COPYRIGHT
141
PENNSVALLEY
Lesson 71:
Natural Resources and Economy of East Asia
East Asia is an area of extreme contrasts. Some countries have vast natural resources, such as
China.Other countrieshavevery few resources, suchasTaiwanandJapan.ManypartsofwesternEast
Asia are extremely rural, such as Mongolia and China. Other areas are heavily populated, such as
Japan.Somecountrieshavevery little industry, suchasMongolia.Other countriesdependheavilyupon
manufacturing products, such as Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan. The economies of some countries
are strongly controlledbya communist government, suchasChinaandNorthKorea.Theeconomiesof
other countries are influenced by an open, democratic government, such as Japan, Taiwan, andSouth
Korea. Let’s take a closer look at the natural resources and economies of East Asia.
Primary Industries
Recall thatmost of theprimary industries deal with farming, fishing, foresting, andmining.Farming
is important becauseagricultural activitiessupply food for thepeople.Due to themountains throughout
region, only 10 percent of the land is suitable for growing crops. However, in China, about two thirds
of the peoplework the land for a living.
Rice is themain cropgrown in the region.Farmingmethods range fromprimitive tohighlymechanize.
InChina,water buffaloesareused tocultivatemany ricepaddieswhereaspeople inJapanusemachines.
Remember that nomadic herding is a form of agriculture. Most people on theMongolian steppes
make their living through nomadic herding of livestock. They have what is called a five muzzle
economy. That is, they raise, horses, yaks, camels, goats, and sheep. The rugged landscape of
westernChina is another areawhere people earn a living through nomadic herding.
Except for landlockedMongolia, fishing is an important industry inEast Asia. Japan has one of the
largest fishing fleets in theworld. In addition, fish farms aremaintained inChina and Japan.
East Asia does not have a large forest industry. That is because many forested areas are too
remote or rugged to make harvesting profitable. China does have considerable timber reserves.
However, timber is imported tomeet their demands for forest products.
By far, China has the greatest number of mineral resources. China is theworld’s largest producer
and consumer of coal. China also dominates the world market in lesser known metal ores, such as
titanium, used in the aerospace industry.
ACTIVITY 1:
Use the information above to answer the following questions onEast Asia.
1.Which country has the least industry?
2.Which country has the largest fishing fleet?
3.Howmuch of the land inEast Asia is used to raise crops?
4.Which country is themostmechanized in its farmingmethods?
5.What phrase is used to describe the economy of Mongolia?
6. For which country is the fishing industry least important?
7.Which country produces themost coal?
8.What is themain crop grown throughout the region.
9.DoesChina import or export timber?
East Asia
