Geography

Introduction
A countrys geography has a powerful effect on the development of its society and culture. Its
size affects the demography while its location may interfere with the intercultural influences
and its position in the international community. The climate relates to the possibility or the
lack of agricultural developments and to the style of living of the population, while one
countrys topography dictates where and how people earn their livings. Commented [MS1]: Why is this important for dutch
SMEs and what do you cover in this chapter?

1.Japan
1.1 Geography and Climate
Commented [MS2]: Better one
Japan is a shimaguni (island
country): The Japanese archipelago
consists of four main islands: Honsh,
Shikoku, Kysh and Hokkaido, and
thousands of smaller surrounding ones.

P ICTURE 1 J APAN M AP

It lies off the Pacific coast of the Asian mainland, at the closest point, the main
Japanese islands are 193 km away from the mainland. To get a better understanding of the
distance, you can compare this to the European shimaguni, Great Britain, which is at the
narrowest point only 34 km away from Europe.
Commented [MS3]: Nod needed

P ICTURE 2 ASIA MAP

 The total land space of the Japanese islands is about 142,000 square miles. It is a very
small country when compared with the vast Asian mainland- cross reference image 2. It is
even smaller than it seems when you look at how little of the land can actually be used for
agriculture and housing. The Japanese islands are covered by mountains, most of them with
vast forests and short, quick rivers, of which only a few are navigable. Very little of the
countrys terrain is suitable for agriculture (15%) and that is also the only land available for
living so the majority of the population is concentrated in certain areas such as the
metropolitan Tokyo-Okohoma region.
Commented [MS4]: Not especially needed

P ICTURE 3 P OPULATION DENSITY J APAN

The Japanese islands are for the most part in the temperate zone, they stretch from
north to south in latitudes similar to those of the eastern United States, from about 45 degrees
in the north to about 20 in the south. The capital, Tky, is in a similar position to Los
Angeles or Washington in the United States and Gibraltar in Europe. Commented [MS5]: Either use enter or use caps to jump
Japan is generally a rainy country with high humidity. Northern Japan has warm at the beginning of a sentence, never use both
summers but long, cold winters with heavy snow. Central Japan in its elevated position, has
hot, humid summers and moderate to short winters with some areas having very heavy snow,
and Southwestern Japan has long, hot, humid summers and mild winters
Sunshine, in accordance with Japans uniformly heavy rainfall, is generally modest in
quantity. Amounts range from about six hours per day in the Inland Sea coast and sheltered
parts of the Pacific Coast and Kant Plain to four hours per day on the Sea of Japan coast of
Hokkaid. In December there is a very pronounced sunshine gradient between the Sea of
Japan and Pacific coasts, as the former side can receive less than 30 hours and the Pacific side
as much as 180 hours. In summer, however, sunshine hours are lowest on exposed parts of
the Pacific coast where fogs from the Oyashio current create persistent cloud cover similar to
that found on the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin.
 The countries islands are
known for their beauty and
variety, but they hide great
dangers. Japan is located along
the Pacific ring of fire, on the
edges of several continental and
oceanic tectonic plates, that
resulting in the high probability
of an earthquake. They occur
even more often than they are
felt, but even so there is one big
enough for scientists to notice
every 3 or 4 days. The mountain
area presents an especially high
risk, as 10 percent of the worlds
active volcanoes are there. In
addition, tidal waves may be
P ICTURE 4 EARTHQUAKE CHART JAPAN
caused by the force of the
earthquakes and typhoons
sometimes hit Japan as they To sum up, there is a high possibility of a
travel North from the South natural disaster especially on the East Coast of Japan,
Pacific area. so that is a factor that a business might want to consider
when travelling there.

1.2 Infrastructure
If you want to go to Japan, you can only get there by plane or boat/ship. That should
not be a problem since there are 142 paved airports and 292 sea ports. The biggest ones are
(for seaports) : Chiba, Kawasaki, Kobe, Mizushime, Moji, Osaka, Tokyo, Tomakomai and
Yokohama. There are also 5 container ports in Japan located in: Kobe, Nagoya, Osaka,
Tokyo and Yokohama. (World port source: Japan, 2005). In this country, it is really easy to
keep connected with your European enterprise as the Internet usage for Japan is very high,
92% of the population being able to use Internet.

Commented [MS6]: No need for empty space, layoutfase

2.Taiwan
2.1 Geography and climate

Taiwan is located in
Eastern Asia, in the south part of
the East China Sea, 120 km off
the coast of China and 595 km
southeast of Japan. It is situated
on the Tropic of Cancer, being the
same latitude as Mexico and
Hawaii. In terms of size it has
about the same dimensions as
Switzerland or Belgium (35,801
square km) being 390 km long
and 140 km wide at its broadest
point

.
P ICTURE 5 TAIWAN MAP

The island is surrounded by the East China Sea to the north, the Pacific Ocean to the
east, South China Sea to the south and the Taiwan Strait to west. Three of the other islands
that Taiwan administrates (Kinmen, Matsu and Penghu) are in the Taiwan Strait while the
other two Orchid and Green are in the Pacific.

The topography of Taiwan Commented [MS7]: p

is not plain. About 70% of the Commented [MS8R7]: ic. Not needed
countrys land is covered with
deep forested mountains. That
makes it great for a hiking
experience as a team building
activity, the most popular
geographical highlight being the
Central Mountain Range which
splits the island in two from north
to south. (Taiwanese Secrets,
2008)

P ICTURE 6 GEOGRAPHICAL MAP TAIWAN

 When it comes to the countrys climate, the Taiwanese one is mostly humid and warm
all year round. Due to the relatively small size of the island, the ocean breeze has a cooling
effect, so the air is breathable, and it never feels too hot. Keep in mind that the high mountain
areas can get. The annual average temperature is a comfortable 22 C. Because Taiwan is on
the tropical zone, it is subject to more rain than most other areas, but showers are short lived
and blue skies prevail on most days. (China Highlights: Travel Guide, 2016)
In similarity with Japan, Taiwan sits on the most active part of the world, the Rim of
Fire, therefore earthquakes occur frequently and can be felt forcefully anywhere on the
island. They also have a significant impact on the geography of the country. the land is
located at the convergence of the Philippine Sea Plate and the Eurasian Plate, most of the
earthquakes occurring off the east coast and causing little damage. However, it has been
historically proven that the ones that take place beneath the island itself are the ones to cause
more damage. The country faces yet another problem with the typhoons, being hit by at least
a dozen between July and October. These storms may carry strong winds that reach 200 km/h
and drop huge amounts of rain in a short period of time. The East coast is one gain the one
that is affected easier, the places that it has the biggest impact on being: Hualien, Yilan,
Keelung, Taitung. (Taiwanese Secrets, 2008)

P ICTURE 7 EARTHQUAKE CHART TAIWAN

2.2 Infrastructure
In spite of the fact that it is quite a little island, Taiwan has a number of 35 paved
airport and 9 sea ports. Considering that, it can be said that the access to the country can be
done without any difficulties. Also, the communication with the European headquarters can
easily be maintained as the Internet usage for the land is pretty high and the telecommunication
lines are extensive. (World port source: Taiwan, 2005)
3. Malaysia
3.1 Geography and climate

Malaysia is a country in the Southeast Asia, lying just north of the Equator and is
composed of two regions: Peninsular Malaysia (West Malaysia) and the Malay Peninsula
(East Malaysia) which is on the island of Borneo. East Malaysia consists of the countrys two
largest states, Sarawak and Sabah, and is separated from the Peninsular Malaysia by 640 km.
the countrys total area sits at around 690 square miles.
Commented [MS9]: this one is better
To the north
it is bordered by
Thailand, to the
south and the tip
of the Peninsula
is the island
republic of
Singapore with
which Malaysia
is connected by
a cause way and
a separate
bridge.

P ICTURE 8 MALAYSIA MAP

Peninsular Malaysia Commented [MS10]: not needed

consists mainly of a
mountainous core that
stretches from the north
to the south. East
Malaysia is a longer strip
of land (1,125 km). The
topography can be
considered a gradient
one, starting with flat
coastal plain on the
northern side, followed
by hills that vary in
altitude that lead to
mountains, in the centre P ICTURE 9 GEOGRAPHICAL MAP MALAYSIA
of the island. (Britannica:
Malaysia, 2004)
 Malaysia is a tropical destination, where temperatures fluctuate between 25 and 35 degrees
during the year. It is usually very hot and humid, especially in the major cities. Often due to
haze warm air is trapped inside the cities, which results in very warm temperatures. Between
mid-October and the end of March the climate at the eastern side of the peninsula is affected
by the rainy season or monsoon season.

Weather usually is Commented [MS11]: not needed, if necessary just put it

very rough in these in words

months, for this

reason it is not the
best time to visit some
parts of Malaysia. In
contrast to rainfall in
Europe or the US
where it can - in some
cases - rain for days,
in tropical areas like
Malaysia rainfall is
generally short and
violent.
P ICTURE 10 PRECIPITATION CHART MALAYSIA

In sharp contrast with the other two countries that are analysed, there is no possibility of
earthquakes in Malaysia, as they never occur here. The only natural disaster that might come
as an issue is the chance of flooding. They are caused by the monsoons that affect mostly the
northeast part of Peninsular Malaysia. There have been issues also in Kuala Lumpur but now
there are solved by the construction of the huge SMART tunnel that has the option to handle
excess water. (Wonderful Malaysia: Geography, 2007)

3.2 Infrastructure

The infrastructure of Malaysia is not as developed as it can be seen with the other
Asian countries that are compared. However, the Malaysian government is tackling with that
issues, being on the fifth place in Asia when it comes to the Infrastructure Investment Index
and on the second place in South East Asia (New Straits Times: News, 2000). It already has
25 sea ports and 62 paved airports. It does not score that high also on the internet usage scale,
but that should not be of any concern in the big cities. (World Port Source: Malaysia, 2005).
Comparison

Country Size Precipitation Climate Land usage Natural hazards

(square km) (mm/year) (agriculture)
Japan 374.744 1.668 Tropical (south) 12,5% Many dormant
Cool temperate and active
(north) volcanoes
Earthquakes
Tsunamis
Typhoons
Taiwan 32.260 2.500 Tropical, 22,7% Earthquakes
maritime, Typhoons
permanent
cloudiness
Malaysia 328.550 2.875 Tropical, 23,2% Flooding
monsoon Landslides
Forest fires
Netherlands 33.883 778 Temperate, 55,1% Flooding
maritime
(I NDEX MUNDI, 2017) T ABLE 1 COUNTRY COMPARISON

(Nation Master: Country Comparison, 2003)

When comparing the three Asian countries and The Netherlands we can see that there are both
differences and similarities. In terms of size or land space, Holland and Taiwan are almost the same, while
Malaysia is four times bigger and Japan five times. However, when you look at how much of the land is usable,
The Netherlands scores the highest with 55%, and Japan surprisingly the lowest with only a forth of that
percentage. Also, while the Dutch precipitation amount is considered to be high, when you analyse the Asian
countries, their amount of rain is double if not triple due to the changing climate and the strong winds.

For a foreigner that travels from The Netherlands it is easier to adapt to the Taiwanese climate as
there are many similarities between the two. One should also keep in mind the natural hazards that might
appear in either Japan, Taiwan or Malaysia, that are unusual to the Europeans. The first two present a high risk
for earthquakes, tsunamis and typhoons, while the third is only subject to flooding and landslides.

Conclusion
For an SME it is important to take into consideration the geographical factors before taking a decision
of moving the business to Asia. These are factors that might contribute to ones success or failure and are
valuable to any entrepreneur. An overview of the current geographical climatic and infrastructural situation is
provided that should be of help with a more in-depth understanding the current state of Japan, Taiwan and
Malaysia. Commented [MS12]: make this part the conclusion