0 500 1,000250 Miles

The East Asian Realm

Pacific Ocean

SouthChina Sea

Sea of

Japa

n

China

Japan

Taiwan

Hong Kong

Mongolia

Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau

CoastalPlains

GuangdongPlains

HunanPlateau

S. Korea

N. Korea

China

• Geography– A factor of unity as well as

diversity.– 3rd largest country in the world.– Comparable surface with Europe

and the United States:• U.S.: 3.6 million square miles.• China: 3.7 million square miles.

– It is a lot but not enough.– 65% of the country mountainous.– Arable land represents 12% of the

national territory as opposed to 25% for the United States.

– Per capita (0.086 hectare) is well below the world average.

0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000250Miles

China

United States

BB

China• 1- Huang He (Yellow River).

– Can carry up to 40% sediment weight (highest in the world).

– Subject to flooding, especially in its delta.

– Changed course many times.• 2- Chang Jiang (Yangtze).

– Longest river, China’s main street (6,300 km).

– Flood of 1998 left 14 million homeless.

• 3- Pearl River delta system– Most productive and

sustainable ecosystem in the world.

– Rice paddies and fish ponds.• 4- Heilong Jiang (Amur).

– China's border with Russia.

1

2

3

4

China

• Agricultural diversity– North: continental

climate growing wheat, sorghum and corn.

– South: subtropical climate growing rice.

– A China of the West with pastoralism and oasis agriculture.

Rice Dominant

Wheat DominantPasture andoasis

Double-crop rice

Japan

– Small-sized country; the size of California.– Average-sized population (127 millions).– Very limited array of resources:

• Favored the development of trade.• What Japan does not have on its national territory is obtained

through trade.• Its industrial corporations and its banks are controlling a

significant array of resources.– Domination of the Pacific Asian economy:

• Vast national market.• Productive labor force.• Financial power.• Technological innovator.

Japan• Physical constraints

– Physical geography increases the territorial exiguity.

– 16% of the land is habitable.– Fight against the scarcity of space:

• Long narrow valleys.• Concentration of agricultural

productivity.• Efficient management of existing

agricultural land.– Kanto plain:

• 30.5% of the population.• 8.3% of the surface of Japan.• 50% of the flat territory.

– Most of the Japanese population lives on an area the size of Indiana.

Yamato Plain

Kanto Plain

Nobi Plain

Hokkaido

Honshu

Kyushu

Shikoku

South Korea• Geography

– “The shrimp between the whales”.

– About the size of Indiana.

– Population of 48 million.

– Highly homogenous ethnicity and linguistically (100% Korean).

– Religiously divided between Christianity (49%) and Buddhism (47%).

– 75% urban with 27% of the population living in Seoul (13 million).

– 5 million Koreans live oversea:

• 1 million in the United States.

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Seoul

Taegu

Pusan

Chonju

Taejon

Kwangju

Inch`on

P'yongyang

0 100 200 30050Miles

China

Japan

North Korea

South Korea

Sea of Japan

Demilitarized zone

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Taipei

Fuzhou

Kaoshsiung

T'ainan

T'aichung

0 100 20050 Miles

Formos

a Stra

itC

hung

yang

Ran

ge

TaiwanChina

Taiwan• Geographical Context

– About 150 km (100 miles) from the coast of southeast China.

– About the size of Idaho.– Similar constraints than

neighboring countries:• 60% of the territory is

composed of mountains.• Chungyang Range covers

about 50% the total land area.• 25% usable for agriculture.

– Bulk of the population lives in the western coastal plain.

– Quemoy and Matsu islands:• Used for defensive purposes.

Quemoy

Matsu

Agriculture and GDP Composition by Sector

CHINA:Agriculture: rice, potatoes, sorghum, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, cotton, other fibers, oilseed; pork and other livestock products; fish

GDP composition by sector :l agriculture: 19%l industry: 48%l services: 33% (1994 est.)

JAPAN:Agriculture: rice, sugar, beets, vegetables, fruit; pork, poultry, dairy products, eggs; world's largestfish catch of 10 million metric tons in 1991

GDP composition by sector :l agriculture: 2.1%l industry: 40.2%l services: 57.7% (1994)

NORTH KOREA:Agriculture: rice, corn, potatoes, soybeans, pulses; cattle, pigs, pork, eggs

GDP composition by sector :l agriculture: 25%l industry: 60%l services: 15% (1995 est.)

SOUTH KOREA:Agriculture: rice, root crops, barley, vegetables, fruit; cattle, pigs, chickens, milk, eggs; fish catch of 2.9 million metric tons, seventh largest in world

GDP composition by sector :l agriculture: 8%l industry: 45%l services: 47% (1991 est.)

TAIWAN:Agriculture: rice, wheat, corn, soybeans, vegetables, fruit, tea; pigs, poultry, beef, milk; fish catch increasing, reached 1.4 million metric tons in 1988

GDP composition by sector :l agriculture: 3.6%l industry: 37.3%l services: 59.1% (1994 est.)

North

South

RICE

Terrace Making North and South