There is a saying that “Geography is destiny”. For early civilizations, geography was an obstacle when it came to survival. As people settled in permanent locations, they relied on the local geographical features to sustain themselves. As people relied on geography, it helped shape the development of early civilizations, such as to provide many natural barriers, trade routes, and fertile land. China, for example, was able to develop and prosper due to its natural barriers. Based on document six, China is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean (to the west), the Himalayan Mountains (to the southwest), and the Gobi Desert (up north). These natural barriers helped stop foreigners from invading China, thus helping the civilization develop. Furthermore,
The geography of China has affected its people for thousands of years. Rivers such as the Huang He and the Yangtze have benefited its people because they were able to trade, get food and water and settle down in this area. These rivers were beneficial because they helped to facilitate trade. (“The Study Of History”). The Chinese traded goods such as silk, salt, teas, sugar, porcelain and other luxurious goods (“Ancient China”). While this was beneficial to the Chinese there were also many negatives effects that the geography had in China. The Himalayan mountains had some negative effects on the Chinese. The Himalayas kept them isolated for a long time. This then meant that there was a lack of cultural diffusion which was occurring (“Himalayan Mountains Documentary…”). The Chinese weren’t able to trade goods and ideas because it was hard for them and other civilizations
Throughout Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond explains the importance of geography in the ways ancient civilizations grew and spread and how some areas were more advanced than others. He began his research when he was asked a question by a Papua New Guinea residence, Yali. Yali had asked Diamond “[w]hy you white man have so much cargo and we New Guineans have so little?” At that point Diamond had no answer and he was curious to find out why Eurasia had a head start in civilizing people meanwhile the other continents were behind. As a result, several differences were made between countries that did not have the same resources as those who were advanced. Some of the developing countries were poor and they had to rely on whatever was given to them through nature. When Diamond went to Papua New Guinea, he discovered that the residences of the island had the same routine as those in the ancient civilizations of Eurasia. They would often hunt for animals and used stone weapons instead of metal.
One of its geographic features, the Mongolian Plains, is located in the North-East of China. It acts as a natural barrier of 200,000 square miles, which is almost the size of the Indus River civilization. In addition, this
What are three major ways that China’s geographic isolation made it different from the other river valley civilizations? China’s geographic isolation played a huge part of the longevity of their civilization. Geographic isolation means that because of all the natural landforms that were formed they have a natural shield from all outside forces. For instance China had the Himalayas Mountains protecting them for India and they had the Gobi desert protecting them from Mongolia.
China is located in Eastern Asia. Some of these natural land barriers included India, The South China Sea, The Yellow Sea, The Huang He Desert, The East China Sea, and The Gobi Desert. Although these natural land barriers had positive impacts, they also had negative impacts. The positive impacts were it kept out enemies from trying to invade China. It stopped the enemies from trying to take over China.
During the years of 3500 BC to 2500 BC, the geography of a land often impacted a civilizations development in great measures. Depending on the resources available or the detriments present due to certain topographical characteristics like rivers or deserts, a civilization could flourish or collapse. By studying the geographic features of growing societies like the Nile, Euphrates, and Tigris Rivers as well as the Mediterranean Sea of Egypt and Mesopotamia, the link between developing cultures and geography will be examined through sources, including Egypt: Ancient Culture, Modern Land edited by Jaromir Malek and Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization by Paul Kriwaczek. To determine the extent
We all know that earth was changed through the ages. We’ve gone from nothing to dinosaurs, humans, and wars. We’ve, as a race have used and adapted to our environment to meet our needs, such as food and water. We started farming, using domestic animals, and storing the food. The lives of people of the ancient world were shaped by the geography of their region because it affects the amount of food produced, the accessibility to water, and their ease at which to find shelter.
As you can see the Aksum empire was the best and biggest trading empire because of where they were and the geography around them. Ancient Egypt was a smart empire and learn the way the geography around them worked and what it did, so they can plan around it and be successful. Lastly, Ancient Greece was affected and they weren’t able to move and be able to life with a very successful empire where they were. This shows that geography was a huge part of the way the people in the empires lived and if they were successful or
Geography is a main factor that has heavily influenced the course of human history. With the theory of environmental determinism in mind, geographical factors had the strongest influence towards the beginning of human civilizations when there was less technology powerful enough to challenge Mother Nature. As time passed and new technological advancements took place, nature began to have a bit less effect on what we, as humans, could or could not do, and thus the more flexible theory of possibilism came to light. Geographical elements such as rivers, mountains, and climate have changed our culture and history in ways that we often overlook. Where societies formed and flourished, why Europe seeked world domination, how countries survived invasions,
Geography and history are different ways of looking at the world, but they are so closely related that neither one can afford to neglect the other. Moreover, each of them offers not just one perspective upon the world, but also multiple perspectives upon the characters of people, places and
The Himalayan Mountains as well as the Taklamakan and Gobi deserts isolated the Chinese civilization. This seclusion slowed cultural advancements from taking place in the region. Travelers did eventually arrive in China and brought with them new technologies and goods from outside the region. 1, 3
Geography and the environment play a monumental role in the establishment and success of a nearly every civilization. For example, rivers bring water and allow for agricultural development, while mountains or deserts provide for protection and create a barrier. Many things, such as the aforementioned deserts and mountains, can offer both positive and negative influences on the society in question. The climate and amount of rainfall is directly related to the success or failure of crop growing, and thus related to the amount of time spent on simply surviving. Civilizations that are able to spend less time on subsistence farming are able to redirect that energy towards the establishment of arts, culture, religion, and science. Where a
The geography of a country or civilization can define its culture including how they live. The Aztecs use the rivers of the jungles to quickly move from village to village. In addition, the Britons with soft hills and plains allow them to harvest wheat efficiently. However, the Greeks use their land and geography is special ways that turned them into one of the most famous ancient civilizations. The Greeks were able to utilize the sea as well as the mountains for trading, city-state dividing, fishing, regionalism, and politics.
Geography can alter many facets of history. It can determine the prosperity of the people in the civilization and the development of culture. Rivers and Mountains are two examples of geographic features that effect prosperity and culture. Many early civilizations developed near rivers.
Human geography is defined as “The study of interrelationships between people, places and environment and how these vary spatially and temporally across and between locations” (Castree, Kitchin and Rogers, 2013). It looks at how society shapes the environment and vice versa. Although physical geography and human geography are separate fields they both concentrate on spatial processes; physical geography more on the natural and physical sciences and human geography on the way in which human lives are shaped by processes in nature (Castree et al., 2013). A key principle of