THE ASIATIC REGION

• Rainfall distribution of the Asiatic region is far less uniformwhen compared to North American Region.
• Winters are cold and very drywhile summers are very warm and exceptionally wet.
• The rainfall regime resembles the tropical monsoon typein India.
• Intense heating of the mountainous interior of China in summer creates a region of extreme low pressure, and moisture-laden winds from the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan blow in as the South-East Monsoon.
• Thus, the Laurentian type of climate in China is often described as the Cool Temperate Monsoon Climate.
• It has a very long, cold winter, and a large annual range of temperature.
• Much of the winter precipitation in northern China, Korea and Hokkaido, Japan, is in the form of 

JAPAN

• The climate of Japan is modified by the meeting of warm and cold ocean currents.
• It receives adequate rainfall from both the South-East Monsoon in summer and the North- West Monsoon in winter (western coasts of Japan)
• The warm Kuroshiomakes the climate of Japan less extreme.
• The meeting zone between warm Kuroshiofrom south and cold Oyashio from the north produce fog and mist, making north Japan a ‘second Newfoundland’.
• Fishing replaces agriculture as the main occupation in many of the indented coastlands.

NATURAL VEGETATION – LAURENTIAN CLIMATE

• The predominant vegetation is cool temperate forest.
• The heavy rainfall, the warm summers, and the damp air from fogs, all favor the growth of trees.
• Forest tends to be coniferous north of the 50°N latitude.
• In the Asiatic region (eastern Siberia and Korea), the coniferous forests are a continuation of the great coniferous belt of the taiga.

LUMBERING

• Timber and fish are the leading export items.
• Much of the coniferous forests of fir, spruce and larch are exploited to a great extent.
• Eastern Canada is the heart of the Canadian timber and wood pulp industry [St. Lawrence River helps in export].
• South of latitude 50°N., the coniferous forests give way to deciduous forests. Oak, beech, maple and birch are most common.
• Almost homogeneous species of trees [pure stands], and the predominance of only a handful of species greatly enhance the commercial value of these forests.
• They have been extensively felled for the extraction of temperate hardwood. [From Laurentian Climate regions, both temperate hardwood and temperate softwood are obtained]
• In Manchuria, Korea and Japan, the forests have made way for the agriculture.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT – LAURENTIAN CLIMATE

• Lumbering and its associated timber, paper and pulp industries are the most important economic undertaking.
• Agriculture is less important because of long and severe winters.
• In the North American region, farmers are engaged in dairy farming.
• The Annapolis valley in Nova Scotia is the world’s most renowned region for apples.
• Fishing is, however, the most outstanding economic activity.