LESSONS IN QEOGBAPUY. 



121 





ol inline; its islands, is reckoned by some to contain about 

 iuiaro miles, and its population to be about 

 ; if these approximations bo somewhat near the 

 truth, thi'tv will bo, on an average, about 42 inhabitants to every 

 squa.ru mile of thin division of tho world; but much of it con- 

 tains vast deserts, destitute both of useful vegetation and 

 human population. Tims, in Siberia, which is reckoned by 

 some to contain about 5,500,000 square miles, tho population, 

 according to a recent estimate, was scarcely moro than 4,000,000 

 inhabitants; which allows only four inhabitants to every 54 

 .-,|u:ir.' miles. On the other hand, China Proper contains about 

 l,7in),itihi ..[uaro miles, while tho population is about 370,000,000 

 inhabitants; and this estimate allows about 217 inhabitants to 

 iaro mile! The linear extent of tho coast lino of the 

 continent of Asia is reckoned by some at 35,000 miles, while 

 by others it is estimated at only 30,000 miles. 



< us and I/K//S of Asia, on the west and the south, form 

 an important feature of its natural divisions. The Bed Sea and 

 the Persian Gulf may be called inland seas. The Bed Sea, so 

 famous in sacred history, otherwise called the Arabian Gulf, 

 with its two arms, tho Gulf of Suez and tho Gulf of Akabah, over i 

 the former of which the Israelites crossed on dry ground, is 

 about 1,500 milos long, its breadth varying from 100 to 200 

 miles, except in the gulfs at its northern extremity, and its 

 surface being about 200,000 square miles. The two arms above 

 mentioned are so called from the names of the towns at their 

 northern extremities ; these arms inclose between them tho desert 

 region called the peninsula of Sinai, in which tho forty years' 

 wanderings of the tribes of Israel wero performed fit emblem 

 of the wanderings of human life in this lower world. The 

 entrance to tho Red Sea is by the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb, 

 about seventeen milos wide. This sea opens out at this strait, 

 through the Gulf of Aden, into the Arabian Sea, which washes 

 the western shores of India, tho southern shores of Arabia, and 

 terminates in the entrance to the Persian Gulf, at the Strait of 

 Ormuz, through tho Gulf or Sea of Oman. The Persian Gulf 

 contains about 95,000 square miles. The Bay of Bengal, whose 

 waters wash the eastern shores of Hindostan or India, and the 

 western shores of the peninsula of Further India, is an arm of 

 the Indian Ocean. The part of this bay which washes the shores 

 of the British province of Pegu, in Further India, is called tho 

 Gulf of Martaban. To tho east of tho Indian Ocean lies the 

 Oriental Archipelago, studded with the East India Islands. To 

 the north of this lies the Chinese Sea, with the gulfs of Siarn 

 and Tonquin. 



The channel between the Malay Peninsula and the Island of 

 Sumatra is called tho Strait of Malacca. Between the islands 

 of Sumatra and Java is tho Strait of Sunda, these islands 

 being called tho Sunda Isles. From the Chinese Sea to the 

 Tong Hai, or Eastern Sea, the passage is through the Strait of 

 Formosa ; north of tho last-named sea lies the Yellow Sea, whoso 

 waters wash the eastern shores of China Proper ; the north-west 

 part of the Yellow Sea being called the Gulf of Pe-che-lee, amd 

 the northern part the Gulf of Leao-tong. Between the penin- 

 sula of Corea and the islands of Japan lies the Sea of Japan, 

 the north part of which is called the Gulf of Tartary. North 

 of this gulf lies the Sea of Okhotsk, or Kurile Sea, which washes 

 the western shores of the peninsula of Kamtschatka. On the 

 other side of this peninsula is the Sea of Kamtschatka, or 

 Behring Sea, bounded on the south by the Aleutian Isles. All 

 these seas and gulfs, from tho Strait of Malacca to Behring 

 Strait, between Asia and America, are branches or arms of tho 

 North Pacific Ocean. Behring Strait, which is reckoned by 

 some writers to be only 52 miles broad at the narrowest part, 

 separates the Arctic Ocean from the Pacific. In the former, 

 there are some gulfs which run into tho northern parts of 

 Siberia, namely, the Kara Gulf or Sea, with its arms, the Gulfs 

 of Obi and Yeniseisk. 



Tho islands which lie around Asia are of the highest import- 

 unco both to that continent and to the continent of Europe, to 

 which they principally bolon?, as colonial possessions in the east 

 of European nations. But, although we mention these islands 

 at the present time, in consequence of their proximity to the 

 mainland of the Asiatic continent, it must be remembered that, 

 with a few exceptions, the islands that we are about to name 

 aro included in the division of the earth named Oceania. The 

 islands that strictly belong to Asia are named in the summary 

 of islands at the end of this lesson. 



Tho East Indies, otherwise called tho islands of the Oriental, 

 Eastern, or Asiatio Archipelago, have been long famous for th<-ir 

 produce ; and situated under the line of tho equator, or within 

 the torrid zone, they yield such as cannot be found in more 

 temperate climes. Tho Sunda Isles, with Sumatra and Java, 

 with others, lie to tho south of the peninsula of Further India 

 (which, uith Hindostan, is often included under the general 

 name of the East Indies) ; the length of Sumatra is about 1,100 

 miles, and its breadth about 160 miles it contains a surface of 

 about 130,000 square miles ; tho length of Java is about 600 

 miles, and its breadth 100 miles it contains a surface of about 

 52,000 square miles. The inland of Borneo, which lies to the 

 east of Sumatra, and to the north of Java, is about 850 miles 

 long, and about 700 miles broad, and contains about 300,000 

 square miles. This island is the largest island in the world. 

 The island of Celebes is about 500 miles long, and about 150 

 miles broad, and contains about 72,000 square miles. 



The equator crosses each of these three islands nearly at the 

 middle of each. Next follow the Molucca Islands, called, from 

 their products, the Spice Islands, including Amboyna, 32 miles 

 long, by 12 miles broad, and containing about 282 square miles ; 

 then the Philippine Islands, north of these, including Luzon and 

 Mindanao ; the former about 400 miles long, and about 100 

 miles broad, with a surface of about 56,000 square miles ; and 

 the latter about 300 miles long, and about 108 miles broad. 

 North of the Philippines is tho island of Formosa, belonging to 

 China; and thoLoo-choo Islands, north-east of Formosa, subject 

 to China. North and north-east of these islands are the Japan 

 Islands, of which the largest is Niphon, about 800 miles long, 

 and 100 broad ; the next, Jesso, or Yesso, about 280 miles long, 

 and 200 miles broad ; next, Kiusiu, about 150 miles long, and 

 120 miles broad ; and the next Sikoke, about 90 miles long, and 

 50 broad. These islands include a surface, of about 265,000 

 square miles, and form an important appendage to the continent 

 of Asia. The other islands on the west of Asia, and in the 

 North Pacific Ocean, are of small size and importance. In the 

 northern ocean there are a few islands, of which very little is 

 known. South of India are the Andaman and Nicobar Isles, in 

 the Bay of Bengal, and the important island of Ceylon, south- 

 east of tho peninsula of Hindostan, with an area of about 23,500 

 square miles, and a population of about 1,500,000 a fine 

 appanage of the British crown ; it is separated from the penin- 

 sula of India by the Gulf of Manaar, and the strait called Palk 

 Strait. On the other side of Cape Comorin, the most southern 

 point of India, lie the Laccadive and Maldive Islands, south- 

 west of the Malabar coast. 



SUHMABY or BOUNDARIES. 



NOKTH. - The Arctic Ocean. 



SOUTH. The Indian Ocean and 

 Chinese Sea. 



EAST. The Pacific Ocean. 



WEST. Ural Mountains, Ural 

 Eiver, Caspian Sea, Caucasus 

 Mountains, Black Sea, Sea of 

 Marmora, Mediterranean Sea, 

 Isthmus of Suez, and the Bed 

 Sea. 



SUMMARY OF PRINCIPAL SEAS AND 

 Guus. 



Black Sea, N. of Turkey. [Minor. 

 Sea of Marmora, X.W. of Asia 

 JEgean Sea or Archipelago, W. of 



Asia Minor. 

 Levant, W. of Syria. 

 Ked Sea, W. of Arabia. 

 Gulf of Aden, S. of Arabia. 

 Persian Gulf, E. of Arabia. 

 Gulf of Oman, S. of Beloochistan. 

 Arabian Sea, S.W. of India, or 



HimloRtan. 



Gulf of Mauaar, E. of Ceylon. 

 Indian Ocean, S. of India. 

 Bay of Bengal, S.E. of India. 

 Gulf of Martaban, S. of Pegu. 

 Chinese Sea, S. of China. 

 Gulf of Siam, S. of Further India. 

 Gulf of Tonquin, E. of Further 



India. 

 Yellow Sea, E. of China. 



Sea of Japan, W. of Japan. 

 Sea of Okhotsk, S. of Siberia. 

 Sea of Kamtschatka, E. of Siberia. 

 Behring Sea, N.E. of Asia. 

 Kara Sea, or Gulf of Kara, N.W. 



of Siberia. 



Gulf of Obi, N.W. of Siberia. 

 Gulf of Yeniseisk, N.W. of Siberia. 



STRAITS. 



Bab-el-Mandeb, S. of Red Sea. 

 Ormuz, E. of Persian Gulf. 

 Polk Strait, N. of Ceylon. 

 Strait of Malacca, W. of Malaya. 

 Sunda Strait, S.E. of Sumatra. 

 Behring Strait, E. of Siberia. 



ISLANDS. 



Rhodes, Scio, Mitylene, in the 

 Archipelago. 



Cyprus, in the Levant. 



Laccadives, W. of Hindostan. 



Maldives, S. of Laccadives. 



Ceylon, S. of Hiudostan. 



Andaman Islands, Bay of Bengal. 



Nicobar Islands, S. of Andaman 

 Islands. 



Hainan, S. of China. 



Formosa, E. of China. 



Loo-choo, N.E. of Formosa. 



Japan Isles, E. of Corea. 



Kurile Islands, N. of Japan. 



Sughalien, Sea of Okhotsk. 



New Siberia, or the Liakhov Is- 

 lands, Arctic Ocean. 



