Geo-political diversity

Geography is a predeterminant of human destiny. Through the ages, the history of different peoples and races has been shaped by their environment — the climate, the terrain, water resources, etc., influence racial characteristics which become the roots of distinct cultures. It is no chance that the earliest civilizations were founded in the riverbeds and valleys of the Nile, the Euphrates, the Indus and the Yangtze, which became cradles of highly developed cultures; whereas, hilltops and mountains were chosen in areas of dense forest. The sacred centres of the Mayas and the Incas rise above the dense vegetation of the Amazon and equatorial America. These ancient civilizations vanished and the people who now inhabit the valleys of the Pharaohs, or the sites of ancient Babylon and Mesopotamia have no real links with these early cultures. Only in India and China have the lines of continuity been maintained by a strong oral tradition and the preservation of the cultural boundaries.

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