Chinas Geography, Agriculture, and Industry Distribution - Assignment Example

The western part of China, the Frontier consists mainly of mountain ranges and deserts, and the quantity of rainfall it receives is low (Fairbank and Goldman, 14). China’s physical geography has very large extremes, but the land is divided into three tiers. The two highest tiers are in the Frontier, whereas the lowest tier makes up China Proper. The highest tier in west China consists of high mountain ranges. The land in West China has an elevation ranging from 6,000 to 29,029 feet (1,829 to 8,848 meters).

At the southern end of this mountain system is the Himalaya range, made up of the world’s highest mountains, including Mount Everest. The mountains ranges of west China serve as the source of all of China’s principal rivers, including the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers (Gamer, 16). The eastern parts of the west China contain the second highest tier which consists of broad basins, plateaus, and hills, with an elevation ranging from 600 to 6,000 feet (183 to 1,829 meters). The Mongolian Plateau, Tarim and Junggar basins, occupy most of the northern part of this tier.

The population here is low because the amount of rainfall is very little. Agricultural output is low also low, and the main agricultural produce is potatoes, yak, and raisin. The southern part of the tier consists of the Loess Plateau, the Yunnan Plateau, and the Sichuan Basin, with relatively higher rainfall and, consequently, a dense population. Here, potatoes and rice are produced extensively. Cotton is the main cash crop of west China (LaFleur, 8). The people of west China were traditionally nomads, who undertook little farming in oases.

As a result, livestock farming is a key component of western China’s agriculture. The main animals reared are pigs, goats, sheep, fowls, cattle and yak. East China or China Proper consists mainly of the lowest tier and a small portion of the middle tier. The land here consists mainly of lowlands and floodplains with the lowest elevation in the country, which lies below 600 feet (Gamer, 17). The rainfall here is very high, and the land supports roughly three-quarters of China’s population of 1.

3 billion people. Therefore, the population density is also high. The North China Plain, which contains the Yellow river, is in this region. These lowland plains form the heart of China’s agricultural and industrial output. China’s climate is monsoon-controlled. East China is warm and wet, whereas west China is cold and dry. This is because the summer monsoon blows hot and warm air masses over east China from the East and South China seas. On the other hand, most of west China is under the influence of the winter monsoon which blows dry, cold air masses from the northern Siberian steppe resulting in a cold and dry climate (Zhao, 45).

China Proper consists of northern and southern regions demarcated by a line running just north of the Yangtze River. Significant agricultural and industrial difference exists between the northeastern and the southeastern regions of China Proper. The geography is generally similar since both regions occur within the lowest tier of China’s geography, which is characterized by low-lying plains, but southeastern China Proper has a slightly higher elevation and rainfall than northeastern China Proper.

The Yellow River waters the plains of northeastern China Proper and the rainfall is quite high leading to a prosperous agriculture. Wheat is the staple food in this region, where it is grown in small scale on small tracts of land. The people eat it in the form of steamed bread or noodles. China’s heavy industry occurs mostly in northeastern China Proper because of the availability of large reserves of oil and coil in