Economic Activities

Until the start of the 20th century, subsistence agriculture was the basic economic activity of most of Asia. Commercial agriculture, mining, and manufacturing were found in areas colonized or strongly influenced by Europeans.

Most Asian nations have attempted to industrialize and modernize their societies, particularly since World War II. Several nations, especially Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore, have succeeded in reaching the industrial and technological level of the major Western nations. The other nations of Asia are dealing, with varying degrees of success, with the many difficult problems of modernization. They are trying to change age-old systems of land-holding and farming, educate their people, and raise the capital required to build and maintain industrial enterprises. Widespread poverty and rapid population growth are major hindrances to achieving these aims.

Agriculture is by far the most important economic activity in Asia. Almost 60 per cent of the continent's working population is engaged in farming. Farmers cultivate, either continuously or intermittently, one-sixth of Asia's total land area. The land they use for livestock grazing accounts for an additional one-fifth.

In Communist-ruled Asia—China, Mongolia, North Korea, and Vietnam—most agricultural lands are organized into large, state-controlled and state-owned units such as cooperatives, state farms, and collectives. However, these proved inefficient and unpopular. This system was replaced by a system in which farmers were supposed to produce certain amount of crops for the state and the surplus could be sold in the open market. The Chinese government gradually relaxed its crop requirements, and now many farm families raise and sell crops as they choose. Farmers are usually allowed to use small private plots from these units to grow vegetables and raise livestock.

In non-Communist Asia, subsistence farming on privately owned plots is widespread. Some cash crops are also produced on small, privately owned farms. Commercial farming on large holdings or plantations, which produce mainly export crops such as rubber, is practiced primarily in southern and eastern Asia. Shifting agriculture, mainly of the slash-and-burn type, predominates in some areas. This type of agriculture follows a cyclical pattern, in which land is cleared by cutting and burning, cultivated until it is no longer productive, and then abandoned for new land.

Paddy rice is the chief crop and staple food in much of the continent, particularly in southern and eastern Asia. Wheat is next in importance. The countries of Asia—led by China and India—produce more than 90 percent of the world's supply of rice. The main wheat-growing areas are northeastern China; Central Asia, especially Kazakhstan; Russia and Turkey and the upper Ganges River valley in India and Pakistan.

In addition to rice, other principal food crops in southern and eastern Asia include millet, sorghum, barley, corn, sweet potatoes and yams, cassava, peanuts, soybeans, and a variety of peas and beans. A different array of crops, those suited to relatively dry conditions and oasis agriculture, are produced in western and southwestern Asia. Cereals, lentils, and vegetables are grown mainly for local markets. Export crops include citrus fruit, nuts, dates, figs, and coffee.

The most valuable commercial crops are grown primarily in southern and eastern Asia. Among them are rubber and palm nuts in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand; tea in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia and China; cotton in India, Pakistan, China, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan; jute in Bangladesh, China and India; and sugarcane in India, Pakistan, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. Sericulture (the production of silk by raising silkworms) in Japan, China, India, and North and South Korea accounts for most of the world's raw silk. Much of the world's supply of spices, including pepper, ginger, and cinnamon, comes from Asia.

The continent's vast flatlands and plateaus support many types of livestock. In South Asia, farmers who raise livestock use the animals chiefly to help with the work. In the less fertile parts of Central, North, and Southwest Asia, many people raise for their milk, cheese, meat, fur and hides. Manure from livestock is used as fertilizer and sometimes as a cooking fuel.

Meat, which is consumed in relatively small amounts in Asia, is provided by hogs, poultry, sheep, and goats. The great majority of the hogs are raised in China, where they are a chief source of meat. There is little hog raising in predominantly Muslim nations, because their religion forbids Muslims to eat pork. Cattle and water buffalo are raised primarily for milk and for use as draft animals. India has the greatest number of cattle; however, these animals are held sacred by Hindus, so many serve no economic purpose.

Sheep, goats, and horses are raised in short-grass regions. Nomadic herders in the semidesert areas of southwestern and central Asia raise goats, sheep, and camels. Yaks, sheep, and goats are kept on the Tibetan Plateau, and reindeer herds on the Siberian tundras.

Asia is largely a continent of so-called "developing" or "third world" nations, with Japan the most notable exception. Japan is Asia's leading manufacturing nation. It is a world leader in the production of iron and steel, transportation equipment, photographic equipment, and electronic goods. Exports are usually high in value in comparison to their bulk. Examples include automobiles, cameras, and radio and television sets. Japan is the only major Asian nation to have a predominantly urban population employed mainly in manufacturing and commerce.

Industrialization in Russia has occurred primarily in the European part. Development of Asiatic Russia has occurred mainly in cities along the Trans-Siberian Railway. Industrialization has also developed in the former Soviet portion of Central Asia.

Both mainland China and India have attempted large-scale industrialization since roughly the mid-20th century. Both have met with varying degrees of success, though they remain essentially agricultural. Goods are produced in great variety; most are used domestically. Manufacturing is also a significant and growing part of the economies of Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, Turkey, and Vietnam. They produce mostly consumer goods for their large home markets and, increasingly, for export. Large, modern factories in these countries make such products as automobiles, electronic equipment, factory machinery, iron and steel, military weapons, and ships.

A number of small countries—Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Israel, and Hong Kong (a special administrative region of China)—have attained considerable success in manufacturing. In Taiwan and South Korea, the major manufacturing industries are geared primarily for export. In Singapore and Hong Kong, export-oriented manufacturing is coupled with shipping, international banking, and other commerce. High-technology products are among the chief manufactured goods of Israel.

In parts of Asia there is little manufacturing except for the processing of a few natural resources, usually for export. Examples are manufacturing of inexpensive jute and cotton textiles in Bangladesh and the refining of petroleum in Kuwait.

The processing of food including industries such as sugar refining and the processing of fish, rice and tobacco is an important industrial activity in some parts of the continent.

Tourism and a related industry, handicrafts, have great economic importance in many parts of Asia, as tourists buy handicrafts made by Asians. The tourist industry is especially active in South, Southeast, and East Asia. A great variety of handicraft items, usually made in small shops for sale in local markets, are produced throughout Asia. Some, including certain textiles, rugs, porcelains, and brassware, are of high quality and find markets throughout the world.

Light industries play an important role in the economies of such countries as Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. Many Southeast Asian countries manufacture textiles, footwear, personal electronic products, and other consumer goods.

Fossil fuels are Asia's most important mineral products. Southwestern Asia, especially the area around the Persian Gulf, produces about one-fourth of the world's yearly output of petroleum, nearly all of it for export. Malaysia and Indonesia are also important exporters of petroleum. In many cases, natural gas is produced along with petroleum. Large amounts of oil and gas also come from fields in Kazakhstan, Siberia, and eastern China.

Asia's major coal fields are in the Kuznetsk Basin, in Russia; the Karaganda, in Kazakhstan; the northeastern part of China; and the northeastern area of India. Iron ore is found in significant quantities in northern Kazakhstan; near the major Chinese and Indian coal-producing areas; and in west-central India. Large reserves of both coal and iron ore in eastern Siberia are increasingly being exploited.

Asia is the primary source of much of the world's tin and graphite. Gold, nickel, and platinum and related metals are found in Siberia and precious gems—rubies and sapphires—in Sri Lanka and Burma. Among the many other minerals produced are tungsten, lead, manganese, copper, and bauxite, as well as phosphates and numerous other nonmetallic minerals.

Asia exports most of its raw mined materials to industrialized nations on other continents. China exports large amounts of antimony and tungsten. Manganese and mica from China and India and chromite mined in Turkey and the Philippines are exported to many parts of the world.

Fishing is an important activity in Asia. Most of the catch is used for human food; relatively little is processed for livestock feed, fertilizer, or industrial use. The people of southern and eastern Asia depend on fish and shellfish for a large part of the protein in their diet. The major fishing nations of Asia include Japan, China, India, Indonesia, Thailand and South Korea. Asiatic Russia's catch is also important.

The richest fisheries in Asian waters are in the western Pacific, especially in northern waters; the eastern Indian Ocean; and the South China Sea. Inland waters are also important.

Siberia's vast forests supply sawtimber, consumed by Russia's enormous lumber industry; pulpwood; and other forest products. Japan's carefully managed timberlands are extremely productive. Tropical Asia produces fine hardwoods and veneer woods. In other parts of Asia, including China and India, wood is used mainly as a fuel.

Railways are the chief means of long-distance transportation throughout much of Asia. The Colonial rulers built a large network of railroads during the late 19th century, when they used trains to carry raw materials from inland areas to coastal cities and ports. The most heavily used systems are in China, India, and Japan. Railways crossing Siberia and Central Asia provide the primary means of overland transportation in these areas.

The colonial rulers also built up Asia's highway system between inland areas and coastal cities. Since the end of colonial rule, an increasing emphasis has been placed on road construction throughout Asia. In general, roads linking large cities and those in and around urban areas form the only extensive networks. Roads have been built into the frontiers of western China, primarily for military purposes. Many kinds of vehicles transport people and goods in Asian cities, such as automobiles, buses, motor scooters, and trucks. Motor vehicles are less common in rural Asia, though buses travel along the rural roads.

Huge areas of Asia are remote from roads and railways. The subarctic and arctic regions can be traveled by river during warmer weather. Cold-weather transportation is limited to dogsleds and special arctic vehicles. Some areas in the tropical forests can be reached only by riverboats or rafts. The great mountain chains are also barriers to travel.

Air travel has opened up many parts of Asia to the movement of people and cargo. Airlines link most large Asian cities with one another and with other parts of the world. Most of Asia's larger cities and important remote localities have airports.

The barriers to land travel and the convenience of water travel contributed to the concentration of population and trade on Asia's southern and eastern seacoasts. There, great cities—Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Kolkata (Calcutta), and many others—serve as entrance and exit points for much of Asia's goods and travelers. Rivers rank among the chief transportation routes of rural Asia. The people use barges, canoe-like vessels, junks, sampans, and other small boats for travel and to transport goods. Oceangoing vessels carry much cargo to and from Asia's ports. These huge modern ships tower above the small, old-fashioned sampans and other boats that dockworkers use while loading and unloading them.

The goods imported and exported by the nations of Asia (excluding Asian Russia), in terms of value, account for about a third of the world's foreign trade. Japan, Asia's most important trading nation, accounts for about a quarter of the continent's imports and exports, by value.

Most of Asia must import food for its population from North and South America, Australia, and other regions. The largest proportion of Asia's important exports—mineral fuels, rubber, and other raw materials—goes to the United States and western Europe. Asia's major imports—food, machinery, transportation equipment, chemicals, and other manufactured products—come from North America, Australia, and Europe. Japan is the major exception to this pattern; it imports few manufactured goods and is one of the world's leaders in the export of such products.

In some Asian countries, communication is much the same as in Western countries. Many people read newspapers, and radio and television stations broadcast from most cities. Most households have radios, and many own television sets.

In other Asian countries, broadcasts do not reach some rural areas, and only some families own radios, with very few owning television sets. Satellite television receivers and mobile telephones enable some rural communities to stay in touch with the rest of the world, however.