8. Asia.

Asia is the largest part of the world. Together with Europe it makes one continent Eurasia. With the surface of the Caspian Sea, the area of Asia is 44.4 million sq km, which makes 30 % of the dry land of the Earth. There are many peninsulas in Asia. Here you can find the highest point in the world – Everest (8 848 m) and the deepest point in the world – the Dead Sea (0405 m below the sea level), the wettest place in the world - the basin of the Brahmaputra River and the driest place in the world – the Arabian Peninsula.

The climate here differs from the arctic in the north to the tropical in the south. The population of Asia is 3 billion 800 million people, which makes 60% of the world population. The most densely populated territories are China and the Hindustan Peninsula. Like Europe, it has four regions.

South-West Asia	South Asia	East and Central Asia	South-East Asia
Turkey Syria Lebanon Israel Jordan Iran Iraq Bahrain Oman Yemen Saudi Arabia The United Arab Emirates	Pakistan India Nepal Bangladesh Sri-Lanka	Tajikistan Turkmenistan Uzbekistan Kyrgyzstan Kazakhstan Afghanistan Mongolia China North Korea South Korea Japan	Thailand Vietnam Laos Malaysia Cambodia Indonesia Philippines Singapore Brunei

Home task: choose any

country and make a

report according to the plan

(see page 16).

Japan.

Japan is rather a small country in the South-East Asia. It lies in four big islands: Honshu, Kyushu, Hokkaido and Shikoku, and in more than one thousand small islands. The total area of the country is 377 835 sq km.

Japan borders on Russia in the north, on Philippines in the south and on China and South Korea in the north-west. The country is washed by the Pacific Ocean in the east, by the Sea of Okhotsk in the north and by the Japan Sea in the west.

Japan is the Constitutional Monarchy. The Emperor, who is a symbol of the unity of nation, has no power. Real power belongs to the Parliament, which has two houses. The official language is Japanese.

The population of the country is nearly 127 thousand people. There are 99 % of the Japanese, 0.5 % of the Koreans and 0.5 % of the Chinese.

The climate of the country is temperate in the north (Hokkaido) and tropical in the south (Kyushu and Shikoku). Summer is rather hot here. The temperature in summer is +30^oC +38^oC. There are a lot of rainfalls in summer (1200 mm). In winter the temperature is low: -15^oC -5^oC. Snowfalls are heavy here.

Vegetation in Japan is various. There are over 17 thousand kinds of plants in it. The most common is the cedar, the larch and some kinds of the fur-tree. Bamboo also grows here. Many flowers blossom in Japan. Among them, there is a chrysanthemum, which is the national flower of the country.

There are 140 kinds of animals, 450 kinds of birds and many snakes, frogs and lizards on the territory of Japan. You can find bears, rodents, hares, squirrels and monkeys here. There are also ducks, swans, albatrosses, cranes, pheasants, pigeons, swallows, sparrows, woodpeckers and many other birds in the forests of Japan.

The capital of Japan is Tokyo. The population of the city is over 10 million people. It is an interesting combination of historic past and modern technologies. The history of the city goes back to the middle of the XV century. But it was not the main city at first. It became the capital only in 1869. The city is full of wonderful places of interest. The most important place to visit is the volcano Fujiyama, which is a sacred place in Japan. It is 90 km from Tokyo and is surrounded by the national park.

Another interesting historic place in Japan is Kyoto, the first ancient capital of the country. The population of it counts over 1.5 million people. The city was founded in 792 as a capital of the country. It was the place, where the emperor lived in his beautiful castle, which is the museum now. A lot of different temples were also built here.

There are a lot of traditions in the country. Among them there is a tea ceremony and Japanese Gardens. Another tradition is wearing national clothing during different holidays. It is usually made of silk and very bright in colour.

In Japan, people eat mostly seafood. That is why the national dishes are mainly made of fish and other sea organisms. And of course they eat rise and noodles. Traditional dishes are sushi and sashimi .

10. Stavropol Territory as a Part of Eurasia.

Stavropol Territory is situated in the central part of the North Caucasus in Eurasia. In the east and in the north there are endless steppes, in the west – The Stavropol Highlands and in the south, there are mountains of the Big Caucasus, the tops of which are covered with snow. The area of the region is 66.3 thousand sq km.

The region has rich and beautiful nature. There are two forms of relief: plains and mountains. Geographers call Stavropol Territory the museum of nature. If you want to cross it, you will have to cross a lot of fields and steppes, gardens and vineyards, hills and mountains. The region is striking for its wonderful landscape, endless forests and meadows, clean and cool rivers, for its healthy air.

Stavropol Territory is also rich in minerals such as copper, lead, zinc, coal, gas, oil, different metals and building materials as stone, sand and clay. There are some rivers, but they are not very big and deep. Among them, the biggest are the Terek, the Kuban, the Kuma and the Kalaus.

Stavropol Territory is a region of sunlight. The temperature in winter here is -7⁰C, it usually snows, but severe winters are rather rare in the region. Summer is warm and mostly hot, especially in July and August. Autumn is the most compromising season. September is always hot and dry; October is rainy and foggy and in November comes a real mixture of autumn and winter with heavy rains, fogs, strong winds, snowfalls and frosts. Spring is a sudden season. It comes unusually fast and lasts not very long before hot summer days.

There are 22 towns, 17 resorts and above thousand villages on the map of Stavropol Territory. Here you can find people of different nationalities, who speak both Russian and native languages. The population of the territory is over 3 million people. The administrative centre is Stavropol. The biggest cities of the territory are Pyatigorsk, Kislovodsk, Yessentuki, Zheleznovodsk, Min-Vody, Budennovsk, and Nevinnomyssk.

Nature of the Territory.

Stavropol Territory nature is reach and various. Some scientists call it “a museum in the open”. Here you can observe different natural zones from the desert in the east and steppes in the central and western plains to forest-steppes and deciduous forests in the Stavropol Highlands and Alps meadows in Pyatigorsk region. The disposition of Stavropol Territory is unique in its geographical position and complicated relief. That influences soils and of course animal and vegetation life. Lots of animals and plants live only within Stavropol Territory. They are rare and need special care and preservation.

Nowadays ecological situation in the region is not very good. Pollution and exhaustion of nature leads many species to disappearance. Agriculture and melioration changes the landscape of some parts of the region and does harm to natural resources of these territories. On this occasion, a special book called the “Red Book of Stavropol Territory” was adopted as an attempt to save rare nature of the region. Many mushrooms, ferns, flowers and other plants are put into the Book. Among them, you can find Caucasian snowdrops that grow in the western parts of the region, blue bells, which grow only in the south of the region, Caucasian mayflower that you can find in the west and in the south of the region, many kinds of irises and tulips, spring adonis, Caucasian peonies and many others. Some insects, snakes, spiders, rodents, bats and birds are also on the verge of disappearance. The rarest one is a Caucasian ground beetle. You can find this insect only in Stavropol Territory. Some kinds of butterflies and bumblebees appeared on the pages of the Red Book and need defense. Because of cultivation of more and more lands, mice and hamsters are almost disappearing. Nowadays citizens of Stavropol Territory try to do their best to save unique nature of the region and to help animals and plants survive.

Environmental Problems.

Environmental problems have become acute in the modern world, and environmental protection has become a vital necessity for all people.

Our planet is in serious danger. One of the most important problems in the world today is the shortage of clean water. Industrial pollution has made water in many rivers and lakes undrinkable. Thousands of fish die every year because of the dumping of waste in rivers by factories and plants all over the world.

Air pollution is another problem. Factories and cars poison the air we breathe, and is the main reason for the greenhouse effect and acid rains. Acid rains can damage life in lakes and rivers and destroy many forests. The greenhouse effect can also make a lot of harm to our planet. Because of it, the world’s temperature is going up and the climate is changing.

One of the most important environmental problems is the depletion (истощение) of the ozone layer. Because of the ozone holes, the dangerous ultraviolet rays get through the atmosphere to the surface of the Earth and cause skin cancer and other dangerous diseases.

The most urgent (острый, злободневный) ecological problem today is the safety of nuclear power stations. Nuclear pollution cannot be seen, but its effect can be terrible.

Of course, we must mention such problems as destruction of forests and wildlife. Many animals have almost died out and now we can see them only in special preserves. Many kinds of birds are also in great danger of extinction (вымирание). The list of serious ecological problems unfortunately could be continued.

Today environmental problems are much spoken about on TV, radio and in the newspapers. If people want to survive, they must do their best to solve these problems. Fortunately, it is not too late to save the planet we live in.

There are many environmental groups and international organizations, whose main aim is to make up ecological cooperation between the countries. The most famous of them are “Greenpeace” and “The World Wildlife Fund” (WWF). They have created and given support to National Parks in five continents.

We can do many simple things to stop the destruction of the environment of the Earth. First, we must not drop litter everywhere, especially in the open untouched nature. We should take care of birds and animals. We can help to plant trees and speak out against the cutting out of vast forest territories. We can also create more parks for endangered animals and birds. We can clean rivers, lakes, canals and near by territories. However, the most important is that we should change people’s attitude towards the environment.

Task: complete the table. Think over some other ecological problems and the ways of solving them.

Ecological problems	Ways of solving

Oceans.

There are 4 oceans in the world:

The Pacific Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean

The Indian Ocean

The Arctic Ocean

The description of the geographical position of the ocean

1. Geographical position( equator, tropics)

2. What continents are washed by the ocean?

3. What oceans is it connected with?

4. The coastlines

5. The depth

6. The relief of the ocean ( the relief of the bottom)

7. Climatic belts

8. Currents

The Pacific Ocean