World Geography 7 Mrs. Wethington

First Civilizations• Kingdoms arose and conquered

other groups becoming empires• Most powerful was the Khmer

empire• Angkor Wat – center of the city

full of monasteries and temples

Angkor Wat

Mongol Empire

• Mongols, led by Genghis Khan, swept out of Mongolia and conquered an empire stretching across Asia and part of Europe finishing in China.• Marco Polo traveled to China under

the Mongols describes its riches

What YOU Can Learn from the Travels of Marco Polo

• Major religion inregion

• Spread from Soutth Asia 2,000 yearsagoBuddhism

• All partts of nature (rocks, plants, rivers) have their ownspirits

• Way of life, etthics,morals

•Arab ttraders broughttIslam

•Many people in Indonesia, Malaysia, & western China areMuslims

•Christianity became dominant religion ofPhilippines

Shinto

Confucianism

Islam,Hinduism, Daoism,

Christianity

Ethnic religion inJapanNo God, founder, scripturesWay of life-ethical

principlesWorship Kami-spirits

Rocks, waterfalls, moon,etc. have spirits

Most people live in crowded river valleys and basins or in coastal plains Agriculture &Industry

PopulationDensity

Huang He basin-1,000 people per sqmile

Unevenlydistributed

Indonesia 60% live on Java-

island

Singapore - smallest country has the greatestpopulation density

Spotlight on Indonesia

1979: China’s One ChildPolicy

Policy to slowpopulattion

Current population of China:1.35 billionNot enough jobs foreveryone

Other countries in East/SE Asia have rapid populationgrowth

Highbirthrates

Poor countries have higher birthrates

Cambodia, Laos

Wealthy countries (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan) population is decreasing

Poor areas: Cambodia &Laos

Spotlight on Japan

Ethnically similar

99% of Japan isethnic Japanese

Koreans speakKorean, Mongolians speak Mongolian, etc.

More ethnic diversity than East AsiaIndonesians, Malays, Burmans,

Vietnamese, Laotians, andThais

Descendants of Chinese who movedto the region

Chinese are aminority

92% =Han EtthnicGroup

8% =55 different ethnic groups

Han Chinese is the most widely spoken

Mandarin- northern dialect (official language of China)

Education ishighly valued

Learning isviewed as crucial

Studies are rigorousSome attend school 6x

a weekHighly educatedpeople

help theeconomy

Spotlight on Education in China

Family is centter of social lifeLive by Confucius’steachings

Young people are taught to show respectto older relatives

Women to obey husbands

Marriages were usuallyarranged

Becoming morewesternized

Today, people choose partner

Women have gained moreequality

Housing varies widelyHomes in crowdedcities

are modern but have limited space

China- apartments; may have more than one generation living together

Rural- large butsimpler

Yurts- large, circular structures made of animal skins

Can be packed upand moved from place to place

Homes areoften built on poles, or stilts to avoid flooding

THAT’S ALL FOLKS!HAVE A GREAT DAY!