Sarangerel Tserevsamba - khöömii by Amra (From the album, Gereg)

China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan are usually the countries that are considered part of the region of Eastern Asia. The area of Eastern Asia also includes the region of Hong Kong and Macau – both have a unique place in the Eastern Asia realm. Hong Kong, formerly a Crown Colony (belonging to Great Britain) on the coast of southern China, Hong Kong was handed back over to China in 1997. Macau is a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China since December 20, 1999, and, like Hong Kong, benefits from the principle of "one country, two systems."

The area of Eastern Asia encompasses almost 12 million square kilometers and includes a population of over 1 ½ billion people! Although the term Eastern Asia can include different countries, the following countries and protectorates are generally considered part of Eastern Asia:

Busan, South Korea is home to approximately 3.5 million people and is the largest port city in South Korea. Busan is located on the southeastern tip of the Korean Peninsula and is the 5th busiest seaport in the world.

Forty million years ago the Indian plate is forced below the Asian plate as the two plates continue to collide. In the area where the two plates collide, only a small layer of heavy sediment remains and it forms an angled shape with the point extending beneath the Asian plate. Above the heavy sediment is a large layer of light sediment that fills the area between the two plates. The Tethys Sea is a small and narrow area of water upon the wide layer of light sediment. Large mountains rise up from the Asian plate in the location of Tibet.

Twenty million years ago the Indian plate pushes below the Asian plate. Between the two plates, heavy sediment is squeezed into an angled shape that points up through a large layer of light sediment on one end, and points down below the Asian plate on the other end. Mountains rise from the light sediment that fills the area where the two plates collide. The Tethys Sea is gone. Large mountains rise from the Asian plate in the area of Tibet.

Today the Indian plate continues to push deep beneath the Asian plate. The layer of light sediment is gone, and in the area where the two plates collide heavy sediment is squeezed even further upward. Large pointy mountains rise up from the Asian plate near Tibet, as well as the area where the two plates collide. The boundary of Nepal lies on the far side of the mountains on the Asian plate and on the other side of the mountains running across the Indian plate. 

Ten million years from now the Indian plate continues to push below the Asian plate. Small mountains rise up from the area where the two plates collide, and large mountains rise up from the Asian plate near Tibet. The boundary of Nepal that ran along the Indian plate has pushed beyond the boundary of Nepal that ran along the Asian plate.

The Japanese Archipelago is not the only archipelago in eastern Asia, but it is certainly the most prominent. China, however, is also home to archipelagoes. The Zhoushan Archipelago, for example, has the richest fishing grounds off the coast of China. Even more archipelagoes are spread throughout Southeastern Asia, including the countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, and the Philippines. You will learn more about this region in our next unit.

North and South Korea could not be more different in terms of politics, economics, standard of living, and personal freedoms. North Korea is ruled by a ruthless, Communist dictator accused of countless human rights violations. South Korea is a democratic nation, allied with Japan and the United States. South Korea garnered international attention in 1988 when it hosted the Olympics in Seoul. Since then, South Korea has had a boom in the tourism industry and the divide between North and South Korea continues to widen.

In this section, we will explore features unique to Eastern Asia as well as features shared by many other parts of our world. We will look at the role of bamboo and rice, as well as the devastating impact of natural hazards. The photograph above is an image of Tai Shan, a panda bear cub. In recent years, the country of China has used the panda bear as an emblem representing its country. This bear is indigenous to China and has unified the world in an effort to help protect it.

Bamboo is another important local necessity in eastern Asia. Bamboo is also essential to the poor people of the region due to the fact that it grows easily and can be used as food and in building houses, boats, bridges, and fencing. In recent years, there has been an increase in the development of bamboo as a global commodity to provide a source of income for local people. The danger is that large scale corporations will monopolize the bamboo and rattan sector, keeping the profits out of the hands of local citizens and limiting their access to this important plant.

The rivers of Japan are quite different than the rivers of China. The rivers of Japan are generally short and steep due to the mountainous nature of most of the Japanese islands. Approximately half of the rivers of the Korean peninsula are also short or medium sized. The Han River on the Korean Peninsula is not very long, but it is remarkably broad! Historically, this river was used as a trade route to China, but it is no longer suitable for that purpose because its entrance is barred due to its location between the two Koreas.

Earthquakes are a common natural hazard in Asia – particularly Japan. The Japanese archipelago is located in an area where several continental and oceanic plates meet. Frequent earthquakes, volcanoes, and hot springs in the area are due to this plate convergence. Due to this instability and high energy beneath the surface of the earth, Japan experiences approximately 1000 earthquakes every year. Most of these earthquakes are not serious, but they can be felt by the citizens. If earthquakes occur below or close to the ocean, they may trigger tidal waves – also known as tsunami.

Throughout Asia, religion is also shared between borders as well. In China, the Han Dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE) promoted Confucianism as the official religion of the state. They went so far as to establish tests based on Confucian texts as an entrance requirement for government jobs. Confucianism focuses on human morality and right action. Confucianism is a complex system of moral, social, political, philosophical, and quasi-religious thought that has had tremendous influence to the present time on the culture of Eastern Asia. Since the Han Dynasty, many in China have believed that Confucianism works well with ruling government. The basic teachings of Confucianism stress the importance of education for moral development of the individual so that the state can be governed by moral virtue rather than the use of coercive laws.

In Japan, although some citizens do practice Confucianism, Shinto is a more commonly practiced religion. Shinto, like Confucianism and Taoism, is considered a Taoic religion. Taoic religions have over 500 million followers around the world. These religions are focused around the concept of Tao (meaning "the way") and mainly originate from China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.

Hong Kong is considered a special administrative region of China. In its history, Hong Kong has been ruled by China, Japan, and Great Britain. Today, Hong Kong has two official languages – Chinese and English. Although the predominant ethnicity of Hong Kong is Chinese, people of every nationality and ethnicity reside in this densely populated city. It is a cosmopolitan tourist destination as well as an international financial center.

Although China’s neighbor, Japan, appears to be a very small country, it actually has the 3rd largest economy in the world – after the United (1st largest economy) States and China (2nd largest economy). Japan consumes a large amount of raw materials and exports an incredible amount of goods to places all over the world. The Japanese are innovative with technology and are renowned for the quality of their electronics, computers, and cars. Because they do not have much arable land, Japan must vigilantly protect some of its crops. Japan is among the world's biggest food importers, relying on imports for 60% of its food. Because it is importing so much of its food, the diet of the people of Japan has changed. Japanese people are not eating as much rice and this is threatening the livelihood of rice farmers. Due to this fact, rice is the most protected crop of Japan – Japan has implemented taxes on imported rice of over 400%! Japan is currently working to seek a balance between agriculture and industry while maintaining its global presence in many markets. Countries throughout Asia, much like Japan, continue to seek a foothold in the global market in different industries. Taiwan, for example, has found itself with incredible economic growth due to its manufacturing industry.

The political and economic systems of Eastern Asia are inextricably intertwined and the region continues to grow and develop in many ways - economically as well as politically. On the next page, you will watch a video about the problems experienced by China as it attempts to promote Western style capitalism while restricting other freedoms. The balance is a delicate one.

 The greatest difficulty China faces is the size of its population. The Chinese government regularly promotes the statistic that although it has only 7% of the arable land on Earth, it feeds 22% of the world population. The pressure on limited cultivable land is incredible; it must produce enough food to feed over 1.3 billion people! Because of recent rapid industrialization, there has been a sharp reduction of China’s agricultural land. Linked with the concern over land for agriculture is the concern that water resources are also dwindling. The growing population puts a hefty strain on the infrastructure of a nation and governments must invest more money in developing and maintaining housing, transportation, clean water, and sewerage systems. Some nations of Eastern Asia find it difficult to raise the funds necessary for this infrastructure maintenance – never mind the modernization of many of these systems. Developing nations in general have a more difficult time securing the money necessary to fund these types of projects. Poor maintenance is one of the greatest threats to infrastructure in Eastern Asia. This affects not only the people of the region, but also countries and corporations who do business there. To combat this there has been a recent push to develop Public Private Partnerships and use private investment funds to help government maintain necessary infrastructure.

Although China is the greatest example of zero population growth, other nations of Eastern Asia have voluntarily followed similar paths. In fact, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea all experienced a decline in population since the year 2000 due to a decline in birth rate needed to maintain its population. However, in these countries, the slowing birth rates are not due to government mandates. Instead, rising levels of education, increased female participation in the workforce, and greater use of contraceptives has caused the slowdown in population growth.

Today, there are eight countries considered to be High Performing Asian Economies (HPAE). Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand are all categorized as HPAEs. Notice that China and North Korea are not part of this group.

Eight countries—India, Pakistan, Nigeria, the United States, China, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo—are expected to account for half of the world's population increase during the next fifty years. As you can see from the graph above, China, Japan, the United States, and India account for ½ of the world’s carbon emissions. In general, it is believed that skyrocketing population growth makes existing environmental problems harder to solve.

Unsustainable population growth, agricultural expansion, and forest depletion have all impacted the increased emissions of CO₂. However, in spite of all these factors, the single greatest impact on atmospheric change is dependence on fossil fuels. The ecological impact of global warming affects the whole world. Rising sea levels, coastal erosion, decreasing land productivity, and an increase in the number of extinct plants and animals. Eastern Asia has also experienced an increase in natural disasters, such as droughts, floods, hurricanes, and tornadoes – many scientists attribute such an increase on global warming.

Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases always have been present in the atmosphere, helping keep the earth suitable for plant, animal, and human life. However, since the industrial revolution, emissions of these gases from human activity have accumulated steadily, trapping more heat and resulting in the enhanced greenhouse effect. Although greenhouse gas emissions are primarily associated with the burning of fossil fuels (mainly, coal, oil and natural gas), carbon emissions come from many sources.

Solutions to climate change must be environmentally effective as well as economically efficient. Bold and innovative solutions on a national as well as global scale are needed. Throughout the United States and the world, many political, business, and community leaders already are working to prevent the consequences of global warming.