Sq. m.
Pacific drainage 3,641,000
Indian Ocean 2,873,000
---------
Total 6,514,000
The interior or inland basins, including the lacustrine regions south
of the Arctic watershed, the Gobi depression, Tibetan plateau, the
Iranian (or Perso-Afghan) uplands, the Syro-Arabian inland basin, and
that of Asia Minor, amount to 3,141,500 sq. m. or about half the
extent of the other two.
By far the largest Asiatic river basin is that of the Ob, which
exceeds 1,000,000 sq. m. in extent. On the east and south the Amur
embraces no less than 776,000 sq. m., the Yang-tsze-kiang including
685,000, the Ganges 409,500, and the Indus 370,000 sq. m.[1]
The lakes of Asia are innumerable, and vary in size from an inland sea
(such as Lakes Baikal and Balkash) to a highland loch, or the
indefinitely extended swamps of Persia. Many of them are at high
elevations (Lake Victoria, 13,400 ft., being probably the most
elevated), and are undoubted vestiges of an ancient period of
glaciation. Such lakes, as a rule, show indications of a gradual
decrease in size. Others are relics of an earlier geological period,
when land areas recently upheaved from the sea were spread at low
levels with alternate inundations of salt and fresh water. Of these
Lop Nor and the Helmund _hamuns_ are typical. Such lakes (in common
with all the plateau _hamuns_ of south-west Baluchistan and Persia)
change their form and extent from season to season, and many of them
are impregnated with saline deposits from the underlying strata. The
_kavirs_, or salt depressions, of the Persian desert are more
frequently widespread deposits of mud and salt than water-covered
areas.
Political divisions.
Although for the purposes of geographical nomenclature, boundaries
formed by a coast-line--that is, by depressions of the earth's solid
crust _below_ the ocean level--are most easily recognized and are of
special convenience; and although such boundaries, from following
lines on which the continuity of the land is interrupted, often
necessarily indicate important differences in the conditions of
adjoining countries, and of their political and physical relations,
yet variations of the elevation of the surface _above_ the sea-level
frequently produce effects not less marked. The changes of temperature
and climate caused by difference of elevation are quite comparable in
their magnitude and effect on all organized creatures with those due
to differences of latitude; and the relative position of the high and
low lands on the earth's surface, by modifying the direction of the
winds, the fall of rain, and other atmospheric phenomena, produce
effects in no sense less important than those due to the relative
distribution of the land and sea. Hence the study of the mountain
ranges of a continent is, for a proper apprehension of its physical
conditions and characteristics, as essential as the examination of its
extent and position in relation to the equator and poles, and the
configuration of its coasts.
Himalayan boundary.
From such causes the physical conditions of a large part of Asia, and
the history of its population, have been very greatly influenced by
the occurrence of the mass of mountain above described, which includes
the Himalaya and the whole elevated area having true physical
connexion with that range, and occupies an area about 2000 m. in
length and varying from 100 to 500 m. in width, between 65 deg. and
100 deg. east and between 28 deg. and 35 deg. north. These mountains,
which include the highest peaks in the world, rise, along their entire
length, far above the line of perpetual snow, and few of the passes
across the main ridges are at a less altitude than 15,000 or 16,000
ft. above the sea. Peaks of 20,000 ft. abound along the whole chain,
and the points that exceed that elevation are numerous. A mountain
range such as this, attaining altitudes at which vegetable life
ceases, and the support of animal life is extremely difficult,
constitutes an almost impassable barrier against the spread of all
forms of living creatures. The mountain mass, moreover, is not less
important in causing a complete separation between the atmospheric
conditions on its opposite flanks, by reason of the extent to which it
penetrates that stratum of the atmosphere which is in contact with the
earth's surface and is effective in determining climate. The highest
summits create serious obstructions to the movements of nearly
three-fourths of the mass of the air resting on this part of the
earth, and of nearly the whole of the moisture it contains; the
average height of the entire chain is such as to make it an almost
absolute barrier to one-half of the air and three-fourths of the
moisture; while the lower ranges also produce important atmospheric
effects, one-fourth of the air and one-half of the watery vapour it
carries with it lying below 9000 ft.
This great mass of mountain, constituting as it does a complete
natural line of division across a large part of the continent, will
form a convenient basis from which to work, in proceeding, as will now
be done, to give a general view of the principal countries contained
in Asia.
Tibet.
The summit of the great mountain mass is occupied by Tibet, a country
known by its inhabitants under the name of _Bod_ or _Bodyul_. Tibet is
a rugged table-land, narrow as compared with its length, broken up by
a succession of mountain ranges, which follow as a rule the direction
of the length of the table-land, and commonly rise into the regions of
perpetual snow; between the flanks of these lie valleys, closely
hemmed in, usually narrow, having a very moderate inclination, but at
intervals opening out into wide plains, and occupied either by rivers,
or frequently by lakes from which there is no outflow and the waters
of which are salt. The eastern termination of Tibet is in the line of
snowy mountains which flanks China on the west, between the 27th and
35th parallels of latitude, and about 103 deg. east. On the west the
table-land is prolonged beyond the political limits of Tibet, though
with much the same physical features, to about 70 deg. east, beyond
which it terminates; and the ranges which are covered with perpetual
snow as far west as Samarkand, thence rapidly diminish in height, and
terminate in low hills north of Bokhara.
The mean elevation of Tibet may be taken as 15,000 ft. above the sea.
The broad mountainous slope by which it is connected with the lower
levels of Hindostan contains the ranges known as the Himalaya; the
name Kuen-lun is generally applied to the northern slope that descends
to the central plains of the Gobi, though these mountains are not
locally known under those names, Kuen-lun being apparently a Chinese
designation.
The extreme rigour of the climate of Tibet, which combines great cold
with great drought, makes the country essentially very poor, and the
chief portion of it little better than desert. The vegetation is
everywhere most scanty, and scarcely anything deserving the name of a
tree is to be found unless in the more sheltered spots, and then
artificially planted. The population in the lower and warmer valleys
live in houses, and follow agriculture; in the higher regions they are
nomadic shepherds, thinly scattered over a large area.
China.
China lies between the eastern flank of the Tibetan plateau and the
North Pacific, having its northern and southern limits about on 40
deg. and 20 deg. N. respectively. The country, though generally broken
up with mountains of moderate elevation, possesses none of very great
importance apart from those of its western border. It is well watered,
populous, and, as a rule, highly cultivated, fertile, and well wooded;
the climate is analogous to that of southern Europe, with hot summers,
and winters everywhere cold and in the north decidedly severe.
Indo-Chinese region.
From the eastern extremity of the Tibetan mountains, between the 95th
and 100th meridians, high ranges extend from about 35 deg. N. in a
southerly direction, which, spreading outwards as they go south, reach
the sea at various points in Cochin-China, the Malay peninsula, and
the east flank of Bengal. Between these ranges, which are probably
permanently snowy to about 27 deg. N., flow the great rivers of the
Indo-Chinese peninsula, the Mekong, the Menam, the Salween, and the
Irrawaddy, the valleys of which form the main portions of the states
of Cochin-China (including Tongking and Cambodia), of Siam (including
Laos) and of Burma. The people of Cochin-China are called Anam; it is
probably from a corruption of their name for the capital of Tongking,
Kechao, that the Portuguese Cochin has been derived. All these
countries are well watered, populous and fertile, with a climate very
similar to that of eastern Bengal. The geography of the region in
which the mountains of Cochin-China and Siam join Tibet is still
imperfectly known, but there is no ground left for doubting that the
great river of eastern Tibet, the Tsanpo, supplies the main stream of
the Brahmaputra. The two great rivers of China, the Hwang-ho and the
Yang-tsze-kiang take their rise from the eastern face of Tibet, the
former from the north-east angle, the latter from the south-east. The
main stream of this last is called Dichu in Tibet, and its chief
feeder is the Ya-lung-kiang, which rises not far from the Hwang-ho,
and is considered the territorial boundary between China and Tibet.
British India.
British India comprises approximately the area between the 95th and
70th meridians, and between the Tibetan table-land and the Indian
Ocean. The Indian peninsula from 25 deg. N. southwards is a
table-land, having its greatest elevation on the west, where the
highest points rise to over 8000 ft., though the ordinary altitude of
the higher hills hardly exceeds 4000 ft.; the general level of the
table-land lies between 3000 ft. as a maximum and 1000 ft.
From the delta of the Ganges and Brahmaputra on the east to that of
the Indus on the west, and intervening between the table-land of the
peninsula and the foot of the Himalayan slope of the Tibetan plateau,
lies the great plain of northern India, which rises at its highest
point to about 1000 ft., and includes altogether, with its
prolongation up the valley of Assam, an area of about 500,000 sq. m.,
comprising the richest, the most populous and most civilized districts
of India. The great plain extends, with an almost unbroken surface,
from the most western to the most eastern extremity of British India,
and is composed of deposits so finely comminuted, that it is no
exaggeration to say that it is possible to go from the Bay of Bengal
up the Ganges, through the Punjab, and down the Indus again to the
sea, over a distance of 2000 m. and more, without finding a pebble,
however small.
The great rivers of northern India--the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and
the Indus--all derive their waters from the Tibetan mountain mass; and
it is a remarkable circumstance that the northern water-parting of
India should lie to the north of the Himalaya in the regions of
central Tibet.
The population of India is very large, some of its districts being
among the most densely peopled in the world. The country is generally
well cleared, and forests are, as a rule, found only along the flanks
of the mountains, where the fall of rain is most abundant. The more
open parts are highly cultivated, and large cities abound. The climate
is generally such as to secure the population the necessaries of life
without severe labour; the extremes of heat and drought are such as to
render the land unsuitable for pasture, and the people everywhere
subsist by cultivation of the soil or commerce, and live in settled
villages or towns.
The island of Ceylon is distinguished from the neighbouring parts of
British India by little more than its separate administration and the
Buddhistic religion of its population. The highest point in Ceylon
rises to about 9000 ft. above the sea, and the mountain slopes are
densely covered with forest. The lower levels are in climate and
cultivation quite similar to the regions in the same latitude on the
Malay peninsula.
Of the islands in the Bay of Bengal the Nicobar and Andaman groups are
alone worth notice. They are placed on a line joining the north end of
Sumatra and Cape Negrais, the south-western extremity of Burma. They
possibly owe their existence to the volcanic agencies which are known
to extend from Sumatra across this part of the Indian Ocean.
[Illustration: map of Asia.]
The Laccadives and Maldives are groups of small coral islands,
situated along the 73rd meridian at no great distance from the
Indian peninsula on which they have a political dependency.
The Nearer East.
The portion of Asia west of British India excluding Arabia and Syria
forms another extensive plateau covering an area as large as that of
Tibet though at a much lower altitude. Its southern border runs along
the Arabian Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Tigris and thence westward to
the north-east angle of the Levant, on the north the high land follows
nearly 36 deg. N. to the southern shore of the Caspian and thence to
the Black Sea and Sea of Marmora. Afghanistan, Baluchistan, Iran or
Persia, Armenia and the provinces of Asia Minor occupy this high
region with which they are nearly conterminous. The eastern flank of
this table-land follows a line of hills drawn a short distance from
the Indus between the mouth of that river and the Himalaya, about on
the 72nd meridian, these hills do not generally exceed 4000 or 5000
ft. in elevation but a few of the summits reach 10,000 ft. or more.
The southern and south western face follows the coast closely up the
Persian Gulf from the mouth of the Indus, and is formed farther west
by the mountain scarp, which, rising in many points to 10,000 ft.
flanks the Tigris and the Mesopotamian plains, and extends along
Kurdistan and Armenia nearly to the 40th meridian, beyond which it
turns along the Taurus range, and the north eastern angle of the
Mediterranean. The north eastern portion of the Afghan table-land
abuts on the Himalaya and Tibet, with which it forms a continuous mass
of mountain between the 71st and 72nd meridians and 34 deg. and 36
deg. N. From the point of intersection of the 71st meridian with the
36th parallel of latitude, an unbroken range of mountain stretches on
one side towards the north east, up to the crest of the northern slope
of the Tibetan plateau, and on the other nearly due west as far as the
Caspian. The north eastern portion of this range is of great altitude,
and separates the headwaters of the Oxus, which run off to the Aral
Sea, from those of the Indus and its Kabul tributary, which, uniting
below Peshawar are thence discharged southward into the Arabian Sea.
The western part of the range, which received the name of Paropamisus
Mons from the ancients, diminishes in height west of the 65th meridian
and constitutes the northern face of the Afghan and Persian plateau
rising abruptly from the plains of the Turkoman desert which lies
between the Oxus and the Caspian. These mountains at some points
attain a height of 10,000 or 12,000 ft. Along the south coast of the
Caspian this line of elevation is prolonged as the Elburz range (not
to be confused with the Elburz of the Caucasus), and has its
culminating point in Demavend, which rises to 19,400 ft. above the sea
thence it extends to the north west to Ararat, which rises to upwards
of 17,000 ft. from the vicinity of which the Euphrates flows off to
the south west across the high lands of Armenia. Below the north east
declivity of this range lies Georgia, on the other side of which
province rises the Caucasus, the boundary of Asia and Europe between
the Caspian and Black Seas, the highest points of which reach an
elevation of nearly 19,000 ft. West of Ararat high hills extend along
the Black Sea between which and the Taurus range lies the plateau of
Asia Minor reaching to the Aegean Sea, the mountains along the Black
Sea, on which are the Olympus and Ida of the ancients rise to 6000 or
7000 ft., the Taurus is more lofty--reaching 8000 and 10,000 ft.--both
ranges decline in altitude as they approach the Mediterranean.
This great plateau extending from the Mediterranean to the Indus has a
length of about 2500 m. from east to west, and a breadth of upwards of
600 m. on the west and nowhere of less than 250 m. It lies generally
at altitudes between 2000 ft. and 8000 ft. above the sea level. Viewed
as a whole the eastern half of this region, comprising Persia,
Afghanistan and Baluchistan, is poor and unproductive. The climate is
very severe in the winter and extremely hot in summer. The rainfall is
very scanty, and running waters are hardly known excepting among the
mountains which form the scarps of the elevated country. The
population is sparse, frequently nomadic, and addicted to plunder,
progress in the arts and habits of civilization is small. The western
part of the area falls within the Turkish empire. Its climate is less
hot and and its natural productiveness much greater and its population
more settled and on the whole more advanced.
Arabia.
The peninsula of Arabia with Syria, its continuation to the
north-west, has some of the characteristics of the hottest and driest
parts Persia and Baluchistan. Excepting the northern part of this
tract which is conterminous with the plain of Mesopotamia (which at
its highest point reaches an elevation of about 700 ft. above the sea)
the country is covered with low mountains, rising to 3000 or 4000 ft.
in altitude having among them narrow valleys in which the vegetation
is scanty with exceptional regions of greater fertility in the
neighbourhood of the coasts where the rainfall is greatest. In
northern Syria the mountains of Lebanon rise to about 10,000 ft. and
with a more copious water supply the country becomes more productive.
The whole tract, excepting south eastern Arabia is nominally subject
to Turkey but the people are to no small extent practically
independent living a nomadic pastoral and freebooting life under petty
chiefs in the more arid districts, but settled in towns in the more
fertile tracts where agriculture becomes more profitable and external
commerce is established.
Trans-Caspian region and central Asia.
The area between the northern border of the Persian high lands and the
Caspian and Aral Seas is a nearly desert low lying plain, extending to
the foot of the north-western extremity of the great Tibeto-Himalayan
mountains and prolonged eastward up the valleys of the Oxus (Amu
Darya) and Jaxartes (Syr-Darya), and northward across the country of
the Kirghiz to the south western border of Siberia. It includes
Bokhara, Khiva and Turkestan proper in which the Uzbeg Turks are
dominant, and for the most part is inhabited by nomadic tribes, who
are marauders, enjoying the reputation of being the worst among a race
of professed robbers. The tribes to the north, subject to Russia, are
naturally more peaceable, and have been brought into some degree of
discipline. In this tract the rainfall is nowhere sufficient for the
purposes of agriculture, which is only possible by help of irrigation,
and the fixed population (which contains a non-Turkish element) is
comparatively small, and restricted to the towns and the districts
near the rivers.
The north-western extremity of the elevated Tibeto-Himalayan mountain
plateau is situated about on 73 deg. E. and 39 deg. N. This region is
known as Pamir, it has all the characteristics of the highest regions
of Tibet, and so far fitly receives the Russian designation of steppe,
but it seems to have no special peculiarities, and the reason of its
having been so long regarded as a geographical enigma is not obvious.
From it the Oxus, or Amu, flows off to the west, and the Jaxartes, or
Syr, to the north, through the Turki state of Khokand, while to the
east the waters run down past Kashgar to the central desert of the
Gobi, uniting with the streams from the northern slope of the Tibetan
plateau that traverse the principalities of Yarkand and Khotan, which
are also Turki. Here the Tibetan mountains unite with the line of
elevation which stretches across the continent from the Pacific, and
which separates Siberia from the region commonly spoken of under the
name of central Asia.
Manchuria.
A range of mountains, called Stanovor, rising to heights of 4000 or
5000 ft., follows the southern coast of the eastern extremity of Asia
from Kamchatka to the borders of Manchuria, as far as the 135th
meridian, in lat. 55 deg. N. Thence the Yablonoi range, continuing in
the same direction, divides the waters of the river Lena, which flows
through Siberia into the Arctic Sea, from those of the river Amur,
which falls into the North Pacific, the basin of this river, with its
affluents, constitutes Manchuria. From the north of Manchuria the
Khingan range stretches southward to the Chinese frontier near Peking,
east of which the drainage falls into the Amur and the Yellow Sea,
while to the west is an almost rainless region, the inclination of
which is towards the central area of the continent, Mongolia.
Mongolia.
From the western end of the Yablonoi range, on the 115th meridian, a
mountainous belt extends along a somewhat irregular line to the
extremity of Pamir, known under various names in its different parts,
and broken up into several branches, enclosing among them many
isolated drainage areas, from which there is no outflow, and within
which numerous lakes are formed. The most important of these ranges is
the Tian-shan or Celestial Mountains, which form the northern boundary
of the Gobi desert, they lie between 40 deg. and 43 deg. N., and
between 75 deg. and 95 deg. E., and some of the summits are said to
exceed 20,000 ft. in altitude, along the foot of this range are the
principal cultivated districts of central Asia, and here too are
situated the few towns which have sprung up in this barren and thinly
peopled region. Next may be named the Ala-tau, on the prolongation of
the Tian-shan, flanking the Syr on the north, and rising to 14,000 or
15,000 ft. It forms the barrier between the Issyk-kul and Balkash
lakes, the elevation of which is about 5000 ft. Last is the Altai,
near the 50th parallel, rising to 10,000 or 12,000 ft., which
separates the waters of the great rivers of western Siberia from those
that collect into the lakes of north-west Mongolia, Dzungaria and
Kalka. A line of elevation is continued west of the Altai to the Ural
Mountains, not rising to considerable altitudes; this divides the
drainage of south-west Siberia from the great plains lying north east
of the Aral Sea.
The central area bounded on the north and north-west by the Yablonoi
Mountains and their western extension in the Tian-shan, on the south
by the northern face of the Tibetan plateau and on the east by the
Khingan range before alluded to, forms the great desert of central
Asia, known as the Gobi. Its eastern part is nearly conterminous with
south Mongolia, its western forms Chinese or eastern Turkestan. It
appears likely that no part of this great central Asiatic desert is
less than 2000 ft. above the sea level. The elevation of the plain
about Kashgar and Yarkand is from 4000 to 6000 ft. The more northern
parts of Mongolia are between 4000 and 6000 ft., and no portion of the
route across the desert between the Chinese frontier and Kiakhta is
below 3000 ft. The precise positions of the mountain ridges that
traverse this central area are not properly known, their elevation is
everywhere considerable, and many points are known to exceed 10,000 or
12,000 ft.
In Mongolia the population is essentially nomadic, its wealth
consisting in herds of horned cattle, sheep, horses and camels. The
Turki tribes, occupying western Mongolia, are among the least
civilized of human beings, and it is chiefly to their extreme
barbarity and cruelty that our ignorance of central Asia is due. The
climate is very severe, with great extremes of heat and cold. The
drought is very great, rain falls rarely and in small quantities. The
surface is for the most part a hard stony desert, areas of blown sand
occurring but exceptionally. There are few towns or settled villages,
except along the slopes of the higher mountains, on which the rain
falls more abundantly, or the melting snow supplies streams for
irrigation. It is only in such situations that cultivated lands are
found, and beyond them trees are hardly to be seen.
Siberia.
The portion of Asia which lies between the Arctic Ocean and the
mountainous belt bounding Manchuria, Mongolia and Turkestan on the
north is Siberia. It includes an immense high and broken plateau which
spreads from south-west to north-east, losing in width and altitude as
it advances north-east. It is fringed on either side by high border
ridges, which subside on the north-west into a stretch of high plains,
1500 to 2000 ft. high, finally dropping to lowlands a few hundred feet
above sea-level. The extremes of heat and cold are very great. The
rainfall, though not heavy, is sufficient to maintain such vegetation
as is compatible with the conditions of temperature, and the surface
is often swampy or peaty. The mountain-sides are commonly clothed with
pine forests, and the plains with grasses or shrubs. The population is
very scanty; the cultivated tracts are comparatively small in extent
and restricted to the more settled districts. The towns are entirely
Russian. The indigenous races are nomadic Mongols, of a peaceful
character, but in a very backward state of civilization. The Ural
Mountains do not exceed 2000 or 3000 ft. in average altitude, the
highest summits not exceeding 6000 ft., and one of the passes being as
low as 1400 ft. In the southern half of the range are the chief mining
districts of Russia. The Ob, Yenisei and Lena, which traverse Siberia,
are among the largest rivers in the world.
Malay Archipelago.
The southern group of the Malay Archipelago, from Sumatra to Java and
Timor, extends in the arc of a circle between 95 deg. and 127 deg. E.,
and from 5 deg. to 10 deg. S. The central part of the group is a
volcanic region, many of the volcanoes being still active, the summits
frequently rising to 10,000 ft. or more.
Sumatra, the largest of the islands, is but thinly peopled; the
greater part of the surface is covered with dense forest, the
cultivated area being comparatively small, confined to the low lands,
and chiefly in the volcanic region near the centre of the island. Java
is the most thickly peopled, best cultivated and most advanced island
of the whole Eastern archipelago. It has attained a high degree of
wealth and prosperity under the Dutch government. The people are
peaceful and industrious, and chiefly occupied with agriculture. The
highest of the volcanic peaks rises to 12,000 ft. above the sea. The
eastern islands of this group are less productive and less advanced.
Borneo, the most western and the largest of the northern group of
islands which extends between 110 deg. and 150 deg. E., as far as New
Guinea or Papua, is but little known. The population is small, rude
and uncivilized; and the surface is rough and mountainous and
generally covered with forest except near the coast, to the alluvial
lands on which settlers have been attracted from various surrounding
countries. The highest mountain rises to nearly 14,000 ft., but the
ordinary elevations do not exceed 4000 or 5000 ft.
Of Celebes less is known than of Borneo, which it resembles in
condition and natural characteristics. The highest known peaks rise to
8000 ft., some of them being volcanic.
Pacific Islands.
New Guinea extends almost to the same meridian as the eastern coast of
Australia, from the north point of which it is separated by Torres
Straits. Very little is known of the interior. The mountains are said
to rise to 20,000 ft., having the appearance of being permanently
covered with snow; the surface seems generally to be clothed with
thick wood. The inhabitants are of the Negrito type, with curly or
crisp and bushy hair; those of the west coast have come more into
communication with the traders of other islands and are fairly
civilized. Eastward, many of the tribes are barbarous savages.
The Philippine Islands lie between 5 deg. and 20 deg. N., between
Borneo and southern China. The highest land does not rise to a greater
height than 10,250 ft.; the climate is well suited for agriculture,
and the islands generally are fertile and fairly cultivated, though
not coming up to the standard of Java either in wealth or population.
Formosa, which is situated under the northern tropic, near the coast
of China, is traversed by a high range of mountains, reaching nearly
13,000 ft. in elevation. On its western side, which is occupied by an
immigrant Chinese population, are open and well-cultivated plains; on
the east it is mountainous, and occupied by independent indigenous
tribes in a less advanced state.
The islands of Japan, not including Sakhalin, of which half is
Japanese, lie between the 30th and 45th parallels. The whole group is
traversed by a line of volcanic mountains, some of which are in
activity, the highest point being about 13,000 ft. above the sea. The
country is generally well watered, fertile and well cultivated. The
Japanese people have added to their ancient civilization and their
remarkable artistic faculty, an adaptation of Western methods, and a
capacity for progress in war and commerce, which single them out among
Eastern races as a great modern world-force.