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Home , Geography of Asia, Roof of the World

Unit 1 PHYSICAL OF

Vocabulary Words 1. Geography 13. Pressure 25. Temperature 2. 14. Current 26. Steppe 3. Boundary 15. Topography 27. Coniferous 4. Population 16. Vegetation 28. Peat 5. Uninhabited 17. Huge 6. 18. Swampy 7. Hemisphere 19. Frozen 8. Landscape 20. Permanent 9. Climate 21. Lichen 10. Coastal 22. Moss 11. 23. Continental 12. Plains 24. Vast The Physical

 Over 400 years ago, Europeans divided the world into : , America, Asia and . At this time, nothing was known about Antarctica or . Each of the four continents represented the of the world: Europe in the north, Africa in the south, the America in the west and Asia in the east.  Asia is part of a large mass known as which also includes Europe. Asia is the central and eastern part of Eurasia.  Geologically, Asia and Europe are not separate land masses

QUICK FACTS ABOUT ASIA

 About 60 percent of the worlds population live in Asia  Everest is the worlds highest mountain peak, Everest is in the at 8, 848 meters  The lowest land area is around the Dead which is 400 meters below sea level The north of has the coldest land temperature on  The Assam territorial boundary in has the highest annual record of rainfall in the world  Asia cities have the highest population densities in the world  Some cities areas of Asia are uninhabited Mt. Everest The is the study of the natural environments and features around us. This includes the land (topography), water(hydrology), weather(climatology) and living things().

A. Physical features:  Asia is the largest (44,391, 162 square kilometer), comprising one-third of the total land area in the world. Asia is five times larger than Australia (the smallest continent) but has 120 times the population. The distance from north to south is approximately 6, 500 kilometers, and east to west 9, 600 kilometers. B. Location and Area Asia is in the . oTo the North is the . The northernmost point is , at latitude 770 degrees , 45 minutes North o To the East is the . The easternmost point is in Russia, at longitude 169 degrees , 40 minutes West o To the South is the . The southernmost point is in , approximately 150 kilometers north of Equator, at latitude 1 degree, 15 minutes North oTo the West are the , the , the , the , the Mountains and the Mountains. The westernmost point is in at longitude 26 degrees, 4 minutes East. oThe exact boundary between Asia and Europe is not fixed.

C. Climate  Mainland Asia is in the Northern Hemisphere and covers an area stretching from the Arctic to the equator  The central of a large mass, such as Asia, has more extreme climate than the coastal . This is because of the influence of large bodies of water which moderates the local climate. Temperature differences between day and night and between summer and winter can be large in the center of Asia.  Altitudes also affects the local climate, for example the flat plains of Delhi at latitude 28 degrees north never have snowfall but the Himalayan peaks at the same latitude are covered with snow and ice all year round. High plateaus have more extreme temperature than low plains.  The seasonal monsoon winds greatly influence large areas of Asia. Monsoon winds are the result of the difference between temperature and atmospheric pressure between the continental land mass and the Indian and Pacific . The large movements of air masses in the summer also create storms from Indian Ocean and typhoons from the Pacific Ocean. GEOGRAPHICAL REGIONS OF ASIA - Based on topography, climate and vegetation, Asia is often divided into the following sub – regions:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. West Asia 6. South-east Asia . Each region can be subdivided into climate zones and vegetation zones. Each region may have more than one type of climate and vegetation zone and may share similar types of zones with other regions. Each region is described on the next page and the dominant climate and vegetation zones are also described. NORTH ASIA

North Asia consist almost entirely of Siberia, a huge area of cold, flat land in the West Plains Northeast of Russia. Siberia makes up about three-quarters of the total area of Russia. Despite its vast area, most of the region is sparsely populated due to the The main extremely cold climate and land which is infertile or permanently frozen. geographical zones in The West Siberian Plain is very flat and very swampy in the short North Asia summer, but frozen in the long winter. The Central is extremely ancient and very rich in minerals, Eastern Central Plateau Mountains the conditions for mining are very difficult. In the extreme north near the arctic coast is the arctic zone, also called the Tundra. The winters are very long and extremely cold and the soil is permanently frozen and snow-covered. The tundra is treeless and the natural vegetation is lichen and moss. In the north of the region is the semi-arctic zone, also called Taiga. The natural vegetation includes long stretches of coniferous forest. The taiga has long winters and very cold weather Location: Siberia has borders with (3, 441 km) and (3,605 km.)

Climate: The climate is continental, with short, warm summers and very long, cold winters. Ice and snow cover most of the region for about six months of the year. The average temperature is -28Celsius on the coast to -50 degrees Celsius inland.

Landscape: The in the west are a north south range that divides Western Russia and Siberia in Asia. Most Siberia consists of vast plains and makes up about 75% of the total area of Russia. The plains are covered by steppe in the south, coniferous forest in the north and tundra along the northern coast. The West Siberian Plain The western plain is a large plain with an area about 3 million square kilometer. It occupies the western portion of Siberia between the Ural Mountains and the River. It extends 2, 500 km from north to south, and 1, 900 km from west to east. The region is very flat. A rise of fifty meters in sea level would cause all land between the and the city of Novosibirsk to be covered. The main rivers are the and Yenisey Rivers. Vegetation is treeless tundra in the north, taiga in the middle and steppes in the south. Tundra

Taiga

Steppe The The Central Plateau is extremely ancient. It lies between the Yenisey and Rivers and extends over 3.5 million square km. the highest part being up to 1, 700 meters. Almost all is under exceptionally deep permafrost and most is covered with coniferous forests. The plateaus major river is the Tunguska River.

Coniferous forest

Tunguska River

Permafrost Eastern Siberia and the Kamchatka

The worlds lowest temperature for inhabited places have been recorded in the Eastern Siberia and there is deep snow cover for most of the year. Several mountain ranges of various ages run north to south in the eastern region such as the Verkhoyansk Mountains.

These are about 1, 000 km long and up to almost three thousand meters in height. They form a vast area between the Lena River to the west and the Yana River to the east. Above a few hundred meters, the mountains have no vegetation at all. The many valleys are deep and covered with larch forest except in the extreme north where tundra dominates. The is on the extreme eastern coastline. In the central valley is the Kamchatka River which is flanked by mountain ranges. The peninsula contains about 160 volcanoes of which 29 are active. The peninsula has the highest density of volcanoes in the world. The most beautiful volcano is Kronotsky.

Kronotsky Volcano

Kamchatka River RIVERS

th Lena River = is the 10 longest river Yana River = is only 872 km in the world. At the mouth of the long but its annual flow Lena River is a delta that is about totals about 25 cubic 400 km wide. The delta is frozen kilometers tundra for about 7 months of the = in southern Siberia is 636 km long and year. 80 km wide Yenisey River = is Siberia’s 3rd = the largest freshwater longest river at 5, 500 km lake in Asia Ob River = is the Siberia’s 4th = the deepest lake in the longest river at 5, 410 km world CENTRAL ASIA

Central Asia is a large land-locked region in the center of the continent It has extremely varied geography, including many high plateaus and mountains, vast deserts and treeless grasslands The Central Region is comprised of numerous high plateaus and mountains that separate South, West and East The geographical dividing line is called the Pamir Knot or Pamir Dunya (Himalayas) meaning the roof of the world The highest plateau of the central region is Plateau The largest areas of vegetation are high coniferous forest, grassland, savanna, scrubland and desert  The semi-desert grassland zone comprises the east side of Mongolia and north-west China The desert zone includes the , the and the Plateau of Tibet The temperature in the high altitude zone decreases at an approximate rate of 1 degree Celsius for every 170 meters of altitude Important river basins include the Tigris and Euphrates River basins in and LOCATION

is in Central Asia and stretches over a vast expanse of Asia. It is equivalent to the size of . It has borders with Russia , , China, , , the and the Caspian Sea CLIMATE

 Kazakhstan has a continental climate with very cold winters and very hot summers. The majority of the country is arid and semi-arid. Cold air masses from the north meet with the hot winds from the south. There are often strong winds which cause sand storms . The air is extremely dry and the temperature varies sharply between day and night. LANDSCAPE

Central Kazakhstan is very flat, a quarter of the land is semi-desert steppe. Rainfall on the mountains supply the 11, 000 rivers and more than 7,000 lakes and reservoirs of Kazakhstan. The Aral Sea and Lake Balkhash have no outflow of water The Aral Sea is the largest lake in Central Asia Lake Balkhash is the second largest lake in Central Asia SOUTH ASIA South Asia is also known as the . It includes India, , Tibet, , , , and the South Asia covers about 4, 480, 000 square kilometers or 10 percent of the continent This region is a subcontinent because it rests on its own tectonic plate, the India Plate. It was once a small continent before it collided with Eurasia and gave birth to the Himalayan Mountains and the TROPICAL MONSOON ZONE = covers the region above latitude 10 degrees north and has alternating dry and rainy seasons for 6 months per year. This zone is found around area of the coast of the Indian peninsula. The natural vegetation in this zone is monsoon forest or deciduous forest. In tropical areas, most of the vegetation is broadleaf and hardwood trees, for example, teak, sandalwood and Grudia Chrysantha. Monsoon forest are sparse woods with small tress and shrubs growing on the ground with bamboo or other grasses. TROPICAL GRASSLAND ZONE = has wet summer and dry winter. The average annual rainfall is less than the tropical monsoon zone at about 1,000 – 1, 500 millimeters. The average annual temperature is about 21 degrees Celsius. The natural vegetation in this zone is sparse mixed deciduous woodland. The ground cover is made of grasses and other low growing plants. HIGH ALTITUDE ZONE = the temperature decreases at an approximately rate of 1 degree Celsius for every 170 meters of altitude. This explains why high mountains peaks located in hot climates zones still have snow all year round. In Asia the highest lands are found in Central Asia, for example, the Tibet Plateau, the Himalayas, the and the Dekhan plateau in India. Important river basins include the Ganges River basin and the Brahmaputra River in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. INDIA oIndia is in South Asia and covers most of the subcontinent oIndia measures 3, 214 km. from north to south and 2, 933 km. from west to east. oIndia shares borders with Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and . oIndia is bounded in the west by the and in the east by the Bay of . Location