Geography is the real science which works with oceans, lands, earth phenomena and so on while history is the study of all things in the past to explain previous events. Historians can explain the reason significant events happened due to knowing geography; geography plays an crucial role on deciding history especially in the Greek city-states; Egypt before the Roman conquest; Oceania; the Islamic Empire from 632 to c. 1200; and China during the Sui, Tang, and Song Dynasties.
The first exemplification of “A place’s history is decided by its geography” is the development of the Greek city-states in 800-500 BCE. Greek geography is mainly mountain; moreover, it has many valley, and the sea contains many small islands. As the result, establishment of city-state is inevitable. Greek city-states or polis were an independent cities that had their own government such as Athens, Sparta and so on.
Residents concentrated around the polis and were royal to their polis. Each city-state has its own features due to the geography. For example, Athens and Sparta were the two most famous city-states in the ancient Greece. Athens was close to the sea, so they could develop maritime trading and navy; however, they were week at military. On the other hand, Sparta was surrounded by mountains, so they were hard to be attacked during wars; despite that, Sparta’s trading was limited.
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In case of Egypt before the Roman conquest, geography gives later people a rational account about ancient Egyptian residents’ life; in particular, Ancient Egypt could gain wealth and power throughout Nile River. Before the Roman conquest, Egyptian people lived along Nile River which provided water and alluvial soils to develop agriculture, so agriculture played an important role on ancient Egyptian economy. Besides, by predicting the flooding of Nile River which is regular and foreseeable, some early priests gained great powers because other people depended on their predications to start plant and harvest.
Geography also plays an important role on establishing the distinct cultures in different parts of Oceania. Oceania or the Pacific Islands has been divided into three main parts: Melanesia (“Middle Islands”), Micronesia (“Small Islands”), and Polynesia (“Many Islands”). Each peoples in Melanesia and Micronesia had their own culture. On the other hand, the peoples of Polynesia shared a common in society and culture because of their isolation.
Polynesian society consists of many islands which located in the central of Pacific ocean. The isolated position prevented the peoples in Polynesia from contacting with other part of the Oceania. The peoples in Oceania shared the similar languages, social practices, and livelihood. For example, among the Polynesia, people discontinued to manufacture pottery which was used to consider as symbol of wealthy.
