Geography Step 10
Geographic Determinism
Activity: Complete the Geographic Determinism chart based upon the theory below in your workpacket.
Jared Diamond wrote a book called Guns, Germs, and Steel, in which he describes the effects of Geography on civilizations. These Geographic factors and features determine how successful or unsuccessful a country or region is based upon its geography.
Geographic Determinism is when a physical feature of the Earth decides the success or failure of a civilization, country, empire, or region. This can be; climate, river valleys, rivers, deserts, mountains, ,rain forests, oceans, monsoons, natural resources (coal, oil, fresh water, diamonds, gold, silver, tin, etc.), peninsulas,archipelagos, and islands.
| Geographic Feature | Outcome/Result |
|---|---|
| Tigris & Euphrates River Valley | Provided Mesopotamian city-states to have fertile soil used for farming. |
| Himalaya Mountains | Protected China from invasion and from early Cultural Diffusion. |
| Natural Deep Harbors | Allowed Great Britain to have a trading empire and navy. |
| The Island of Great Britain | Protected it from European conquerors such as Napoleon and Hitler. |
| The Archipelago of Japan | Protected it from the Chinese invasion of Kublai Khan by way of the Kamikaze or Divine Wind. |
| The Archipelago of Japan | Did not have many natural resources, so they had to use imperialism to find resources such as oil. |
| The Italian Peninsula | Allowed the Roman Empire to control the trade routes throughout the Mediterranean Sea. |
| The location of Constantinople/Istanbul | Allowed the Byzantine Empire and later the Ottoman Empire to control the trade routes from East to West and West to East. The location of the Ottoman Empire blocked Europeans from using land trading routes causing them to trade by sea around Africa, which causes the Age of Exploration. |
| Cold Climate | Prevents both Napoleon and Hitler from invading Russia/Soviet Union. |
| Iberian Peninsula | Located in the farthest western side of Europe allows them to be close to the soon to be discovered Americas by Columbus in 1492. |
| Coal Deposits | The location of coal at the surface on the Island of Britain allows them to use it for fuel and allows for the Industrial Revolution to begin in England in 1740. |
| Monsoons | The Monsoon on the Indian subcontinent causes both drought and rain allowing for predicting flooding for farming. |
| Sahara Desert | Prevented the cultural diffusion from Northern Africa to Central and Southern Africa. |
| Rain Forest | Prevented deep exploration of the center of Africa by Europeans until technology was available in the middle to late 1800s. |
