East Asia
Definition
• When discussing East Asia its essential to
realize we are talking about
– China
– Mongolia
– Korea
– Japan
– Taiwan
Landforms
• China dominates East Asia because it makes
up 80% of the land in the region
– Mongolia makes up 13%
– Japan, Korea, Taiwan 7%
• While China is fairly stable, geologically
speaking, the rest of East Asia is very
unsettled
– Conversion of tectonic plates produced both
Japan and Taiwan
• Evidence of the active nature of East Asia is
evidenced by volcanoes and constant
earthquakes in the region
– Major earthquakes can be expected once every 5
years
• Another danger associated with the active plate
tectonics of the region is the tsunami danger
– Tsunamis are waves created by underwater
earthquakes or volcanic eruptions
– Region is especially susceptible to tsunamis because
so may citizens and industries are along the coast
Landforms of China
• China is a land of extremes
– In the west are extremely high mountain ranges
which act as a natural barrier to the west
– The Himalaya and the Tian Shan are some of the
world’s highest mountain ranges
– In the Himalaya is the world’s tallest mountain –
Mt. Everest
– Immediately north of the Himalaya is the Tibet
plateau – a very dry and barren landscape which
major rivers originate
China’s Rivers
• Originating in the mountains are China’s
lifeblood – its rivers
• China has 3 major rivers which have traditionally
brought the country wealth and prosperity
– Huang He (Yellow River)
• Called yellow because of the soil that it carries down stream
– Yangtze
• Longest of China’s rivers and home to new Three Gorges Dam
– Xi Kiang (Pearl River)
Top 10 deadliest natural disasters
.
Rank Event Location Date Death Toll (Estimate)
1 1931 China floods China July-November, 1931 1,000,000–4,000,000
September-October,
2. 1887 Yellow River flood China 1887
900,000–2,000,000
3. 1556 Shaanxi earthquake China January 23, 1556 830,000
4. 1970 Bhola cyclone Bangladesh November 13, 1970 500,000
5. 1839 India Cyclone India November 25, 1839 300,000
Antioch, Byzantine
6. 526 Antioch earthquake
Empire
May 20, 526 250,000
7. 1976 Tangshan earthquake China July 28, 1976 242,000
8. 1920 Haiyuan earthquake China December 26, 1920 240,000
9. 1975 Banqiao Dam flood China August 7, 1975 90,000–230,000
2004 Indian Ocean
10. earthquake/tsunami
Indian Ocean December 26, 2004 229,866
• Besides the major rivers, one extremely
important waterway in China is the Grand
Canal
– This waterway connects the Huang He to the
Yangtze
– This waterway, which was completed nearly 1500
years ago, was extremely important in linking
northern China to southern China
Climates in East Asia
• Latitude and physical features dictate the
climactic features of East Asia
– Northern China and Korea have a continental
climate as they are far away from the tropics
– Southern China is more tropical because of its
proximity to the Tropic of Cancer
– Southern China’s tropical climate is important
because rice cultivation in the region depends on
the abundant rainfall and warm temperatures of
the region
• China's interior is effected by landforms
rather than latitude
– Mountains have very cold and dry climate
because of lack of moisture in the area
– Tibet plateau and points west are a near desert
because of the presence of the mountains to the
south
• The mountains cut
off all moisture
coming into the
region and leaves
the area a desert
Weather
• Dominant weather pattern of the region is
the moisture brought to China’s east coast by
the Japan Current
• This current is responsible not only for
southern China’s abundant rainfall but also
the regions numerous typhoons
– Typhoons are similar to hurricanes