The topography of China as a whole is dominated by mountains, hills, and plateaus, and there are relatively few plains. With a total area of about 1.15 million square kilometers, China's plains are large enough to be larger than 80% of the world's countries!
Topography of China
It's just that our plains account for a relatively low percentage, only 12%! In countries of the same size, the United States has 50% plains, India 40%, and Russia is as high as 70%!
And many people have a very shallow understanding of geographical conditions, and it seems that the more plains, the better. But in fact, the current geographical conditions of the continent can be regarded as superior.
Our plains are basically sufficient, and they are all very livable. More importantly, the topography of the continent is "complex", and compared with the large plains of Pingchuan, such geographical conditions have incomparable advantages!
The following will analyze how great China's geographical advantage is from four perspectives!
First, latitude advantage: most of China's land is located in livable mid-latitudes.
The regions of the world can be divided into high, medium and low latitudes according to latitude.
High latitudes, near the poles, are the world's lowest average temperatures, the coldest, and the most scarce in material resources.
The low latitudes are close to the equator, which is basically hot all year round, distinguishing between rainy and dry seasons, and although food is plentiful, it is not comfortable to live in.
Only the middle latitudes are impartial, just in the middle of the position, the temperature is suitable, the four seasons are distinct, the rain and heat are at the same time, and the resources are relatively rich, which is the most suitable place for human habitation.
Compared to most places in the world, China's latitude advantage is too great!
Most of China's land is located in the warm mid-latitudes, which provides conditions for crop growth and population growth.
If you often look at the map, you will find that the latitude of southern European countries such as Italy and Spain is about the same as that of Liaoning and Jilin in the north of the mainland!
The most elite regions of Western Europe, France, northern Italy, and Germany, have latitudes roughly the same as the northernmost Heilongjiang River on the mainland.
Although most of Europe is not particularly cold under the influence of warm currents, the intensity of light is very weak, and the three conditions of "light, heat, and water" are very average, which leads to extremely low agricultural output.
There are very few crops in Europe, especially in Northern Europe, where only small fruits such as blueberries and berries can be grown due to the lack of light and hot water conditions.
So, for a long time, Europe's demographic potential was not very good.
Of course, the conditions of "light and hot water" are too good, and they are not good!
In low-latitude tropical countries, a lot of land is covered by vast tropical rainforests, which is very difficult to develop!
Amazon rainforest
In Brazil, for example, the Amazon rainforest, which occupies nearly 49% of the country's land, is simply unsuitable for development, limiting the country's population and national development.
Second, the terrain is diverse, creating abundant resources!
Although mountains, plateaus and basins do not contain many people, they have more important strategic value.
The intricate and undulating geological formations have created countless treasure resources for us.
The variety of vegetation and animals is very abundant, providing a large amount of material resources.
In addition, mineral resources such as oil, coal, and non-ferrous metals are also relatively abundant, at least in the early stage of our industrialization, which can ensure sufficient resources and self-sufficiency.
The entire Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the surrounding Gobi Mountains are like a natural protective barrier, giving us a sense of security, and its strategic significance is self-evident!
China's three-tiered terrain
At the same time, the huge terrain gap has given birth to several world-class rivers!
Among the world's most important rivers, China has three alone!
Sanjiangyuan
They are the Yangtze River, the Yellow River and the Lancang River.
These large rivers provide us with abundant freshwater resources, abundant fishery resources, and inland waterway shipping with great economic value.
Yangtze River Shipping
What's more, the headwaters of these major rivers are all in our country, which gives us an incomparable advantage in terms of water security!
Thirdly, a long coastline and a large number of excellent ports!
The total length of the coastline of the mainland reaches 32,600 kilometers, and the diameter of the earth is only more than 12,000 kilometers, so the length of our coastline can be said to be very good!
The long coastline means that the number of ports is large, and most of the mainland is located in the warm mid-latitudes, so the main ports on the mainland are almost always excellent ice-free ports.
Cities like Shenzhen, Qingdao, Dalian, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Zhoushan all have world-class ports.
It is precisely because of so many high-quality ports that we have achieved great success in the era of economic globalization.
At the same time, there is a very big advantage along the coast of the mainland, that is, livability!
The coastal areas in the east and southeast are the most densely populated and economically prosperous areas on the mainland, and in addition to the influence of ports, there are large areas of coastal alluvial plains.
The topography of these coastal plains is very conducive to the development of urban agglomerations, such as the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration and the Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration.
The coastal areas have a large population, so it is naturally easy to develop foreign trade.
Countries such as Mexico and India have longer coastlines, but their coastal areas are not as livable, and most of their citizens live far inland and lack a basis for overseas trade.
Fourth, the role of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the "roof of the world"!
Why take out the Tibetan Plateau alone? Because it is so important for the mainland!
Let's not talk about anything else, just one point, if there is no Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, then China's agricultural level will probably drop a lot!
The biggest reason why the light and heat conditions on the mainland are so good, and why can the rain and heat be at the same time? The biggest reason is because of the influence of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau!
The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, with an average altitude of more than 4,000 meters, is so large that it has given birth to two of the world's strongest "monsoons".
The southwest monsoon and the southeast monsoon interact with each other, so that the land of China has four distinct seasons, abundant rainfall, light and heat, thus creating an extremely developed agricultural civilization.
The root of traditional China is agriculture, and even in today's industrialization and informatization, the important position of agriculture is still unshakable!
After all, the people take food as the sky, and people are iron and rice are steel!
The profound agricultural heritage and the rapid improvement of the industrial level are our most advantageous competitiveness!
The ancestors have won the territory after thousands of years of competition, and the geographical superiority is needless to say! And you don't have to doubt that the best land in Asia is at our feet!