How Do Waterways Affect Politics

Using named examples, assess the potential for water supply to become a source of conflict. (15)

The Egyptians were very lucky to have the Nile River because without it they wouldn’t be able to survive. The Nile shaped Egypt by granting them with almost everything they needed. Where the Nileś source came from may have been a riddle to them but we know that came from Lake Tana which is the branch called the Blue Nile and from Lake Victoria which is the other branch called the White Nile. Egypt has been around for five thousand years and for all of those five thousand years the Nile River helped the Egyptians survive in Egypt. The Nile River shaped Ancient Egypt by setting a calendar, providing food and water,

and Red seas. Britain obtained control over Egypt and the canal because Egypt was going through

DBQ In places such as India, waterways have always played a huge role in their history. In the past India used to be a huge ship-building country until Britain conquered it, and their reputation dropped. Still, productive oil fields and fisheries are found ways along shorelines, and are actively used for trade. Throughout history, it’s been evident that the usage and control of waterways has economic and political effects on many societies.

The Nile shaped Egypt by influencing its geography, popular distribution, and settlements. The majority of settlements in Ancient Egypt were located around the Nile River Delta (Doc. A), where land was fertile, trade was good, and there were many natural resources. Because of geography in this civilization, Egyptians could easily protect and defend themselves, as well as settle down and have good lives.

To start off, one area of life the Nile River affected was transportation and farming. The Nile River affected transportation by allowing people to be able to trade, and to

From 120 BCE to the 16th century, trade was a remarkable part of the Eastern Hemisphere. It played a vital role in the kingdoms and city-states that made up all of what the 21st century calls Europe, Asia, and Africa. Trade was critically important in this time period because of the diverse climate that was scattered all across the continent. Due to the climate, every location had different resources that were provided by nature. Without specific resources, specific goods could not be manufactured. Not only that, but since technology was not as advanced as it is now, specific products were not able to exist in areas. The only way to obtain those products was to trade. Two of the many routes that a merchant could use to trade were the Silk Road and the Sea Roads along the Indian Ocean. Of those two roads, the Indian trade route had the most positive impact around the world. It facilitated the trading of mass goods since rather than using animals to transport goods, they used boats. It also provided a type of wind known as Monsoon wind that merchants could benefit from. Finally, the Indian Ocean trade route stretched out at a greater distance than the silk road, which impacted the goods that could be traded. Overall, the Indian Ocean trade route had the best impact in the Eastern Hemisphere and even the world.

Egypt’s economy was also based on agriculture. Egypt grew prosperous from the surplus of food from the fertile Nile valley. Egyptians developed industries and began to engage in trade. They traded their metalwork, crops for resources with surrounding civilizations like Mesopotamia.

The Nile River was the life force of ancient Egypt. People from all over the region immigrated to the area for its irrigation waters and rich silt deposits. The geography of the region played a huge role in the way the inhabitants and civilization in general was formed. The main core of Egypt covered 386, 560 square miles, of which only 11, 720 were cultivable (Tignor et al., Worlds Together, 62). The Nile differed itself specifically from the Tigris and Euphrates in that its waters did not irrigate or fertilize nearly as well but it did create green belts along the water. This created a society that flourished along the river. The Nile unlike Mesopotamia did not have a bountiful borderland but did have a desert rich in materials. The Niles predictability as the source of life and abundance shaped the character of the people and their culture. (Tignor et al., Worlds Together, 63). The Nile was peaceful and calm unlike the vicious Tigris And Euphrates Rivers. Egypt with its natural borders, which included the Mediterranean Sea, Deserts, and Large Waterfalls, was very isolated. This helped to achieve

            The use of the Indian Ocean, and the Mediterranean Sea let merchants travel to expand trade. With use of the silk road, and the sand roads, merchants brought mass produce and luxury items like silk, cotton, porcelain, and spices to trade for and with.  Inter-regional trade involved the Arabs, Africans, and Indians into trade and purchase more goods, which expanded trade even more.  Another discovery that played a major role in trade was the understanding and use of ocean currents and seasonal monsoons.  Nature played a role in allowing the people to plan their travel dates more accurately and safely.  Africa and Egypt became wealthy and powerful with their use of trade and being able to tax and charge merchants who were traveling through the county.

The construction of the Suez and Panama Canals greatly affected overseas trade and commerce. The Suez Canal, which connected the Mediterranean and Red Seas though the Isthmus of Suez, had a large impact on the world economy by greatly reducing the amount of travel time required to send goods to different regions, The Panama Canal, which was built through the Isthmus of Panama, also had a similar effect on commerce by connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. There were different motivations for the building of the Panama and Suez Canals, and their construction was hindered by challenging obstacles. The French used the idea that Egypt would flourish with the building of the Suez Canal to motivate the Egyptians to give permission for its construction.

The Nile River was crucial to the development of job specialization in this civilization. It not only supported farmers who used the river to fill irrigation canals, but supported everyone from craftsmen to sailors. In order to use the river for transportation, society needed workers

The Nile helps with trade, transportation and jobs. The Nile river travels down south to Nubia, a place that they trade with. They could trade goods up and down river on the Nile which helps with Egypt’s relations with Nubia and also increases income of merchants. The Nile was also used for transportation. They could sail on the Nile to trade, move materials for a pyramid or tomb faster, and could bring important people from place to place. As said before, the seasons were based on when the Nile flooded. They also had a season for selling crops that were grown on the Nile. There are also many jobs that are on the Nile. Some of them are, sailors, rowers, boat builders, navigators, loaders, merchants, gaurds and a lot more. Without the Nile Egypt wouldn’t have any trade routes and there would be a lot less

There are many different areas that ancient Egypt excelled in to help make them successful. The reason that ancient Egypt was able to become so successful was the various ways the ancient Egyptians used the Nile River. Some of the ways the ancient Egyptians used the Nile River was as a water source for agriculture and as a way of transportation for trade.

Many countries are also highly dependent on water that originates outside their borders; the water diversion provided by dams for countries that are downstream exacerbates an already serious problem. The diversion of river systems is an area of international concern, the nature and extent of such interdependency is already extensive: 145 countries share over 261 international river basin. As demand increases, and as indigenous sources of water become fully utilized or exhausted, the only alternatives are likely to be international (Dolatyar, 2006). Ironically, the very solution of one country's scarcity, plunges another into water shortage, this is the reason why water security is one of the most crucial foreign policy considerations of a globally connected economic and political atmosphere.