THE COUNTRIES OF ASIA.
 Asia, like Europe, is composed of many countries. Small areas, moreover, are still colonized by European capitalist countries, i. e. Great Britain and Portugal. Not many years ago, some of the larger countries of Asia were also colonies, but in the struggle that followed World War II they finally rid themselves of foreign rule and took the path of independence.
Fig. 100. Inner Mongolia: Pasturing sheep
Asia, like Europe, may be divided into two groups of countries: socialist and capitalist. The socialist countries occupy almost two-thirds of the territory of Asia, and their inhabitants constitute almost one-half of its total population.
More than one-third of the territory of Asia falls within the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The Asiatic part of the U. S. S. R. includes all of Northern Asia from the Urals to the Pacific Ocean, the Turan Lowland with the adjacent uplands and mountains and the Caucasus between the Black and Caspian Seas.
After World War II a people's democratic power was established in the Chinese People's Republic, the Korean People's Democratic Republic and the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam. The Mongolian People's Republic was established earlier. All these are socialist countries.
The Chinese People's Republic. Geographical Position and Natural Features.
Map Questions.
- Locate the Chinese People's Republic (CPR) on the political
and physical maps of Asia.
- What countries does China border on?
- Name the mountains and rivers of China that you know.
For many years the people of China struggled for freedom and independence. But it was the crushing defeat inflicted by the Soviet Army on the Japanese imperialists in 1945 that made possible the victory of the popular revolution. In 1949 the Chinese People's Republic was established.
Geographical Position. In area (about 10,000,000 sq. kms.) it is almost equal to Europe. Almost one-fourth of Asia is Chinese territory.
China stretches for over 5,000 kilometers from west to east (from Hie Pamirs to the Pacific) and for almost the same distance from north to south.
Natural Features of Eastern China. Eastern China borders in the north on the Soviet Union and the Korean People's Republic. In the west it extends as far as the Plateaus of Tibet and Gobi. In the south China borders on the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam. In the east it is washed by the waters of the Yellow, East China and South China Seas.
In Central China lies the Great China Plain, a vast lowland watered by the Hwang Ho and Yangtze, China's greatest rivers. To the south of the Yangtze rise the South China Mountains.
Eastern China's climate varies from temperate in the north to subtropical and tropical in the south, owing to the great extension of its territory from north to south.
The shifting of the monsoon winds has a great influence upon the climate. A strong monsoon blowing steadily from the cold, inner regions of Asia brings weather that is unusually cold for such latitudes. In the north-east winters are as cold as in Siberia. In the southern part of the Great China Plain the rivers freeze in winter. There is frost and snow sometimes even in the southern regions of Eastern China.
The summer monsoon brings rain from the Pacific Ocean. Rain is so plentiful at this time of the year that the rivers often overflow their banks and flood large areas. Especially disastrous are the floods of the Hwang Ho. Though for ages the inhabitants had beer-building dykes along the river banks to protect their fields, villages and towns from the Hwang Ho, the summer floods would often break through these dykes, causing great disaster.
Vegetation in Eastern China varies with the climate. In the north-east grow mixed forests. Various kinds of taiga animals live there: bear, wolf and valuable fur-bearing animals, as well as tiger, wild-boar, spotted deer and wapitielk, locally known as izubr.
The centuries-long labor of the people has greatly changed the ground-cover of the Great China Plain. There is hardly any wild vegetation left. The soil everywhere is ploughed up and under
crops.
In the southern, warmer parts of Eastern China the vegetation is subtropical. There grows camphor, laurel and bamboo. Further south there is palm. Tigers, monkeys and other tropical animals
are found there.
Natural Features of Western China. Western China includes Inner Mongolia and Sinkiang in the north and the Tibetan region^ of the Chinese People's Republic in the south.
Inner Mongolia occupies part of the Plateau of Gobi. This is an arid region, part semidesert, part desert, with clayey,.' stony or sandy soil and with a meager vegetation consisting mostly. of grass and shrubs. This soil, however, provides pasture for wild animals and large herds of domestic animals.
Sinkiang in the north-east of China is almost encircled by mountains, the Altai mountain ranges extending across the north, the Pamirs in the west and the Kunlun in the south (the Kunlun separate Sinkiang from Tibet).
The Tien Shan ranges extending into Sinkiang from the west divide it into two large depressions, which merge .into the Plateau of Gobi in the east.
The climate of Sinkiang is sharply continental with a light rainfall. On the mountain slopes where there is more rain occur forests. The stretches of land between the mountains are occupied by deserts with tall sand-hills (barkhans) and very poor vegetation. There flow streams and rivers from the snow-covered mountains, but they dry very quickly and disappear in the sands. Along the courses of the rivers there are oases, with towns and villages, arable fields, irrigation canals and orchards.
Eastward along the southern slopes of the Tien Shan flows the T a r i m, Sinkiang's largest river. Tributaries flow into it from the surrounding mountains. The Tarim falls into Lob N o r, a shallow saline amidst the sand-hills. The Tarim's tributaries fill with sand and this influences not only the size and shape of the lake, but its position, too. Many arguments as to the exact position of this lake have arisen among visiting travellers.
Tibet, the loftiest plateau in the world, has its own peculiar and stern features. Vast flat stretches alternate with tall mountains.
The mountain barrier around the country makes communication with it very difficult. The routes lie across lofty passes and narrow mountain paths. It formerly took months for caravans of yaks to get from Eastern China to Tibet. It was only after the power of the people was established in China that highways were built connecting Tibet with the other parts of the country.
Minerals of China. China has many different minerals. Coalfields are found in various parts of the country, in many cases close to iron ore, which is favorable for the smelting of pig-iron and steel.
Much attention is paid to prospecting for oil, and deposits have been discovered in Eastern China, Sinkiang and in the outlying regions of Tibet.
There are ores of all kinds: iron, copper, tin and gold. There is wolfram, important in the smelting of high-quality steel, and antimony used in making alloys with zinc, tin and copper.
Questions and Assignments.
- Trace the boundaries of China on the outline map in red pencil. Put down the names of the neighboring countries. Mark the main regions rich in minerals.
- Study the climatic map and determine the January and July temperatures and the amount of rainfall in Western and Eastern China.
- Use the map of natural zones to name the zones China lies in.
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