EAST ASIA FUN FACTS:

The mountainous islands of Japan have limited

farmland, so the people depend on the sea for food.
The fishing fleet, which is the largest in the world,
catches about 6 million tons of fish each year. Fresh fish
forms the basis of most Japanese cooking, and much of
it is eaten raw.
About 80 percent of Chinas vast population lives in
small, rural villages, and works on the land. The rest
live in overcrowded cities, where housing is scarce. With
the worlds largest population, China has a huge task to
provide all its citizens with food and education.
Rice is the staple food of eastern Asia, and the regions
farms must produce enough to feed the vast
populations. The fertile, flooded rice fields of southern
China produce two harvests every year. Planting and
harvesting are still done by hand, and water buffalo or
oxen pull farm machinery.

SOUTH EAST ASIA FUN FACTS:

In the last 20 years, rice farmers have been planting

new species of high-quality rice, which produce a
greater yield. These, along with new, intensive rice-
planting programs and sophisticated machinery, have
helped some countries, such as Indonesia, to become
self-sufficient.
Buddhism is the most important religion in mainland
southeast Asia, and the area has thousands of
monasteries and ornate Buddhist temples. In Thailand,
95 percent of the people are Buddhist, and nearly every
village has its own temple or wat, which is the center of
village life.
Many southeast Asian countries, such as Singapore, the
Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia, are known as
Little Tigers because of their fast-growing tiger
economies and industrial enterprise. These countries
benefit from cheap, plentiful labor, and export
manufactured goods such as clothes and electronics.