World Regional Geography

GEG 101 ONLINE!

CHAPTER 9: East Asia

~/~ HOME~/~ SYLLABUS ~/~ SCHEDULE ~/~ CHAPTERS ~/~ ASSIGNMENTS ~/~ DISCUSSION ~/~ REVIEW ~/~ TEXTBOOK WEB ~/~ ONLINE LECTURES MENU ~/~

Studying the Chapter:

  • Read and study the textbook. (See "Textbook Notes" below.)
  • Read and study the Online Lecture 

Map Quiz 7 - Chapter 9:

Review Activities:

For All Realms:

Keep these in mind as you read and study EACH REALM (chapter).

  • Defining a Realm: Know the physical, cultural, economic, and/or historical criteria (characteristics) used to define the realm.
    • Why are the boundaries drawn where they are?
      • Are there any physical barriers (oceans, seas, mountains, deserts, dense forests) at the realm border?
      • Are there physical, cultural, economic, and historical differences on either side of the realm boundary?
      • Do the realm boundaries tend to run through areas of sparse population?
    • How do the physical, cultural, economic, and historical characteristics of the realm differ from these characteristics of neighboring realms?

     

    • You may want to do the following FOR EACH REALM to help your learning:
      • print this realm worksheet and keep track of the characteristics in the chart as you read and study the chapter.
      • You may want to review the lecture on REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY
      • Use the Goode's Atlas maps, especially the world maps at the beginning, to see differences between realms

     

    • Here are SOME of the physical, cultural, economic, and historical characteristics that you should consider
      • physical geography
        • landscapes
        • climate
        • precipitation
        • major physical features
        • physical barriers at the realm boundaries (oceans, seas, mountains, deserts, dense forests)
      • cultural geography
        • religion
        • language
        • politics
        • other
      • economic geography
        • level of development - IMPORTANT: SEE TABLE G-1 (pp. 34-41)
        • per capita income (GDP)
        • population growth rate
        • % urban population
        • life expectancy
        • other measures of development - IMPORTANT: SEE TABLE G-1 (pp. 34-41)
      • historical Geography
        • culture hearths
        • colonization - who colonized
        • other

 

  • Know where most people live in the realm. See the population density map in your Goode's Atlas and Figure G-9 (pp. 18-19) in your textbook. Also, assess how well the 5 reasons explain the population distribution. Do they apply to this realm or not?

 

  • Know the CONCEPTS, IDEAS, and TERMS listed on the first page of each chapter and the italicized words within the chapter. ALSO, know EXAMPLES of the terms from the realm being studied. It is strongly suggested that you make a list of these terms with their definitions and examples. Each unit exam will have a question where you DEFINE and GIVE EXAMPLES of these terms.

 

  • You must understand map SCALE. Know the difference between a large scale map and a small scale map. Each unit exam will have a question about map scale. See Figure G-3.
    • Large scale = large detail = small area
    • Small scale = small detail = large area

 

Textbook Notes:

[Some maps may be difficult to read. To see a clear image, RIGHT CLICK on the image and select VIEW IMAGE]

DETAILED OUTLINE

CHAPTER 9
The East Asian Realm

 MAJOR GEOGRAPHIC QUALITIES OF THE REALM

  • East Asia is encircled by snowcapped mountains, vast deserts, cold climates, and Pacific waters.
  • East Asia was one of the world's earliest culture hearths, and China is one of the world's oldest continuous civilizations.
  • East Asia is the world's most populous geographic realm, but its population remains strongly concentrated in its eastern regions.
  • China, the world's largest nation-state demographically, is the current rendition of an empire that has expanded and contracted, fragmented and unified many times during its long existence.
  • China today remains a mainly rural society, and its vast eastern river basins feed hundreds of millions in a historic pattern that continues today.
  • China's sparsely peopled western regions are strategically important to the state, but they lie exposed to minority pressures and Islamic influences.
  • Along China's Pacific frontage an economic transformation is taking place, affecting all the coastal provinces and creating an emerging Pacific Rim region.
  • Increasing regional disparities and fast-changing cultural landscapes are straining East Asian societies.
  • Japan, the economic giant of the East Asian realm, has a history of colonial expansion and wartime conduct that still affects international relations here.
  • East Asia may witness the rise of the world's next superpower as China's economic and military strength and influence grow-and if China avoids the devolutionary forces that fractured the Soviet Union.
  • The political geography of East Asia contains a number of flashpoints that can generate conflict, including Taiwan, North Korea, and several island groups in the realm's seas.

 

DEFINING THE REALM

  • East Asian is comprised of six "political entities": 5 states (countries) + Taiwan

    • China
    • Mongolia
    • North Korea
    • South Korea
    • Japan
    • Taiwan

    Question:

  • East Asia is the hub of the "Pacific Rim"

     

    PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY: Natural Environments

    • Physiography
      • Total Area Is About 3.6 Million Sq. Mi.
      • Longitudinal Extent Is Comparable To The Us; Latitudinal Range From Northern Quebec To Central Caribbean.

      • Bordered (Surrounded) By Ocean, High Mountains, Steppe Country, And Desert

      • Vast And Varied Topography

     

    • Climate
      • Climate types include: B (Dry); C (Humid Temperate); D (Humid Cold); And H (Unclassified Highlands)
      • Includes the largest area of (H) Highland climate in the world
      • Desert conditions prevail in the northern interior
      • Coastal, peninsular, and insular East Asia boast more moderate climates than the interior regions

     HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY

    • ancient culture hearth

    • early plant and animal domestication, as early, or earlier than in the Middle East
    • early cultural regionalization
    • state formation (first: Xia Dynasty 2200-1770 BC)
    • early dynasties with rulers succession determined by family ties
    • dynastic rule expanded empire and continued into the 20th century - Qing [Manchu] Dynasty
    • sinicization: Chinese acculturation: making the lands conquered by China culturally more like China

 

 

DEFINING THE REALM: CHINA

  • Concentration of population, cities, agriculture, and industry in the eastern part of China

     

ISOLATION of an advanced culture

  • made possible by it's physical geography
    • Natural Protective Barriers: almost encircled by high mountains and dry deserts keeping outsiders out
    • Distance: far from other centers of development
    • Chinese interacted little with rest of world:
      • Inward Looking (Central Kingdom) with Minor incidences of cultural diffusion
      • A History of emperors who restricted use of the coastline, except in local circumstances
    • still few overland roads and railroads connect China with neighboring realms
    • as recent as the early 1970's only a few dozen foreigners were in China
    • China's isolation began to change with US President Richard Nixon's visit to china in 1972
    • Now, for the first time in it's long history, China is a major player on the world stage.
      • Today the ocean is playing a major role in the economic (and cultural) transformation of coastal China.

       

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF CHINA: Extent and Environment

  • China - US Locational and Size Comparison (China in Red, the US in black)
    • China is slightly smaller than the US including Alaska
    • China is considerably wider latitudinally, extends further north (colder climate) and further south (more tropical ) than does the US

 

  • China - US Climate Comparison
    • similar climatic pattern
      • Large area of C climate in the southeast
      • D climates in the northeast
      • both drier, B climates, as you go west
      • then highland , H, climates further west
    • differences
      • China has no west coast and therefore no C climates in the west
      • China's northwestern D climates extend further south and are more severe than in North America.

     

    QUESTION:

    • Compare the physical geography (climate) and size of China with the physical geography (climate) and size of the United States.

 

HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF CHINA 

  • Evolving China
    • One of the world's great culture hearths
    • Continuous civilization for over 4,000 years
    • "People of Han"
      • Han Dynasty reigned 2000 years ago (206 BC to 220 AD)
      • breakdown of the old feudal order
      • rise of military power
      • unification of a large empire; added Xinjiang and Vietnam
      • institution of property rights
      • flourishing of architecture,, the arts, the sciences,
      • development of trade along the Silk Road to Rome
    • feudal periods, but always followed by a more united China
    • rural society ruled by dictator
    • View of China as the center of the civilized world
    • Inward Looking
    • Closed Society
    • sinicization: Chinese acculturation: making the lands conquered by China culturally more like China

     

    • Kongfuzi (Confucius)
      • China's most influential philosopher and teacher
      • 551- 479 BC- Took on spiritual proportions after his death- Confucianism
      • Focused on the suffering of ordinary people during the Zhou Dynasty
      • Emphasized that human virtues, rather than godly connections, should determine a person's place in society
      • Teachings have dominated Chinese life and thought for more than 20 centuries

     

  • A Century of Convulsion: Europeans arrive
    • China believed it was superior to the Europeans and cared little about their arrival
    • Initially China kept the Europeans isolated in small coastal enclaves like Macao therefore, Europeans had little effect on the Chinese economy
    • Later the Europeans improved their products and were able to compete with, and beat, Chinese industries
    • British imported the drug opium into China where it had a devastating effect
    • When the Chinese government tried to stop the opium trade in 1834 armed combat with the British began
    • First Opium War - 1839-1842; China lost
      • British got Hong Kong
      • 5 ports were open to more trade
      • Opium flooded into China
      • Second Opium War - 1847
      • Extraterritorially
        • A doctrine of European International Law
        • Employed in China during the late 1800s
        • Afforded Europeans immunity from Chinese laws
        • An erosion of Chinese sovereignty
        • Extraterritorial Enclaves established: port areas, the best residential areas, certain parks and buildings were reserved for Europeans only
    • Colonial Spheres
      • Germans on the Shandong Peninsula
      • France in the far south
      • Portugal in Macau
      • Russians in the north and Manchuria in the northeast
      • Japan annexed Korea, the Rykuyu Island and island of Formosa (Taiwan)

     

    • Recent History
      • anti-colonial uprisings
      • as well as uprisings against the Manchu (Qing) emperor
      • in 1911 the emperor was overthrown
      • After Word War I Japan took over Germany's holdings in China

       

      • infighting between the "Nationalist" Chinese and the Chinese Communist Party
      • Nationalist leader Chang Kai-shek fought the foreigners and the Communists
      • Driving the communists into the interior, by 1933 it looked like they would be victorious

       

      • The Long March
        • 100,000 communists marched 2000 miles in 1934
        • 3/4 were killed by the nationalists along the way
        • as new recruits joined the Communist Party

       

      • The Japanese took advantage of the fighting between the Nationalists and the Communists
        • Japan takes control of Manchuria - The Northeast
        • established a puppet state called Manchukuo
        • full scale ware breaks out between the Chinese nationalists and the Japanese in 1937
        • Japan conquers more of China
        • China was then divided into three areas controlled by the Japanese, the Nationalists, and the Communists

        • "The Japanese committed unspeakable atrocities in their campaign in China." (p. 442) including the "Rape of Nanking"

       

      • Communist China
        • Japan defeated in 1945 ending WW II
        • Civil war in China resumes
        • Mao Zedong leads the Communist to victory in 1949
        • Chiang Kai-shek retreats with nationalists to Taiwan taking control of the government there and proclaiming Taiwan to be the independent country of the Republic of China
        • Mao Zedong, Oct. 1, 1949, proclaims the birth of the People's Republic of China (Communist China)

           

        • Reorganization Under Communism: The Great Leap Forward
          • 1950s- 1976 Communist Regime Launched Massive Programs Of Reconstruction And Reform
          • Based On The Soviet Model
          • Land Was Expropriated (taken from the rich)
          • Farming Was Collectivized = socialized agriculture
          • Industries Were Reorganized As State-Owned Communal Enterprises.
          • Emphasis On "Heavy Industry"
          • Dramatic Social Changes- Education, Religion, Population Growth
        •  "Terrible mistakes" (p. 443)
          • emphasis on heavy industry and reorganization of agriculture removed incentives to produce food as a result 10-30 million starved to death between 1958 and 1962 
          • Mao refused to recommend controls on population growth resulting in large increases in China's population
          • Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution
            • 1966-1976
            • Mao's campaign against emerging elitism in Chinese society
            • organized youth into "Red Guard" brigades who attacked opponents to Mao's ideas
            • all schools were closed
            • intellectuals were persecuted
            • anarchy, terror, and economic paralysis followed
            • food and industrial production declined and 30 million died from violence and famine

CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY OF CHINA

  • China's Political Map
    • 4 Central-government-administered municipalities called shi's
      • Beijing (Capital);
      • Tianjin (Port City);
      • Shanghi (Largest City);
      • Chongquing (Interior River Port)

       

    • 5 Autonomous Regions to recognize the non-Han minorities living there
      • Nei Mongol (Inner Mongolia);
      • Ningxia Hui;
      • Xinjiang Uygur (Nw);
      • Guangxi Zhuang (South);
      • Xizang (Tibet)

    • 22 Provinces
      • Grow In Size From East To West like US States

     

    • Two Special Administrative Region (SAR)
      • Hong Kong - returned to china from the British in 1997
      • Macao - returned to China from Portugal in 1999

     

  • Population Issues
    • Read: http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa071497.htm
    • China's population in 2006: 1,323,000,000 (1.323 BILLION)
    • most populated country on earth
    • slow population growth rate of 0.6% per year still adds 8 million every year
    • after Mao's death in 1976 - vigorous population control program: "one-child policy"
    • Population growth rate declined from 3 % to 1.2 % in the mid-1980's to 0.6 % in 2006
    • Results:
      • may have prevented a "population explosion"
      • population growth should equal 0 % around 2050 and then start to decline
      • rapid increase in the proportion of the population that is elderly and needing care with fewer workers to care for them
      • excess of males over females implying selective abortion, female infanticide and female child neglect

       

  • China's Minorities
    • China is still an empire
    • see map below showing where the minorities are located
    • China Proper is the home of the Mandarin speaking Han Chinese
    • Minorities constitute only a small percentage of total population
      • Han Chinese 91.9%,
      • Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities 8.1%

     

    • Religion
      • Daoist (Taoist),
      • Buddhist,
      • Muslim 1%-2%,
      • Christian 3%-4%
      • note: officially atheist

ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY 

  • China's Population
    • 1.306 Billion
    • Annual Natural Increase 0.6% (1970s - 3%)
    • Doubling Time: 100 Years
    • Life Expectancy: 70 (Males), 73 (Females)
    • Fertility Rate 1.8 Born/Women (1997)
    • Arithmetic Density: 353 People/Sq Mi
    • Physiological Density: 3,524 People/Sq Mi
    • Only 10% Of The Land Is Arable And 69% Of The Population Lives On This Land
    • Distribution: Western 2/3's Is Sparsely Populated (Minorities)

     

  • Urban China
    • 38% Urbanized
    • Largest cities are insignificant on a global scale
    • Urban environmental problems
    • Air pollution
    • Congestion
    • Water pollution

 

  • Economic Problems
    • Problems Stemmed From The State Controlled Economy.
    • Serious Energy Shortage
    • Transportation Infrastructure Poorly Developed
    • Popular Resistance And Changes In Central Policy Have Weakened China's Population Control Program.
    • Environmental Degradation

     

    • Agricultural Regions

     

     

    Deng Xiaoping Era

    • Took Power In 1979 As A "Pragmatic Moderate"
    • Attempted To Wed Communist Political Rule With Capitalist Economic Practices
    • Opened China To Foreign Science And Technology
    • Permitted Students To Study Abroad
    • Introduced Economic Liberalization Measures
    • Decentralized Decision-Making
    • Shifted To The Responsibility System In Agriculture
    • Created SEZs, Open Cities, Open Coastal Areas
    • Attempted To Create A "Socialist Market Economy"

     

  • Economic Initiatives
    • Special Economic Zones
      • 5 SEZs Established; 3 In Guangdong Province
      • Investment Incentives: Low Taxes, Import/Export Regulations Eased, Land Leases Simplified, Etc.

    • Open Cities
      • Included 14 Coastal Cities
      • Scaled Back To 4 Cities
      • National Investment Focused On Shanghai
    • Open Coastal Areas
      • Also Designed To Attract Foreign Investments
      • Concentrated Along Pacific Coast Deltas And Peninsulas

      Special Economic Zones

      • Investor Incentives
      • Low Taxes
      • Easing Of Import And Export Regulations
      • Simplified Land Leases
      • Hiring Of Contract Labor Permitted
      • Products May Be Sold In Foreign Markets And In China (Under Certain Restrictions)
      • Location Was Prime Consideration

         

      Open Cities

      • Size
      • Overseas Trading History
      • Links To "Overseas Chinese"
      • Levels Of Industrialization
      • Pool Of Local Talent And Labor
      • Confined To Coastal Areas

REGIONS OF THE REALM

  • China Proper
  • China's Pacific Rim: Emerging Region?
  • Xizang (Tibet)
  • Xinjiang
  • Mongolia
  • Jakota Triangle

  • China Proper
    • China Proper contains most of the Chinese population

    • REVIEW: Where do people live and why
      • Read Online lecture: Where do People Live and Why?
        • East Asia is one of the world's three major population clusters
        • 5 Criteria:
          1. near coasts
          2. along rivers / near fresh water
          3. flat terrain
          4. temperate (C) climates (55% of pop.)
          5. fertile soil (river valleys, volcanic soils, other)

           

      • Read pp. 447-448

         

        • Near coasts?

        • Near Rivers? [Four major river basins contain more than 75% of China's 1.3 billion people}

        • C Climate ?

           

        • Flat Terrain ?

        QUESTION:

        • Know where most people live in the China and assess how well the 5 reasons discussed in the online lecture explain the population distribution.

     

    • Subregions of China Proper
      • Northeast China
      • North China Plain
      • Basins of the Chang/Yangzi
      • Basins of the Xi and Pearl Rivers

      • Northeast China
        • Used to be called Manchuria
        • former (1950s-1970s) industrial heart of China, but now looks like a rust-belt
        • former Japanese colony of Manchukuo
        • cold climate thin soils as you go north
        • mineral and oil wealth (iron ore, aluminum, oil, lead, zinc
        • declined with the structural restructuring of the post-Mao era
        • still has potential
      • North China Plain
        • flat
        • fertile (loess)
        • farmland: wheat
        • heavily populated
        • national core area
        • capital city: Beijing
        • port of Tianjin
        • Inner Mongolia
          • northwest of the core
          • along the border with the state (country) of Mongolia
          • drier
          • more and more Han Chinese have migrated here so that the Mongol nation is now a minority
      • Basins of the Chang/Yangzi
        • variations in elevation and relief
        • port of Shanghai
        • 18,500 miles of navigable rivers: navigable to oceangoing ships for 600 miles to the city of Wuhan, further for smaller ships, several navigable tributaries
        • rice and wheat
        • 1000 mile long canal to connect this breadbasket with the northern core
        • Three Gorges Dam (New China Dam)
          • 600 ft. high
          • 1.3 miles across
          • 380 mile long reservoir
          • controversial, displaced millions of people

        • The Sichuan Province Basin
          • west of the Three Gorges Dam
          • agricultural region (rice, wheat, corn, soybeans, tea, sugarcane,fruits, vegetables)
          • city of Chongqing, inland port, new growth pole
          • 120 million people
      • Basins of the Xi and Pearl Rivers
        • subtropical China
        • somewhat dry
        • double-cropping of rice
        • economically growing coast
          • Guangdong
          • Hong Kong
          • Shenzhen

       

  • Xizang (Tibet)
    • A harsh physical environment; mountainous
    • Sparsely populated
    • Came under Chinese control during the Manchu Dynasty in 1720
    • Gained separate status in the late 19th century
    • China's Communist Regime Took Control in the 1950s; uprisings crushed by China
    • Buddhism, the Buddhist leader is called the Dalai Lama
    • The Dalai Lama was ousted in 1959 by Chinese military
    • Harsh rule by Chinese as they tried to destroy the Buddhist culture
    • some relaxation of harsh control after Mao's death in 1976
    • Formally annexed in 1965 and administered as an Autonomous Region
    • many consider it to be an occupied territory and there are "Free Tibet" organizations around the world
    • Two subregions
      • core area between the Himalayas and the Kunlun Mountains (see map below)
        • lower, some valleys down to 7000 feet
        • more mild climate
        • main population cluster
        • includes capital of Lhasa
        • Chinese economic development
        • mineral deposits
      • Qaidam Basin
        • east of the Kunlun Mountains (see map below)
        • nomadic pastoralists
        • newly found oil and coal fields

       

     

  • Xinjiang
    • China's northeastern corner, north of the Kunlun Shan (mountains - see map above)
    • Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region
    • Comprises one-sixth of China's total land area
    • A region of high mountains (Kunlun. Tian Shan, Altay) and basins (Tarim, Junggar)
    • Takla Makan Desert
    • Chinese only account for 40% of the population, but control most economic and political activity
    • Muslim Uyghurs account for half of the population
    • majority Muslim leaders have called for succession (balkanization) from China; al-Queda and the "war on terror" ?
    • Boasts extensive reserves of oil and natural gas
    • oasis and irrigated agriculture
    • Unresolved boundary disputes with Tajikistan and India

 


  • China's Pacific Rim: An Emerging Region

 

  • A New Region?
    • rapid economic growth in the eastern, coastal, provinces of China
    • creating wide differences in income between the newly rich and the poor AND between the coastal provinces and the interior provinces
    • China is a low-income country with a GNI per capita of $4990 BUT the average incomes of Chinese in the coastal provinces is above this average and the average incomes of people in the interior is way below $4990
    • These coastal provinces are more similar to the Jakota Triangle countries
    • Therefore geographers may consider creating a new regions out of these Pacific Rim Provinces

     

  • Geography of Development: WHY is the Pacific Rim doing so well economically?
    • REMEMBER: Geography studies WHERE? and WHY THERE?
      • WHERE in China is the economy growing the faster? [THE PACIFIC RIM]
      • WHY THERE? [SEE BELOW]
    • Rostow's Stages of Economic Development
      • traditional society
      • preconditions for takeoff
      • takeoff
      • drive to maturity
      • high mass consumption
    • In China takeoff conditions exist in much of the Pacific Rim, but not in the interior
    • WHY THERE?
      • The Pacific Rim of China has always been more open to the world and to new ideas
      • See online lecture: China-A Land of Contradictions
      • Most Chinese who migrated overseas came from the Pacific Rim provinces especially in the southeast and their links with their home provinces facilitated foreign investment

     

  • Transforming the Economic Map
    • REVIEW
    • China's transformation of their economy (structural adjustment) occurred WITHOUT a transformation of their communist political system (NOT a movement toward democracy) HOW?
      • by spatially separating the market economy areas from the command economy areas
      • done by setting up Special Economic Zones (SEZs), Open Cities, and Open Coastal Areas
      • Where?

      • Four SEZs
        • Shenzhen (close to Hong Kong)
        • Zhuhai (close to Macao)
        • Shantou (close to Taiwan, home of many Chinese living in Thailand)
        • Xiamen (home of many Chinese now living in Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia)
      • Two more added in 1988 and 1990
        • Hainan Island (island near Southeast Asia)
        • Pudong
      • In these areas:
        • lower taxes
        • easier to import and export (freer trade)
        • simpler land leases
        • private hiring of labor allowed
        • foreign investment encouraged
        • profits can be sent to foreign owners

         

  • China's Pacific Rim Today

 

  • Guangdong Province and the Pearl (Chang Jiang) River Estuary
    • includes the Pearl (Chang Jiang) River Estuary
    • Hong Kong and Macao located just off the coast
    • Core of this economic area is the Pearl River Delta (PRD) includes:
      • Guangzhou - the province's capital city
      • Hong Kong SAR
      • Shenzhen SEZ
      • Zhuhai SEZ
      • Macao SAR
      • Zhongshan (city)
    • PER CAPITAL INCOMES ARE 10 TIMES THE NATIONAL AVERAGE
    • Problems do exist causing some investment to move to other areas in China, especially The city of Shanghai in the Xi/Yangzi river Delta further south
    • Example of a "Regional State" as defined by economist Kenichi Ohmae
      • "natural economic zone"
      • shaped by the global economy

 

  • Hong Kong
    • means "Fragrant Harbor"- An excellent deep water port
    • great economic growth during the Korean War in the 1950s
    • 6 million people within 400 sq. miles
    • Economy is larger than half of the world's countries
    • 1 July 1997- British transferred control to China
      • "one country, two systems
    • Hong Kong renamed Xianggang
    • Acquired a new status as China's only Special Administrative Region (SAR)
    • WHY has there been so much economic growth THERE?
      • during Korean War trade with China was prohibited so this British Colony specialized in producing textiles for world export
      • the industrial base diversified
      • also became a world financial center and available to help finance development in china when the communist government began its "open door" policy
      • became and "economic tiger"

 

  • The Other SEZs
    • Chinese government granted special economic advantages
    • also made investments in infrastructure
    • Pudong in Shanghai has surpassed the economic development seen in Guangdong (Shenzhen)
    • the other four SEZs have not been able to compete with Pudong and Shenzhen

 

  • China: Global Superpower?
    • growing military power
    • largest standing army of nay country
    • nuclear power
    • US vs. China in the 21st century? -- potential problems
      • the Taiwan issue
      • American troops in Japan and South Korea
      • Eastern culture vs. western culture: grounds for misunderstanding
    • possible remedies:
      • cultural exchanges
      • trade
      • education to better understand each others culture and history

 


  • Mongolia
    • Landlocked, isolated country
    • Steppe and desert physical environment
    • Sparsely populated with an estimated 2.6 million inhabitants
    • Part of the Chinese Empire from late 1600s until 1911
    • Became a People's Republic (Communist) in the 1920s
    • Functions as a buffer state between Russia and China
    • Economy is focused on herding and animal products
    • Free elections in 1990
    • Close ties with Russia declining and ties with China growing stronger

     

  • The Jakota Triangle
    • Japan
    • Korea
    • Taiwan

     

    • Future of East Asia?

     

    • Characteristics
      • Great cities
      • Rapid economic growth
      • Enormous consumption of raw materials
      • state-of-the-art industries
      • Voluminous exports
      • Global links
      • Trades surpluses
      • Rapid development

      Challenges

      • Social problems
      • Political uncertainties
      • Vulnerabilities

       

    • Japan

       

      • HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY: Outline of Japanese history
        • Ainu people, Caucasian, inhabit all four island
        • 600 - 800 Chinese cultural influence
        • 1000 -1300 War, medieval society arises, shoguns evolve
        • 1600 -1867 Tokugawa Shogunate
          • isolation
          • prevented European colonization
          • foreigners and Christianity expelled
          • individualistic culture
          • emphasis on Shinto belief system
          • "stagnant and tradition-bound" society
        • 1853 -Americans arrive
          • Commodore Perry acquires new treaties with the outside; "one-sided trade agreements"; use of force
        • Meiji Restoration
          • 1868 Rebellion brought in reformers
          • Reinstated the emperor and began to transform Japan from a feudal society with pre-machine age technology to an industrial power
          • Adopted aspects of the British model
          • Launched a systematic study of the industrialized world
          • Focus was on industrialization and education system
          • strong military
        • Expansionist Japan: Creating a Japanese Empire; need for natural resources
          • Ryukyu islands 1879
          • Taiwan 1895
          • Korea 1910
          • Pacific Islands Post W.W.I
          • Manchuria 1931
          • China 1937
          • Hong Kong 1939
          • Southeast Asia 1941

       

      • Japan's Post W.W.II Transformation
        • 1945 Japan lost the war and it's empire
        • BUT the Europeans lost their colonies in the Pacific Basin
        • 1945 -1952: Allied Occupation
        • Economic Reshaping: became an industrial giant
        • today: second largest economy in the world
        • Labor Legislation
        • Constitution
        • Civil Rights
        • Land Reform
        • US "Helping Hand" Policy

         

    • PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY: Spatial Limitations
      • four large islands plus
      • slightly smaller than California

      • high relief topography therefore only about 18% is habitable; habitable area is about the size of Indiana
      • Population: 127.9 Million
      • arithmetic population density 876.5 people per square mile
      • physiologic population density 8101 people per square mile
      • earthquake prone
      • only narrow coastal plains; need to build artificial islands and shoreline limited and fragmented farmland
      • few natural resources: little iron ore, some coal, no oil
      • Climate

       

      • ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY
        • Highly developed country; economic giant on the Pacific Rim
        • Population growth rate = 0.1%; will begin to decline around 2010
          • Population: 127.9 Million
          • Birth Rate: 9 Births/1,000
          • Death Rate: 8 Deaths/1,000
          • Growth Rate: 0.0%
        • Life Expectancy: 78 (M), 85 (F)
        • Urbanization: 78%
        • beneficial relative location: access to oceans
        • well protected Seto Inland Sea

        • well educated work force
        • currently some economic problems resulting is slower economic growth
          • collapsing economies in neighboring southeast Asia
          • more competition from the other economic tigers: Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and more recently China's pacific coast
      • CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY
        • Nation state; homogeneous

        • Shinto Religion

       

  • Korea
    • Peninsula of Korea:
      • size of Idaho
      • population of 73 million

       

    • North-South Contrasts: A Divided Nation

      North Korea
      South Korea

      % of Korean Peninsula:

      55%

      45%

      % of Korean Population:

      33%

      66%

      Population:

      23,100,000

      48.700,000

      GNP (Billions)

      $ 21.3

      $ 508.3

      GNP/Capita

      $1000

      $17,930

      Agriculture

      Inefficient

      Good

      Agriculture As % Of GNP

      25 %

      8 %

      Agriculture % Work Force

      36 %

      20 %

      Life Expectancy

      64 years

      76 years

      Economy

      poor, Communist

      economic tiger, Capitalist

      Government

      Communist

      Democracy

    • HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY
      • Turbulent political history:
      • Once a dependency of China
      • Once a colony of Japan's
      • Divided along the 38th parallel by Allied Powers after W.W.II (1945) creating two countries
        • North Korea, communist, aligned with the Soviet Union
        • South Korea, democratic, aligned with the United States
      • Korean War (1950-1953)
        • 1950 North Korea invaded south Korea
        • UN troops (including the US) fought on the side of South Korea
        • China entered war on the side of the North Koreans
        • TV show: M*A*S*H
        • Cease-Fire line established in 1953; heavily fortified de facto boundary; DMZ

       

    • South Korea: ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY
      • Regional complementarity between North and South Korea, but separated by history/politics
      • One of the economic tiger's rapid economic growth after the war
      • State capitalism

       

      • Seoul
        • Capital of South Korea
        • 9.9 Million People
        • Located in the northwest corner of South Korea - just south of the DMZ
        • The urban-industrial center!
        • Textiles, clothing, footwear, electronic goods

 

  • Taiwan

 

  • HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY:
    • original inhabitants: Malay-Polynesian people
    • A Chinese Province for centuries; settled by Han Chinese who displace the original inhabitants in the plains but not those in the mountains
    • Colonized by Japan in 1895
    • Returned to China after W.W.II
    • 1949 - Chinese Nationalists (Supported by the US) led by Chiang Kai-shek, fled from the mainland and established the Republic Of China (R0C); initially an authoritarian state
    • recognized as the legitimate government of ALL OF CHINA
    • State or "wayward" province? / two Chinas
      • Taiwan controlled by Chinese nationalists after the Chinese Revolution of 1949
      • Taiwan, or the Republic of China (ROC)
      • Taiwan (ROC) had a seat in the UN
      • the mainland was controlled by the communists
      • the communists establish the People's Republic of China (PRC)
      • President Nixon's visit to the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1971
      • the PRC replaced Taiwan (ROC) in the UN
      • US recognized the PRC as the legitimate government of ALL of China including Taiwan

       

  • PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
    • Mountainous interior in the east; dense forests
    • wide fertile coastal plains in the west facing the Taiwan Strait

     

  • ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY
    • Territory - Approximately 14,000 Square Miles; smaller than Switzerland
    • Population - 22.8 Million
    • 77% Urbanized
    • per capita income of $15,000
    • economic tiger
      • irons and steel industry
      • nuclear power plants
      • shipyards
      • chemical industry
      • electronics

       

  • CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY / Political Future?
    • now democratic
    • thoughts of independence
    • Chinese government threatens that any move toward independence could provoke military intervention

Question:

 

Four Economic Tigers

  •  Hong Kong
  •  Singapore
  •  Taiwan
  •  South Korea