China

The ultimate greatness of a nation as a political power depends primarily upon its geographical position and its physical resources.Those qualities of racial character that we are apt to think of as the basis of a people's progress, are, in the last analysis, largely determined by physical surroundings; and even a progressive people in a land of scanty resources or of unfavorable geographic position could not hope to attain and maintain the highest stage of national greatness.What are the actual facts as to the geography of China that justify the current belief that this nation is destined to become a power of the first magnitude?that here in eastern Asia will continue to be enacted some of the greatest and most far-reaching events in national and international affairs?What are its actual resources that give credence to the belief that here the wealth of the world is to be enormously increased?that here will develop a trade and commerce sufficient to bring fortunes to the individuals or the nations that can control it?Be his interests economic, com- mercial or political, these are questions that should receive first consideration by the student of the Far East.The Chinese Empire consists of China proper and her four dependencies-Tibet, Eastern Turkestan, Mongolia and Manchuria.China, however, although it has but one-third of the area of the Empire, contains practically all its wealth and population.This article is confined to China itself, referring only indirectly to the dependencies.I. Geographicol Position Isola'tion.-The fact of greatest influence on China's history is its almost complete separation from the rest of the world, by land and by sea.It is this fact that has made possible the maintenance of its civilization, almost unchanged for over 2,500 years.China faces the Pacific, the largest of the oceans, across whose waters the

Archaeology · China · Economic geography · Geography · Regional science · China's Ethnic Minorities and Relations

• Farmers of Forty Centuries

  Mark Jefferson, F H King•Bulletin of the American…•1912

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• The International Relations of the Chinese Empire

  Open Access•Hosea Ballou Morse, George H Blakeslee•Political Science Quarterly•1912

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• The Trade and Administration of the Chinese Empire

  Hosea Ballou Morse•The Economic Journal•1908

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• Yunnan, the Link between India and the Yangtze

  H R Davies, Hannah Davies•Bulletin of the American…•1909

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• Manchuria

  C R B, Alexander Hosie•Geographical Journal•1901

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