1. GEOGRAPHY

2. Rivers
Specific Examples: Nile, Indus, Tigris & Euphrates, Yellow (Huang He)
Impact on Development of Civilization:
Early river valley civilizations start around rivers – Egyptian, Indus, Mesopotamia, and Chinese – during the Neolithic Revolution
Rivers provided fertile soil, a means for irrigation of crops, transportation, and stable water supply & food source

3. Seas Specific Examples: Mediterranean
Impact on Development of Civilization:
The Mediterranean Sea was a major trade route for the Greek City-States, Alexander the Great’s Hellenistic culture, Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, & Ottoman Empire.
allows access to southern Europe, northern Africa, and part of the Middle East – Mediterranean region
leads to cultural diffusion & conquest

4. Oceans Specific Examples: Atlantic
Impact on Development of Civilization:
Europeans Age of Exploration used the Atlantic Ocean to find a new way to Asian trade, but leads to the Encounter / Discovery of the New World (Americas)
Trans-Atlantic trade network, triangular trade, & Columbian Exchange: trade of goods, ideas, people, animals, & diseases between Europe, Africa, and Americas

5. Mountains Specific Examples: Pindus (Greek), Himalaya, Andes
Impact on Development of Civilization:
mountains act as a natural barrier (separate) & allow societies to develop independently (ex: Himalayas divided India from China, also Sparta & Athens of the Greek City-States)
in the Andes, the Inca adapted to their environment by cutting into the mountains for terrace farming

6. Deserts Specific Examples: Sahara
Impact on Development of Civilization:
deserts act as a natural barrier (separate) & allow societies to develop independently (ex: Northern Africa & Sub-Sahara)
Ghana, Mali, & Songhai, West African Empires had a vast trade network (trans-Saharan) of gold & salt
Europeans’ movement was hindered by the desert

7. Islands
Specific Examples: England, Japan (archipelago = a series of islands)
Impact on Development of Civilization:
England & Japan being islands allowed for access to important waterways for trade & conquering (imperialism), & cultural diffusion
irregular coastlines on islands create natural harbors
England had an abundance of natural resources (coal & iron), while Japan lacked them – forcing them to trade & conquer

8. Peninsulas
Specific Examples: Arabian, India, Korea, South-East Asia, Italy
Impact on Development of Civilization:
(be able to locate these on a map)
peninsulas allow access to waterways because it is surrounded on 3 sides
Korea is a “cultural bridge” between China & Japan

9. Climate Specific Examples: Cold climate of Russia
Impact on Development of Civilization:
the cold climate of Russia helped to defeat Napoleon's invasion & Hitler’s invasion, both armies were not prepared for the cold

10. Monsoons Specific Examples: India
Impact on Development of Civilization:
monsoons are seasonal winds
the winter monsoon winds come from the NE (Himalayas) & bring dry air for India
the summer monsoon winds come from the SW & bring moisture from the Indian Ocean, which can result in flooding
when summer winds fail to develop, droughts often cause crop failure

11. Sample Multiple Choice Questions3 1 2 4