1. POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY OF SOUTH ASIA

3. HISTORY Oldest continuous civilization -4,000 + years old
Invented gunpowder,
compasses, paper,
printing, porcelain,
& silk cloth

4. HISTORY, CON’T. Promoted isolation until 1800s Europeans forced China
-built Great Wall of China
to keep Mongol
invaders out
Europeans forced China
to trade with them
-created colonial cities

5. HISTORY, CON’T. -sought to modernize & Communist Party took
control in 1949
-sought to modernize &
industrialize China
-est. a command economy
-outlawed religion

6. GREAT WALL OF CHINA Begun by emperor Shi Huangdi in 220 B.C.
A series of walls
connected over time
-from Yellow Sea to
Gobi Desert
Offered protection, but
also caused isolation

7. CHINA TODAY Most populated country Still communist Emerging economic
-1.4 billion people
-70% live in the east
Still communist
Emerging economic
superpower
-has eased command
economy lately

8. CHINA’S ECONOMY Fastest growing economy in world -based on cheap labor
-has natural resources
needed for industry
-USA’s biggest rival