1. Southeast Asia Geography

2. Physical Geography  Southeast Asia has two kinds of countries: mainland and island. Indonesia and the Philippines are islands that were once connected by land bridges. Melting glaciers caused the sea level to rise 6,000 years ago, covering up land bridges and creating these separate islands.  The mainland countries are part of the Asia continent and include Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos. Of these, only Laos sits entirely inland, with no coasts. A strait connects the Indian and Pacific Oceans on either side of the Malay Peninsula.  Sediment deposits from rivers in Thailand’s Central Plain create fertile soil for rice farming.  Southeast Asia has a tropical climate. Typhoons can take place because of the wet monsoon season.  Southeast Asia’s island countries include Indonesia and the Philippines. They sit on the Ring of Fire and have many active volcanoes. Undersea earthquakes can cause a tsunami. In 2004, a tsunami near Sumatra killed at least 225,000 people.

3. Wat Arun Temple, Bangkok, Thailand A spire of the Wat Arun Temple rises above the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok, Thailand. About 225 miles in length, the Chao Phraya River is the main waterway in Thailand. It flows through the country's rich central plain. Near Bangkok, the river has a delta plain that floods annually. Floodwaters bring rich silt to the rice fields.

4. Parallel Rivers  Three parallel rivers run through mainland Southeast Asia: the Mekong, the Chao Phraya, and the Irrawaddy. They begin in the highlands and flow south through valleys between mountains.  At 2,600 miles, the Mekong River is the longest in Southeast Asia. The Mekong, like other rivers, creates a delta as it approaches the sea. The densely populated delta is a rich rice-growing region. Some countries are working to harness this river’s power to produce hydroelectricity.  The city of Bangkok sits along the banks of the Chao Phraya River, the most important river in Thailand. It is used to irrigate rice fields and serves as a major transportation route.  The Irrawaddy River is about half the size of the Mekong. It also supports rice farming and is a transportation route. The Irrawaddy can rise more than 30 feet during the rainy season.  The rivers of Southeast Asia are used by many people for subsistence fishing, when people fish for only what they need to live.

5. Men in bamboo raft on Irrawaddy River Men in a bamboo raft row toward the first defile (narrow passage) of the Irrawaddy River in Myanmar. The river has three defiles. The first one is about 40 miles south of Myitkyina. The second defile is about 300 feet wide at its narrowest and has cliffs on both sides. The last defile is about 60 miles north of Mandalay.

6. The Malay Peninsula  The Malay Peninsula is long and narrow, only about 200 miles across at its widest point, and includes parts of Malaysia, Thailand, and Myanmar.  Tin, a metal often used in food containers, is mined in the Bilaukataung Range mountains of Thailand and the Main Range mountains of Malaysia. Bauxite, the raw material used to make aluminum, is mined in the southern part of the Main Range.  The peninsula also includes an extensive rain forest which covers about 40% of the land use. Malaysia’s rain forests improve the country’s economy through tourism.  At one time, teak wood from Thailand was a large part of the country’s economy. But in 1989, a landslide caused by deforestation made the government put a ban on the harvesting of teak wood.

7. Rubber tree farm in Thailand A woman carries a bucket of rubber sap near Rayong, Thailand. Thailand is one of the largest producers of rubber in the world. The material is produced by tapping rubber trees about once every two days. Tree tapping is done by scoring the tree at a 30 angle with a knife. A tree that is tapped yields a cup of latex, from which rubber is obtained.

8. Island Nations  Five countries of Southeast Asia are islands or groups of islands: Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, East Timor, and the Philippines.  The island countries in Southeast Asia are located where tectonic plates come together. They were formed by volcanic activity, although many island volcanoes have been inactive for a long time.  The country of Indonesia is made up of thousands of islands and has more volcanoes than any other country in the world. Java is the smallest of the 5 largest islands of Indonesia but is the most populous and has 4 of Indonesia’s 5 largest cities there.  In Indonesia and the Philippines, most people live on lowland plains. The Philippines has many small rural settlements that subsist on fishing or rice farming.

9. Phillippine Island surrounded by ocean A variety of dwellings cover one of the many islands of the Philippines. The Philippines has about 7,100 islands. They are located on a typhoon belt and, as a result, suffer about six typhoons a year. Fish is a main staple of the Filipino diet. Also, the Philippines exports large amounts of tuna.

10. Discovering New Species  Scientists are discovering new species in the Foja Mountains.  The Foja Mountains of New Guinea is a unique place for scientists to do research because animal species have lived there without human presence. Scientists have also discovered new plant and animal species here.

11. Kris Helgen holding an echidna In the Foja Mountains in New Guinea, National Geographic explorer Kris Helgen holds a rare long-beaked echidna. It was captured near the scientist's camp. The echidna is a spiny anteater that lays eggs. There are two types of echidna short beaked and long beaked. The long-beaked echidna is found only in New Guinea.