Geographic conditions – whether a land is on a seacoast, in the mountains, among the grasslands or in the forest – influence the economic and social development of the people.
Finding a food source is the first concern. Can food be secured by fishing, hunting, gathering native plants or farming, or are there minerals, lumber or gems that can be traded for food? Populations on small islands, because of their isolation, will probably be excluded from having a large impact on history.
Lands shut off from the rest of the world by mountains or sea tend to foster a homogeneous people, while those sharing larger land masses are more likely to adopt characteristics of neighboring cultures, according to "Influences of Geographic Environment," a 1911 book by Ellen C. Semple, whose text was converted by a group from the University of Colorado in 1997.
Effects of Climate :
Generally, the habitat where a person was raised tends to hold him, because it dictates the range of climate that he can endure.
When the first Europeans came to the lowlands of tropical India,
the debilitating climate stripped them of the qualities that had first given them supremacy, the Semple book says.
Those who have to overcome the extremes of climate in their daily lives acquire a tenacity and strength of character not required in less demanding lands.
