ABSTRACT
Geography has been shaping the pattern of human settlement and the conduct of everyday life in China for centuries. From the outside see a physically huge country, with a transportation system so rudimentary that distance becomes a major constraint to social interaction. The population is enormous, so the demand for resources almost everywhere outstrips available supplies. One final geographical imperative is the astonishing amount of diversity among the regions of China. A climate map shows startling variations in rainfall, from the moisture-deficient areas in the northwest to the lush tropical wetlands in the southeast. From west to east the land descends in a series of steps from the Tibetan Plateau to the low-lying plains at the eastern edge of the Yangtze Basin. Many outsiders have remarked on the enormity of the administrative tasks to be undertaken in a country as large and technologically underdeveloped as China.
