East Asia Where is East ASIA Countries of

East Asia

Where is East ASIA? ?

Countries of East Asia: China South Korea Japan Mongolia North Korea Taiwan

Major Physical Features: • Kunlun Mountains • Gobi Desert • Tibetan Plateau • “Ring of Fire”

KUNLUN MOUNTAINS

GOBI DESERT

Average Elevation - 16, 400 ft World’s highest and biggest plateau TIBETAN PLATEAU “Roof of the World”

RING OF FIRE

RIVERS YANGTZE RIVER(CHANG JIANG) • ASIA’S LONGEST RIVER • CHANG JIANG MEANS “LONG RIVER” • MAJOR TRADE ROUTE

Three Gorges Dam

• world’s largest hydro-electric power station • completed October 2008 • construction cost – 39 billion dollars

YELLOW RIVER(HUANG HE) • KNOWN AS “CHINA’S SORROW” • FLOODS FREQUENTLY

Huang He “Yellow River” Where does the Yellow River get its name? Named for the silt carried downstream in its flow. This silt is known as … Loess

ISLAND COUNTRIES JAPAN TAIWAN

CLIMATE REGIONS • SUBARCTIC • HIGHLAND • HUMID CONTINENTAL • HUMID SUBTROPICAL • SEMIARID • DESERT • TROPICAL WET

NATURAL HAZARDS TYPHOONS – A TROPICAL STORM LIKE A HURRICANE THAT OCCURS IN THE WESTERN PACIFIC

VOLCANOES MOUNT FUJI – JAPAN

EARTHQUAKES DUE TO BEING PART OF THE RING OF FIRE

IMAGES OF KOBE EARTHQUAKE, JANUARY 1995

Tsunami – a huge wave of great destructive power

History: • Dynasties in China and Japan • Communism in China – Mao Zedong Dynasty – series of rulers from the same family

CULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS Religious Diversity: Hinduism Islam Buddhism Christianity Taoism Shinto Confucianism

Cultural Landscape Great Wall of China

Pagodas

Temples