siberia consists of vast plains

and makes up about 75% of the total area of

Russia. The plains are covered by steppe in the

south, coniferous forest in the north and tundra

along the northern coast.

The West Siberian Plain The western plain is a large plain with an area about 3 million square kilometer. It

occupies the western portion of Siberia between the Ural Mountains and the Yenisey River. It extends 2, 500 km from north to south, and 1, 900 km from west to east. The region is very flat. A rise of fifty meters in sea level would cause all land between the

Arctic Ocean and the city of Novosibirsk to be covered. The main rivers are the Ob and Yenisey Rivers. Vegetation is treeless tundra in the north, taiga in the middle and steppes

in the south. Tundra

Taiga

Steppe

The Central Siberian Plateau The Central Plateau is extremely ancient. It lies between the Yenisey and Lena Rivers

and extends over 3.5 million square km. the highest part being up to 1, 700 meters. Almost all is under exceptionally deep permafrost and most is covered with coniferous

forests. The plateaus major river is the Tunguska River.

Coniferous

forest

Tunguska

River

Permafrost

Eastern Siberia and the Kamchatka Peninsula

The worlds lowest temperature for inhabited places have been recorded in the Eastern Siberia and there is deep snow cover for most of the year. Several mountain

ranges of various ages run north to south in the eastern region such as the Verkhoyansk Mountains.

These are about 1, 000 km long

and up to almost three thousand

meters in height. They form a vast

area between the Lena River to

the west and the Yana River to the

east. Above a few hundred meters,

the mountains have no vegetation

at all. The many valleys are deep

and covered with larch forest

except in the extreme north where

tundra dominates.

The Kamchatka Peninsula is on the extreme eastern coastline. In the central valley is the Kamchatka River which is

flanked by mountain ranges. The peninsula contains about 160 volcanoes of which 29 are active. The peninsula has the highest

density of volcanoes in the world. The most beautiful volcano is Kronotsky.

Kronotsky

Volcano

Kamchatka

River

RIVERS

Yana River = is only 872 km long but its annual flow totals about 25 cubic kilometers

Lake Baikal = in southern Siberia is 636 km long and 80 km wide

= the largest freshwater lake in Asia

= the deepest lake in the world

Lena River = is the 10th longest river

in the world. At the mouth of the

Lena River is a delta that is about

400 km wide. The delta is frozen

tundra for about 7 months of the

year.

Yenisey River = is Siberia’s 3rd

longest river at 5, 500 km

Ob River = is the Siberia’s 4th

longest river at 5, 410 km

CENTRAL ASIA

Central Asia is a large land-locked region in the center of the continent It has extremely varied geography, including many high plateaus and

mountains, vast deserts and treeless grasslands The Central Region is comprised of numerous high plateaus and

mountains that separate South, West and East The geographical dividing line is called the Pamir Knot or Pamir

Dunya (Himalayas) meaning the roof of the world

The highest plateau of the central region is Tibet Plateau

The largest areas of vegetation are high coniferous

forest, grassland, savanna, scrubland and desert

The semi-desert grassland zone comprises the east side

of Mongolia and north-west China

The desert zone includes the Gobi desert, the Thar

desert and the Plateau of Tibet

The temperature in the high altitude zone decreases at

an approximate rate of 1 degree Celsius for every 170

meters of altitude

Important river basins include the Tigris and Euphrates

River basins in Iraq and Iran

LOCATION

Kazakhstan is in Central Asia and stretches over a vast

expanse of Asia.

It is equivalent to the size of Western Europe.

It has borders with Russia , Uzbekistan, China,

Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, the Aral Sea and the Caspian

Sea

CLIMATE

Kazakhstan has a continental climate with very cold winters and very hot summers.

The majority of the country is arid and semi-arid. Cold air masses from the north meet with the hot

winds from the south. There are often strong winds which cause sand

storms .The air is extremely dry and the temperature varies

sharply between day and night.

LANDSCAPE

Central Kazakhstan is very flat, a quarter of the land is semi-desert steppe.

Rainfall on the mountains supply the 11, 000 rivers and more than 7,000 lakes and reservoirs of Kazakhstan.

The Aral Sea and Lake Balkhash have no outflow of water

The Aral Sea is the largest lake in Central Asia Lake Balkhash is the second largest lake in Central

Asia

SOUTH ASIA

South Asia is also known as the Indian subcontinent.

It includes India, Pakistan, Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives

South Asia covers about 4, 480, 000 square kilometers or 10 percent of the continent

This region is a subcontinent because it rests on its own tectonic plate, the India Plate.

It was once a small continent before it collided with Eurasia and gave birth to the Himalayan Mountains and the Tibetan Plateau

TROPICAL MONSOON ZONE = covers the region above latitude 10 degrees north and has alternating dry and rainy seasons for 6 months per year. This zone is found around area of the coast of the Indian peninsula. The natural vegetation in this zone is monsoon forest or deciduous forest. In tropical areas, most of the vegetation is broadleaf and hardwood trees, for example, teak, sandalwood and Grudia Chrysantha. Monsoon forest are sparse woods with small tress and shrubs growing on the ground with bamboo or other grasses.

TROPICAL GRASSLAND ZONE = has wet summer and dry winter. The average annual rainfall is less than the tropical monsoon zone at about 1,000 – 1, 500 millimeters. The average annual temperature is about 21 degrees Celsius. The natural vegetation in this zone is sparse mixed deciduous woodland. The ground cover is made of grasses and other low growing plants.

HIGH ALTITUDE ZONE = the temperature decreases at an approximately rate of 1 degree Celsius for every 170 meters of altitude. This explains why high mountains peaks located in hot climates zones still have snow all year round. In Asia the highest lands are found in Central Asia, for example, the Tibet Plateau, the Himalayas, the Hindu Kush and the Dekhan plateau in India. Important river basins include the Ganges River basin and the Brahmaputra River in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.

INDIA

Location

oIndia is in South Asia and covers most of the subcontinent

oIndia measures 3, 214 km. from north to south and 2, 933 km. from west to east.

oIndia shares borders with Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

oIndia is bounded in the west by the Arabian Sea and in the east by the Bay of Bengal.