South Asia: Bangladesh and Bhutan

South Asia

• South Asia accounts for 4% of Earth’s land area but houses 25% of the global human population.
• The South Asian realm, particularly India, is crucial to the global economy.

Bangladesh and Bhutan

• Bangladesh is a low-lying country susceptible to rising sea levels but lacks advanced technology to combat it.
• Despite its small size, Bangladesh has around 700 rivers.
• Bangladesh has a declining fertility rate and ranks among the top 3 fastest-growing economies, and is the 2nd largest exporter of clothes.
• Economic growth in Bangladesh is accompanied by increasing inequality.
• During school shutdowns in the pandemic, child marriages increased in Bangladesh.
• Bhutan is located in the southern foothills of the Himalayan Mountains.
• Bhutan's monarchy mandates the king to step down at age 65.
• Visitors to Bhutan must pay a minimum daily fee and be accompanied by a registered tour guide.
• Bhutan requires 60% of its land to be forest coverage; the current coverage is 70%.
• Bhutan is the world's only carbon-negative economy.

Gross National Happiness Index

• Bhutan's Gross National Happiness Index consists of four main pillars: equitable socioeconomic development, preservation of cultural heritage, environmental conservation, and good governance.
• The Gross National Happiness Index is now adopted by the UN.

Environmental and Geographic Features

• South Asia can experience up to 60 consecutive days of rain.
• Flooding greatly contributes to benefits for agricultural crops.
• Climate change disrupts the consistency and strength resulting in damaged agriculture and land erosion.
• Monsoons provide 75% of India's rainfall.
• The Himalayas formed from the collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates.
• Continuous tectonic activity makes the region prone to earthquakes.
• High elevations have permanent snow and ice, which help mitigate climate change and supply water to rivers during summer.
• Ganges, Indus, Brahmaputra are key rivers in the region.

Russia/Central Asia

• Victory Day commemorates the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in WWII (May 9th), with over 8 million Soviet soldiers dead.
• The Soviet Union plans to invite all allies to Victory Day 2025.
• 11,000 poorly trained North Korean soldiers were sent to aid Russia with 40% casualties, in exchange for drone and missile technology.
• Putin is comparing Ukraine to WWII Nazis, portraying Russia as the savior.
• Russia employs a scorched earth strategy, destroying everything along its path, including its own resources and soldiers.
• By February 2025, Russia lost its most experienced soldiers in Ukraine.
• Ukraine is the second-largest country in Europe by area and had a brief period of independence from 1917-1921, eventually becoming part of the USSR.
• Crimea War in 1853-1856, Putin first invaded Ukraine 12 years ago. The war was a religious conflict between Catholics and Orthodox Christians.
• Holodomor refers to the Ukrainian forced starvation under Stalin.
• Stalin deported the ethnic Tatars population to Central Asia in Crimea.
• Russians began populating Crimea, where most of the industry was located.
• Crimea was transferred from Russia to Ukraine by Stalin's successor.
• Due to Crimea not being physically attached to Russia, Ukraine was responsible for daily needs technology (water, electricity, food, etc).
• The Orange Revolution, led by Viktor Yushchenko, involved protests in Kiev, leading to a second election where Yushchenko won.
• Yushchenko's leadership was ineffective, leading to debt and strained relations with Russia, resulting in gas supply cuts in 2006.
• Russia, under Putin, invaded Crimea again to protect the Russian population.
• The Russian Revolution in 1917 was triggered by women protesting (men were at war), leading to the government losing control of the capital.
• Control was split between the Duma (middle and upper classes) and Petrograd Soviets (workers and soldiers), with the Duma ultimately prevailing.

Perestroika and Glasnost

• Perestroika and Glasnost were the most radical changes in the region's governance since the Russian Revolution.
• These reforms led to Eastern European countries breaking free and sent the Russian economy on a downward spiral.
• In December 1991, Gorbachev resigned, marking the end of the Soviet Union after 74 years.
• Perestroika involved political and economic restructuring, easing political oppression, and pushing for economic reform.
• Glasnost promoted transparency and openness.
• Glasnost led to a better relationship with the United States.
• The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with Reagan reduced intermediate-range missiles in Europe.

Origins and Events of the Cold War

• The post-WWII era was marked by the Cold War.
• Stalin fought for ideological dominance and global influence.

The Five-Year Plans and Characteristics of the Soviet Union

• The Soviet Union focused on rapid industrialization.
• Production targets were aggressively increased.
• Those who failed to meet targets were sent to Gulags or killed.
• There was widespread fraud in the system.
• The first five-year plan focused on developing coal, iron, power supplies, and transportation industries.
• The second five-year plan focused on infrastructure like waste management, roads, and railways.
• The third five-year plan shifted to consumer goods and then weapons production for war.
• The quality of goods and connectivity improved during these plans.

Characteristics of the Tundra and Taiga Zones

• Vast areas are uninhabitable.
• 10% of Russia is Tundra, characterized by total darkness in winter.
• Taiga is the largest natural zone, equivalent to the size of the U.S., with long, severe winters.
• 33% of Russia’s population lives in the Taiga, though it is sparsely populated.
• Taiga is the world’s largest forest region.

Characteristics of the Ural Mountains

• A narrow mountain range through western Russia.
• The Ural Mountains form a boundary separating Europe and Asia.
• Most of Russia’s population lives on the western side of the mountains.
• The mountains are rich in coal, metal ore, and precious stones, contributing to Russia’s wealth, oil, and gas reserves.
• The distribution of natural resources is uneven and difficult to access.
• Having the largest landmass does not guarantee power or political influence.
• Russia's flat western border makes it easily invadable due to geography.

China’s Special Economic Zones

• In 1979, Deng Xiao Peng introduced Special Economic Zones to enhance China's global economic and political power.
• Special economic zones operate under market-driven capitalist policies to attract foreign business investment in China.
• Foreign investors were incentivized with low-cost labor, reduced corporate income tax, and tax exemptions.
• The economic zones established state-of-the-art ports and airports for exporting goods and materials.
• Special Economic Zones were essential to China’s current economic strength.
• Foreign investment led to capital formation and urban development.

Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward

• Mao allied with North Korea and the Soviet Union.
• Farmers received unreasonable production targets.
• Farm collectivization removed private farming.
• Backyard steel production involved farmers melting down items for steel, which was unusable.
• The Four Pests Campaign aimed to eliminate rats, flies, mosquitoes, and sparrows.
• Eliminating sparrows caused a locust population increase, devastating crops.
• Land policy had lasting negative environmental impacts.

Dynasties and Their Achievements

• Shang (Yin) Dynasty had advances in math, astronomy, artwork, military technology, and the Bronze Age; first recorded history.
• Han Dynasty had the largest dynasty where China expanded its territory and trade, promoted Confucianism, invented paper, and established the Silk Road.
• Qin Dynasty created terracotta soldiers.
• Manchu Dynasty had the largest amount of territory, including part of Russia. It was the last dynasty and Emperor Kanji had the longest reign (61 years), created a dictionary for the Han language, seized Taiwan, stopped Russian invasions, and focused on exporting goods like silk, cotton, tea, and ceramics.

Four Modernizations

• Deng Xiao Peng aimed to modernize four sectors by the 20th century's end.
• The four sectors included industry, technology/science, agriculture, and the military.
• Adopted Special Economic Zones and modified communism.

Religion

• Southeast Asia is predominantly Muslim.

Physiography

• China has the longest land border in the world, at 14,000 miles long.
• China has natural boundaries, including the ocean, high mountains, steppe country, and desert.
• Arid China includes the Taklamakan and Gobi deserts.
• The Gobi Desert is the third-largest desert in the world, sparsely populated with mostly nomads.
• The Taklamakan Desert snows and freezes.
• The Taklamakan Desert houses Bactrian camels.
• Highland China (Southwest section of the country) has a lot of mountains, is primarily rural and agrarian, where half of the Chinese ethnic population lives and Han primarily in urban areas.

China’s Great Green Wall

• Mao's agricultural ambitions for the Gobi Desert led to environmental damage.
• The Gobi Desert expanded rapidly, causing dust storms.
• The Great Green Wall is a tree-replanting project that began in the early 1970s to plant 88 acres of forest.
• The project has yielded mixed results.
• Thousands of dunes have been stabilized, reducing sandstorms.
• Nobody takes care of the trees after planting and they die.
• The project also leads to soil degradation because it requires more groundwater than the grasses and shrubs need.

Silk Road

• The Silk road was an important network of trade routes was in place for over 1500 years.
• It was 4000 miles long.
• It originally started in China, and ended in Italy.
• It was a method of exchanging goods, ideas, technologies, innovations, religion and culture
• The Silk Road was very important to China and the rest of Asia.

South America: Independence Movements

• Brazil was ruled by Portugal.
• Creoles wanted to maintain their privilege while seeking independence from the Peninsulares
• Napoleon's conquest of Portugal resulted in the Portuguese royal court fleeing to Brazil.
• King Joao stayed even after Napoleon's defeat until Portugal insisted he return, leaving his son to rule Brazil.
• Creoles organized against Portugal, believing they were culturally distinct, and formed the Brazilian Party, advocating for independence with Prince Pedro as emperor with minimal bloodshed.
• Brazil maintained its social hierarchy, making it the last New World country to abolish slavery.
• Simón Bolívar led the revolution that liberated most of South America from Spain starting in Venezuela.
• Creole seized power in Caracas, forming a republic, but mixed-race cowboys (laneros) in the interior supported the Spanish king and opposed independence.
• Simón Bolívar appealed to a shared South American identity, convincing the Laneros to fight against Spain.
• Bolívar captured Bogotá, Caracas, and Quito.
• By 1825, all of South America was free from European rule, marking the end of European power in the region.
• Latin America divided into individual states, as a result the peninsulares left, and a rigid social hierarchy remained.

History of Colonization

• Portugal colonized the east (Brazil) while Spain colonized the western part of South America.

Dictators

• Alfredo Stroessner of Paraguay led a US-backed military coup, imposing martial law and had a poor human rights record.
• Alberto Fujimori of Peru embezzled over $600 million USD from Peru as president.
• Augusto Pinochet of Chile seized power during a US-backed military coup, killing leftists and communists and banning political parties and egregious human rights abuses, and frequent failed assassination attempts.
• Luis García Meza Tejada of Bolivia overthrew Bolivia’s first democratically elected female president, had ties with former Nazis, outlawed all political parties, exiled opposition leaders, and state sponsored drug trafficking as president.
• Jorge Rafael Videla of Argentina started decades of military rule and sheltered Nazi fugitives, committed human rights abuses, oversaw kidnappings and death flights as president
• He took full responsibility as president, foreign debt increased fourfold.

Encomienda System

• Latin America had much racial ethnic diversity and a rigid social hierarchy.
• The encomienda system regulated Native American labor and behavior during the colonization of America.
• The pecking order began with Peninsulares (men born in Spain), then Creoles (Spaniards born in Latin America), then Mestizos (Mixed European and Indian Ancestry) and Mulatos (Mixed European and African Ancestry), and last Native Indians and Black slaves.
• Conquistadors received grants of Native Americans for tribute via gold or mostly labor because the Native Americans didn't have much gold left.
• They were to protect and Christianize people that were granted to them, but enslaved instead.
• The system was created in the 15th Century and abolished in the early 1800s.

History of Currency, Economy, and Oil

• Oil deals significantly impacted the South American economy.
• In 1914, Venezuela discovered oil, and Juan Decente Gomez allowed foreign companies to extract it.
• Venezuela became the 2nd largest producer of oil, and farmers left ancestral farms for high city wages, reducing food production.
• Cheap imports and overvalued currency were instated.
• The country became overly dependent on oil.
• The cost of living in cities then skyrocketed, and there was a new oil deal.
• It made the Venezuelan state equal partners in the oil industry, making Venezuelan oil less profitable than Middle Eastern oil later on.
• Middle East conflicts then led to Venezuela being the largest recipient of foreign currency that decade, which the government used to subsidize gas prices and make the country richer.
• Any business not state owned or associated with the oil industry was going down, contributing to enormous income inequality.
• More Middle East conflict tripled Venezuelan oil profits, too much for a small country to absorb.
• Fear of Hyperinflation began
• Heavy subsidies and a growing middle class led to nationalized oil.
• Due to a lack of investment, oil prices stabilized, then dropped.
• Black Friday caused the currency to lose 60% of its value overnight, with gas prices doubled.
• People began preferring to spend money rather than save it, causing inflation to rise.
• People cannot afford to import food or material and began to flee.

Uros People and Traditional Lifestyles

• They live on the shores of Lake Titicaca.
• As the Inca Empire expanded, they retreated to the middle of the lake to escape fighting.
• They continue to rely on hunting and fishing
• They use Totora reed in construction and for food.
• Build boats of up to 15m long that can carry 20 people.

Physiography

• Western South America has the longest and highest mountain ranges in the world (Andes) and is known for agriculture.

Incan Road Network

• The Incas had 25000 miles of roads.
• The core of the road system started in the capital of Cusco and expanded out from it in all primary directions.
• These roads were intended for foot traffic and build along straight lines with some deflections.
• Only the King, Royal People, and Nobles were allowed to use these roads.

Amazon Rainforest

• It covers 40% of the South American continent
• It is home to ⅓ of all thw world’s species, ¼ of the world's freshwater, ⅕ of the world’s forests, and 200 indigenous and traditional communities.
• All of which are increasingly endangered
• Portuguese colonists needed food, but agriculture wasn’t possible in the rainforest, so they cut down trees
• Once a rainforest is cut down, it is only productive for 1 or 2 growing seasons, because the soil is only productive bc of the leaves that fall on the forest floor.
• Once a rainforest is cut down, it will never regenerate as a rainforest again. Loses its diversity
• Deforestation is turning amazon into a carbon source with the increase in wildfires

Andes Mountains

• They are very rugged, longest mountain chain, driest desert, second highest plateau, highest active volcano, and has a native species of flamingo.
• The Atacama desert is here, and some parts of this desert have never rained since 1570-1971. Contains no vegetation and the largest supply of sodium nitrate in the world, which is used for producing fertilizers and explosives. This is where the oldest mummified human remains are. Testing site for the mars rover because of similar conditions to Mars.
• Ojos del Salado is the world's highest active volcano, and lies in the Andes Mountains with recent eruption 1300 years ago.
• The Andean Plateau has an average height of 12000 feet, which is only slightly lower than the Tibetan Plateau.
• There are flamingos within the Andean Plateau; it's located in the widest point of the Andes Mountains and Lake Titicaca is a really large freshwater lake located over 12000 ft.
• Lots of islands in it, ancient submerged temple from 1000-1500 years ago build by pre-Incan civilizations

Biodiversity (Brazil)

• More than 40% of all global tropical deforestation is in Brazil.
• It is due to agriculture and livestock, logging and gold mining.
• Beef production is the biggest driver for deforestation in the Amazon because you do not need productive land to grow pasture.
• The Amazon (Brazil) has 40000 plant species, and one hectare can have over 500 types of trees:1/10 of all animal species live in the amazon
• There is pharmaceutical help with a variety of potential cures and treatments to health problems, including 3000 plants with anti-cancer properties.

Domestication of Animals

• Pre-Columbian domestications include the llama and alpaca and the wool was used for clothing and guinea pigs for food
• Also later turkeys, ducks, and the stingless bee

U.S. Involvement in Central American Politics

• El Salvador had a border dispute with Honduras, sparking the El Salvadoran civil war, which resulted in a US-backed military government under Ronald Reagan.
• The US had concerns of soviet influences (communism) in that area
• The US government led to major atrocities across the country & 70,000 people were murdered.
• In 1989 the murder of a Jesuit priest resulted in a criminal investigation from the US & the El Salvador military was responsible.
• Gang violence has escalated in recent years, and the US thinks the government gave financial incentives for these gangs to stop, like better treatment for gang leaders in prison.
• In Guatemala, there was a US coup to oust the country’s president
• The War started when the president confiscated land to give to the poor, and US president Eisenhower was scared of communism so he ordered the coup
• American Owned United Fruit Company and Standard Fruit Company had a very profitable monopoly of Central American banana production. Had a lot of influence over national political systems, US army sent to keep peace in favor of banana exports, and mainly to protect business interests.

Role of Ecotourism

• Costa rica was seen as very attractive and business-friendly for foreign investment.
• Aggressive ecotourism campaign = huge profits.
• Responsible for ecotourism growth and got the country out of poverty.

Cuba/US Relations

• In 1920, the sugar industry was making a lot of money.
• It was seen as 700 miles of playground for americans/tourists
• Havana (capitol) was full of nice hotels, cars, and infrastructure. In 1950 it was the world’s 29th largest economy
• Cuba entered a new era od corporate colonialism
• US interests dominated sugar fields. Made a puppet state subservient to the US
• Cubans and americans scrambled to take out loans to expand production capabilities, the prices quickly dropped, and the farmers had unpayable debts -->30 Cuban banks failed.
• American banks took this opportunity to buy up bankrupted sugar mills
• Cubans only owned 20% of their sugar production.

Mexican Revolution

• It lasted 1910-1920, and in 1821, Mexico achieved independence from Spain, there were logs of unrest, then in 1858, the conservative clergy, Military, and land owners started a civil war, which was won by liberal government in the 1850s.
• It was led by PanchoVilla and Emiliano Zapata
• A response to the hacienda system, vast tracts of land were controlled by a few wealthy landowners, leaving many peasants and indigenous people landless.
• A rebellion against President Porfino Diaz.
• Ended up with a lot of selling land to foreign investors.
• Pancho Villa had a Great ability to shape public image
• He Let a Hollywood movie company film his revolution when he was running out of funds to pay for it.

Spanish-American War

• This resulted in economic instability and instability factors.
• Dominican Republic has a very strong economy, highest growth rate in Latin America
• Haiti, which shares the same island, relied on forced labor, and environmental degrading practices
• Slaves revolted, and declared independence, but Haitians were forced to pay France, causing the country to be shunned.
• The US occupied Haiti because they were scared germany was taking over the country.
• Overall, Haiti suffered from lack of vegetation means nothing holds soil in place, 7.0 earthquake and hurricane matthew resulted in lost lives and infrastructure.
• Basis of Modern Success is based on…
• How did colonization occur?
• What was the immediate impact?
• What was the long term impact?
• How was independence achieved?
• What have the sociopolitical consequences been since?

Mayan Calendar

• The calendar Used to guid Mayan agricultural cycles
• It was based on observations of sun, sky, for thousands of years.
• There are 3 cycles: 365 day solar year, 20 names, and 13 numbers
• Days are determined by how these three cycles line up
• 52 years pass before the 3 cycles line up again, and the process then repeats.
• This pre-dates Mayans themselves
• The mayans measure their history from the date of creation known as the long count.

Regional Terms

• Mesoamerica refers to the historical region of Meso-American civilization prior to Spanish conquest and Includes the SouthWest part of Mexico, and continues South to the Northern part of Costa Rica.
• Central America doesn’t include any part of Mexico, begins with Guatemala and Belize, and ends at the border of Columbia.
• Middle America includes all Mexico, all Caribbean Islands, entire Mainland from the US border to the border of Columbia.

Mexico’s Geography Regarding Pollution

• Mexico city is in a valley, surrounded by mountains
• It is prone to earthquakes and thermal inversions trap the air pollution, a lot like LA
• The lower environmental standards in Mexico lead to large American power plants
• Rapid growth in population → increase in manpower/human activities→ really bad air quality
• It reached record levels in the 80s and 90s
• In 1992, the UN said this was the world’s most polluted city
• Birds fell out of the sky dead because of toxicity.

Common Natural Hazards

• Hurricanes: known as Hurricane Alley & tend to originate off the western coast of Africa
• They need large open water basin areas, warm, deep water.
• Hurricane season is June 1 to December 1 every year.
• Earthquakes: not predictable & Central america sits on the Ring of Fire - high probability of earthquakes Boundaries of several tectonic plates.
• They have Earthquakes and volcanic activity here

Common Natural Hazards

• 75% of earth's volcanoes are located here.
• 90% of earth's volcanoes occur here.

Paricutin

• A cinder cone volcano in Mitchell Hawkin, Mexico erupted from 1943 until 1952.
• It didn’t exist until the day it erupted
• Unique because few volcano births have been witnessed by people.
• A farmer was working in the field and saw the Earth in front of him swell up and crack, and a giant fissure opened, and smoking with the smell of rotten eggs and gasses rising out!
• It continued to grow and erupt for the next 9 years, and in 1952 it ended abruptly (monogenetic=never erupt again)
• In total it was 1391 ft final height