East Asia: a land of contrasts.

Study focused on the Tibetan Plateau and Yangtze River

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1 East Asia satellite picture. Image from: http://www.zonu.com/fullsize2-en/2009-11-18-11138/Asiasatellite-map.html, consulted on 10/15/2012

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East Asia is a realm of contrasts. Every imaginable type of environment and almost every type of
climate region can be found within the space that this realm encloses. A vast amount of rich and
vibrant cultures inhabit this land and make it the most populous region of the world with about
1.5 billion inhabitants2. Five thousand years of history that have seen the greatest empires and
dynasties also helped shaped this land. To say the least, East Asia is a realm that has always
fascinated not only geographers, but the imagination of all of us.
One of the most important aspects that helped this area of the world gain such diversity are its
unique physical features. Many of these were created by its location between two major plate
tectonics that constantly move and collide. For example, in the Far East portion of this realm we
find the Pacific Ring of Fire which is the area where the Pacific Plate and the Eurasian Plate
meet each other. This part of the world is known for being the most seismically active area on the
planet. Volcanic activity, earthquakes, and tsunamis have always been a constant threat.
While to the south we find the collision area between the Indian and Eurasian Plate. The Indian
Plate used to be a large island in the Pacific Ocean, it moved north until it crashed with Eurasia.
This impact took place about 10 million years ago, and due to its magnitude, force, and similar
rock density between both land masses, created the most impressive mountain range on earth, the
Himalayas. This 1,801 mile long range marks the border between South Asia and East Asia. It
houses the tallest peaks in the world; amongst them mount Everest, the tallest mountain on Earth
with a height of 29,029 feet. The Himalayas to this day continue to grow at a rate of
approximately one centimeter a year, which may sound slow, but in fact is a tremendously high
speed for mountain growth.3

2 The World Today, 5th edition, Appendix B

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At the same time, the collision between plates not only rugged the land and formed mountains,
but beyond the Himalayas the force of the Indian Plate kept pushing beneath the peaks and made
land rise uniformly, eventually creating the Tibetan Plateau. With an average height of 13,123
feet and reaching heights of up to 16,404 feet, apart from having an extension of 970,000 square
miles, the Tibetan Plateau, also known as The Roof of the World, is by far the tallest and
largest plateau in existence. 4
A very important characteristic of the Tibetan Plateau are its harsh conditions, which make it an
almost inhospitable place. During the winter temperatures drop below minus 30 F, and in
summer fluctuate extremely from 20 F in the morning to 100 F at midday.5 The Tibetan Plateau
is also a very dry place, as it lies in what is known as the rain shadow of the Himalayas. In this
part of the world, the high mountains block the rain clouds that the warm air of the Pacific form
and bounce them back towards India, allowing almost no precipitation to fall in the plateau. 6 All
these conditions make Tibet, the Chinese region where the plateau is located, the most scarcely
populated area of the country, with only 3,002,166 inhabitants in 2010 (about .22% of Chinas
total population), and a population density of 5.7 people per square mile.7

3http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/himalaya.html, consulted on 10/23/2012

4 American Scientist, Volume 77. The Geologic Evolution of the Tibetan Plateau. Molnar, Peter. Pgs. 350359
5 http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=198&catid=6&subcatid=38, consulted on 10/30/2012
6 http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/rain-shadow-on-the-tibetan-plateau/10482.html, (video)
consulted on 10/30/2012
7 http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/newsandcomingevents/t20110429_402722516.htm, consulted on
11/02/2012
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Apart from being The Roof of the World, the Tibetan Plateau also has another nickname,
probably lesser known, but that describes much better its relatively unknown importance: The
Water Tower of Asia. Rivers with immense importance such as the Mekong, the Ganges, the
Indus, the Yellow, and Irrawaddy begin in the slowly melting glaciers of the Tibetan Plateau. 8
Apart from all of these, from the glaciers of Geladandong peak in the Tanggula mountain range,
located in the north eastern boundary of the plateau, we find the source of the third longest river
system in the world and of crucial importance for the development of Chinese culture: The
Yangtze River.9
In the extreme opposite, the areas around the Yangtze River have historically been one of the
most populous and busy areas of China since ancient times. Whole civilizations developed from
its waters, giving the human population water to drink, harvest food, and feed animals. Some of
Chinas major cities, such as Chongqing, Wuhan, and Nanjing, have developed and thrived
around its waters. Lastly on the delta of the Yangtze, where its waters flow into the East China
Sea, Chinas economic center and largest city, Shanghai is located, having an excellent location
as a port city.
Today, the waters of the Yangtze are not only used for agricultural and food production matters,
but as of 2009, the worlds largest dam, known as The Three Gorges Dam is located within the
waters of the Yangtze giving electrical power to (insert figure), and making the river much easily
navigable, although it caused the Chinese government to dislocate a lot of people who had lived
around the area, and flooded a lot of cultivable and rich soil.

8 http://tibet.org/tibet3rdpole.org/?p=402, consulted on 11/02/2012

9 http://www.at0086.com/TanggulaMountains/, consulted on 11/04/2012
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