East Asia has about 1.5 billion people–about 25 percent of the world’s population. Among the region’s major ethnic groups are the Han Chinese, Tibetan, Japanese, Korean, and Mongolian.

Because much of East Asia is barren or mountainous, the region’s population is unevenly distributed.

More than 90 percent of China’s population lives on less than 20 percent of the land. In the East on coastal plains and in river valleys.

The interior steppes of Mongolia are home to only four people per square mile.

The tiny island nation of Taiwan, on the other hand, is crowded because space is limited.

In Japan, forested mountains cover the central part of the country. Most Japanese are crowded along the coast.

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In recent decades, many Chinese and South Koreans have moved from rural areas to cities. Steady migration from rural villages to cities has led to urban overcrowding and farm labor shortages in the countryside. The Chinese government hopes that newly built rural towns with more social services will encourage people to stay on their farms.

Since 1979, the Chinese government used the One Child Policy. This policy is not followed by all Chinese, but it has helped slow population growth.

China is the world’s oldest continuous civilization. As a result of its geography (the long distances that separate it from Europe and other continents) China followed its own direction.

China has been a settled society for more than 4,000 years. China was first made up of a number of stone age societies and then it was ruled by dynasties. Dynasty - is a series of rulers from the same family.

The first was the Shang followed by the Zhou.

The next significant dynasty was the Qin (Chihn) Whom gave their name to China. In 221 BC the Qin united a number of small states under a strong central government. This Chinese empire would last more than 2,000 years and build the Great Wall and the Terra Cotta Army.

The Han, Ming and Qing (Chihng) Dynasties would follow, ruling from the Forbidden City. Outside influence would weaken these empires.

China’s isolation ended in the 13th century. At that time European travelers began to visit China. Marco Polo would venture from Venice, Italy to China and write a book about his adventures called “The Travels of Marco Polo.”

By the 1600s, western Europe had developed shipping routes to Asia, hoping to share in the region’s rich trade in tea and silk. China, Japan, and Korea initially rejected Western efforts to enter their markets. China’s weak military and ineffective government was forced to sign a series of treaties and by the late 1800’s large areas of China were carved up into Spheres of Influence, controlled by Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and Japan.

The Silk Road was an Early trade route between China and the West.

This outside control angered China which burst forth in the Boxer Rebellion of 1900. The end of the dynasties and the Chinese empire would come about 1911 when the Nationalist overthrew the Qing Dynasty.

The Qing dynasty attempted to reform the Chinese government but it was too late. Many individuals wanted to form a republic. In 1912 Sun Yat-sen founded the Kuomintang, or Nationalist Party. The republic however would be undermined by civil war. When Sun Yat-sen died Chang Kai-shek took control over the Nationalist party. His troops fought against warlords and united much of the country.

Throughout the 1920’s and 1930’s the Communist Party became an increasingly powerful force in China.

In 1949, under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the Communists defeated the Nationalists. Mao and the Communists ruled the mainland of China (now called the People’s Republic of China).

Chang Kai-shek and the Nationalists fled to the island of Taiwan.

In 1976 a moderate would come to power, in 1993 they would get their first president, and in 1998 their first premier. These more recent leaders have focused on economy.

In the A.D. 400s, Japan’s clans, or family groups, united under the Yamato Clan. Yamato emperors adopted China’s writing system, philosophy, and governmental structure. Professional soldiers called samurai served the great landowners and clan chiefs.

In 1192, after a struggle between two powerful clans, the Japanese emperor created the position of shogun. The shogun was the general of the emperor’s army with the powers of a military dictator.

In 1853, the shoguns received Commodore Matthew Perry from the United States. Perry’s arrival ended Japan’s isolation. During the late 1800s, Japan’s government began bringing Japan into the modern age.

In the first part of the 1900s, Japan expanded its empire through diplomacy and military force.

In the 1930’s the western world was occupied with War in Europe. Japan attempted to expand its empire into China. As a result the United States set up an embargo on oil exports to Japan. This caused the Japanese to decide to commence the planned takeover of oil supplies in pacific.

On December 7, 1941, the Japanese made a surprise attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The attack brought the United States into World War II. The war ended with Japan’s defeat and surrender in 1945.

After its defeat in World War II, Japan lost all these acquisitions but rebuilt its economy and is today a global economic power. Japan became a democracy with a parliamentary government.

The ancestors of today’s Koreans probably migrated into the peninsula from Manchuria & North China. Over the course of centuries different clans or tribes controlled different parts of the country. Around 100 B.C. China conquered the northern half of the peninsula. This began the history of invasions by China and Japan. Because of its location, Korea has been a buffer between the two. The Koreans would gradually win back the land conquered by the Chinese.

In 1392 a general by the name of Yi Songgye became ruler of Korea. The dynasty he would found would last until 1910 (when Japan took control of the entire peninsula). The Japanese would control the peninsula until they were defeated in WWII.

After Japan’s defeat in the war the Northern part was controlled by the Soviet Union and the southern half was supported by the U.S. In 1950 Korean troops from the North invaded the South starting the Korean War. The war ended three years later with a treaty that divided the peninsula into two countries, one communist, the other democratic. They remained hostile for decades but in 2000 they began discussion about reuniting.

Most of the people in Taiwan were originally settlers from China, Malay, and Polynesia. The Manchu Dynasty (of China) conquered Taiwan in 1683.

The Japanese would seize Taiwan (then called Formosa) after winning a war with China in 1895. Japan would keep it until their defeat in WWII. Then Chinese Nationalists took control of the island as part of their fight with the communists for control of the mainland. When they lost power to the communists in 1949 they moved their government to Taiwan. There they established the Republic of China. However, The People’s Republic of China has never recognized Taiwan as a separate country.

The Mongols were Nomadic Herders for thousands of years. Genghis Khan (Which means supreme conqueror) united the Mongol Clan in the 1200’s the continued to conquer all of Central Asia.

However by the 1300’s the Mongol empire began to break up. Eventually the Chinese would come to rule Mongolia in 17th century. It was not until 1911 before Mongolians would finally be able to push them out.

Under Russian influence, Mongolia became the Mongolian People’s Republic in 1924. For about 72 years, the soviets ruled Mongolia. Around 1989 they began moving toward political democracy and free-enterprise economy.

East Asians speak languages from several language families. More than 1.2 billion people in China speak Sino-Tibetan languages, which include Chinese and Tibetan.

Chinese languages use ideograms –pictures or symbols that stand for ideas.Each ideogram has one meaning. When two or more are combined, they take on a new meaning. Spoken Chinese languages also depend on tone or pitch. Syllables can change meaning depending on their spoken intonation.

Although the Japanese language developed in isolation, experts believe it may be distantly related to Korean and Mongolian. Japan’s first writing system was based on Chinese characters. In more recent times, Western languages, such as English, have influenced the Korean and Japanese languages.

Traditional religions and philosophies in East Asia include Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism.

Confucianism was founded by Confucius a Chinese philosopher who believed in respect for one’s past and for one’s ancestors. He thought in an orderly society, children should obey their parents and parents should obey the government or emperor. He also stressed educations. His teachings about order, education, and hierarchy in a well-ordered society make up Confucianism.

Taoism is based on the teachings of Lao-tzu who believed in the importance of preserving and restoring harmony in the individual and in the universe. He also thought government should leave the people alone and do as little as possible. A key belief in Taoism is that individuals should seek harmony with nature.

Buddhism came to China from India. Meditation and rebirth are important ideas to this religion.

Buddhism

• 4th largest religion in the world• Founded in Northern India by the first known

Buddha in 535 BC• Reincarnation is a fundamental belief; where

one travels through cycles similar to that of a leaf. If a person releases their attachment to desire and self, they can attain Nirvana. (a state of liberation and freedom from suffering.

Buddhist Pagodas (temples)

Shintoism is an ancient Japanese religion that emphasizes reverence for nature.

Christianity is widespread in Korea.

Communist governments in China and North Korea discourage all religious practices. In Tibet, the Chinese government has placed harsh restrictions on the Buddhist population.

The Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leader, leads a worldwide movement in support of Tibetan rights from his place of exile in neighboring India.

East Asians value learning. Today elementary education is free throughout the region, and opportunities for higher education have greatly expanded. Japan, Taiwan, and the Koreas have literacy rates of 95 percent or higher. China and Mongolia have literacy rates of 82 percent.

Communist countries generally provide free health care. As China moves toward a market economy, however, its government no longer guarantees equal access to health care. Many East Asians rely on both Western medicine and traditional herbal medicines. Centuries-old techniques like acupuncture are widely accepted around the world.

Many East Asians maintain vegetarian diets or get protein from fish. In recent years, Western foods, such as beef and dairy products, have become popular. As a result, heart disease and high blood pressure are on the rise in the region.

Traditional East Asian sports include several varieties of martial arts. Baseball is also very popular, particularly in Japan. East Asian holidays celebrate religious beliefs, seasonal changes, and historical events. Parades and ceremonies, such as those marking the New Year, are common.

In ancient China and Japan, poetry and prose literature described human relationships and the beauty of nature.

East Asian music is based on a five-tone scale with a melody line but no harmony. Forms of drama include Japanese Kabuki and Chinese opera.

East Asian artists are known for landscape paintings. The Japanese also create vivid prints using carved wooden blocks. Other Japanese art forms include origami, or artistically folded paper objects, the tea ceremony, and formal landscaping.

Chinese porcelain has been admired throughout the world for centuries. Buddhist temples throughout East Asia contain sculptures in stone, bronze, or jade.

Brick, wood, and stone are commonly used building materials in East Asia. Bamboo is important in the architecture of Japan and southern China.

Japanese pop culture includes anime and fashion. One well known fashion district is Harajuku, here the Japanese express their individuality.

When the Communist Party came to power it promised to modernize China by encouraging the growth of industry. For the next 20 years they tried to do this by planning all economic activities. That approach led to more failures than successes. Since the 1980’s China has allowed the consumers and the marketplace play a role in the economy. Communist-ruled China and democratic Mongolia have been moving toward mixed economies (with both command and market features).

North Korea, with one of the world’s few remaining command economies, is less economically developed.

In the past 50 years, most East Asian countries have shifted from rural-based agricultural economies to urban-based industrial economies.

Since the 1960s, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan have become important industrial and trading countries. They are known as Economic Tigers because of their aggressive exports and cheap labor. Together they make up an area known as the Jakota Triangle.

East Asian countries have become more interdependent with one another and the rest of the world. Japan must import raw materials from which it makes its export products.

China actively seeks international trade partners, but many countries disapprove of its treatment of Chinese citizens who speak out against government policies. As a result, these countries restrict trade with China.

Commercial shipping is important to East Asia’s export trade.

Japan and Taiwan have nationwide highway and rail networks. Japan has eased traffic congestion by investing in an efficient rapid transit system.

In Mongolia most roads are still unpaved.

In China railroads and rivers are used for long distance travel. The Bicycle is a popular form of transportation in the cities.

Japanese, Taiwanese, and South Korean citizens enjoy easy access to the Internet and good telephone systems Most people own televisions and radios and read print materials of all kinds. In China and North Korea, the government controls the media and limits citizens’ access to information on the Internet.

The Worst Building in the History of Mankind

• It's the Ryugyong Hotel in North Korea, where the world's 22nd largest skyscraper has been vacant for two decades and is likely to stay that way ... forever.

• Even by Communist standards, the 3,000-room hotel is hideously ugly, a series of three gray 328-foot long concrete wings shaped into a steep pyramid. With 75 degree sides that rise to an apex of 1,083 feet, the Hotel of Doom (also known as the Phantom Hotel and the Phantom Pyramid) isn't the just the worst designed building in the world -- it's the worst-built building, too. In 1987, Baikdoosan Architects and Engineers put its first shovel into the ground and more than twenty years later, after North Korea poured more than two percent of its gross domestic product to building this monster, the hotel remains unoccupied, unopened, and unfinished.

A picture doesn't lie -- the one-hundred-and-five-story Ryugyong Hotel is hideous, dominating the Pyongyang skyline like some twisted North Korean version of Cinderella's castle. Not that you would be able to tell from the official government photos of the North Korean capital -- the hotel is such an eyesore, the Communist regime routinely covers it up, airbrushing it to make it look like it's open -- or Photoshopping or cropping it out of pictures completely.

Jedi