Asia:People and Economic Actvities

Occupations

• About three-fourth of the population in Asia depend on agriculture for their livelihood.

• Farming – China-Because of good soil and climate• Nomadic herders- South-West Asia and Central

Asia• Lumbering-Coniferous belt in Siberia• Fishing –Coastal regions around Japan• Mining & Manufacturing- Japan, China, India and

Asiatic Russia.

Agriculture

• The most common type of agriculture is the intensive subsistence agriculture.

• Small plots• Manures and irrigation is practised for yield.• Rotation of crops to maintain fertility of soil.• Lot of manual labour• Involvement of family members and very less

surplus crops are grown.• Found in China, India, Southeast Asia

Extensive Commercial Agriculture

• Large farms• Use of machines for ploughing and harvesting• Small number of labour.• Crops meant for sale.• Practised in steppe grasslands of Siberia and

irrigated lands of central Asia.

Plantation Agriculture

• Large area planted with same crop• Work is organised as in industry.• They have factories to process the product for

sale.• Eg. Tea, Coffee, Rubber are grown in

plantations.• These crops continue to yield for 30-40 years

or more.

Shifting Agriculture

• Practised by the tribal people of India, Malaysia and Indonesia.

• Forest are cleared by setting fire to the trees and clearings are used for growing mainly root crops.

• The land regains its fertility after 2 to 3 years.• The tribal people again migrate to these land.

Chief Crops

• Rice- India, China, Indonesia and Countries of Southeast Asia.

• Wheat- Tropical regions such as north India, parts of China, Russia, North China and South-west Asia.

• Millets, pulses and oil seeds- rain-fed crops• Tropical crops- Sugarcane and Tea plant• Non-food crops- Cotton, Jute, Silk

MilletsOilseeds

Rice Wheat Pulses

Industries

• Manufacturing industries have been developed in Japan, Russia, China and India.

• Japan produces wide range range of manufactured goods from iron and steel to electronic goods and computers.

• Asiatic part of Russia has a few industries in western Siberia, China has diversified industries based on agricultural and mineral raw materials.

• Rapid growth shown in China in last 20 years.

• India has established number of modern industries like steel plants, Chemical industries, textiles, fertilisers, cement, thermal power, atomic power, heavy engineering, electrical and electronic industries.

• Industries not developed in South-west and South-east Asia.

• Singapore has grown as large business, industrial and tourism centre.

Population

• Asia has about 60 per cent of the world’s population, making it the most populous continent.

• Concentration of people in eastern and southern parts of Asia.

• Most populous countries of the world are also located here.