2014 China’s Geography Powerpoint

1. 2014 China’s Geography Powerpoint

2. Size in Comparison to the USA Population

3. Comparing Size & Latitude Globalization & Diversity: Rowntree, Lewis, Price, Wyckoff

4. Comparing China & the U. S.

5. China versus USA

6. Population • China has more than 1.2 to 1.3 billion people, making it the most populous nation • The population density is over 110 people per square kilometer • 90% of China’s population lives on less than 40% of the land

7. Population • China is multi-ethnic: Han, Manchu, Mongol, Turkish, and Tibetan • The majority of ethnic minorities live in the northeast, northwest, and southwest • Mongols are one of the largest minority group in China • Made up of more than 50 ethnic groups • Speak several languages and dialects

8. Effects: China’sSize • Eventually, overcrowding and shortages of food and shelter will be major issues • Population Control Policies • Families can have no more than 1 child • One-couple, one-child policy – couples were given special rewards such as better housing and pay • Couples who didn’t follow faced fines and wage cuts • Results • Rural families rarely followed the policies • More children allowed more workers on the farm • Policies have slowed population growth • Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989

9. Effects: Cities of China • China has more than 50 cities with populations of half a million or more • Coastal Shanghai is the largest city in China with a population of around 15 million

10. Effects: China’s Demographic Issues • The problems of controlling it... • The population exploded after 1949. • Population control was secondary. • Mao Zedong saw numbers as a workforce and a way to fight the Soviet Union and the United States. • Calls for women to “breed for the motherland”. • Population distribution • Excessive concentration: • 50% of the population lives on 8.2% of the land. • Bulk of the population along the coast. • East China accounts for 90% of the population. • 56%, about 728 million, are living in mountainous areas. • High density rural areas.

11. Geographic Barriers of China

12. For thousands of years, the ancient Chinese thought they were pretty much alone on the planet, except for the barbarians to the north, the Mongols. China’s Geographic Barriers China’s natural barriers to the west, south, and east helped protect these early people from invasion.

13. Geographic Barriers • Physical barriers in China cover 80% of the country • Gobi Desert • Mongolian and Tibetan Plateaus • Himalayan Mountains

14. Natural Borders and Barriers • The Gobi Desert in northern China separates the country from its neighbors. • Rugged mountains make up Western China. • Qinling Shandi, an important mountain range, separates N. China from S. China

15. China’s Geographic Barriers: Effects • ISOLATION • Natural protective barriers • Distance • Inward looking (central kingdom) with minor incidences of cultural diffusion • Effects of one ocean • A history of emperors who restricted use of the coastline, except in local circumstances • Today the ocean is playing a major role in the economic (and cultural) transformation of coastal China. Globalization & Diversity: Rowntree, Lewis, Price, Wyckoff

16. How was China isolated from other civilizations because of it’s geography? • The high Tibet-Qinghai Plateau made contact with lands to the southwest of China difficult • The dry Gobi & Taklimakan Deserts made contact with lands to the northwest of China difficult

17. China was protected & isolated from outsiders by deserts & the Himalayan Mountains and the Pacific Ocean to the east (Three natural barriers) The Chinese referred to themselves as the “Middle Kingdom” & rarely traded with outsiders. Why? Ethnocentrism?

18. Middle Kingdom and Geographic Barriers • What is the “Middle Kingdom?” • Geographic barriers like mountains and seas cut China off from other lands • They had no knowledge of other cultures like Greece, Rome, India, or Egypt • They thought that they were at the center of the world and called themselves the “Middle Kingdom”

19. Climate of China

20. Climate and Vegetation • East Asia’s climate is often described as varied. • 7 different climate regions cover East Asia. • 5 major climate regions: • Semiarid, arid, humid subtropical, humid continental, and highlands. • East Asia’s climate is influenced by: • Monsoons: a wind that changes directions with the change of seasons.

21. China, Mongolia, and Taiwan have a range of climates and natural resources. CLIMATE • Southeast region • Tropical with warm to hot climate • Monsoons bring heavy rains in the summer. • Typhoons strike the southeast coast in the summer and fall. • Northeast region • Dry and cold climate • North and west region • Mainly dry climate • Temperatures vary and can get both very hot and very cold.

22. Weather and Temperature Different regions of China have different climates. • The Northeast has a cold and dry climate • The Northwest is made up of dry desert. • The Eastern Plains experience heavy rainfall. • The Southeast has a tropical climate. It is the wettest region. During the monsoon season they can get up to 250 inches of rain.

23. Climate and Vegetation • The climate affects what plants will grow in East Asia. • Bamboo is a plant grown in southern China and Japan. • It is reliable because of its ability to stand seasonal differences in temperatures and rainfall. It can also survive dry spells.

24. Climates • Trade • Southeast Asia waterways, main trade routes between India and China • Two most important: Malacca Strait between Malay Peninsula, Sumatra; Sunda Strait, between Sumatra, Java • Control of these, other important trade routes, brought wealth and power • Winds • Monsoons, seasonal winds, shaped trade • Winds blow northeast in the summer and southwest in the winter • Ships relied on monsoons to sail from place to place, often had to wait in port until winds shifted to resume the voyage • Many Southeast Asian port cities became important economic centers

25. Climate and Vegetation • Climate also affects the diet in East Asia. • Rice: grows best in warm weather. • In Southern China rice is grown and eaten. • Wheat: grows best in cool weather. • In Northern China people eat more things made from wheat, such as noodles.

26. China’s Vegetation • Agriculture is the most important economic industry of China, employing over 300 million farmers. China ranks first in worldwide farm output, primarily producing rice, wheat, potatoes, sorghum, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, cotton, and oilseed. • About 75% of China's cultivated area is used for food crops. • Rice is China's most important crop, raised on about 25% of the cultivated area. • Wheat is the second most-prevalent grain crop, grown in most parts of the country, but especially on the North China Plain. • Other crops include sweet potatoes in the south, white potatoes in the north, and various other fruits and vegetables. • Tropical fruits are grown on Hainan Island, apples and pears are grown in northern Liaoning and Shandong, and citrus fruits are grown in South China.

27. Typhoons • Typhoons or cyclones are tropical storms that occur in the Pacific Ocean. • In the northern hemisphere they rotate counter clockwise. • In the southern hemisphere they rotate clockwise. • These storms cause enormous damage in coastal areas and countries with low elevations.

28. Ring of Fire • Part of Asia is on The Ring of Fire; an area around the Pacific Ocean where many tectonic plates meet. • This area is at a greater risk for having earthquakes and active volcanoes.

29. Rivers of China

30. Rivers, Soils, Climates Loess • China’s first civilizations developed in river valleys • Two major rivers supplied water for the earliest civilizations • Chang Jiang, also called Yangzi • Huang He, or Yellow River • Both flow east from Plateau of Tibet to Yellow Sea • Annual floods deposited rich soil, loess, on flood plains • Valley of Huang He particularly fertile due to loess • Fine dusty soil • Carried into China by desert winds China’s Rivers The development of civilization in early China was aided by features like long rivers, fertile soils, temperate climates, and isolated valleys.

31. Impact of Rivers • Crops • Most of eastern China covered with fertile soils; some regions better suited than others for growing certain crops • Southern China—warm, receives plenty of rainfall, excellent region for growing rice • Further north—climate cooler, drier; suitable for grains, wheat, millet • Isolation • Combination of rivers for irrigation, fertile soil for planting allowed Chinese to thrive, as did China’s relative isolation • Mountains, hills, desert protected China from invasion • Himalaya Mountains separate southern China from India, rest of southern Asia; vast Gobi Desert prevented reaching China from west

32. The Rivers of China • China has three major rivers that begin in the Himalayas and flow into the East China Sea or Yellow Sea. Chinese Name River Huang He Yellow River Yangtze River Chang Jiang West River Xi Jiang

33. Impact of the Rivers on China’s History and Development • Early civilizations developed near rivers • China had a few rivers that provided resources to be successful • Chang Jiang River (longest river) • Huang He River • Yangzi River • China’s rivers overflowed just like others we have studied • Provides fertile soil for farming • The Huang He River is also known as the Yellow River because of the Loess • Loess is yellow-brown soil that the Yellow River carries along

34. China’s Rivers • 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. 4 1 2 3

35. River systems • Huang He (Yellow) -Named due to yellow • silt the river carries • Chang Jiang (Yangtze) • Longest river in Asia - Major trade route since ancient times • Xi Jiang (West River) • Runs in South China

36. China began along the Yellow (Huang He) & Yangtze Rivers in the North China Plain; Only 10% of China is suitable for farming The Yellow River flooding was unpredictable & was called “China’s Sorrow” because its floods often destroyed entire villages

37. Yellow or Huang He River (HWAHNG*HUH)

38. Yellow River • Second longest river in China • Runs 3395 miles long • Often called the cradle of Chinese civilization • Much of the lower reaches of the Yellow River are not navigable • The huge amount of silt the river carries is deposited in these lower regions raising its bed above ground level in the flat North China Plain.

39. Yellow River • Devastating floods • To reduce effects of flooding, have built earthen dikes or walls long the river to protect crops • Dikes slowed river’s flow and causes silt to deposit on bottom of river • Silt levels grew higher, so Chinese build higher walls • Chang Jung---an engineer in the 1st century BC proposed a solution to the flooding but everyone ignored him

40. Yellow River • Chinese kept building higher dikes to prevent flooding • Huang or Yellow River now flows 12 feet above the surrounding lands due to the dikes • Flooding still continues every few years when dikes break and crops are destroyed and many people die • Rainfall in the area is unpredictable and contributes to flooding

41. Yellow River • What is “China’s Sorrow?” • The river was unpredictable and dangerous and often killed • The river also brought life through fertile soil • Destructive floods would come without warning • To control the flooding the people built dikes or walls that hold back water

42. Huang He River (Yellow River)- China’s Sorrow Some 10 million people drowned or died of famine & disease as the result of the catastrophic floods (1887-1943).

43. Yellow River and Flooding Issues • Erosion on the Loess Plateau • Huang He’s sediment burden from the Loess Plateau • Loess – a fine, wind-blown deposited material • Light tan color accounts for the old name, Yellow river and Yellow Sea • Loess is fertile, but vulnerable to erosion when plowed • Loess Plateau - one of the poorest parts of China Globalization & Diversity: Rowntree, Lewis, Price, Wyckoff

44. Yangtze or Chang Jiang or Yangzi River (CHAHNG*JYAHNG)

45. Yangtze River Yangzi (Yangtze) River in Central China • China’s largest waterway, 3rd longest in the world • Flows for 3,434 miles (6,300 km) • The Chinese say, “if you haven’t traveled up the great Yangtze River, you haven’t been anywhere.” • Considered the lifeline of China • Cuts a deep channel in the valley • Large ships can navigate 600 miles up stream • Small ships can navigate 1,700 miles up stream

46. Yangtze River stretches through nine provinces. The city of Shanghai is known as the gateway to the Yangtze.

47. Yangtze River • Changjiang in Chinese • Means “long river” • Creates a basin of more than 2,000 miles from west to east and a basin of more than 600 miles from north to south • Drains into the South China Sea • Carries more water than any other river in China • The land area of Yangtze River valley is 19% of the total land in China. • The total population of Yangtze River valley is 358 million, nearly 35% of the national population (1983).

48. Yangtze River • Open to navigation all year round • Three Gorges is dangerous to navigate due to the currents and shallows…why they built the dam there • Feeds into Lake Dongting, the second largest lake in China • Eventually flows into the sea near China’s largest city of Shanghai

49. Many earn a living from fishing on the river. How will the dam affect them? About 350 million people live near the Yangtze River and its 700 tributaries. The lives of the people living near the Yangtze are affected in some way everyday by the river. Dangerous floods kill people and livestock living near the river.

50. This is what the Yangtze valley looks like at the moment River boat cruises, like this one, is way of life for many and is how they earn a living. What will happen to these people when the project is finished? Almost all of the boating traffic in China is on the Yangtze River.