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PENNSVALLEY
Lesson 66: (Cont.)
Political Features of Southeast Asia
Maritime Southeast Asia can be rather confusing. There are over 7,000 islands that make up the
archipelago country of the Philippines. No problem here. However, another archipelago country has
other countriescarvedout of its larger islands.For example, Indonesia isa3,000mile longarchipelago
with over 13,000 islands.The island of Borneo, which is part of Indonesia, also has one independent
country andpart of another countrywithin its borders.Another example is thatMalaysiahas part of its
borders on the Isthmus of Kra that extends south fromThailand, and part of its borders on the island
of Borneo. And, the eastern part of the island of Timor is called East Timor while the western part of
the island is part of Indonesia.Very, very confusing!
ACTIVITY 2:
Use the grid coordinates to locate and write in the name of one other large city, the large islands, and
borderingcountriesof Southeast Asiaonyour regionalmapon thenext page.Label the followingplaces.
• The island of
Borneo
(at D/E/F,4/5) is the third largest island on earth, and part of which is part
of Indonesia.
•
NewGuinea
(at I/J,5/6) is the second largest island on earth.Thewestern half of NewGuinea is
part of Indonesia and the eastern half is
PapuaNewGuinea
(at J,5/6)
•
Sumatra
(at B/C,4/5) and
Java
(at D/E,6) are both part of Indonesia.
•
HoChi MinhCity
(at D,3)
• Only three countries border on Southeast Asia. A small arm of
Bangladesh
(at A,2) borders on
Burma’swest.
•
India
(at A,1) takes up the rest of Burma’s western border.
•
China
(at C/D,1) borders on the rest of mainlandSoutheast Asia.
Most of this region has been under colonial rule. The only country not to be subjected to colonial
rulewasThailand.Much of the region is recovering from years of wars that have been fought against
colonial powers, religious groups, political groups, and/or terrorists.
Banda
Aceh is
located on
the northern tip
of the island of Sumatra.
This regionwas the center of
the gigantic tsunami that
was triggered by amassive
earthquake in late December
2004. Over 285,000 people
in coastal areas bordering
the IndianOcean died.
Southeast Asia
Using a library and Internet
resources, conduct research on
tsunamis. A tsunami is a giant
waveorwavesof water triggered
by earthquakes and volcanic
eruptions. They can be one of
the most destructive forces in
nature. Ask your teacher for a
Research Graphic Organizer
(
BLM
) to help you organize your
information.Write a one-page
report of your findings.
Click
&
Learn
