East and Southeast Asia

East Asia includes five states: China, Japan, South Korea, North Korea and Mongolia. The subregion reaches the Pacific (except Mongolia) and was an ancient centre of civilisation, but its mountains are high and much of it lies in the Pacific seismic belt, so earthquakes and volcanoes are a risk. The population is very large and dense. China is second in the world by population (after India); in Japan and South Korea birth rates are low, the population is ageing, and in places it is shrinking. Japan and South Korea have a high urbanisation level and very developed industry (cars, electronics, shipbuilding). China is one of the world's leading producers in metallurgy, engineering, chemicals, light industry and farming. Southeast Asia includes the Indochina Peninsula and the Malay Archipelago; it has 11 states and only Laos has no sea coast. The climate is equatorial and subequatorial with evergreen wet forests. Tin, oil, bauxite and gold are mined; rice is the main crop, and rubber, coffee, copra and spices matter too. Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam have the most people; Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand are among the newly industrialised countries. Singapore's population density is among the highest in the world.