There
are many tropical
rainforest countries in
the continent
of Asia.
India
is the
world's
second most populous country after China.
It has
also got some very
various nature - with Himalaya's snowy mountains in north, highlands in
north east, and coastal lowlands in north-west. Tropical rainforests
cover the mountain range along south-western coast south of Bombay.
Sri Lanka,
the island
south of India, has been suffering civil wars and unrest since its
independence in 1948. About half of the population is engaged in
agriculture.
As in many other rainforest countries, much of the forests
have been cleared to make land for large tea, rice and other
plantations. But despite the deforestation,
rainforests still cover
the wettest areas and most rugged terrain.
Bangladesh
is one of the
world's poorest countries in the world's largest river delta, which
gets constantly flooded during the monsoons. Other natural disasters
such as typhoons (hurricanes) frequently devastate the
country. The floods however are good in the sense that they bring
fertile silt to the soils. Agriculture is a big industry and the main
crop is rice. Bangladesh hasn't got so much of the "usual" tropical
rainforests, but it has got world's largest mangrove forests and
mangrove communities often fall into the definition of
tropical
rainforests.
Bhutan is a
small
land-locked country between China and India. Although
agriculture
is a large industry, forests still cover more than half of the
country's area. The main regions are the Great Himalayas, Lesser
Himalayas and the Duars Plain which contain the semitropical forests
and bamboo jungles.
Myanmar
(Burma) has also been suffering from political issues since its
independence in 1948. It has got central lowlands; and mountains in the
north and west. The coastal areas have got a wet climate and forests
are found mostly in north-western and south-western parts of the
country.
Thailand
can be divided into four separate regions: the mountainous north, the
Khorat Plateau, the central plains, and the southern mountainous Malay
Peninsula. The northern mountains are home to many tribal rainforest
people,
the valleys between the mountains support agriculture, the Khorat
Plateau in the north-east is covered by savannah woodlands and
the
central plains by rice
plantations. Malay
Peninsula in south is dominated by tropical rainforests.
Laos is a small
land-locked country, and one of the least developed countries in the
area. It is quite mountainous country, with the only lowland suitable
for agriculture being Mekong floodplains. 55% of the country is still
covered by forest, despite deforestation.
Vietnam is a
narrow country with large river deltas in each end - the Red River in
north, and Mekong in south. Both deltas are heavily cultivated, major
rice growing areas. More than 60% of the land area is covered by Annam
Highlands - the most forested area.
Cambodia, a poor
country in different political struggles since 1970s, is now finally
starting to get on the feet again. Its main crops is rice and
much of it is grown on the flooded lowlands in the Mekong river basin.
In the country's eastern and western parts there are tropical
rainforests, the timber from which was sold in massive quantities for
at least 20 years. Treefelling is still an environmental problem.
Malaysia consists of
the tip of
Malay Peninsula, and north-western part
of Borneo
Island
(Sarawak and Sabah). Parts of Malay Peninsula are covered by mountain
ranges, while on Borneo Island there are some dense tropical
rainforests and mangrove communities. Malaysia has been exporting more
timber than any other country in Asia, and the rainforest
people on
Borneo Island
have been threatened by the large scale of logging.
Philippines is an
island
nation consisting of Visayan, Luzon, Sulu and Mindanao islands. It is
mostly a mountainous country with some volcanoes, and the fertile
Cagayan River Valley where rice is cultivated. Lots of rainforest
logging has been happening - about 90% of the original rainforest is
gone.
Indonesia is a large
island
nation consisting of Sumatra, Java, most of Borneo, Sulawesi, Bali,
Lombok, Flores, Timor, western half of New Guinea, and other, smaller
islands. It was once covered by rainforests, whereas massive logging
have resulted in the only remaining rainforests being in national parks
and
isolated areas in rugged mountains. There are many active volcanoes and
extensive rice plantations. The majority of population lives of
agriculture.
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