Physical Geography

Map of East Asia East Asia is a large expanse of territory with China as its largest country. The countries of Mongolia, North and South Korea, and Japan are China's neighbors. Off the eastern coast of China, lies the island of Taiwan.

East Asia is surrounded by a series of mountain ranges: the Himalayas border Tibet and Nepal; the Karakoram Ranges, Pamirs, and the Tian Shan Mountains shadow Central Asia; and the Altay Mountains are next to Russia. The Himalayan Mountains create a rain shadow effect which generates the dry arid conditions of type B climates that dominate western China and give rise to the Gobi Desert, a large uninhabitable region between Mongolia and China. Western China has large regions like the Takla Makan Desert that are uninhabited and inhospitable because of hot summers and long, cold winters. The vast arid regions of western China extend into colder type D climates that dominate the Mongolian steppe and northern China. The northern half of Mongolia is colder with continental type D climates. In the higher elevations of western Mongolia, there is a section of type H highland climates.

Most of China's population lives in its eastern region, called China Proper, with subtropical type C climates, fresh water, and good soils. The climate is warm and humid in the summers with mild winters; monsoons create well-defined summer rainy seasons. China Proper has dense population clusters that extend south from Shanghai to Hong Kong and correspond to the areas of type C climate. Around the world, most humans have gravitated toward type C climates. These climates produce fertile agricultural lands that provide an abundance of food.

Tropical China lies in the extreme south and includes Hainan Island and the small islands that neighbor it. Annual temperatures are higher here than in the subtropical region and rainfall amounts brought by the summer monsoons are, at times, very substantial.

The eastern coast of the Asian continent is home to the following island and peninsular countries: Japan, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. Since water moderates, the temperatures of nearby lands, the coastal areas of East Asia have more moderate temperatures than interior lands. In Japan, the waters give the island a dominant type C climate. In the northern sections of the country, a colder type D climate is found. Without the nearby waters, more of Japan would experience a type D climate. South of China is Taiwan which experiences a warmer tropical type A climate because of both its latitude and proximity to warm waters.

China and Its Main Climate Regions

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