ASIAN STUDIES

(Term Paper)
By:
LALPUOT, CHERRIE
BSE-2
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. INTRODUCTION OF ASIAN STUDIES

II. IMPORTANCE OF KNOWING ASIA
III. GEOGRAPHY OF ASIA
IV. REGIONS AND COUNTRIES OF ASIA
V. ASIA’S CLIMATE AND ECOSYSTEM
VI. ASIA’S LANDFORMS
VII. WONDER’S OF ASIA
VIII. ASIA’S PEOPLE AND THEIR RACES
IX. ASIAN CIVILIZATION
INTRODUCTION

As being part of college life, we encountered a lot of different courses and

subject when we enter into college. There are lot of things that we must need to
learn, a lot of subject needs to be enrolled. One of those subjects or course that we
must take is the ASIAN STUDIES most specially for the students who’s taking
Bachelor of Secondary Education major in Social Studies. Asian studies offers a
great insight into Asian culture covering areas of business and economy. It also
encompasses the geography, history, and language of the area as well as the
religions and also the study of modern culture.

History is when we speak of the totality of all past events written

chronologically. We study history to uncover mysteries and give light to intriguing
questions that have sparked our innate quest for the truth. Meanwhile, culture is that
complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, arts, moral laws, custom and any
other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society. (E. Tylor) And
during the 18th century, “civilization” is meant as cultural refinement which is the
opposite of the term barbarism. But the 19 th century, “civilization” is meant as a large
scale society. When we talked about the small scale societies, it talks about the tribal
societies composed of small band of people. While medium scale societies, it is a
cluster of villages united under a confederation or chiefdom. In a civilization, at least
some of the inhabitants live in large or one communities and linked by network of
social economic and cultural ties and buy large unified under a central political
control. It is an advanced state of society possessing historical and cultural unity. It is
characterized by the possession of an effective technology, big population centers,
foreign trades, religion and etc.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO STUDY ASIA?

We are Asian so we must know our continent very well. It is important that
Filipino must know the roots and historical past and to understand our origin and
heritage. Asia is home to the world's earliest civilization and to half of the world's
population. Studying the culturally and historically diverse areas of Asia provide
opportunities for student to discover new global perspectives. It's indigenous cultures
pioneered many practices that have been integral to societies for centuries, such as
agriculture, city planning, religion, as long as ethnicity and race of people living on it.
The social and political geography of the continent continues to inform and influence
the rest of the world.

GEOGRAPHY OF ASIA

Asia can be divided into five major physical regions; mountain system,
plateaus, plain, steppes, and deserts, freshwater environments and saltwater
environments. Asia is the largest continent in both size and population. It covers
almost third of the world's land area with 17 million square miles and has about 3/5
of it’s people. Asia makes up the eastern portion of the Eurasian supercontinent,
Europe occupies the western portion. The border between the two continents is
debated. However, most geographers define Asia’s western borders as an indirect
line that follows the Ural mountain, the Caucasus mountains, and the Caspian and
Black seas. Asia is bordered by the Arctic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. Asia is known
as the home of Eastern or Oriental philosophy. Also refers as “distinct landmass” or
“continuous landmass”.

REGIONS AND COUNTRIES OF ASIA

The Asia world, as we know it today, is divided into five sub regions which are
based on the relation of countries to location and for the sake of expediency.

1. WEST ASIA. It is part of the three eco regions that incorporated a variety of
ecosystems. The region is predominantly arid desert like depressions. It is
also known as middle east or near east due to its proximity to Europe. Most of
the countries was part of the Islamic world and majority are Muslims except
for Israel. Their chief source of income was oil and livestock. The countries
belong to this region are:
  Bahrain – Land of Two Seas
 Iran – Land of the Great Persian Empire
 Israel – The Promised Land
 Kuwait – Landmark of Historical Desert Storm
 Oman – Tiny Kingdom of Powerful Monarchs
 Syria – Land of Saladin
 UAE – Seat of the Seven Sheikdoms
 Cyprus – Fertile Island of Mediterranean
 Iraq – Land of Famous Twin Rivers
 Jordan – Birthplace of Judaism and Christianity
 Lebanon – Harbinger of an Ancient Civilizations
 Saudi Arabia – Home of the Islam
 Turkey – Land of the Ottoman Empire
 Yemen – Land of Sheba

2. NORTH OR CENTRAL ASIA. It is a sub region of Asia that stretches from the
Caspian sea in the southwest and eastern Europe in the northwest to western
china and Mongolia in the east and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to
Russia in north. This is known as young independent nations, they are
commonly referred to as the nomadic people of the steppes and are
dependent on their livestock for economy and oil. The countries belong to this
region are;
 Turkmenistan – Land of the Turkish Farmers
 Kazakhstan – Land of Promising Oil
 Uzbekistan – Center of Ancient Silk Road
 Tajikistan – Rebel State of USSR
 Kyrgyzstan

3. SOUTH ASIA. This is often referred as sub continent of India. The countries
included are integrated by a common history and tradition. These are;
 Bangladesh – Land of Bengalis
  India – Land of the Indus
 Pakistan – Land of the Pure
 Maldives – Tiny Islands
 Bhutan – Land of the Thunder Dragons
 Nepal – Land of the Great Himalaya
 Sri Lanka – Land of the Jewels
 Afghanistan – Highways of Ancient Invaders

4. EAST ASIA. It is also called far east. Most of the people are of Mongolian
stuck and they referred to as Sino-civilization. The countries belong to this
region are;
 China – Sleeping Tiger of Asia
 North Korea – East Asia’s Red Dragon
 South Korea – Rising Industrialized Country of Korean Peninsula
 Japan – Land of Rising Sun
 Hong Kong – World Trading Center
 Taiwan – Nation Struggling for it’s Identity

5. SOUTHEAST ASIA. It is a vast region of Asia that is situated east of the

Indian subcontinent and south of China. It consists of two dissimilar portions;
a continental projection or commonly called mainland southeast Asia, and a
string of archipelagos to the south and east mainland or the insular Southeast
Asia. This is our own beloved country belongs. Other countries belong to this
region are;
 Brunei – Richest Nation in the Southeast
 Philippines – Pearl of the Southeast
 Indonesia – World’s largest Archipelago
 Malaysia – Land of the Malays
 Singapore – Land of the shipbuilders
 Vietnam – Tiny Dragon of Southeast Asia
 Cambodia – Land of the Khmers
 Laos – Land of Million Elephants
  Myanmar – Land of Golden Pagodas
 Thailand – Land of the free

ASIA’S CLIMATE AND ECOSYSTEM

Climate is a long term effect of the sun's radiation on the rotating Earth’s
varying surface and atmosphere. The major climate regions of Asia are the tropical
climates, subtropical climate, temperate climate, polar climate and highland climate.

ARID is a little or no rain, it is also to dry or barren to support vegetation.

Semi-arid is a dry but having slightly more rain than an arid region or climate.
DESSERT is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and
consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. TUNDRA is a type
of biome where the tree is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing
seasons. DRY ASIA is a little to no rainfalls, limited arable lands mostly near desert
oasis. One of the parts are Middle east and Central Asia. In MONSOON ASIA, the
seasonal changes in wind direction bring rains from one area to another and it
greatly affects the ecosystem of the regions. The monsoon was heavily felt in Indian
subcontinent and Burma were the amount of rainfall was not measured in cubic
inches but in cubic feet.

ASIA’S LANDFORMS

The Himalayas and Tibetan plateau, they shield air masses from central Asia
this it cannot reach most of south Asia while heavy rainfall of northern India never
reaches central Asia.

Natural resources can be defined as the resources that exist independent of

human actions. This resources are found in the environment and are developed
without the intervention of humans. This includes minerals resources, coal, natural
gas, mineral oil, soil, water, forest, and etc. mineral resources is appear inorganic
substance that occurs naturally in the earth's crust. Examples are coal, uranium,
iron, gold, diamond and many more.

Rice can be produced most especially in southeast Asia with heavy rainfall
and warm climate. Meanwhile, wheat is more widely produced in Pakistan, India and
China. China is the third largest producer of wheat in the world. Tea is a price
commodity of the Europeans during the ancient silk trading and an essential Asian
drink. Ginseng is a source of health and vigor, medicine and is mainly produced in
Korea.

WONDERS OF ASIA

Asia’s natural wonders run to superlatives couple with magnificent cultural

structures built by people having been acquired advanced stage of cultural
development. Here are the list of all worlds most fascinating cultural landscapes and
natural wonders that make Asia proud.

 MT EVEREST – 29,028 ft. , highest peak in the world

 MT FUJI – For the Japanese it is a sacred mountain, home of the gods
that is widely recognized as the perfect emblem for Japan.
 BAY OF BENGAL – World’s largest bay
 DEAD SEA – Lowest continental altitude
 CASPIAN SEA – World’s largest lake
 BALI, BORACAY, PHUKET – Finest beaches in the world
 LAKE BAIKAL – Deepest lake
 INDONESIA – Largest archipelago
 NEW GUINEA AND BORNEO – largest island in the world next to
Greenland
 GREAT WALL OF CHINA – 2700 km long. Built during Ming Dynasty
 TAJ MAHAL – it was built by Shah Jahan in memory of his wife
Mumtaz Mahal.
 BOROBODUR – Largest Buddhist temple in the world
 ANGKOR WAT – Khmer architecture in Cambodia. Originally
dedicated to Vishnu and Lord Buddha.
 WAT ARUN – Buddhist temple in Thailand
  BANAUE RICE TERRACES – It is found here in the Philippines. It is
built around 2000 years ago and it is more 20000 km if put to end to
end and 8 times longer than the great wall of China.

ASIA’S PEOPLE AND THEIR RACES

Asia is where people of different races of man meet, fought, trade and
intermarriage which contributed to the modification and diversity of cultural and
linguistic patterns in the continent far more complex than other continent.

The YELLOW or MONGOLOID race in China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and

Taiwan.

The BROWN or MALAYAN race represented by the Malaysian, Indonesian,

Filipinos and Cambodians.

The BLACK or NEGROID race that includes the Tamils of India, Aetas of the
Philippines and Semangs of Indonesia .

The CAUCASIAN race with Indo-European or Aryans of India, Iran, and

Afghanistan and the semitic people of west Asia.

ASIAN CIVILIZATION

In Asia, there are a lot of civilizations existed. One of that is the Chinese
civilization. Approximately 4,000 years ago and similar to the civilizations in
Mesopotamia, Egypt and India, China also emerged along the fertility lands between
two great river systems. During this civilian , they believed in PANGU whom they
considered as the creator of the universe. In this civilization, different dynasties were
emerged.

Xian dynasty is the first ever Chinese dynasty. During Shang Dynasty, writing
systems are found on shells of tortoise and during this time use of Bronze
metallurgy existed. The longest dynasty in the history of China that lasted for almost
900 years was the dynasty of Zhou, wherein the theory of the dynasty was that they
ruled because they are mandated of heaven.

The development of the Chinese philosophy and society brought an influence

to the history of China. Confucius, Meng Zi, Lau Tzu, and Mo Zi are some of the
famous philosophers during this era. During the Qin dynasty, the great wall was built.
Invention of paper, porcelain, gun powder, and wheelbarrow were also emerged
during Han dynasty. Tang, Sung, Yuan, Ming, are also one of the many dynasties
during the Chinese Civilization. And during this civilization, there are also some of
remarkable happenings in the history of China.

The OPIUM WAR began when Chinese government tried to stop the illegal
importation of opium by British merchants. The first opium war started when the
Chinese government confiscated opium in British warehouses in Guangzhou. The
second opium war started when the Guangzhou police boarded the British ship
arrow and charge its crew with smuggling.

The CHINESE REVOLUTION OF 1911 is happened when the Chinese

nationalist decided to overthrew the Manchu Dynasty and its image of old China with
the constitutional and democratic government.

The TIANMEN SQUARE INCIDENT occurs during May 1989, Chinese

students, young workers gathered at the former imperial palace to discuss economic
issues and freedom became political rallies and demonstration that reached about
100,000 people as the loudest and biggest mass action in modern Chinese history.

ZHAO ZIYANG is an incident where people's liberation army units entered the
capital, attacked all the protesters killing 5000, wounded 10,000 and thousands
arrested while others seek political asylum.

In learning Asian Studies, there are a lot of things that we can learn and apply
to our everyday life. In learning Asian Studies, it made me more become interested
in own motherland that pushes me more to dig and read about it. We as a Filipino, a
people from Southeast Asia, we must obliged to really study about our own land not
only because it is a subject on school but because we are one of the people living on
it.

REFERENCES:

ASIAN CIVILIZATION BOOK (APAYAO STATE COLLEGE)

Asian Studies (2023) Why study about Asia? https:www.siue.com

Asia: Human Geography , https:/www. National geographic.org

West Asia .www.IUNC.org