Population,
Culture, and Economy: The distribution
of Asia's huge population is governed by climate
and topography, with the monsoons and the fertile
alluvial plains determining the areas of greatest
density. Such are the Ganges plains of India and
the Chang (Yangtze) and northern plains of China,
the small alluvial plains of Japan, and the fertile
volcanic soils of the Malay Archipelago. Urbanization
is greatest in the industrialized regions of Japan,
Korea, and Taiwan, but huge urban centers are to
be found throughout the continent.
Almost two thirds of Asia's indigenous population
is of Mongolic stock. Major religions are Hinduism
(in India); Theravada Buddhism (in Sri Lanka, Myanmar,
Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos); Lamaism,
or Tibetan Buddhism (in Mongolia and China, particularly
Tibet); East Asian Buddhism (in China and Korea,
mixed with Confucianism, shamanism, and Taoism;
in Japan mixed with Shinto and Confucianism); Islam
(in SW and S Asia, W central Asia, and Indonesia);
and Catholicism (in the Philippines, East Timor,
and Vietnam).
Subsistence hunting and fishing economies prevail
in the forest regions of N and S Asia, and nomadic
pastoralism in the central and southwestern regions,
while industrial complexes and intensive rice
cultivation are found in the coastal plains and
rivers of S and E Asia. Because of extremes in
climate and topography, less than 10% of Asia
is under cultivation. Rice, by far the most important
food crop, is grown for local consumption in the
heavily populated countries (e.g., China, India,
Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Japan), while countries
with smaller populations (Thailand, Vietnam, and
Pakistan) are generally rice exporters. Other
important crops are wheat, soybeans, peanuts,
sugarcane, cotton, jute, silk, rubber, tea, and
coconuts.
Although Asia's economy is predominantly agricultural,
regions where power facilities, trained labor,
modern transport, and access to raw materials
are available have developed industrially. Japan,
China, Russian Asia, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey,
and Israel are distinguished for their industrialization.
China and India are making considerable strides
in this direction. The most spectacular industrialization
has occurred in Japan and the “Four Little
Dragons”—Taiwan, Korea, Singapore,
and Hong Kong. The economies of Thailand, Indonesia,
and South China are booming thanks to Japanese
investment in plants and to cheap indigenous labor.
The development of railroads is greatest in the
industrialized countries, with Japan, India, China,
and Russian Asia having the greatest track mileage.
Also contributing greatly to the income of many
Asian countries are vital mineral exports—petroleum
in SW Asia, Russian Asia, and Indonesia and tin
in Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. Asia's other
valuable mineral exports include manganese from
India and chromite from Turkey and the Philippines;
China produces great amounts of tungsten, antimony,
coal, and oil.
