Settlement patterns. Southeast Asia is predominantly rural: three-fourths of the people live in nonurban areas. Moreover, population is heavily clustered in fertile river valleys and especially in delta areas, such as those of the Mekong and Irrawaddy rivers.Most of the region's people live in the more temperate climate zones. In East Asia, for example, the coastal regions of Central and Southern China, Japan, and South Korea are primarily a humid temperate climate.
