Ch. 30
Introduction
to Southeast
Asia,
Oceania,
Australia &
New Zealand
Ch. 30:1 – Landforms & Resources
The most noticeable feature of mainland Southeast Asia is that it lies on two
Indochinese Peninsula
peninsulas. The _______________________,
located south of China, has a
Malay Peninsula is a narrow strip
rectangular shape. In contrast, the ___________________
of land about 700 miles long, stretching south from the mainland and then
curving southeast. Most of the islands of Southeast Asia are found in
archipelagos sets of closely grouped islands, which sometimes form
_______________,
a curved arc. The mainland of Southeast Asia has several mountain ranges,
Annamese Cordillera
such as the ______________________,
which run roughly north and south.
Also, the mainland has several large rivers that run from north through valleys
Mekong River
and mountain ranges. For example, the ___________________
begins in
China and crosses several Southeast Asian nations before becoming a wide
delta on Vietnam’s coast.
Oceania
As a group, the Pacific Islands are called ____________,
In the
Australia
southwestern Pacific lie in New Zealand and the continent of ____________,
which are often considered part of this group. Most Pacific Islands fall into
high islands
two categories: _________________
are created by volcanoes, and
low islands
_________________
are made of coral reefs. New Zealand has two main
North Island
South Island
islands, ________________
and ________________.
Australia
The land mass known as _________________
is the smallest continent on
earth. Near the eastern coast, running roughly parallel to it, is a chain of
Great Dividing Range
highlands called the ________________________,
Antarctica
______________
is the fifth largest continent. Generally circular in
shape, it surrounds the South Pole.
Ch. 30:2 – Climate & Vegetation
tropical wet
1. A________________
climate is found in coastal parts of Myanmar,
Thailand, Vietnam, and Oceania and most of Malaysia, Indonesia, and
the Philippines.
tropical wet & dry
2. Bordering this climate is the______________________
climate in which
monsoons shape the weather. This climate is found in parts of Myanmar,
Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
3. Southeast Asia has one of the greatest diversities of vegetation of
tropical evergreen forests,
any region. Near the equator are__________________
tropical wet & dry
while deciduous forests are more common in the______________________
climate zone.
4. In Australia, the narrow strip between the Great Dividing Range and the
Pacific Ocean is mainly divided into two climate zones. The northern part
humid subtropical climate with hot summers, mild
of this strip has a___________________
winters, and heavy rainfall.
5. New Zealand and the southern part of Australia’s east coast share a
marine west coast climate. The seasons have mild temperatures because
_________________
ocean breezes warm the land in the winter and cool it in the summer.
6. In New Zealand, the mountains of South Island cause rain to fall on their
western
eastern
________________
slopes, so the________________
part of the island is
dryer.
desert
7. One-third of Australia is_________________,
lying in an oval in the center
of the continent.
Antarctica
8. With its land located around the South Pole, _________________
is Earth’s
icecap
coldest, driest continent. It has an________________
climate.
Ch. 30:3 – Human-Environment Interaction
1. Pacific islanders used traditional methods of navigation, such as charts
sticks
shells
made of ________________
and _________________.
voyaging canoes
2. To sail the vast ocean, Pacific Islanders developed huge________________
with double hulls.
3. Europeans who colonized Australia brought animals with them, such as
Thomas Austin released 24 rabbits into Australia
the rabbit. In 1859, _________________
so he could hunt them.
4. By 1900, Australia had more than one billion rabbits. They wiped out
plants
native ______________
and destroyed crops. They also ruined pastures,
sheep
reducing the land’s ability to feed herds of ___________________.
5. Australians have made efforts to control the number of rabbits. They
foxes
imported _________________
to prey on rabbits, but the growing
population of this predator endangered wildlife just as rabbits had.
6. In the 1950s, the government infected wild rabbits with a disease called
myxomatosis
________________.
More than 90 percent of the total rabbit population
died. However, rabbits became immune to the disease, and their numbers
boomed again—to 300 million by the 1990s.
7. Australia is not the only land in this region to be scarred by the
Bikini Atoll
consequences of human action. The U.S. government chose_____________
as a site for atomic weapons tests because it lay far away from regular
shipping and air travel routes.
In 1946, the government moved the inhabitants to another island and
conducted two tests.
8. From 1951 to 1958, the U.S. government held several more nuclear tests
Bikini Atoll
there. In the late 1960s, the government declared _________________
safe
for humans, and several islanders returned home. Then, in 1978, doctors
radiation
discovered dangerous levels of _________________
in the islanders’
bodies. The affected islanders had to leave again.