412 The National Geographic Magazine 



thus its possible producing and consum- 

 ing power. The population of Asia and 

 Oceania is 850 millions, while that of 

 all other parts of the world combined is 

 but about 750 millions. Its land area 

 is 18 million square miles, and that of 

 all other parts of the world 34 millions ; 

 yet its commerce is slightly less than 

 three billions of dollars, and that of other 

 parts of the world 19 billions. This 



THE ORIENT HAS BEEN HANDICAPPED 

 BY LACK OF MEANS OF TRANSPOR- 

 TATION AND COMMUNICATION 



Now, what is the cause of this lack of 

 commercial development in the Orient ? 

 With half the world's population and 

 all the attention which the world has 

 given it during the past four thousand 

 years the commerce is yet but one-eighth 

 of the total world's commerce and one- 



From "Kingdom of Siam." Copyright, 1904, G. P. Putnam's Sons 



Elephants with Howdahs (Bangkok), which Have Been Eclipsed in Popularity by the 

 American Trolley Car on Opposite Page 



gives an average commerce in the entire 

 Orient of about three dollars per capita 

 per annum, while the average in all the 

 rest of the world combined is 27 dollars 

 per capita per annum. Thus the Orient, 

 which has more than one-half of the 

 world's population and more than one- 

 third of its land area, has now but one- 

 ninth as great as the average per capita 

 in all other parts of the world combined. 



ninth as large per capita as that of the 

 remainder of the world. While its 

 growth, considered by percentage of in- 

 crease, has of late been as rapid as other 

 parts of the world, its total, when con- 

 sidered from the standpoint of area, 

 population, and producing and consum- 

 ing possibilities, is ridiculously small. 



What is the cause of the slow com- 

 mercial development of the Orient > 



