Asia Pacific RegionBasic Geography

Largest continent and largest oceanTallest mountain to deepest ocean trenchLargest country to smallest island nation

Tundra to hot desert to tropical rainforestMost densely populated to least densely populated

Huge language groups to small threatened languagesEconomic/political power to economic/political irrelevance

Ancient cultures to recent colonisationsDiversity of landform, flora, fauna, peoples and cultures

Asia – 30% of earths land surface and 60% or the population - arctic to the equator, mainland, subcontinent and archipelago

Diversity of LandformsHighest mountains, cold high plateaux, huge river valleys, plains and deltas, cold dry inland deserts

Himalayas,Tibetan plateau, Hindu Kush –high altitudes, harsh winters, glaciers, river source, climate control (monsoon)

Mountains, snow, glaciers, waterfalls, lakes, fast flowing rivers and inhabited valleys

Many large rivers and plains that flood often resulting in damage but also new fertile soil for the intensive farming

Hot and cold deserts – sand, rock and tundra

Volcanoes both active and dormant – fertile soils and occasional natural disasters

Intensive agriculture, both commercial and subsistence. Rice the main food crop, commercial crops such as tea.

Megacities – dual economies, crowding, shortage of land

Many cultures, ethnic groups, languages, customs, traditions, religions, food styles, architectural styles, histories

Pacific – 30% of the world surface, an ocean of small islands, less than 1% of world’s population

Thousands of small islands and a few large – low coral atolls, higher volcanic and continental islands

Movements of people into and across the Pacific

Language and cultural groupings