SOUTHEAST ASIA, OCEANIA AND ANTARCTICA

A R E G I O N O F E X T R E M E S

SOUTHEAST ASIA: MAINLAND AND ISLANDS

Mainland Southeast Asia

Indochinese Peninsula – south of China (rectangular shape)

Malay Peninsula – narrow strip of land, 700 miles long (serves as a bridge between mainland and islands)

Islands of Southeast Asia

Archipelago – set of closely grouped islands

Philippines and islands of Indonesia are part of Malay peninsula

SOUTHEAST ASIA:MAINLAND AND ISLANDS

Mountains & Volcanoes

Mainland - several mountain ranges

Islands – most mountains are of volcanic origin

Rivers & Coastlines

Mainland – several large rivers

Ex. Mekong River – begins in China

Resources

Fertile soil – valuable resource

petroleum, tin, and gems

Australia

New Zealand

Pacific Islands

LANDS OF THE PACIFIC AND ANTARCTICA More than 20,000 islands

Oceania – group of pacific islands (the Philippines, Indonesia, and other islands near the mainland are not considered part of Oceania because their people have cultural ties to Asia)

Oceania’s Many Islands

Number of islands constantly changes

High Islands – created by volcanoes

Low Islands – made of coral reefs

New Zealand

North Island

Fertile farmland, forest, seaports, many river

South Island

300 mile long mountain range – Southern Alps

LANDS OF THE PACIFIC AND ANTARTICAAustraliaSmallest continent/also the flattestVery few riversRich in minerals (leading supplier of bauxite, diamonds, opals, lead, and coral reef)Great Barrier Reef – 1,250 mile chain of more than 2,500 reefs and islandsIcy Antarctica 5th largest continentCentered on South Pole

CLIMATE AND VEGETATION

Every climate zone is represented

Southeast Asia

Tropical wet climates are typical of the islands and coastal parts of SE Asia

One of the greatest diversities of vegetation of any region (tree species)

Oceania

Tropical Wet and Dry

Australia and New Zealand

Moderate climates

1/3 of Australia is desert – The Outback

Antarctica

Coldest, driest continent

Icecap climate

“The White Desert” – little precipitation, dry air, and its icy temperatures do not allow it to hold moisture

HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONTraveling the Pacific

Pacific Islanders navigated the ocean by using charts of sticks and shells and the stars.

Voyaging Canoes – developed by Pacific Islanders to sail the vast ocean. These canoes had double hulls that made the craft stable and gave it the ability to carry lots of weight.

Outrigger canoe – used on island lagoons

INVASION OF THE RABBITS

1859 – Thomas Austin released 24 rabbits into Australia so he could hunt them

1900 – Australia had more than a billion rabbits

Wiped out native plants, destroyed crops, ruined pastures, and stripped areas of vegetation

NUCLEAR TESTING

1940s and 1950s, the US conducted 66 nuclear tests in the Pacific

In the Marshall Islands of the central Pacific lies Bikini Atoll

Atoll – ring-like coral island or string of small islands surrounding a lagoon

Bikini Atoll – site of the U.S. atomic-weapons tests.

US chose Bikini for testing because it lay far away from regular shipping and air travel routes

1946 – the government moved the 167 Bikini Islanders to another atoll and conducted two atomic-weapons tests

1951-1958 – US Government held about 60 more tests there

Bravo – code name for a hydrogen bomb that vaporized several islands

and contaminated the entire area with high levels of radiation