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China. Official name-the People’s Republic of China Third-largest country in area, after Russia and Canada Slightly larger than the U.S. Mountains-Himalaya, Kunlun Shan, Tian Shan, and Altay
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China • Official name-the People’s Republic of China • Third-largest country in area, after Russia and Canada • Slightly larger than the U.S. • Mountains-Himalaya, Kunlun Shan, Tian Shan, and Altay • The Plateau of Tibet lies between the Himalaya and the Kunlun Shan. It is the world’s largest plateau • Deserts- Taklimakan in the north. Gobi in the east • Major rivers- Yangtze, Yellow and Xi (SHEE) Pandaslive on the eastern edge of the Plateau of Tibet
Geo Vocab Terms • The Yellow River valley is an important farm area. It is thickly covered with loess, a fertile, yellow-gray soil deposited by wind and water. • The Chinese call the Yellow River “China’s Sorrow” because of the devastating floods it causes. They have built dams and dikes, high banks of soil, along the rivers. • China has many different climates. The summer monsoons often bring typhoons-called hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean-are tropical storms with strong winds and heavy rains. These occur in the coastal areas of the south.
Geo VoCAB Terms • Eager to learn about new business methods, China has asked other countries to invest, or put money in Chinese businesses. • Several minerals are mined in northern China. One of those minerals is tungsten, a metal used in electrical equipment. • In the south, farmers grow crops on terraced fields, strips of land cut out of hillside like stair steps (see picture below).
Geo vocab terms • For centuries, until the early 1900’s-rulers known as emperors or empresses and lived in the Imperial Palace. A dynasty, or line of rulers from a single family, would hold power until it was overthrown. • In 1911 a Chinese uprising overthrew the last emperor and China became a republic. • 1949 the Communists won and set up the People’s Republic of China. Many Chinese demanded more freedom. In 1989 thousands of students were killed at Tiananmen Square for protesting for more democracy. • Some say that Chinese leaders have no respect for humanrights-the basic freedoms and rights, such as freedom of speech, that all people should enjoy. • China’s leaders have also been criticized for taking control of Tibet, which was once a separate Buddhist Kingdom. • The Dalai Lama, the Buddhist leader of Tibet, now lives in exile ,unable to live in his or her own country because of political beliefs, in India.
Geo vocab terms • Many Chinese paintings include a poem written in calligraphy, the art of beautiful writing. • Most buildings in China’s cities are modern. Yet traditional buildings still stand. Some are Buddhist temples with many-storied towers called pagodas. These buildings hold large statues of Buddha.
Geo vocab terms • In the 1200’s , many groups of Mongols joined together under one leader, Genghis Khan. He led Mongol armies on a series of conquests. The Mongols eventually carved out the largest land empire in history. • An empire is a collection of different territories under one ruler. • The Mongol Empire weakened and fell apart during the 1300’s. China ruled the area that is now Mongolia from the 1700’s to the early 1900’s. In 1924 Mongolia gained independence and since 1990 has been a democracy. • Some Mongolians still follow a nomadic way of life and live in yurts, large circle-shaped structures made of animal skins that can be packed up and moved from place to place.
