The
history of Eurasia is the collective history of several distinct peripheral coastal regions: the
Middle East,
South Asia,
East Asia,
Southeast Asia, and
Europe, linked by the interior mass of the Eurasian
steppe of
Central Asia and
Eastern Europe. While geographically on a separate continent,
North Africa has historically been integrated into Eurasian history. Perhaps beginning with early
Silk Road trade, the Eurasian view of history seeks establishing genetic, cultural, and linguistic links between European, African, Middle-Eastern, and Asian cultures of antiquity.
The three eastern regions of the Middle East, East Asia and South Asia developed in a similar manner with each of the three regions developing early civilizations around fertile river valleys. The civilizations in
Mesopotamia, the
Indus Valley, and
China (along the
Yellow River and the
Yangtze) shared many similarities and likely exchanged technologies and ideas such as
mathematics and the
wheel.
Ancient Egypt also shared this model. Europe was different, however. It was somewhat further north and contained no river systems to support agriculture. Thus Europe remained comparatively undeveloped, with only the southern tips of the region (
Greece and
Italy) being able to fully borrow crops, technologies, and ideas from the Middle East and North Africa. Similarly, civilization didn't arise in
Southeast Asia until contact was made with
ancient India, which gave rise to
Indianized kingdoms in
Indochina and the
Malay archipelago.
The steppe region had long been inhabited by mounted nomads, and from the central steppes they could reach all areas of the Asian continent. The earliest known such central expansion out of the steppe is that of the
Proto-Indo-Europeans which spread their languages into the Middle East, India, Europe, and to the borders of China (with the
Tocharians). Throughout their history, up to the development of
gunpowder, all the areas of Eurasia would be repeatedly menaced by the
Indo-Iranian,
Turkic and
Mongol nomads from the steppe.
A difference between Europe and most of the regions of Eurasia is that each of the latter regions has few obstructions internally even though it is ringed by mountains and deserts. This meant that it was easier to establish unified control over the entire region, and this did occur with massive empires consistently dominating the Middle East, China, and at times, much of India. Europe, however, is riddled with internal mountain ranges: The
Carpathians, the
Alps, the
Pyrenees and many others. Throughout its history, Europe has thus usually been divided into many small states, much like the
Middle East and
Indian subcontinent for much of their history.
The
Iron Age made large stands of timber essential to a nation's success because smelting iron required so much fuel, and the pinnacles of human civilizations gradually moved as forests were destroyed. In Europe the Mediterranean region was supplanted by the German and Frankish lands. In the Middle East the main power center became
Anatolia with the once dominant Mesopotamia its vassal. In China, the economical, agricultural, and industrial center moved from the northern Yellow River to the southern Yangtze, though the political center remained in the north. In part this is linked to technological developments, such as the mouldboard
plough, that made life in once undeveloped areas more bearable.
See also
Eurasia is an immense landmass covering about 53,990,000 km² (or about 10.6%) of the Earth's surface. Often reckoned as a single continent, Eurasia comprises the traditional continents of Europe and Asia, concepts which date back to classical antiquity and the borders for which are
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Middle East is a historical and political region of Africa-Eurasia with no clear boundaries. The term "Middle East" was popularized around 1900 in Britain, and has been criticized for its loose definition.
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South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is a southern geopolitical region of the Asian continent comprising territories on and in proximity to the Indian subcontinent. It is surrounded by (from west to east) Western Asia, Central Asia, Eastern Asia, and Southeastern Asia.
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East Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms. Geographically, it covers about 12,000,000 km², or about 28% of the Asian continent and about 15% bigger than the area of Europe. More than 1.
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Southeast Asia or
Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, and north of Australia.
..... Click the link for more information. Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. Physically and geologically, Europe is the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, west of Asia. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea,
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steppe (Russian: степь - [sʲtʲepʲ], Ukrainian: степ
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Central Asia is a vast landlocked region of Asia. Though various definitions of its exact composition exist, no one definition is universally accepted. Despite this uncertainty in defining borders, it does have some important overall characteristics.
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North Africa or
Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Northern Africa includes the following seven territories:
..... Click the link for more information. Silk Road, or Silk Route, is an interconnected series of ancient trade routes through various regions of the Asian continent, mainly connecting Chang'an (today's Xi'an) in China, with Asia Minor and the Mediterranean. It extends over 8,000 km (5,000 miles) on land and sea.
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Mesopotamia was a cradle of civilization geographically located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq. Sumer in southern Mesopotamia is commonly regarded as the world's earliest civilization.
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The Indus Valley Civilization (c. 3000–1500 BCE, flourished 2600–1900 BCE), abbreviated IVC, was an ancient civilization that flourished in the Indus and Ghaggar-Hakra river valleys primarily in what is now Pakistan and western India, extending westward into
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The history of China is told in traditional historical records that refer as far back as the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors about 5,000 years ago, supplemented by archaeological records dating to the 16th century BC. China is one of the world's oldest continuous civilizations.
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Origin Bayankala Mountains, Qinghai Province
Mouth Bohai Sea
Basin countries China
Length 5464 km (3398 mi)
Source elevation 4500 m (14,765 ft)
Avg.
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Basin countries China
Length 6,300 km (3,915 mi)[1]
Source elevation 5,042 m (16,542 ft)
Avg. discharge 31,900 m³/s (1,127,000 ft³/s)
Basin area 1,800,000 km² (695,000 mi²) The Yangtze River or Chang Jiang
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history of mathematics is primarily an investigation into the origin of new discoveries in mathematics, to a lesser extent an investigation into the standard mathematical methods and notation of the past.
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wheel is a circular device capable of rotating on its axis, facilitating movement or transportation or performing labour in machines. A wheel together with an axle overcomes friction by facilitating motion by rolling. Common examples are found in transport applications.
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Motto
Ελευθερία ή θάνατος
Eleftheria i thanatos
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AnthemIl Canto degli Italiani(also known as
Fratelli d'Italia)
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Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, and north of Australia.
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The concept of the Indianized kingdom, first described by George Coedès, is based upon the Hindu and Buddhist cultural and economic influences in Southeast Asia. Despite being culturally akin to Hindu cultures to western historians these kingdoms were truly indigenous and
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Indochina, or the Indochinese Peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly east of India, south of China.
Note that the term Sino-Indian is used to describe things relating to India and China. (e.g. Sino-Indian relations).
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Malay Archipelago<nowiki />
World map highlighting Malay Archipelago, with the island of New Guinea—not part of the Malay Archipelago by some definitions—in light green.
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Proto-Indo-Europeans are the hypothetical speakers of the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European language, a prehistoric people of the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Age or according to some modern theories at Neolithic or even Paleolithic.
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Tocharians were the Tocharian-speaking inhabitants of the Tarim basin, making them the easternmost speakers of an Indo-European language in antiquity.
Archaeology
The Tarim mummies suggest that precursors of these easternmost speakers of an Indo-European language may have
..... Click the link for more information. Gunpowder is a pyrotechnic composition, an explosive mixture of sulfur, charcoal and potassium nitrate that burns rapidly, producing volumes of hot gas which can be used as a propellant in firearms and fireworks.
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Indo-Iranian peoples consist of the Indo-Aryan, Iranian, Dardic and Nuristani peoples, that is, speakers of Indo-Iranian languages. An archaic term for these peoples is Aryan.
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