Robert W. McColl

A political geography of revolution: China, Vietnam, and Thailand

location and elimination of guerrilla forces and their leaders. It is the significance of the location of such guerrilla bases that is the focus for this paper. The consistency of locational elements in the guel~rilla bases in the cases of China and Vietnam (and ap

Feeding China's Millions

China currently has a population of more than one billion, almost onequarter of the worlds people, but a far smaller percentage of the available cultivated land on the globe. The approximately 80 percent of the Chinese population directly engaged in agriculture must sustain themselves and the more than 200 million persons who live in cities and work in non-foodproducing activities and services. The Chinese population is not evenly distributed (Fig. 1). The vast majority is concentrated in the eastern one-third of the country and in a central belt within that region. Furthermore, our research shows that the population in the coastal regions is both better fed and generally wealthier than groups elsewhere in the country. The largest number of sizable cities and, hence, the highest concentrations of non-food producers and food consumers lie in the eastern part of China. This pattern defies conventional wisdom, which states that areas of high population density are also marked by the highest levels of poverty and deprivation. The area of China is 9.6 million square kilometers, but per capita land availability is only one hectare, or approximately one-third the world average. The per capita figure drops if only arable land is included, because much of China is high mountains, as in Tibet and Qinghai, or arid and semiarid, as in Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia. Since 1979, the National Agricultural Regional Planning Committee of China has been a leader in surveying the agricultural resources of the country (NARPC 1987). Surveys have been done for every province, every region, and most counties. They were compiled from fieldwork, maps, aerial photographs, and satellite images (Kou 1984, 1987). According to these surveys, the total area of cultivated land was well over 133 million hectares (NARPC 1987; Shi, Li, and Shi 1989), or 14 percent of the total area of the country. The amount of cultivated land per capita was thus only 0.12-0.13 hectare, again one-third the world average. China must feed one-quarter of the worlds population with the production from only 9 percent of the worlds cultivated land (Pannell 1985). Agriculture and its production are the most important factors affecting Chinas future economic and social development. Expanding agriculture to sustain a continually increasing population is a massive undertaking that requires new ideas, new methods, and constant monitoring of the environment and production to better understand and direct agricultural advances. The magnitude of the problem is revealed in recent agricultural statistics (Table I). Because of the huge population to be sustained, strategies to expand production must be effective on the first

A new look at China's Dujiangyan irrigation scheme and its possible central Asian origins

Abstract Chinas Dujiangyan irrigation system dates to at least the fourth century B.C. It has been proclaimed a model system since that time, but it is a model that has never been copied in humid China. It is speculated that this is because the system had its origins in Central Asian Xinjiang province and is most useful in similar, arid, environments.

Nepalese traders: Itinerant merchants of Southeast Asia

Abstract Itinerant merchants have been an integral part of world trade since at least the time of the earliest Silk Route from China to the West. Today a group of traders from Nepal maintain this tradition. Today their travel is by economy jet and inexpensive train. The countries involved are primarily thos6 with historic ties to the mercenary Ghurka forces under the British. The traders are well organized and limited to a few‐families, primarily from the Pokhara Valley in Nepal. Their goods begin with products from Nepal and Tibet, but they also move goods gathered along their route. They represent a charming anomaly in the modern world, a touch of the old Asia.

Guerrilla War and Insurrections: A Classroom Simulation of their Political and Geographic Realities

Abstract Because of their widespread application and increasing frequency, guerrilla wars seem clearly to have replaced the historic pattern of conflict (fighting) between standing armies. In fact, today national and international politics appear to be divided between strategies based upon the long-range use of nuclear weapons and large national armies, and the use of small force, low cost guerrilla wars. For these reasons, if for no others, it is time to bring the study of guerrilla war into a more explicit role in our teaching and to study and demonstrate those features that are clearly geographic and which we as geographers can analyze and even predict in their impact on the outcome of such conflicts. The following simulation-game is designed to accomplish these objectives.

Creating Ghettos: Manipulating Social Space in the Real World and the Classroom.

Abstract Using the ideas of “active space” and proxemics, the article illustrates methods of creating a classroom “ghetto” by the conscious use of space to arouse feelings of dominance or inferiority in participants. Two scenarios are outlined: Majority Dominance of a Minority, and Minority Dominance of the Majority. In both scenarios, the class is divided into two groups and an emotional or intense issue is introduced for discussion; the dominance role is reversed by the conscious manipulation of space.