Asia Geography Y8

• Alexander the Great creates, defeats the Persian Empire and unites central Asia and the Mediterranean

  334 BCE
• China's Zhung Qian, an ambassador, travels West and creates trade links to India for horses and gems


  200 BCE
• The two ends of the Silk Road meet up and soon Roman glassware is being sold in Beijing and Chinese silks being sold in Rome

  300 CE
• Buddhism begins in India but quickly spreads into China and Japan

  400 CE
• Islam begins in Arabia and spreads into India, North Africa and Europe

  610 CE
• Mongolian Empire invades the area of the Silk Roads but protects them as they are so valuable


  1200 CE
• The Black Death travels from Asia, through the Silk Roads, into Europe. It almost half of the population

  1300 CE
• Christopher Columbus and other European explorers discover new sea routes to China, round Africa - and then through the Americas


  1400 CE
• Sakuraiina


  Active volcano, Kagoshima bay, gentle
• Fuji


  Dormant volcano, Hasn't erupted since 1707
• Landscapes


  • 377,727 sq km
  • Highest point 3,776m
• Populationof Japan 


  • Total: 126,447,000
  • Density: 335 people/sq km
  • Life expectancy: 80 male, 86 female
  • GNI per capita: $45,180
• Education


  • Primary: 100%
  • Secondary: 100%
• Tokyo


  • Incredibly crowded and busy, high population density
  • Houses and street names are peculiar, difficult to get around
  • Began as a small settlement on Tokyo Bay, very sheltered harbour
  • Japan's financial centre, most of the world's largest companies located here
  • One of the world's best shopping cities
  • Roads and railways from all over Japan meet in Tokyo
  • Major industrial centre, important port
  • Balance of tradition and modern outlook
• Until 1868 no foreigners were allowed into Japan, isolated for 200 years
• Japan had the 2nd largest economy in the world in 1968
• Japanese houses


  • Small and minimalistic with sliding paper partitions
• There are 46 symbols in Japanese with another 46 for foreign words
• Japanese cultures


  • Sumo-wrestling
  • Karate
  • Kendo fencing
  • Origami
• China's population growth rate was 1.9% in the 1950s
• China had extremely harsh one-child policy laws in the 1970s-1980s
• China is now trying to reclaim Taiwan
• Three Gorges Dam


  1. Started in 1944, finished in 2012

  2. Held lots of water

  3. Displaced many people

  4. Generates 101,600,000,000 kWh

  5. Water flows to turbine, turbine has magnetic wires, turbine spins
• The capacity of the Three Gorges Dam varied based on seasons
• South-North Water Transfer Project

  Aims to transfer significant quantities of water from China's humid south to the arid north
• The $62 billion South-North Water Transfer Project was launched in 2002
• Reasons for the South-North Water Transfer Project


  • Significant demand for water for economic growth in the north
  • High population density, demand for domestic water
  • Water needed for irrigating farmland
  • Water deficit in the north, water table below Beijing falling 5m per year
• Advantages of the South-North Water Transfer Project


  • Reducing water insecurity in the north, supporting economic development
  • Improving food security through more irrigation water
  • Health benefits from improved water quality
  • Improved water supply for industry
  • Helping China cope with climate change
  • Reducing groundwater withdrawal
• Disadvantages of the South-North Water Transfer Project


  • Hundreds of thousands of people displaced
  • Ecological damage to the natural environment
  • Region prone to earthquakes, could cause extensive damage
  • Significant cost to taxpayers
  • Antiquities have been lost
  • Considerable evaporation from canals and reservoirs
• The South China Sea is a contested space due to disputes over territory and sovereignty
• China has a large claim over the South China Sea, but surrounding countries also have claims
• China has started building islands in the South China Sea to give itself a military foothold
• Reasons countries want to fight for the South China Sea


  • Shipping lanes ($5.3 trillion)
  • Oil and natural gas
  • Fishing grounds
• The maximum distance a country can claim of a sea or ocean from its coastline is 200 nautical miles
• China's territorial claim in the South China Sea


  Called the 'nine dash line'
• China is able to build islands in the South China Sea because people don't want global conflict, China has the largest army, and it is a key global trading partner that will become the major world economy in 15-20 years
• Vikings initially took control of Russia
• The Mongolians overthrew the Viking rule in Russia from the east
• Russia later overthrew Mongolian rule
• Regions of Russia


  • European Russia
  • Ural Mountains
  • Siberia
  • The North Caucasus