1. Southeast Asia-MAINLAND COUNTRIES

3. WHAT THE COUNTRIES OF MAINLAND SOUTHEAST ASIA HAVE IN COMMON Monsoons (seasonal winds), that bring very wet summers and somewhat dry winters The majority of the people live in rural villages The majority of the people learn their living by farming and the main crop is rice. Many use water buffalo to pull the plow The majority of the people follow the religion of Buddhism & Buddhist monks in their orange robes are a common sight.

6. Myanmar (used to be called Burma) Two rivers, the Irrawaddy and the Salween, flow through Myanmar Mountains lie on the western and eastern borders.

7. Myanmar About 2/3 of the people earn their living by farming. Rice is the main crop Although some use tractors, many still use plows pulled by water buffalo

8. Myanmar Has thick forests & produces about 75% of the world’s teakwood However, forests are declining because of deforestation, the cutting of too many trees

9. Myanmar-house in the Irrawaddy Delta About 75% live in rural areas. Many people build homes on poles above the ground for protection from floods and wild animals

11. Myanmar Yangon is the capital, and is known for its gold covered Buddhist temples. Buddhism is the main religion

12. Myanmar Myanmar has a very repressive government in which the military leaders rule. It has a socialist economy, in which most businesses are owned and run by the government.

13. The Padaung tribe, known for the long necked women, are found in Myanmar and Thailand.

15. THAILAND

16. The name Thailand means “land of the free”. It was never a colony of a European government. It’s old name was Siam. Famous movies set in Thailand include “The King and I”, and “Anna and the King of Siam”, which are based on a true story about a teacher from Great Britain who came to be a teacher for the children of the King of Siam.

17. Thailand still has a king, so it can be called a Constitutional Monarchy. However, much power seems to be in the hands of military leaders, although its government is not nearly as repressive as that of Myanmar.

18. King Bhumibol-86 years old

19. Thailand is very friendly to visitors, and tourism is an important industry. It has modern buildings as well as traditional temples called wats. Buddhist temples and Buddhist monks are a common sight.

20. Many young boys in Thailand become monks, at least for a time, often after the death of a grandparent, in order to help the grandparent get to paradise (nirvana). Novice monks wake up at 5:00 and mediate After that they have free time and play video games. Then they walk through villages with the older monks to beg for food.

21. Emerald Temple, Bangkok Capital: Bankok

22. Shedagon Pagoda, Yangon

24. Buddhist Monks

27. LAOS

28. Remote and landlocked. The Mekong River flows through Laos

29. Laos is economically poor It has a communist government Its industry is undeveloped because of isolation and years of civil war Most people are farmers who grow rice along the Mekong River

30. Reclining Buddha-Laos

31. Cambodia Most people belong to the Khmer ethnic group and live in rural villages. The main religion is Buddhism.

32. The capital is Phnom Penh The Mekong River through it.

33. 1000 years ago Cambodia was the center of the ancient Khmer Empire. From the 1800s to the mid 1950s, it was ruled by the French.

34. In the 1980s it had a civil war, and then a very cruel dictator named Pol Pot who caused the death of about a million Cambodians.

35. Now Cambodia has brought back its king and is a Constitutional Monarchy.

37. Angkor Wat Most famous site in Cambodia: Angkor Wat, which is a Hindu temple built in the 1100s.

38. It represents the Hindu view of the universe. There is a moat around it which represents the ocean. The tallest towers represents the home of the gods.

39. Vietnam Has a long curving coastline along the Gulf of Tonkin, the South China Sea, and the Gulf of Thailand The Mekong River forms a swampy delta in the south.

40. In the 1950s-early 1970s, there was a civil war between the Communists in the north, and the non- communists in the south. This led to the Vietnam War, when the U.S. sent troupes to help South Vietnam. China helped North Vietnam The U.S. gave up and withdrew in 1973. The Communists took over South Vietnam, and reunited the country. Now there is just one Vietnam.

41. The country is now reunited, and the government is communist. Recently, the government has become more open to western ideas, and have loosened control of the economy. The capital is Hanoi, located in the north. The largest city is Ho Chi Minh city (which used to be Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam).