EAST ASIA

QuickTime™ and a decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Countries and CapitalsBeijing, ChinaTokyo, JapanUlaanbaatar, MongoliaPyongyang, North KoreaSeoul, South KoreaTaipei, Taiwan

Physical Features Altai Mountains Mongolian Plateau Gobi Desert Plateau of Tibet Junggar Basin North China Plain Mount Gongga Shan Manchurian Plain Kongur Mt. South China Sea East China Sea Yellow Sea Sea of Japan Korea Bay Pacific Ocean Gulf of Tonkin Tarim He River Yellow River (Huang He) Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) and the Three Gorges Dam Taiwan Strait Mt. Fuji Yalu Jiang River

Major CitiesHong KongKyotoShanghai

Landforms and ResourcesEast Asia has high mountains, vast deserts,

cold climates, Pacific waters, mostly rugged terrain formed by collision of tectonic plates

Major mountain ranges: Kunlun Mountains - west of China - source of Huang He and Yangtze; Qinling Shandi Mountains - southeastern and east central China - divides northern par of China from the south

East Asia also has some low basins and barren deserts - Tarim Pendi Basin and Taklimakan Desert and Gobi Desert - 500,000 square miles

Peninsulas and IslandsShandong Peninsula, Leizhou Peninsula,

Macao PeninsulaWhy are peninsulas important?Islands: Hainan, part of Hong Kong, Japan is

an island nation

River SystemsHuang He - 3,000 miles long, yellow silt and

particles of soil make it the Yellow river, many floods in river

Chang Jiang - aka Yangtze River, longest river in all of Asia - 3,900 miles; from Tibet to East China Sea; major trade route; floods frequently

Xi Jiang - aka West River, south of China; joins with three other rivers

Other rivers: Yalu Jiang - part of North Korea

Resources Land and Forests - because of abundant mountains,

agriculture is limited; b/c of this China’s population is located in east where river basins are located; in mountainous west regions population is spread out; forests are also abundant - forest reserves in China, Japan, Taiwan, North and South Korea

Mineral and Energy Resources - petroleum, coal, natural gas in China; Korea - coal reserves; Japan - fish, coal; mineral resources - China has iron ore, tungsten, manganese, molybdenum, magnesite, lead, zinc, copper; North and South Korea have tungsten, gold, silver reserves; Japan has lead, silver, coal

Water Resources - China’s systems provide crop irrigation, hydroelectric power, transportation, electricity; also, water resources provide fish, vegetation

CLIMATE AND VEGETATIONHigh Latitude Climate Zones:

Subarctic zones - Mongolia’s and China’s northern borders with Russia; summers cool to cold, winters brutally cold; climate is dry; vegetation - evergreen forest - mosses, lichens

Highland zones - western China; farther north the latitude equals higher elevation equals colder climate; vegetation - alpine tundra, tundras have no trees, soil a few feet below surface is frozen, only lichens, mosses, shrubs grow

Mid-Latitude Zones: Humid Continental - Northeastern China, North

Korea, northern South Korea, northern Japan; forests are mainly coniferous, temperate grasslands ideal for grazing (agriculture has transformed land)

Humid Subtropical - Southeastern China, southern South Korea, southern Japan, northern Taiwan; forests are deciduous and coniferous

Dry Zones: Semiarid - Mongolian Plateau - short grasses,

which provide food for grazing Desert - found in west central area - Taklimakan

Desert, Gobi Desert (can find dinosaur fossils)

Tropical Zones: Tropical Wet - along China’s southeastern coast,

the island of Hainan, southern tip of Taiwan; high temperatures, heavy rainfall, high humidity