Geography of the Medieval World

GEOGRAPHY OF THE MEDIEVAL WORLD ● EUROPE ○ Feudal Manors ■ Early on, people settled down in small villages in medieval Europe, called feudal manors. ● Typically located in an area with following characteristics: Large space of fertile land, fresh water source (typically along a river) ■ Small, self-sufficient ● BYZANTINE EMPIRE ○ 330 CE: Roman emperor, Constantine - Moved capital of Roman Empire from Rome to Byzantium ■ Due to Germanic invasions from the West ■ Renamed capital to Constantinople, “Constantine’s City” ○ Geography of Byzantine Empire: ■ Access to several major bodies of water ● Mediterranean Sea ● Black Sea ■ Centrally located between three continents ● Europe, Africa, Asia ○ Constantinople ■ Direct access to both Black Sea via Bosphorus Strait, Mediterranean Sea via Marmara and Aegean Seas ● ISLAMIC EMPIRE ○ Arabian Peninsula ■ Borders continents of Africa, Asia, Europe ■ Brown, dry land ○ Bodies of Water ■ Islamic Empire had access to Mediterranean Sea ● Also had access to other bodies of water: Red Sea, Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea ○ Deserts: ■ Most of land covered in desert ■ Deserts helpful for protection ● Enemies did not want to have to cross deserts; kept many of the local tribes safe ■ Deserts also hard to live in; little fresh water and natural resources ● People raised sheep, goats, camels, learned to keep moving in search of food ● Farming possible in scattered oasis across the desert ● Oasis: a fertile spot in a desert, where water is found. ○ Mecca ■ Located on Arabian Peninsula, birthplace of Islam ● Dry,, rocky valley; very little agriculture ● Depended on trading to survive ● Crossroads of great trade routes ■ Factors For Growth: ● Bodies of Water ● Desert ● Trade ● Nomadic Lifestyle ● Language ■ Reasons for growing empire: ● More Land = More Resources ● Spread the Religion of Islam ● More Land = More Power ● WEST AFRICA ○ Influence of Deserts ■ Northern part of West Africa covered in desert ● Provided protection from invaders in the north ● Lack of resources in the desert area ○ Rivers and Bodies of Water ■ Several major rivers in the region: ● Niger River ● Senegal River ■ Helped to make nearby land fertile and provided fresh water for drinking, bathing, and fishing ● Direct access to Atlantic Ocean ○ Vegetation Zones ■ Sahara, Sahel, Savanna, Forest ● Sahara: Sahara desert covers 3.5 million square miles of Africa’s surface ○ Bare, rocky plains and mountains ○ Very dry, minimal rainfall ● Sahel: Covered in semi-desert landscape ○ Not as dry as desert, but receives a bit more rainfall ○ Enough water for short grasses to grow in this region ● Savanna: Considered a grassland; tall grasses and scattered trees ○ Long, rainy season - allows certain crops to grow like millet, sorghum, rice ○ Several rivers (Niger River) which provide fertile land, fishing, route for trading ● Forest: Wettest vegetation zone in West Africa - Niger River extends into this zone ○ Northern Forest: Woodland area with trees and shrubs ○ Southern Forest: lush rainforest with year-round rain ○ Trade within Vegetation Zones ■ Each zone different, each had own resources available within it ■ Often, people living within each vegetation zone would trade with people from other vegetation zones ○ Kingdoms of West Africa: ■ Primarily settled within Savanna region, reaching up to the Sahel ○ Resources in West Africa ■ Gold and Salt ● Dominated trade in Western Africa - Gold in Savannah and Forest traded for salt from Sahara ● Salt needed to prevent dehydration, also used to preserve food and build homes ● CHINA ○ Variety of Physical Features ■ Large area of land with many different physical features ● World’s highest mountains ● One of the world’s largest deserts ● Some of the longest rivers in the world, access to many seas ■ Fertile land along North China Plain and Chang Jiang Basin ○ Rivers and Bodies of Water ■ Huang He River (Yellow River) ■ Chang Jiang River (Yangtze River) ■ Access to: ● Yellow Sea ● East China Sea ● South China Sea ○ Natural Barriers of Protection - Features not easy to cross, natural way to protect civilization from invaders ■ Gobi Desert in the North ■ Plateau of Tibet in the Southwest ■ Himalaya Mountains in the West ■ Pacific Ocean to the East ○ Settlement in China ■ Large area, typically broken down into two main areas ● Outer China - Area of great extremes in climate and physical features: People who lived here were nomadic and moved around looking for more resources ● Inner China - More attractive to settlers due to better conditions and physical features: People settled permanently in large, farming communities, grew grains and other crops, raised animals ○ Nearby rivers and seas provided them with fish and trade/travel routes ■ China isolated from world due to harsh physical features ● Over time, they were able to overcome these obstacles to interact with other civilizations for trade ■ Inner China often under attack ● Due to abundance of resources, Inner China was often under attack from people living in Outer China and other areas ● Having such a large area of space was difficult for the emperor to control, there were long periods of war and upheaval as new dynasties came into power ● JAPAN ○ Consists of four large islands and about 3,900 smaller ones ■ Archipelago: A group or chain of islands ● Hokkaido ● Honshu ● Shikoku ● Kyushu ■ Early on, islands developed into clans and lived differently and independently from each other; Island of Honshu developed most powerful clans ● Honshu eventually became the center of power for Japan ○ Bodies of Water ■ As an archipelago, Japan was separated from other civilizations by bodies of water ● Sea of Japan - Separated Japan from China ● Pacific Ocean ● East China Sea ■ Bodies of water provided protection and isolation ○ Interaction with Others ■ Able to control how much access they had to neighboring countries ● Sometimes cut off contact, but other times welcomed contact from other nearby countries: ○ Korea ○ China ○ Russia ○ Fertile Land ■ Majority of Japan has a warm, wet climate ■ Due to Japan’s access to fresh water through rivers and precipitation, Japan had an abundance of vegetation and fertile land ● However, this land unsuitable for farmland - 75% of land in Japan covered in mountains ○ Ring of Fire ■ Japan located in “Ring of Fire,” area known for volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis ○ Climate ■ Mild temperature, abundance of rain - made land fertile for growing crops like rice, tea, barley, and millet ○ Settlements in Japan ■ Many people settled along the coastal plains, or narrow valleys between the mountains ● Here, the land was flatter for building and growing crops ○ Modifying the Environment ■ Due to large amount of mountain cover in Japan, people of Japan learned to modify their environment by creating terraces on the side of mountains ● Terrace: A man-made flattened area along the side of a hill or mountain