The Geography of China James Engstrom Associate Professor of Geography Georgia Perimeter College Faculty/Staff Development Seminar March 28, 2008

Physical Geography Land area Landforms Climate

Continentality Land heats and cools more quickly than water The greater the distance from moderating ocean influence, the greater the extreme in summer and winter temperatures and the lower the precipitation

Population (in millions) 1950: : : : :1, :1, :1,322

Anthropogenic Landscape A landscape that has been heavily transformed by human activity 7,000 years of cultivated agriculture Han Dynasty census, 2 A.D. – 60 million people Difficult to identify native vegetation

Population Policies Early period of Communist China – women encouraged to have many children Early 1970’s – family planning 1979 – “one child per family” policy Resulted in dramatic drop in population growth Larger male population Current economic and social changes weakening its impact China undergoing a “natural” demographic transition

Language in East Asia Several closely related spoken languages in China One commonly written form shared by these spoken languages (writing appeared in China more than 3,000 years ago) Chinese uses IDEOGRAPHS (symbols representing ideas) and PHONEMIC GRAPHS (sound symbols) writing system The sounds represent the same ideas in the different Chinese spoken languages – Mandarin, Cantonese, Taiwanese, etc. 68% of population speaks Mandarin

Language in East Asia 60,000 different characters Newspaper – 2,000 – 3,000 symbols Translation systems : Wade Gales (1867), since 1970’s pinyin system increasingly used 1956 – Chinese government simplified the characters – part of effort to increase literacy Hong Kong and Taiwan still use traditional characters

Ethnicity 56 officially recognized “nationalities” in China 92% - Han Chinese Han Chinese are a blending of various groups in a composite Expansion of Chinese territory – groups

Ethnicity 55 minority groups Largest minority group – 12 million Minorities live in 60% of territory Poor, isolated Areas have important mineral resources Minority groups receive “preferential” treatment – example: population policy

Urbanization Independent rise of early urban civilizations in North China, Mesopotamia, Indus River Valley Various economic functions Most cities traditionally walled but torn down Xian – wall remains

Urbanization Beijing – Imperial Capital 19 th century – Treaty ports became important centers of international trade During first 20 years of Communist rule, urbanization was stifled Balanced urban development Hakou system of household registration Today: Unbalanced urban development – also the result of government policies

YEARURBAN POPULATION % % % % %

The Chinese State (Empire)

19 th Century – Colonial Spheres of Influence China uninterested in European products Opium war ( ) Treaty ports - gave colonizers access to and control of important trading cities Extraterritoriality Leasing agreements – Hong Kong and Macau All of these expanded the “sphere of influence” of European countries – formal power in small enclaves, but informal influence and economic clout

Political Units of China 31 first-order administrative units (provinces) - includes 4 cities 5 autonomous regions – little political autonomy, significant cultural autonomy 2 Special Administrative Regions (SAR’s) – Hong Kong and Macau Economically defined units – Special Economic Zones, open cities, etc.

Most populated provinces PROVINCEPopulation 2003 Shandong91.3 million Sichuan87.0 million Guangdong79.5 million Jiangsu74.1 million Hebei67.7 million Hunan66.6 million

Economic Reforms in China – c – present agriculture – move to household (not the collective) as basic unit of agricultural production “township enterprises” Special Economic Zones (SEZ’s) - free trade zones established mainly along the southeastern coast Laboratories of free-enterprise capitalism Southeastern coastal areas of China experience economic boom “Beachfront property” – access to East Asian and global trade networks Hong Kong and Macau returned to China – under “one country, two systems” policy

“RUNNING A LARGE COUNTRY IS LIKE COOKING A SMALL FISH” Laozi, 6 th century BC?