• Geography of China
China From Above
Geography of China
• Earliest Civilizations
• Developed over 4,000 years ago
• Centered around Huang River
Geography of China
Major river valleys still heart of agricultural economy
• 1. Huang River2. Yangtze River3. Xi River
Geography of China
• II. Geographic Isolation
• A. Landforms and location are isolating factors
• B. Mountains cover 1/3 of China
• 1. Himalayas on border -Tibet & Nepal2. Mt. Everest called “Qomolangma”
Land Elevations
Deserts of China
• Deserts in northwest
• Taklimakan Desert: raindrops evaporate before reaching the ground
• Sandstorms last for days
•
Gobi Desert
• One of world’s largest deserts
• Extreme temperatures from a high
of 113° F in the Summer to a low of minus 104 ° F in the winter.
• Made up mostly of rock and gravel
China’s Neighbors
Coastal Area
Extend along coast of the South and East China Seas
Just above Sea Level
Coastal Area
Coastal PlainsFertile land; Warm, wet climate90 % of China’s people live here
China’s Rivers
• Huang River (Yellow River)
• Over 3,395 miles long.
• Flows from high western mountains to eastern lowlands.
China’s Rivers
• Carries fertile silt, which combines with fine, wind blown dust from Gobi Desert.
• Has flooded more than 1500 times with much damage.
Rivers of China
Rivers of China
Yangtze River
• 3,900 miles long • Flows from high
western mountains to eastern lowlands
Yangtze River
• Nearly ½ of China’s people live in its basin.
• Also a rich agricultural region
Yangtze River
• The Yangtze River stretches through nine provinces
• Serves as a drain for 695,000 square miles of land.
Yangtze River
• Over the centuries the Yangtze has served as a transportation and commercial highway .
Yangtze River
• Every year the Yangtze deposits massive amounts of silt.
• More than 6 billion cubic feet annually.
• That helps make the area a large plain used to grow rice.
Xi River
• The Xi River is a river located in the southeast of China.
• The Xi River flows generally eastward
for 1,216 miles.
Xi River
From the highlands
to the South China Sea.
Shorter than other important Chinese rivers
But its volume of flow is second only to that of the
the Yangtze River
Amur River
• The Amur is the sixth-longest river in the world.
• Flowing 2,744 miles across the Far East regions of Russia
Amur River
• For 1,000 miles, the river forms a natural boundary between Russia and China.
• It is the largest undammed river in the world.
Amur River
It is the longest river of the Russian Far East.
• It ranks behind only the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers among China’s longest rivers.
Brahmaputra River
• It rises on the northern slopes of the Himalaya in Tibet.
• Flowing 1,680 miles through India and Bangladesh
• It joins the Ganges River, with which it shares the Ganges Delta.
• The river is an important source for irrigation and transportation.