2. Asia, the largest continent, covers 16.8
million sq. miles, about 1/3 of the world’s
land surface.
Boundaries
Western- Ural River, the Caspian and Black
seas and the Dardanelles Straits.
The Red Sea and the Suez Canal separate Asia
from Africa.
Asia is traditionally divided into East,
Southeast, South, the Indian subcontinent,
Central, and North Asia.
3. I. Physical Features
A. Asia is a very geologically active continent.
1. Large areas are covered by mountain and volcanic chains.
a. Himalayas- the world’s highest mountain range.
b. The Indonesian volcanic arc, and the volcanic chains of
Japan and the Philippines.
2. Asia contains some parts of the world’s most ancient
formation, in the Indian and Arabian Peninsulas and in
Siberia.
B. Mountain ranges, plateaus , and basins lie within Asia’s
heartland.
1. The world’s highest plateau is in Tibet, averaging 13,000 ft.
in altitude and is bounded to the south by the Humalayas.
5. C.Numerous streams and
nineteen major rivers, ranging
from 1,500 and 3,400 miles in
length, flow in Asia.
1. These include the
Yangtze and Huang
Rivers in China. The
Indus and Ganges Rivers
of the Indian subcontinent
and the Mekong River on
the Indochinese
Peninsula.
6. II. Climate and Vegetation
A. Asia can be broadly divided into a humid monsoon belt
in South, Southeast , and East Asia and an arid to
semiarid zone, in Central Asia.
B. During summer, the monsoons blow north, toward the
continental margins, while in winter they reverse
directions and blow towards the south.
1. Some East Asian areas receive rainfall from both
monsoons.
2. The Himalayan Range and adjacent mountain ranges
concentrate summer rainfall in parts of South and
Southeast Asia.
7. 3. Hot, humid climates prevail in South and Southeast Asia
while cold climates, with snowfall during winter, are found
in more northern parts.
a. The Plateau of Tibet has an extremely cold climate.
C. Tropical rainforests once covered large parts of South and
Southeast Asia, but are not being cleared for agriculture
and logging, especially of hardwoods.
1. This threatens the plant and animal diversity of these
forests, which is very high.
C. Broad-leaf evergreen forests cover parts of subtropical
East Asia.
1. There are deciduous forests further north in cool, temperate
climates, and boreal forests where the winter are cold.
2. The Plateau of Tibet is an almost treeless tundra, with
mosses, grasses, lichens, and a few small shrubs.
8. E. Grasslands cover areas in the rainshadow belts where
rainfall is limited.
1. Tropical grasslands in the Deccan Plateau in India and the
Khorat Plateau in Thailand, and temperate grasslands in the
semiarid parts of Central Asia.
E. Central Asia is predominantly arid to semiarid, with
warm summers and winters where the temperature can
fall below freezing.
1. The Gobi Desert, the coldest dry desert, lies in this region.
9. III. Population
A. Asia’s vast population (3.94 billion or 60% of the world’s
people) is predominantly found in the monsoon belt.
1. The population explosion within the last fifty years is the
result of advances in agriculture and improved medical
facilities.
a. During this period, life expectancies improved throughout
Asia.
b. Life expectancy is currently highest in East Asia.
i. 72.1 years for males.
ii. 76.3 years for females.
c. Lowest life expectancies in South Asia.
i. 63.1 years for males.
ii. 66.1 years for females.
d. The highest population growth rate has subsided, being
currently 0.5 percent in East Asia to 1.5 on the Indian
subcontinent.
10.
11. B. Population indicators for the most developed Asian
countries are similar to those for many Western Countries.
1. Low population growth rates and high life expectancies
characterize the more industrialized nations such as Japan
and Singapore.
2. High growth rates and much lower life expectancies,
however, are found in the least developed countries, such as
Bangladesh and Nepal.
a. These characteristics reflect the enormous differences in
standards of living between the most and least developed
countries in Asia.
3. Urbanization is highest in the most developed areas, but
despite having a number of large cities and growing
urbanization, Asia still has a low urban population – 39.9
percent.
12. C.Industrialization in most Asian countries has, as elsewhere,
centered on major urban areas.
1. Labor from rural areas has drifted to urban centers in
search of employment.
2. The ensuring urban population explosion has put
pressure on infrastructure, and given rise to problems
such as the growth of slum dwellings, traffic
congestion, and air and water pollution.
13.
14. IV. Agriculture
A. A high proportion of Asia’s population lives on the alluvial
plains of rivers of the monsoon belt, and is engaged in
agriculture.
B. The monsoon belt is noted for its intensive rich and wheat
farming.
1. The population explosion created enormous demand for
food.
2. The area under cultivation was expanded through
deforestation and by farming marginal areas, such as the
borders of deserts, but the Green Revolution was more
successful: high-yielding seeds, fertilizers and pesticides
often tripled grain yield.
a. Chemicals used to combat the invasion of insects have
raised a number of concerns.
3. With irrigation, cotton is now successfully gown in several
places.
15. V. Industrialization
A. By the 1980s, several East Asian countries had developed
industrialized economies, largely dependent on imported
raw materials, particularly minerals and energy.
1. Manufacturing in Asia ranges from labor-intensive
industries such as clothing in the less developed
economies to electronics, computers, and motor
vehicles in the more developed ones.
2. Japan, the world’s second largest economy,
manufactures electronic goods, steel, motor vehicles
and ships.
a. Their approach has been imitated by South Korea, Hong
Kong and Singapore, which have all rapidly industrialized.
i. Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia have
followed suit.
16. B. China and India initially aimed at agricultural
and industrial self-sufficiency to support their
enormous populations.
1. They possess huge agricultural sectors, but
their exports have shifted progressively to
industrial products.
a. They have considerable scientific expertise in
nuclear and space technology and satellite
launching services (China), and computer
programming (India).
17.
18. C. The Central Asian nations, following the break-up of
the Soviet Union, are making a slow and painful
transition from a state-controlled to a free market
economy.
1. There is, as yet, limited industrialization in the
counties of Central Asia.
a. Kazakhstan produces metals and chemicals and
Azerbaijan, which is rich in petroleum deposits and
may establish petroleum-based industries, currently
manufactures mining equipment.
19. VI.Languages
A. Many languages, belonging to several language
families, are spoken in Asia.
1. Chinese Mandarin, Cantonese, and Wu are the
most widely spoken in East Asia.
a. Japanese is increasingly important.
2. In Southeast Asia, Indonesian and Malaysian
predominate, while languages of the Chinese-
Tibetan family, such as Burmese and Thai, are
spoken in the mainland belt.
3. South Asia has two major language families;
Indo-Aryan in the north, of which Hindi and Urdu
are the most widespread, and Dravidian, which
includes Tamil, in the southern areas.
20. 4. In Central Asia, Ural-Altaic languages,
several of which are related to Turkish, are
mainly used.
B. Russian is widely spoken in the former Soviet
republics, and of the colonial languages, only
English is still important, and continues to
spread.
21. VII.Boundary disputes and Wars
A. Armed conflicts continued after the Second
World War in Asia, especially during the
decolonization phase.
1. Wars resulted in the division of both Korea
and Vietnam into two nations: communist
North and democratic South.
a. The Vietnam war ended in 1975, when the
country reunified.
b. North and South Korea remain technically at
war.
22. B. Following the division of British India into
India and Pakistan in 1947, there was armed
conflict over the divided Himalayan state of
Jammu and Kashmir; the issue is still
unresolved.
1. War between India and Pakistan resulted in
1971 in the creation of Bangladesh.
B. Armed conflicts along the disputed
boundaries of China have taken place between
China and India along the Himalayas,
between China and Russia along the Amur
River, and between China and Vietnam along
their common border.
23. D. Indonesia incorporated the former
Portuguese colony of now independent
East Timor.
E. The ownership of the Spratly Islands in
the South China Sea is causing tension
between China, Malaysia, Philippines,
Vietnam, and Taiwan.
F. The “War on Terror” in Afghanistan and
Iraq has dominated affairs throughout the
region since late 2001.
