How Were Early Civilizations Affected by Geographic Features?

Early civilizations were greatly affected by geographic features. The geographic features of the land determined the daily tasks in many people's lives. Many early civilizations settled by rivers because rivers supplied people with the essentials that they needed to survive, water and food especially.

The lives of many people were affected by the geography of where they lived. Even today geography affects how people live and work. In ancient China, many people had a hard time trading with other countries. This was because the Himalaya Mountains blocked many routes to other countries. Merchants who made money by trading were hurt by this because they would have to travel extreme distances to trade with other merchants.

In Mesopotamia, many farmers benefited from the rivers overflowing. These farmers lived in the Fertile Crescent because the soil was full of silts making farming very easy. But in Mesopotamia the land was very flat making farming even simpler but created other problems. When the land in a civilization is very flat other civilizations might try to invade or conquer. Gilgamesh appreciated this possibility and built a giant wall around his city to prevent attacks. This is another example as to how a geographic feature affected civilizations. A wall provided safety and controlled access. but this can also be bad because trade with other civilizations was diminished.

The people of Egypt prayed to the Nile River. Egypt was in a desert and the people of Egypt had to use the Nile for all their basic needs. The river nourishes the cattle, supplies drinks for the people and supplies fish for food. The river also overflows so it creates silts in the soil so people could also farm.

There are other factors besides the geographical features that affect a civilization. In India every year they have monsoons. Some years the monsoons are deadly but other years they are calm. When the monsoons are deadly they kill many people they destroy houses and kill all the crops. When this happens many people that don't have a lot of money are left in poverty with no job and no place to start over. But when the monsoons are calm they don't destroy everything and then the monsoons make the soil more fertile so the crops will surplus. In Egypt many farmers depended on the Nile to overflow. The Pharaoh was supposed to be able to predict when the Nile would overflow. When the Nile overflowed the crops were plentiful. The years that the Nile did not overflow were usually bad years because there were not enough crops to make it through the whole year. When the Nile did not overflow it was also bad for the Pharaoh. If the Nile didn't overflow the Pharaoh was overthrown and usually killed a very keen example of how a geographic feature affects a civilization and changed the rulers of a country.

Geography has always affected the way people live and work. In ancient civilizations your job could be decided by were you lived and the geography of that area. If you lived in Mesopotamia you most likely were a farmer since the land was extremely fertile. If you lived in China you did not want to be a merchant because that meant you would need to travel great distances and face many dangers. Even today geography affects peoples' lives and the careers they choose and the areas they choose to live.