The
People's Republic of China is home to one of
the oldest civilizations in the world, existing
over 5000 years. China, situated in East Asia
between latitudes 35 degrees north and longitudes
105 degrees east occupies a total area of 9.6
million square kilometers; almost the entire
central and eastern Asia. It is the most populated
nations in the world. China is bound by Russia
and Mongolia to the north; North Korea in the
northeast; the former Soviet Republics of Tajikistan,
Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan in the northwest;
Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bhutan
to the west and southwest; and Myanmar, Lao
PDR and Vietnam to the south. The major cities
of China are Beijing (capital), Shanghai, Tianjin,
Chongqing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.
China has a diverse topography
ranging from highlands to the coastal lowlands.
China's relief is high in the west and low in
the east, making the rivers flow eastwards draining
into the East China Sea. Qinghai-plateau, known
as the "roof of the world" with an
average height of 16,500 feet, one of the highest
points in the world is located here. The five
major landforms found here are the mountains,
plateaus, hills, plains and basins.
This diverse topography
consequently affects the climate of China making
it equally diverse ranging from extremely dry,
desert-like conditions in the northwest to tropical
monsoons in the southeast. Owing to this extreme
climate China suffers from a variety of natural
disasters such as earthquakes, floods, landslides,
droughts, typhoons, forest-fires etc. Among
all these hazards, droughts, floods, earthquakes
and typhoons are the most destructive.
Floods:
Floods are one of the
most frequent hazards that affect China. Most
of the floods occur in June-July. Since 1949,
China has been struck by floods on an average
of 5.8 times a year. The swelling of the four
rivers, such as the Yangtze, Yellow, Huaihe
and the Haihe rivers is one of the main causes
for flooding. The area most affected by rainstorms
and floods are the southeastern coastal regions,
the Yangtze River and the Huaihe river valleys
Landslides:
On an average over 100
landslides occur annually. One of the main causes
for landslides and cave breaks in deforestation.
Earthquakes:
Earthquakes occur mainly
in the southwestern and the northwestern regions
of China. China has suffered more that 50 earthquakes
of force 7 or greater magnitude on the Richter's
scale. According to statistics China accounts
for about 50% of the global deaths by earthquakes.
One possible cause attributed to this high death
toll is that it affects a greater number of
people, because of the high population.
Typhoons:
China has a coastline
of more than 18,000 kms long, which is main
area that suffers the most serious and frequent
typhoon and windstorms. There are about twenty
typhoons affecting the Chinese coastal areas
every year, about seven of which land on an
average.
Droughts:
Floods and droughts
alternate every year. On average droughts are
experienced 7 times a year. The agricultural
areas of the eastern China encompassing the
Yellow River and Huaihe River, Haihe river valleys,
record a high frequency of droughts
Main Source:
National Report of the People's Republic of
China on Natural Disaster Reduction.
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