southeast asia483
Vietnam
Vietnam is a mountainous land that occupies the
eastern part of the indoChina Peninsula in
Southeast asia. its population, which is
mainly rural, mostly lives in the lowland
deltas of the Red and mekong rivers.
more than half of its people work in
agriculture. Rice takes up more land
area than all other crops produced
in Vietnam put together. Other crops
include rubber, corn, sugar, bananas,
coconuts, pepper, tea, tobacco, and
sweet potatoes. northern Vietnam is
more industrialized than the
agricultural south. it has mineral
resources, which include coal, salt, tin, and
iron. Farmers often work in salt farms (left)
to supplement their earnings from agriculture.elePhant SChOOl
elephants in thailand are trained to work for a living.
they have proved themselves to be far more cost-efficient
than modern tractors. they need little fuel and do not rust
or need spare parts. tractors last for about six years, an
elephant lives for 30. in addition, elephants are
less harmful to the environment. they move timber and
take tourists for rides in the rain forest.Protected by law, orangutans still
face hunting and destruction
of their rain forest habitat.
Orangutan is the
Malaysian for “person
of the forest.”Dao people
ethnic minorities make up about
14 percent of Vietnam’s population.
One of these groups is the Dao,
who live in the northern
regions. the Dao can
also be found in
the neighboring
countries of China,
laos, and thailand.
the origins of the first
Dao groups in Vietnam
are uncertain, but it
appears that they
emigrated from their
native provinces of
southern China
in the 18th and
19th centuries.myanmaR (buRma)
myanmar gained independence from british colonial control
in 1948 and immediately adopted a policy of political and
economic isolation. Once a rich nation, the country was
subsquently reduced to one of the world’s poorest despite
its plentiful natural resources. the irrawaddy River basin
occupies most of the country and provides rich farming land.
until 2010, myanmar was ruled by a military government that
excluded all foreign influences. about three out of four
people are buddhists, but in the countryside
many still worship the nats—ancient spirits
of the forest and mountains. Devotees of
buddhism pray at temples such as the
Shwedagon Pagoda (below)
in Rangoon (yangon).ORangutan
the orangutan is a large,
humanlike ape that is
now restricted to
lowland swamp forests in
borneo and a small part
of Sumatra. Orangutans
once lived in the jungles of
mainland Southeast asia as well, but
numbers have been depleted by human
hunters. With its short, thickset body,
long arms, and short legs, the
orangutan displays many physical similarities to gorillas and chimpanzees.
however, a shaggy, reddish coat, and an even greater disproportion between
arm and leg lengths, sets the orangutan apart from its related primates. the
male orangutan may be about 4.5 ft (1.37 m) tall and weigh about 185 lbs
(85 kg) when grown, while females usually weigh about 90 lbs (40 kg).US_483_SE_Asia_2.indd 483 22/01/16 4:49 pm