Guide for the Exam:

- GEOGRAPHY: main regions of Asia and the countries that form them and their capitals.
Deserts, rivers and mountains that you mentioned in your first presentations

Central Asia
Islamic Region
• Kazakhstan
• Uzbekistan
• Turkmenistan
• Iran
• Afghanistan
• Tajikistan
• Kyrgyzstan

Population
The population in Central Asia is more than 80 million of people, that’s only 2% of the total population of Asia.

Religion
Islam

Principal Physical Features

• Mountains: Tian Shan
• Rivers: Amu Darya, Syr Darya, Hari Rud
• Deserts: Kara Kum, Kyzyl Kum, Turkmenistan, Taklamakan
South Asia
Second Most Populated Region
India
Pakistan
Sri Lanka
Bangladesh
Bhutan
Nepal
Maldives

Population
• South Asia ranks among the world's most densely-populated regions.
• About 1.6 billion people live, one-fifth of all the people in the world.
• Most populated country is India: world's second most populous country. Almost 70% of Indians reside in rural areas

Religion
About 60% - Hinduism and 30% follow Islam.

Economy
Principally based on agriculture, the south asia principal natural resources are: Natural gas, petroleum, diverse types of minerals.
The Principal Products produced are: rice, wheat, corn and others rains and seeds. Also other aricultur and mineral products.

Principal Physical Features

Mount Everest. Himalayan Range. Thar Desert. The Ganges and the Brahmaputra rivers.
East Asia
Most Populated Region
China
Japan
Mongolia
North Korea
South Korea
Taiwan

Economy
The majority are dedicated to the services, just China to de Industry. East Asia is an industrial and financial region

Religion:
Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism

Principal Physic Features

South China Sea, Taiwan (Formosa) strait, Yellow Sea, East China Sea, Himalayan Mountains, Mount Everest, Mount Fuji, Gobi Desert
in south-central

Southeast Asia
Indonesia Islam
Myanmar (Burma) Theravada Buddhism
Philippines Roman Catholicism
Thailand Theravada Buddhism
Brunei Islam
Malaysia Islam (with Buddhist-Taoism and Hinduism)
Singapore Buddhism (and Confucianism), Islam,
Hinduism
Vietnam Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism
Laos Buddhism
Cambodia Buddhism

Religion
Buddhism, Christians, Muslims

Economy (Agriculture)
• Intensive rice agriculture.
• Slash and burn cultivation
• Wet rice agriculture

•Major Landforms in Southeast Asia

Major Mountain Chains
Annamite Cordillera (in Vietnam), Arakan Yoma (in

Australia
Population
2006 Australia has about 20,264,082 people.

Principal Physical Features

•Mountains: Darling Range, Hamersley Range, MacDonnel Range (Great Dividing Range
•Rivers: Darling/Murray river system.
•Deserts: Gibson Desert, Great Sandy Desert, Great Victoria Desert, Tanami Desert, Simpson Desert.

Economy
Australia is an outstanding producer of primary products. Self-sufficient in almost all foodstuffs
Major exporter of wool, meat, dairy products, and wheat.
Service sector contributes maximum to GDP, followed by Industry.
- RELIGION
Hinduism
- World's third most popular religion with 900 million followers
- Origin: India, Pakistan
- No founder, no prophets
Ideology
- Acts are more important than thoughts
- Belief that soul passes through a cycle of successive lives and its next incarnation is always dependent on how previous life was
lived
Concepts
- The law of Karma: suggests that a person's mental and physical actions determine the progress of his life on earth. (Good actions =
happiness and spiritual success, Bad actions = suffering and unhappiness)
- Samsara: the cycle of lives
Gods
- Brahman (supreme spirit) shows itself in many forms or aspects
- Entirely impersonal and impossible to describe
- Hindu Trinity: Brahma creates, Vishnu sustains, Shiva destroys
Sacred Texts
The four Veda: Rig-Veda, Yajur-Veda, Sama-Veda, Atharva-Veda

Buddhism
- 350 million followers
- Founder: Siddhartha Gautama, known as Buddha
- Origin: India
Ideology
- The path of Enlightenment is through the practice and development of morality, meditation and
wisdom
- Nothing is fixed or permanent – change is always possible
Concepts
- Karma: Actions have consequences; so our lives are conditioned by our past actions
- Nirvana: Final Goal, state in which there are no more bad actions or thoughts. No suffering
- The fourth truths:
o Life is suffering.
o The reason for the suffering: human being ignores the truth of reality.
o No suffering if the truth of reality is understood.
o The way to end suffering is the Octuple Senda
- Buddha: one who has woken up

Confucianism
- 6 million followers
- Origin: China
- Founder: Confucius, and later on, his followers
Ideology
- The keynote of Confucian ethics is jen
- Golden rule “Don’t do to others what you don’t want done to you”.
- Important virtues: honor, decency, and integrity.
Concepts
- Five Basic Relations:
o Ruler and subject
o Father and son
o Elder brother and younger brother
o Husband and wife
o Friend and friend
- Jen: “Love” supreme virtue representing human qualities at their best

While the higher status person provides protection and consideration, the other one owes respect and
obedience.
 - ECONOMY
HDI Human Development Index: measures average achievement in three basic dimensions of human development:
- a long and healthy life (measured by life expectancy at birth)
- knowledge (measured by adult literacy rate and gross enrollment ratio)
- a decent standard living (measured by GDP per capita (PPP US).

HPI Human Poverty Index: measures deprivation in basic human development in the same dimensions as the HDI. The variables used
are:
- the percentage of people expected to die before age 40
- the percentage of adults who are illiterate
- percentage of people without access to health services and safe water
- the percentage of under-weight children under five

GDP: Gross Domestic Product

GNP: Gross National Product

Indicators GDP GDP per HPI HDI

capita
Mexico 1,066 10,000 40% 55
billion
Central 30,854*** 3,056 26% 90
Asia
East Asia 6,132,860 18,751 12% 50*

South East 559,470 2,648 41% 116

Asia
South Asia 582,395 2,329 32% 113

Austral 431,413 20,740** 17% 50*

Asia

Positive: Remittances
Sending Country
Negative: Brain Drain

MIGRATION Effects
Positive: Cheaper work,
Economy growth
Receiving Country
Negative: Live
Standards Decrease

Internal International

Push Factor Pull Factor

Lack of Jobs/Poverty High Standard of Living
(Ex. India 100 million unemployed) (Ex. Mexico-EUA)
Political and Religion Persecution Political and Religion Freedom
(Ex. Cuba, Tibet-China) (Ex. Jews)
Environmental Problems Labor Demand
(Ex. Tsunami in Asia) (Ex. Philippines Nurses)
- HISTORY:
Reasons Who was fighting against Main results
whom
Opium War British merchants began China against Great Britain China, unable to withstand
smuggling opium into China in G.B. France, Russia, United modern arms, was defeated
order to balance their purchases States addition Hong Kong was ceded
of tea for export to Britain. to the British.

The Beijing conventions of

1860, by which China was
forced to reaffirm the terms of
the Treaty of Tianjin and make
additional concessions,
concluded the hostilities.

Boxer rebellion The Boxers International force against The Boxer Rebellion weakened
wanted to rid China of all Chinese Boxers the Ch'ing dynasty's power
foreign influence (which they
considered a threat to Chinese
culture).

Taiping rebellion The Corruption and Hong Xiuquan and Yang

ineffectiveness of the Xiuqing against Qing Empire
government

Leaders Causes Results International

participation
Korean Kim Il Sung: leader of Kim saw an opportunity to re- 1953 – UN and North Korea sign UN and its forces
Wars North Korea unite the two Korean nations a cease-fire agreement that Places (USA)
General Douglas that had been split at the end of a De-militarized zone along the
MacArthur: Command WW2 38th parallel
of UN forces He believed that Russia would
support him and that the South Korea has become a very
Americans had seriously scaled profitable nation with huge
back their military presence in monetary support from the USA.
the South It had one of the highest economic
growth rates at the end of the 20th
Century.

NORTH KOREA: is a very well

armed country (potentially now
with Nuclear weapons) but
continues to suffer from a poor
economy.
Vietnam Ho Chi Minh: North Ho Chi Minhs style of In 1975 the South Vietnamese USA
Wars Vietnam Communist government appeared much government falls and Vietnam
Leader more popular to the people of becomes an independent
Vietnam. communist nation
President Lyndon 1.5 Million Vietnamese and 58,000
Johnson: USA The United States feared that Americans died in the conflict
president Vietnam would become
completely Communist Laos and Cambodia will be
And would affect the other influenced by Communist
countries around its borders. (the success with Cambodia suffering
Domino Theory) today it is still classified as an
LDC. It is slowly developing again
 with economic aid from its old
enemy

- IMPORTANT FIGURES: Mao Zedong and Gandhi (their reforms)

- CHINESE ECONOMY:

Mao Zedong Government

Programs Results
First Five Year Plan 1953 -1957 Industry grew 15% per year
Quotas set for industrial output Agricultural output was neglected and grew very slowly
Farmers encouraged to work collectively
Great Leap Forward 1958 – 1962 China suffered economic disaster with mass decline in industry
‘Neglected modern technology in favor of small scale industries with and huge food shortages
“home made” equipment
Creation of communes
Cultural Revolution 1966- 1976 Thousands of intellectuals verbally attacked and physically
Designed to appeal to Chinese Youth and a turning point away from abused
the Soviet Model. The people start to lose faith in the Communist Party
Idea of making education, health care and cultural system less elitist Industrial production drops by 12%
It was also a period of mass persecution as the students formed
themselves into “Red Guards”

Deng Xiaoping 1979-1989

Reforms
Disbands communes, allows farmers to freely sell their products
and introduces profit incentives for factories.
It is called "Socialism with Chinese characteristics“.
Decentralization of Chinese economy
Consequences
Food and industrial production grew by 6% GDP per capita
Price liberalization in the domestic market
Relaxation of government control and central planning
Privatization of state-owned enterprises

1992: The 14th Party Congress comes up with the formula: "Socialist Market Economy“. From now on, making profit is OK.

1997:
- The British colony of Hong Kong is returned to China. And Taiwan worries: «Will we be next?»...
- The 15th Party Congress reveals its plan to sell most state-owned industries. In a word: privatization!
Tens of millions of workers are to be laid off with no social protection.
Is this socialism - or capitalism?

1999: China and the US reach a deal on trade, paving the way for
Beijing's entry into the Wolrd Trade Organization.

2000: The U.S. Senate passes a bill to remove restraints on trade with China. Hello WTO

Current: More than 70 per cent of the commodities sold in Wal-Mart are made in China
According to World Bank, by 2010 50% of clothes will have the tag “Made in China”