Regena Chapman, age 15, of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., for her question:

WHERE EXACTLY IS SOUTHEAST ASIA?

Southeast Asia is an important geographical location that lies south of China, east of India and north of Australia.  Included in Southeast is the peninsular projection of Asia and the islands south of Pacific.
The following countries are included:

Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, and Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and most of Indonesia.

Southeast Asia is the world's leading producer of natural rubber. It also is rich in petroleum, precious stones and spices. There is much forest land and excellent fishing in the area.

With the equator crossing through the territory, most of Southeast Asia is extremely tropical. The average temperature is a warm 80 degrees Fahrenheit and the average rainfall is 40 inches. Typhoons and monsoons frequently hit the territory and increase the annual rainfall in some sections to more than 200 inches.

There are about 350 million people in Southeast Asia. Most of the mainlanders have Mongoloid ancestors, while most of the islanders are descended chiefly from Malay peoples.

The Philippines is the only Christian country in Southeast Asia. Tribal religions, Buddhism and Islam predominate.

The largest city in Southeast Asia is Jakarta, Indonesia. Other large cities, listed here in order of size, include Singapore, Singapore; Saigon, Vietnam: Bangkok, Thailand: Surabaya, Indonesia; Manila, Philippines; Bandung, Indonesia; Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Rangoon, Burma; and Semarang, Indonesia.

Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia are among the world's leading tin producers. Also, half of the world's sapphires come from Thailand and Malaysia is one of the leading sources of diamonds.

The forests of Southeast Asia provide the world with most of its bamboo, ebony, mahogany and sandalwood. Important amounts of pine and cedar also come from the region's many forests. 

With a hope of being able to provide defense for the countries in Southeast Asia, a number of countries united in 1954 to form the Southeast Asia Treaty organization, or SEATO as it was called.

Australia, France, Great Britain, New Zealand, the Philippines, Thailand, Pakistan and the United States signed the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty in Manila on Sept. 8, 1954. Pakistan withdrew in 1973 and the remaining members voted in 1975 to dissolve the alliance.

During the 1960s and 1970s, industry began to develop rapidly in some of the larger cities, but manufacturing remains largely undeveloped.

All of the Southeast Asia countries grow large amounts of rice, the area's main food product.