Asia: a continent of contrasts
Asia is the largest continent. It covers about one third of all land on Earth, and more than half of all people live there. It is also a place of extremes.
- Highest and lowest: Mount Everest in the Himalaya is the highest point on Earth. The shore of the Dead Sea in Asia is the lowest dry land.
- Wet and dry: parts of South and Southeast Asia get several metres of rain in a year. Deserts in Central and West Asia get almost none.
- Hot and cold: tropical islands in the south, freezing Siberia in the north.
- Crowded and empty: river plains and coasts are packed with people. High plateaus and deserts have very few.
Try it: in the 3D model, drag around the plateau and plains. Which part would you choose to farm? Which part would be hard to live on?
Moving plates: mountains, rifts, volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis
Earth's outer shell is broken into big slabs called plates. They move very slowly, about as fast as your fingernails grow. Where plates meet, things happen.
- Plates crash together: the Indian plate pushes into the Eurasian plate at roughly 5 cm a year. The land folds up into the Himalaya, and it is still rising.
- One plate dives under another: along the Pacific edge (Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia) the sea plate sinks under the land plate. Rock melts and bursts out as volcanoes. Stuck rock suddenly slips and we feel an earthquake.
- Plates pull apart: land can sink between two cracks and make a rift valley. The Jordan valley and the Dead Sea lie in one.
- Tsunami: when the sea floor jumps up or down in a quake, the whole water above it is pushed. A long, fast wave travels across the sea and can be tall and strong when it reaches the coast.
This busy belt around the Pacific is called the Ring of Fire.
Reducing harm from earthquakes and tsunamis
We cannot stop a quake. We can make it hurt less.
- Strong buildings: frames that bend and do not break, light roofs, no heavy things on high shelves.
- Warning systems: sensors in the sea and on land, sirens and phone alerts. A few minutes can save thousands of lives.
- Planning: do not build hospitals and schools right on the shore; mark escape routes to high ground.
- Practice: drills teach people the rule: Drop, Cover, Hold during shaking; if you are on the coast and the ground shakes a lot, go up and inland at once without waiting.
Compare warning ON and OFF in the 3D: the same wave arrives, but people are in a different place.
Monsoon Asia and the rice-growing year
A monsoon is a wind that changes direction with the season.
- Summer: land heats faster than sea. Warm air rises over land, and wet air from the sea rushes in. It rains heavily, usually from June to September in South Asia.
- Winter: land cools faster. Wind blows from the land to the sea and is dry. Most places have little rain.
Rice grows well in warm weather with a lot of water, so monsoon Asia is the world's rice region. The farmer's year follows the rain: plant seedlings when the first rains come, keep the field under shallow water, harvest after the rains end. A weak or late monsoon means a poor harvest; a very strong one brings floods.
Japan: few resources, strong economy
Japan is a chain of mountainous islands. Only a small part of the land is flat enough for towns and farms, so people live crowded along the coasts. Japan has few minerals and little oil, so it buys raw materials from other countries.
It became rich through skill, not resources. A culture of careful work, education and teamwork helped it to make high-quality cars, electronics and machines and sell them across the world. Living with earthquakes also made Japan a leader in quake-safe buildings and early warning.
China: where the people live and how it grew
China has about 1.4 billion people, but they are not spread out evenly. Most live in the east: the big river plains and coastal cities. The west has high plateaus, mountains and deserts, and very few people. Around nine in ten Chinese live in the eastern part of the country.
Since the late 1970s China opened its economy to trade, built factories and cities, and moved millions of people from villages to towns. It became the world's biggest exporter and a major voice in world trade and climate talks. The challenges are pollution, a gap between rich coast and poorer inland, and an ageing population.
India: potential and contrasts
India also has about 1.4 billion people, and many of them are young. That is a chance: young workers can fuel growth. India is strong in farming, medicines, computer services and a growing factory sector.
But contrasts are sharp: modern cities next to poor villages, very rich and very poor families, good schools and places with none. To use its potential India needs better education, health, jobs for women and young people, and safe, clean cities.
Try it: build your own Asia model
At home: take a tray of sand or clay. Make a plateau, a ridge and a flat plain. Pour a little water from the south side to act like monsoon rain and see where it flows. Then push two flat books together on a cloth: watch the cloth fold up like mountains.
Predict then check: in the 3D, guess what the wave will do before you press the warning button, then check.
Key formulas and definitions
- Plates: crash = mountains; dive = volcanoes and quakes; pull apart = rift valley
- Monsoon: summer wind sea to land = rain; winter wind land to sea = dry
- Tsunami = sea floor moves, so a long wave travels to the coast
- Key terms: plate, rift valley, Ring of Fire, monsoon, population density
Worked examples
1. The Indian plate moves about 5 cm a year. How far does it move in 200 years?
5 cm × 200 = 1000 cm = 10 m. A small speed adds up over a long time, which is how mountains get built.
2. Why are so many volcanoes and earthquakes found along the Pacific edge of Asia?
Sea plates sink under land plates there. The sinking rock melts and rises as volcanoes, and the stuck plates slip as earthquakes. This belt is the Ring of Fire.
3. A coastal town gets a tsunami warning 20 minutes before the wave. What should people do?
Move at once to high ground or far inland by the marked escape route, and stay there until officials say it is safe. Do not go to the beach to watch the wave.
4. Why is rice grown more in monsoon lands than in a desert?
Rice needs warm weather and plenty of water. The summer monsoon brings heavy rain, but deserts get almost none.
5. China's population density is higher in the east than in the west. Give two reasons.
The east has flat river plains, rain and coasts for ports and cities. The west has high plateaus, mountains and deserts that are hard to farm.
Common mistakes
- Thinking that the monsoon is rain only. It is a wind that changes direction, and the rain comes with the summer wind.
- Mixing up earthquake and tsunami. The earthquake is the shaking; the tsunami is the sea wave it can cause.
- Saying that all of Asia is crowded. Population is very uneven; plateaus and deserts are nearly empty.
- Believing that Japan is rich because of natural resources. It has very few; its wealth came from skills and technology.