Childrens Illustrated Encyclopedia

asia

40

Korea

The Korean peninsula juts out from northern China

toward Japan. The two Korean nations were at war

between 1950 and 1953. They have lived in constant

mistrust of each other since the war ended but are

now trying to mend the

divisions between them.

South Korea has a

booming economy

and is heavily

supported by the

United States. North

Korea is Communist

and poorer. The

climate favors rice

growing, with warm

summers and

icy winters.

YaNgTze river

The Yangtze (or Chang Jiang), the world’s third-

longest river, flows 3,964 miles (6,380 km) through

the middle of China, from its source in Tibet to the

sea at Shanghai. in 2006, work was completed on

the Three gorges Dam, China’s largest construction

project since the building of the great Wall.

Brunei’s vast oil wealth has

enabled the sultan (ruler) to

build a magnificent new palace.

It is called Istana Nurul Iman

and is only open to the public at

the end of the Islamic fasting

month of Ramadan.

iNDiaN SUbCoNTiNeNT

The triangular landmass of South

asia extends south from the

Himalayan mountain range to

the warm waters of the indian

ocean. This region is also

known as the indian

subcontinent. it

includes not only

india but also

Pakistan, Nepal,

bangladesh, and

bhutan. at the very

southern tip of india

lies the island nation

of Sri Lanka.

The port

of Shanghai

lies at the

mouth of the

Yangtze River.

ProSPeriTY

Some asian countries, such as Japan

and Singapore, are among the

world’s most prosperous nations.

The discovery of oil in a number

of other countries, such as Saudi

arabia in the Middle east and

brunei in Southeast asia, has

made them very wealthy.

Vanilla vines

grow well in

the warm

climate of

Indonesia,

and women

harvest the

pods by hand.

Hundreds of different

languages are spoken in

the Indian subcontinent,

but Indian schools teach

pupils to read and write

Hindi, which is the

country’s official

language.

Construction work is a common

sight in South Korea, as new

offices and factories are built

for the country’s expanding

“Floating markets” are a common industries.

sight on the busy

waterways of

East Asia. SoUTHeaST aSia

Many different people live in the warm,

tropical southeastern corner of asia. There

are 10 independent countries in the region.

Some of them—Myanmar (burma), Laos,

Thailand, Cambodia, and vietnam—are

on the mainland attached to the rest of

asia. Further south lie brunei, Malaysia,

and the tiny island nation of Singapore.

indonesia stretches across the foot of the

region. it is a scattered nation of more than

13,500 islands. The islands of the Philippines

are to the east. although some of these

countries are very poor, Southeast asia as a

whole has one of the most rapidly developing

economies in the world.

Far eaST

east asia is

often called the

Far east. in the 19th

century, european traders

and travelers used this name

to distinguish east asia from the

Middle east. The Far east includes

China, Japan, and North and South Korea.

Find out more

China

india and subcontinent

Japan

religions

russian federation

Southeast asia

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