SOUTHEAST ASIA, OCEANIA AND ANTARCTICA
A R E G I O N O F E X T R E M E S
SOUTHEAST ASIA: MAINLAND AND ISLANDS
Mainland Southeast Asia
Indochinese Peninsula – south of China (rectangular shape)
Malay Peninsula – narrow strip of land, 700 miles long (serves as a bridge between mainland and islands)
Islands of Southeast Asia
Archipelago – set of closely grouped islands
Philippines and islands of Indonesia are part of Malay peninsula
SOUTHEAST ASIA:MAINLAND AND ISLANDS
Mountains & Volcanoes
Mainland - several mountain ranges
Islands – most mountains are of volcanic origin
Rivers & Coastlines
Mainland – several large rivers
Ex. Mekong River – begins in China
Resources
Fertile soil – valuable resource
petroleum, tin, and gems
Australia
New Zealand
Pacific Islands
LANDS OF THE PACIFIC AND ANTARCTICA More than 20,000 islands
Oceania – group of pacific islands (the Philippines, Indonesia, and other islands near the mainland are not considered part of Oceania because their people have cultural ties to Asia)
Oceania’s Many Islands
Number of islands constantly changes
High Islands – created by volcanoes
Low Islands – made of coral reefs
New Zealand
North Island
Fertile farmland, forest, seaports, many river
South Island
300 mile long mountain range – Southern Alps
LANDS OF THE PACIFIC AND ANTARTICAAustraliaSmallest continent/also the flattestVery few riversRich in minerals (leading supplier of bauxite, diamonds, opals, lead, and coral reef)Great Barrier Reef – 1,250 mile chain of more than 2,500 reefs and islandsIcy Antarctica 5th largest continentCentered on South Pole
CLIMATE AND VEGETATION
Every climate zone is represented
Southeast Asia
Tropical wet climates are typical of the islands and coastal parts of SE Asia
One of the greatest diversities of vegetation of any region (tree species)
Oceania
Tropical Wet and Dry
Australia and New Zealand
Moderate climates
1/3 of Australia is desert – The Outback
Antarctica
Coldest, driest continent
Icecap climate
“The White Desert” – little precipitation, dry air, and its icy temperatures do not allow it to hold moisture
HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONTraveling the Pacific
Pacific Islanders navigated the ocean by using charts of sticks and shells and the stars.
Voyaging Canoes – developed by Pacific Islanders to sail the vast ocean. These canoes had double hulls that made the craft stable and gave it the ability to carry lots of weight.
Outrigger canoe – used on island lagoons
INVASION OF THE RABBITS
1859 – Thomas Austin released 24 rabbits into Australia so he could hunt them
1900 – Australia had more than a billion rabbits
Wiped out native plants, destroyed crops, ruined pastures, and stripped areas of vegetation
NUCLEAR TESTING
1940s and 1950s, the US conducted 66 nuclear tests in the Pacific
In the Marshall Islands of the central Pacific lies Bikini Atoll
Atoll – ring-like coral island or string of small islands surrounding a lagoon
Bikini Atoll – site of the U.S. atomic-weapons tests.
US chose Bikini for testing because it lay far away from regular shipping and air travel routes
1946 – the government moved the 167 Bikini Islanders to another atoll and conducted two atomic-weapons tests
1951-1958 – US Government held about 60 more tests there
Bravo – code name for a hydrogen bomb that vaporized several islands
and contaminated the entire area with high levels of radiation
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