Lesson 1: Asia, Asians and the Global Economy

EVPP 490 003Amy Duray

AgendaIntended as a brief overview of why this course

was developed and offered.Maps and Countries – limitations of political

boundariesPeople and population trendsUnique environmentsEconomics and development

Population Information

Source: Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat. 2007. World Population Prospects: The 2006 Revision. Dataset on CD-ROM. New York: United Nations. Available online at http://www.un.org/esa/population/ordering.htm, Accessed via World Resources Institue, Earthtrends Data Portal www.earthtrends.wri.org

A. East Asia (China, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, and Taiwan) one of the most populous regions of the world (Population in Thousands):

Country 2008 2025 Percent Growth

China 1336311 1445782 108%

Japan 127938 121614 95%

Korea, Rep 48388 49019 101%

Korea, Dem People's Rep 23867 25228 106%

Hong Kong 7279 8305 114%

Mongolia 2654 3112 117%

Macau 484 535 111%

Total 1546921 1653595 107%

Population Information

Source: Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat. 2007. World Population Prospects: The 2006 Revision. Dataset on CD-ROM. New York: United Nations. Available online at http://www.un.org/esa/population/ordering.htm, Accessed via World Resources Institue, Earthtrends Data Portal www.earthtrends.wri.org

B. Southeast Asia (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philipines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Vietnam)

Country 2008 2025 Percent Growth

Indonesia 234342 271227 116%

Philippines 89651 115878 129%

Viet Nam 88537 106357 120%

Thailand 64316 68803 107%

Myanmar 49221 55374 113%

Malaysia 27027 33769 125%

Cambodia 14697 19489 133%

Lao People's Dem Rep 5963 7713 129%

Singapore 4490 5104 114%

Timor-Leste 1193 2011 169%

Brunei Darussalam 398 526 132%

Total 579835 686251 118%

Regional Population Dynamics•Increasing Urbanization, including the worlds’ largest cities•Areas of increasing ethnic conflicts•Exponentially growing issues associated with this population growth , such as waste management

Environment29 World Heritage Sites:

http://www.unep-wcmc.org/protected_areas/world_heritage/Images/19.gif

Asia and the Pacific have approx. 50% of the world’s remaining mangrove forests

Asia and the Pacific have approx. 72.5% of the world’s coral reefs (about 60% of which are thought to be endangered)

High levels of endemism throughout the region, high threat to endangered species (see Table 6.5 p. 221 of GEO-4)

Continuing high levels of agricultural land conversion, deforestation

Economics8 high-performing East Asian economies (HPAEs): Hong Kong,

Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Taiwan (China), and Thailand

From 1965 to 1990 the 23 economies of East Asia grew faster than all other regions of the world

(Chart is from http://www.galbithink.org/topics/ea/growth.htm , derived from the report cited above)

Initially, this was truly an economic miracle, with these same countries experiencing unprecedented levels of income equality as well as growth (except Taiwan and S. Korea)

China is starting to catch up to the East Asian powerhouse economies. Growth in 2007 was 13%. Growth in 2008 was 9%, despite the slowing global economy. (GoogleNews)