The largest country is China, whose landscape is diverse and is criss-crossed by mountains, plateaus, hilly countries and deserts. The mountains include the Altai Mountains, the Daba Mountains, the Helan Mountains and the Taihang Mountains. The most important rivers in China include the 6,400 km long Yangtze River, which is the longest in Asia, the Yellow River (4,800 km), the Xi Jiang (2,200 km) and the Mekong River (approx. 4,500 km).
The province of Taiwan, also known as Taiwan, is located on the east coast of China and is about the size of the state of Baden-Württemberg. The island lies on the edge of the Pacific ring of fire, which causes earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Otherwise, Taiwan has to deal with strong monsoons in winter and typhoons in summer. The climate is accordingly subtropical.
Korea as a whole is a peninsula divided into two countries, North Korea and South Korea. While South Korea is a republic, North Korea is – according to its own statements – a democratic republic, but is governed dictatorially. The country in the north isolates itself from the rest of the world, which is why no ordinary trips are possible there. Both Korean countries are crossed by mountain ranges (the highest point is 2,744 meters). In the east, south and west, the two countries border the Japanese Sea, the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea.
Located in the far east with Japan in terms of area fourth largest island state in the world. Japan has over 6,800 islands, of which Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu and Okinawa are the four main islands. The archipelago is crossed by a mountain range that makes up over two thirds of the Japanese landmass. Japan is surrounded by the Pacific, the Japanese Sea, the East China Sea, the Philippine Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk.
Let’s take a quick look at Macau and Hong Kong. Both cities are special administrative zones located on the south coast of China. While Macau is now connected to the mainland by landfill, Hong Kong has a further 263 islands in addition to a peninsula.
South Korea
According to best-medical-schools, South Korea has only one country border, namely that of North Korea. It is 243 km long. The other borders are the Japanese Sea in the east, the Yellow Sea in the west and the East China Sea in the south. The area of South Korea is 99,392 km².
With a population of 49,024,737, the population density is 489 people per square kilometer. South Korea is a presidential republic, the president of which is Lee Myung-bak. Prime Minister Chung Un-chan is the head of government. The capital of South Korea is Seoul.
There are many mountains in South Korea, 70 percent of the country is mountainous. In the southeast and on the west coast there are plains interspersed with hills. Most of the residents live here. Many landscapes are forested. There are four major rivers in South Korea. These are the Nakdonggang, the Hanggang, the Geumgang and the Seomjingang.
The longest river is 525 kilometers long and originates from the mountain Taebaek. The Nakdonggang flows into the Japanese Sea at Busan. The second longest river, the slope is 514 kilometers long, also rises on the Taebaek. It flows into the yellow sea as a border river. The Geumgang is 401 kilometers long and the shortest of the four most important rivers in South Korea is the Seomjingang with 212 kilometers.
Since South Korea is surrounded by the sea on three sides, it has a coastline of 2,413 kilometers. There are around 4,400 islands off the coast of South Korea, of which only around 500 are inhabited. The largest island is called Jejudo and is about 150 kilometers south of the southwestern coast. It has a size of around 1846 km².
Around 200,000 Chinese live in South Korea. The rest of the population is largely homogeneous.
Education is very important in South Korea, which is already evident in the pre-school sector. There were 901 preschools across the country in 1980. In 2003 there were already 8,292. Kindergarten places for socially weak parents are subsidized. Attendance at the 6-year elementary school and the three-year middle school is mandatory and 99.7 percent of the students switch to high school.
Taiwan, China
Taiwan is an island and is located off the Chinese mainland. In the past, the island was often called Formosa. The Portuguese seafarers gave it this name, it means something like beautiful island.
The island has been called Taiwan in China since the 16th century. The capital of Taiwan is Taipei. This island extends over 35,801 km². It can therefore be compared to Baden-Württemberg, because Baden-Württemberg has only 35,752 km².
The island of Taiwan is 394km long and the maximum width is 144km. Almost 23 million people live in Taiwan. The official language in Taiwan is Mandarin Chinese, since Taiwan belongs to China. Most of the residents speak Taiwanese.
The climate in Taiwan is partly tropical, partly subtropical. For this reason, the island was well forested.
But especially during the Second World War, when the island was occupied by Japan, the forest was cleared by them because the wood was needed for military purposes and for building shrines. Taiwan is now 55% forest that has been reforested.
The first traces of people in Taiwan date from around 4000 BC. Various points, for example in linguistics and in culture, closely resemble the traces from the first millennium AD to those found in China. However, there was hardly any connection to China until the 17th century. The people of Taiwan traded with the Chinese, but also with the islands in the south. From 1895 Taiwan was under Japanese rule, which ended in 1945. The legal status of Taiwan is still unclear.
The 23 million people who live in Taiwan today consist of 84 percent Taiwanese. The rest are mainland Chinese. Taiwan tries to promote tourism. National parks are established in which relaxation, scientific research and nature conservation are to be agreed. The first national park was founded in 1984.
