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!