ALL ACROSS ASIA Asia is the world’s largest continent Covering more than 17 million square miles 44 million sq km Asia includes about a third of the entire surface of the planet It is part of the larger supercontinent of Eurasia which includes Asia and Europe In addition to being the largest continent Asia is also the most populated Its people have adapted to the diverse geography and extreme climates over time especially in east and Southeast Asia The natural beauty and rocky landscape of east and Southeast Asia have inspired exploration and settlement for thousands of years Early civilizations in this region saw the forces of nature as godlike or spiritual beings Today modern societies with major urban centers flourish alongside major rivers and in the shadows of the mountains of east and Southeast Asia BORDERS AND BOUNDARIES Asia’s borders and boundaries are defined by land sea and culture It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north the Pacific Ocean to the east and the Indian Ocean to the south To the west it shares a border with Europe part of which includes the Caucasus and Ural mountain ranges However this border is mostly determined by cultural differences and there is some argument over where one continent ends and the other begins 4
THINK LIKE GEOGRAPHER Throughout east and Southeast Asia societies developed according to the limitations and opportunities the geography provided This photograph shows homes built along a river and between hills in Guilin China A WUHAN IS THE CAPITAL CITY OF THE HUBEI PROVINCE IN CENTRAL CHINA IN 2019 AN OUTBREAK OF THE DEADLY COVID-19 VIRUS WAS FIRST REPORTED IN WUHAN BECAUSE OF GLOBAL TRAVEL AND TRADE THE VIRUS QUICKLY BECAME A GLOBAL PANDEMIC THAT GREATLY AFFECTED CHINA AS WELL AS THE REST OF THE REGION OF EAST ASIA AND THE WIDER WORLD 5
SELF THINK LIKE GEOGRAPHER DISCOVERING EAST ASIA The region called east Asia includes the People’s Republic of China often simply called China the Republic of China more often called Taiwan Japan North Korea South Korea Mongolia Macau and Hong Kong East Asia’s major urban centers include Beijing and Shanghai in China Tokyo in Japan Seoul in South Korea and Pyongyang in North Korea While there are large cities in east Asia there are also many wild landscapes East Asia’s major geographic features include mountains rivers peninsulas islands and oceans Some of these features like the Himalayan mountain range are so huge they span more than one area of Asia Mount Everest the highest mountain in the world is in both China in east Asia and Nepal in South Asia A MACAU AND HONG KONG ARE TECHNICALLY PART OF CHINA BUT THEY ARE OFTEN CONSIDERED INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES WITH THEIR OWN GOVERNMENTS CURRENCIES PASSPORTS FLAGS AND LANGUAGES TAIWAN IS A GOVERNED STATE BUT CONSIDERED BY MANY IN THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO BE PART OF CHINA 6
THE FORCES OF NATURE The geography of a region influences the people living there East Asia and the countries within it have a great variety of landforms climates and plant and animal life China is home to mountains deserts and two major world rivers the Huang He or Yellow River and the Yangtze Korea is mountainous and heavily forested The Japanese archipelago experiences extreme weather such as snow in the mountains and typhoons along the coast Heavy rain across this region creates good conditions for growing rice a major east Asian crop TYPHOON A SEVERE TROPICAL STORM CHARACTERIZED BY HIGH WINDS THAT ORIGINATES IN THE INDIAN OCEAN OR WESTERN PACIFIC OCEAN The huge continent of Asia is broken up into several parts In this map east Asia is highlighted in yellow NORTH ASIA CENTRAL ASIA EAST ASIA SOUTH EAST ASIA MIDDLE EAST SOUTH ASIA ARCHIPELAGO A GROUP OF ISLANDS 7
