-->

China

China has a great variety of land forms, climate and vegetation.  Much of China is mountainous.  Only about 15 percent of the land in the east is low and flat.
The  greater part of China in the west covered with high mountains and plateaus.  The important mountain ranges are the Kailas, the Kunlun, the Tien Shan and the Nan Shan. All of these ranges are over 5000 metres in height.
Tibet is the world’s highest plateau ad is known as the ‘Roof of the World’.

Takla  Makan is a barren desert to the north of Tibet.  The Gobi is a famous desert in the interior of China.  Most of these highlands are barren and of little use to man.
Several big rivers of Asia rise amid the snow-capped peaks of tese mountains. The Yangtze Kiang, the Hwang Ho and the Sikiang are the three greatest rivers of China.  All of them flow from west top east to join the Pacific Ocean.  The eastern part of China is a land of three river basins.  A  few hills separate one river basin from another.  Her most of the land is flat and fertile. These plains have been made by the alluvium brought  by the three great rivers.
The Yangte Kiang is China’s most important river.  It flows through the Great Northern Plain of China.  It carries huge amount of  yellow silt.  Owing  to the district colour of its slit, the Hwang Ho is often called the Yellow River.  The Hwang HO is notorious for its disastrous floods.  With every flood, houses are washed away, crops ruined and lives lost. That is why, it is known as China’s
Sorrow  The Communist government has built  several big dams across this river to controlfor irrigation.
To the west of the Great Northern Plain, there is a regin of hills and Plateau.  It is covered  with deep layers of fine, powdery slit called loess.The Si Kiang is China’s third great river.  It flows through the southern part of China. The valley of Si Kiang is narrow bounded by hills  and mountains.
China has a modified form of monsoon climate.  It differs from the Tropical monsoon climate in the coldness of the winter season.Most of the rainfall  occurs in summer  but winter rainfall  is not altogether absent.  Summer rainfall is mainly caused by the South east monsoon. The amount of rainfall in China decreases steadily from south to north. 
Agriculture
China is mainly an agricultural country.  More than 75 per cent of its population is engaged in agriculture. Since, the greater part of  China  is eigher mountainous or dry, agricultural land is limited.  Only 12 per cent of the total  land is suitable  for cultivation.
With a very large population to be fed emphasis has always been on food crops, rice is the principal food crop in southern and  central China. Two or even three crops of rice are regularly harvested in many parts.  China is the leading producer of rice in the world.  Wheat is the  major food crop in northern China.  Barley, millets, maize sweet, potatoes and soyabean are other important food crops.  Cotton tea, sugarcane, tobacco, oilseeds are important ash crops, a large variety of vegetables and fruit is also grown  in the country.
Till 1949, when the Communists came into power, most of the people in China lived in villages.  They cultivated  small plots of land in a traditional manner.  In 1958 small fields and villatges were grouped in big farms called communes. Tractors and  other farm machinery were used on many communes.
Silk production is another important occupation in China.  Silk is produced by silkworms
Catle are scarce in China.  Pig, chickens and ducks are widely reared all over the country fishing is a popular occupation with many people in southern China.
Minerals and Industries
-China is rich in several minerals, it has large reserves of good quality coal, tungsten, antimony andmagnesium.  Iron ore, copper,zinc, lead, bauxite, sulphure are some other important minerals.
-Oil has been discovered  are several  places but reserves are unknown
-Coal is most abundant. Two largest coalfields of China occur in the loess plateau of shensi and Shansi and in the Szechgwan basin
-Iron ore deposits  are found in Manchyuria, iner Mongolia, Sinkiang and near Paotow. China is one of the leading, producers of  antimony and tungsten in the world. 
Population and the People
-About 75 percent of the Chinese live in the fertile river basins of the Hwang Ho, Yangtze Kiang and Si Kiang.  In these fertile lands the average density may range from 400 to 800 persons per square kilometer. Large tracts of Tibet, Mongolia and the mountainous region are very  sparsely populated.
-Like Indians, the Chinese are a people of ancient culture and tradition.  The population consists of several races such as the Mongols, Tibetans and Huns the majority of the people and Buddhists. Some are Taoists who follow the teachings of Lao-tse.  In inner Mongolia Sinkiang and Tibet, there are also many Muslims. 
Taiwan
Taiwan is a small island which lies about 150 kilometres off the  coast of south-eastern China.  It has a separate government of its own and is often called Nationalist China.  It has population  of about  19 million rice is the  main crop of the island recently is has made progress in several industries, the capital of Taiwan is Taipei. 
Major Industrial Region of China
There are seven major industrial  regions in China.
1. Manchuria:  The  ‘Anshan-Fushun-Shenyang’ or Mukden Triangle’ has China’s greatest are for heavy industry.  The availability of both coal and iron ore is the basis of the iron and steel industry. Automobile and chemicals industry also flourish here.
2. Tianjin-Beijing (Tienstin-Peking)  Area:  Shanshi and Hebei have rich coal deposits which give  rise to the metallurgical  and engineering  industries here.  Ship-building textiles and chemicals  are important in Tianjun and light industries, textiles and machine – making in Beijing, the national capital.
3.Shanshi-Baotou Area: China’s largest coalfield, in the provinces of Shensi and Shansi and the presence of iron-ore,  with a metallic content of about 50% has contributed to iron and steel industries of such towns as Baotou, Taiyuan, and Datong.
4. Lower Chang Jiang (Yangtze Kiang)  Area: China’s oldest industrial  region. Shanghai is famous for cotton textile  mills. Some of  them are  the largest in Asia. Shanghai, being the premier part of China, also handles the bulk of the foreign trade.  There are also shipyards, oil refineries, flour mills, steel plants, engineering and metal works in the lower  Chang Jiang region.
5. Wuhan Area: In the Central Chang Jiang and Han Basin three large towns, Wuchang, Hanyang and Hankou from the conurbation of Wuhan.  The iron and Steel works here are based on Pingsiang coal and Tayeh iron ore. The Chang Jiang forms an easy means  of communication for assembling the  raw-materials and disposal of the finished products.
6.  Si. Kiang (Xi Jiang) Delta Region:  At the mouth of the Si Kiang is the port of Canton (Guangzhou) Industries including iron and steel, shipbuilding, textiles, chemicals brewing, handicrafts and food processing are important Canton is famous for Silk.  Its proximity to Hong Kong has stimulated trade and industries.
7. Sichuan (Szechwan):  Sichuan province above the Chang Jiang garge has many important industries around Chungkingand Chengu.
8. Other Industrial Cities:
i)Anning, Kiuchuan (Iron and Steel)                                         
ii)Yumen and hangzhou (Oil refining)
iii)Lanchow (Chemicals, textiles mining equipments)           
iv)Kunming (Chemicals, machinery, textiles)