From the Abstract of Statistics find the trade of the United States with these countries.
FOR COLLATERAL READING AND REFERENCE
From a cyclopædia, preferably the Encyclopædia Britannica, read the following topics:
Caste
Lord Clive
Rattan
Pepper
CHAPTER XXXII
CHINA AND JAPAN
The relative position of China, Russia, and Japan is not unlike that of continental Europe and Great Britain, and the struggle for supremacy in the Japan and Yellow Seas is about the same as that which in times past took place in the North Sea. In the latter case France and Holland were the disturbing powers; in the former, it is Russia.
The Chinese Empire.—A comparison of the Chinese Empire with the United States shows that the two countries have about the same position and extent of latitude. There is also about the same proportion of highlands, arid lands, and fertile lowlands. The similarity of the two countries in geographic conditions is very marked.
The fertile lowland in the east and southeast is one of the most productive regions in the world, and forms the chief resource of the country; on account of its productivity it is densely peopled. The arid and mountain lands are peopled mainly by cattle-herders and nomadic tribes.