The narrow east coast of the Pacific Ocean stretches from north to south. This area in the geopolitical concept was called the Far East. This region is one of the constituent parts of the Asia-Pacific region. Combines Southeast, Northeast and East Asia into one subregion.
Description of the Far East
The region of the Far East includes 20 states. These are the Pacific island countries: Japan, Philippines, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, East Timor and Brunei. The states that are located on the Malacca and Indochina peninsulas: Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. The countries related to mainland Asia: China, Mongolia, Hong Kong, North Korea, South Korea and partially Russia.
The Russian Far East includes 9 administrative units: Amur, Magadan, Sakhalin and Jewish Autonomous Regions, the Republic of Sakha, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, as well as the Khabarovsk, Primorsky and Kamchatka Territories.
Geographically, the region is a seismically active zone. The relief is mostly mountainous. Moreover, the mountains here are underwater. Frequent events are earthquakes and tsunamis, causing catastrophic destruction to states. Inland waters of the Far East of the mainland is a separate issue, which is very interesting and long-lasting.
Climate of the Far East
The climatic features of this region are very contrasting. Such diversity is observed here due to the fact that the region is stretched from the polar pole to the equator. All climatic zones change from north to south. In addition to them, the region is characterized by five different types of climate. The most common here is marine. This is facilitated by the proximity to the ocean, as well as the constant circulation of monsoon air masses here. The climate and inland waters of the Far East are highly interconnected.
In the southern part of the region, in addition to the moist marine climate, there is also a large annual rainfall.
Mainland
On the mainland, the climate is temperate continental. The continental air masses of the mainland prevail here, and the mountains protect the territory from the constant influence of oceanic air masses.
The northern regions of the Far East (part of Russia) are distinguished by a particularly severe Arctic climate. Winter here lasts more than 9 months. It is not snowy, but frosty.
If you do not take into account the northern Arctic and subarctic climatic regions, the monsoon type of climate is inherent in the rest of the Far East. In winter, air masses come from the mainland (westerly winds). They bring frosty and snowy weather to the mainland and humid, cool to the islands, affecting the inland waters of the Far East, influencing them. In summer, the flow of air masses changes, and the regions are blown by monsoon winds blowing from the east. They bring hot summers with a lot of rainfall to the islands and moderate heat to the mainland.
Precipitation
The annual rainfall also changes regionally, from north to south. It is worth noting that they directly affect inland waters. At the extreme northern points, precipitation falls within the range of 100-200 mm / year. An exception can be considered the Kamchatka and Sakhalin peninsulas . Due to the fact that these are coastal areas of the ocean, the amount of precipitation here increases sharply. The inland waters of the Russian Far East are greatly affected by such events. The Aleutian minimum, colliding with warm air masses, brings a large amount of snowfall to these regions. In winter, the snow cover of the peninsulas reaches 6 meters.
In the temperate climatic zone of the Far East, precipitation varies between 800-1000 mm / year. For subtropics and tropics, this amount increases to 1300-1500 mm / year.
The territories of the Far East, related to the equatorial climatic zone, year round languish from heat and moisture. The average annual rainfall in the region is 2500 mm / year. There are areas where their number increases to 5000-6000 mm / year.
The temperature regime has its own peculiarity - in the cold season, the temperature drops sharply inland. Average t o January in the Khabarovsk Territory is -32 ° ... -35 ° , when in January the average January temperatures are rarely frosty. The climate, inland waters and natural areas of the Far East - all this is changing greatly under the influence of precipitation.
Hydrology of the Far East
Due to the fact that the Far East region is mountainous for most of its territory, the rivers here are short and mostly mountainous. The river system of the Far East is very developed. To a large extent this is affected by a large amount of precipitation and the monsoon wind bringing them. During the rainy season, which comes to these lands in spring, rivers flow out of their banks. Sometimes the internal waters of the Far East spill so hard that they cause natural disasters to territories.
Large rivers
The largest rivers of the mainland: Amur, Lena (Russia), Kolyma (Russia and China), the deepwater Yellow River and Yangtze (China), Mekong and Saluin (flow through the territories of China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia). These long rivers - the Yellow River and the Yangtze - are considered one of the largest rivers in the world. The economic value of them is invaluable. They are used both for irrigation and for hydropower, and are rich in representatives of ichthyofauna. Inland waters of the Far East, which also belong to the territory of China, Vietnam, Laos, are used for rice cultivation. Lakes on the mainland are available, mainly of volcanic origin.
The rivers of the island and peninsular states of the Far East are short and mountainous. In Japan, the longest rivers are the Tone, Ishikari, Sinamo, Kitakami, and in Malaysia the Kinabatangan and Rajang rivers. All island inland waters of the Far East are full-flowing, rioting year-round. During floods, they tend to leave their shores. Used for household use and irrigation.