African civilizations

Earth and Its People: Chapter 2 Early China, 2000-221 B.C.E. Geography and Resources China possesses numerous natural barriers which include: The Himalaya mountains to the southwest The Takla Makan Desert, the?Pamir and Tian mountains to the west The Gobi Desert and Mongolian steppe to the northwest steppe - ?a large area of flat unforested grassland? Pacific Ocean to the east This created a great natural isolation and self-sufficiency (though not nearly as dramatically as with Egypt), China comes into contact with other cultures, but refuses to be influenced Mountains make travel, transport, and communication difficult, and rivers are used for east-west movement For this reason, as well as for predictable flooding, rivers are very important Rivers