Geography or Physical Environment on Early Civilization - Essay Example

Task: Geography or physical environment on early civilization Introduction Geography covers a wide-range of topics that majorly entails various aspects of the earth. It concentrates on the physical aspects of the earth thus explaining the various physical aspects and distribution of human on the surface of planet earth. Civilization, on the other hand, is the advancement in thoughts, culture, and material development among many other aspects. Civilization began long ago when individuals began understanding the advantages associated with civilization. However, looking at both these two aspects (geography and civilization), there seem to be a close relationship. Therefore, in effort to determine the existing relationship, this manuscript will analyze how the physical environment or geography contributed to early civilization during the ancient period. Geography on early civilization Various physical and geographical aspects have affected early civilizations in a number of countries such as china, Andes, Mesopotamia, Egypt and Indus valley. The geographical effects are quite significant thus making them notable (China). One of the geographical or physical aspects that contributed to early civilization in china is the availability of precious metals such as bronze. The availability of bronze led to the enhancement of trade, as they were used as a medium of exchange. The identification of such metals made china develop different mechanisms of promoting the trade and used it in favor of their economy. In addition to the detection of bronze, the existing fertile terrain in the land of china also had a significant effect on china’s early civilization. Moreover, the country had a very huge land that was readily available for crop production (China). This made the Chinese, in the ancient times, to develop different strategies that will help exploit the full potential of the existing land despite the faced challenges. They, therefore, devised various mechanisms in handling the various challenges experienced. Some of the adopted strategies included the use of irrigation in certain dry lands. Similar to china, civilization in Indus valley was also affected by various geographical factors. For instance, the existence of Indus River had a significance impact on the Indus valley. The river provided adequate water supply thus prompting the employment of various strategies that would promote the land in the production of crops. This led to the introduction of various modern methods of crop production such as irrigation. The effective use of manure and other farming techniques were discovered as the land favored the production of crops. This further led to various discoveries that were extremely helpful even in the current economies. Another physical environment that also perpetuated early civilization in Indus valley includes the identification of precious metals within the area. The existence of precious metal enhanced the trading activities (China). Moreover, it also encouraged the employment of excellent techniques for mining these precious metals. This eventually led to the adoption of modern techniques of mining the precious metals such as bronze and copper. Contrary to china, Egypt’s climate is extremely hot and thus has a desert climate. The experienced climate, therefore, placed the country in an unfavorable situation, as they could not bear crops and practice farming. Following this geographical or physical challenge, the country had to come up with various strategies that could enable them curb their dire situation. Consequently, the country experienced the process of civilization largely. Egypt employed various modern techniques of generating water in order to feed their plants and harvest food enough to feed her entire population. Modern methods of irrigation were introduced in Egypt, which assisted in the production of various food products. Similar to other countries such as china, Egypt also had some significant element of precious stones. These precious stones facilitated trading activities since the products were in serious demand. This led to tremendous interaction between the Egyptians and other communities. Such interactions often promote civilization. This is because the interaction would lead to the collapsing of the Egyptian cultures and traditions, especially when the interaction is intensive. It often leads to the borrowing of other’s cultures. This often ended up corroding the culture of the Egyptians thus adopting other better cultures that are extremely serious in the environment. Mesopotamia was one of the most ancient cities best known for being an agricultural center. The city consists of a certain river, the Tigris-Euphrates River. This river prompted residence of Mesopotamia practice farming. However, with time, there appeared civilization as the process of cultivating was to be advanced. Mesopotamia also had large pieces of fertile lands, which encouraged cultivation of crops. The process of cultivation, however, involved a number of individuals, many being from other cultures. Therefore, the residents of Mesopotamia lost their highly valued culture as it became eroded as time goes by. Andes like Mesopotamia also experienced the process of civilization. The country experienced an extremely unfavorable climate that discouraged the production of crops. However, during those times, food was a necessity thus the need for its production. Therefore, the country embarked into the employment of various strategies that would encourage crop production. This eventually led to the adoption of different strategies, which were not practiced in their cultural society consequently leading to civilization. Moreover, the terrain of Andes favored the engagement in trading activities. Such intensive activity encouraged the intermingling of individuals thus corroding the native culture thus civilization. Most of the natives found themselves practicing a culture that is nonnative as they relate with other cultural communities. Conclusion In summary, geography is the physical aspects of the earth surface, which includes the atmosphere land and water bodies, whereas, civilization entails the change in culture, mind and other relevant aspects. In a greater capacity, civilization has been posing significant effects on civilization during the ancient times. This is noted in a number of occasions whereby geographical factors encourages civilization. These instances have been noted in numerous countries such as china, Mesopotamia, and Egypt. Some of the physical aspects that affected most countries include the climate of a place, the nature of the terrain, soil fertility, availability of land, natural resources and soil fertility. The effort to solve either of these problems is what encouraged civilization during ancient periods. Work cited China. Formation of Chinese civilization. 2011. Web. 19 Oct. 2011. Read More