What is the phsical geography of ancient Greece that influenced its, economy and trade?
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Greece, (Greek: Ελλάδα, Elláda (IPA: [e̞ˈlaða]), or Ελλάς, Ellás (IPA: [e̞ˈlas])), officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία, Ellinikí Dimokratía) is a country in southern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan peninsula. It is bordered by Bulgaria, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Albania to the north and by Turkey to the east. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of mainland Greece while the Ionian Sea lies to the west. Both, parts of the eastern Mediterranean basin, feature a vast number of islands.\n\nRegarded as the cradle of western civilization and being the birthplace of democracy, philosophy, the Olympic Games and of the arts and drama including both tragedy and comedy, Greece has a very long and remarkably rich history during which its culture has proven to be especially influential in Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle East. Today, Greece is a developed nation, member of the European Union since 1981 and a member of the Eurozone since 2001.\n\nHistory\nMain article: History of Greece \n[edit]\nPrehistory and Antiquity\nThe shores of Greece's Aegean Sea saw the emergence of the first civilizations in Europe, namely the Minoan and the Mycenaen. After this, a Dark Age followed until around 800 BC, when a new era of Greek city-states emerged, establishing colonies along the Mediterranean, and a new alphabet was introduced.[3]. Plato described how the Greeks live round the Aegean Archipelago "like frogs around a pond"; their name has always been associated with the sea. After the internal struggle between Spartans and Athenians, all parts of Greece were united under the rule of Alexander the Great and aimed at the defeat of the 'eastern threat' of the Persians. Alexander led the Greeks to a victorious campaign which established a Greek Empire and introduced a new era in world history, the Hellenistic.\n\n[edit]\nByzantine period\nMilitarily, Greece itself declined to the point that the Romans conquered the land (168 BC onwards), though, in many ways, Greek culture would in turn conquer Roman life. Greece became a province of the Roman Empire, but Greek culture continued to dominate the eastern Mediterranean. When the Roman Empire finally split in two, the Eastern Roman Empire, known as the Byzantine Empire, centered around Constantinople (known in ancient times as Byzantium), remained Greek in nature, encompassing Greece itself.\n\n \nThe most famous of the surviving Byzantine mosaics of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople — the image of Christ on the walls of the upper southern gallery. Christ is flanked by the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist. The mosaics were made in the 12th century.During the period of the Byzantine Empire Greece experienced fluctuating fortunes. In the early years many of its works of art were looted by the emperors and taken to Constantinople. Furthermore, although the Byzantines retained control of the Aegean and its islands throughout this period, during the seventh and eighth centuries direct control did not extend far beyond the coast. From about AD 600 the old cities of Greece shrank considerably due to barbarian raids by the Avars and Slavs, and were often reduced to shadows of their former selves. As the seventh century progressed, much of Greece was overrun by Slavic peoples from the north, and a period of uncertainty and insecurity followed.\n\nFrom the late 8th century, the Empire began to recover from the devastating impact of successive invasions, and the reconquest of Greece began. Greeks from Sicily and Asia Minor were brought in as settlers. The Slavs were either driven out or assimilated. By the middle of the 9th century, Greece was dominated by those of Hellenic ethnic heritage once more, and Greek cities began to recover due to improved safeguards against barbarous incursion and restored central governance.\n\nThe invasions of the Turks after the battle of Manzikert in 1071 and the en
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Finally a great question but difficult to answer the pass is now a different size and is a major tourist draw.  Here is one of the earliest descriptions of size:  "At the time, the mountain pass of Thermopylae consisted of a pass so narrow that two chariots could barely move abreast—on the western side of the pass stood the sheer side of the mountain, while the east side was the sea. Along the path was a series of three «gates», and at the center gate a short wall that had been erected by the Phocians in the previous century to aid in their defense against Thessalian invasions". \n\n\nGod Bless You and The Southern People
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its location as a port connecting the black sea and the Mediterrianian. It could control trade from east to west.
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You should read "The Mystery of Atlantis" by Charles Berlitz, it uses real evidence to discuss whether or not Atlantis existed and if so where was it and who were its people? It places the position of Atlantis similar to your line of thinking using maps and recounts of ancient greeks and mayans who recorded trade with people who were in all liklihood from Atlantis.
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Greece mainly exports:\n\n-Manufactured goods (telecommunications hardware and software)\n-Agricultural goods (foods)\n-Fuel
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Ancient Greece and Crete, see here:\n\nhttp://www.petrspacek.com/history/history1.htm
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Geography is also important because the actions of people of antiquity were often directly related to their perceptions of the geography of the world. For instance, in Columbus's time it was thought that the world was flat and you could fall off the edge. This view shaped historical events until it was disqualified. That is just one example, there are many (Galileo and his views are another).
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The Greek Archipelagos, the famous Aegean sea!\n(The Greek name for the sea is Αιγαιον Πέλαγος (Aigaion Pelagos, Modern Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος (Aigaio Pelagos)
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"Sybaris, a city of Magna Graecia, on the Gulf of Taranto, between the rivers Crathis (Crati) and Sybaris (Coscile), which now meet 3 miles from the sea, but in ancient times had independent mouths, was the oldest Greek colony in this region."\n\nAlso:\n\n" The statements transmitted to us of the power and opulence of the city, as well as of the luxurious habits of its inhabitants, have indeed a very fabulous aspect, and are without doubt grossly exaggerated, but there is no reason to reject the main fact that Sybaris had in the sixth century BCE attained a degree of wealth and power unprecedented among Greek cities, and which excited the admiration of the rest of the Hellenic world. "
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Genghis Khan kingdom covered the widest geographical areas in human history. But I am not sure how long it lasted. Hope this answers your question.
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Classical antiquity period
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Atlantis is an island whose existence and location have never been confirmed. The first references to Atlantis are from the classical Greek philosopher Plato, who said it was engulfed by the ocean as the result of an earthquake 9,000 years before his own time. Most scholars now regard Plato's description of Atlantis as fiction, though it is often thought that Plato drew upon memories of past events such as the Thera eruption or the Trojan War. Other scholars argue that Plato's account was inspired by events of his own day.
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The Mediterranean Sea moderates Greece´s climate, cooling the air in summer and providing warmth in the winter months. Summers are generally hot and dry. Winters are moderate and rainy in coastal regions and cold and snowy in mountainous areas.\n\nThey drew fresh water running down from the mountains and because of the water coming from the mountains the ground was fertile for growing.
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I am puzzled by your question - geography?\nanyway the following article is taken from travelchinaguide.com - hope it answers.\n\n\nThe king of the Qin state, Yinzheng, conquered the other six dukes through ten years of wars and brought an end to the riotous Warring States Period (476 BC - 221 BC) in 221 BC. He built up the Qin Dynasty - the first unified, multi-national, autocratic and power-centralized state in Chinese history - by making Xianyang, a city near Xian in the Shaanxi Province, his capital city. Although Qin is a short dynasty with a span of only fifteen years, it started off a 2,000-year-long imperial history in China and exerted a far-reaching influence on the subsequent dynasties. Except for frontiers in the west, southwest and northeast, Qin's territory has been kept fairly intact up to the present-day. To protect the northern frontier, the first Qin emperor ordered the construction of the Great Wall. He instituted centralism and a strict set of rules by which people lived in oppression. An army of peasants overthrew the harsh Qin regime just one year after the death of the Emperor Qin Shi Huang in 207 BC.\n\nPolitical History \n\nThe first Qin emperor lived from 259 BC to 210 BC. He was crowned at the age of 13 after his king father died. Since he was too young to administer his country, the real power was in the hand of the prime minister, Lu Buwei, who --allegedly--was the real father of the young emperor. Emperor Qin remained silent and continued to strengthen his own force. When the right occasion presented itself, he arrested the prime minister and sentenced him to death. Upon hearing the news, the prime minister did nothing but roar out in laughter, "Well done, well done, that is my boy." \n\n The first Qin emperor seized the power at the age of 22 in 238 BC. Soon after, he launched a unification campaign from 230 BC to 221 BC. The emperor was a great politician. After unifying the country, he carried out a series of political reforms. He divided the country into 36 prefectures, which he again subdivided into more counties. All the regional governments were subordinate to the central government, which was ruled by the emperor himself. The first Qin emperor standardized the measurement of weight and length, written script, legal system and currency. He migrated thousands of people to southern border areas to pioneer the virgin land. Since the northern tribe the Xiongnu plundered the northern frontiers repeatedly, Emperor Qin appointed one of his excellent generals - Mengtian - to the northern areas. Mengtian beat back the Xiongnu tribe and supervised the construction of the Great Wall.\n\nDespite all great jobs he did, Emperor Qin ruled as a ruthless tyrant. In order to standardize human thoughts, he burnt most of the books in the country to prevent freethinking. Furthermore, the emperor imposed heavy taxes and constrained thousands of people to work on the Great Wall. In the second year after his enthronement, he started the construction of his mausoleum, which took almost 700,000 conscripts over 30 years to complete. In order to continue his reign after his death, he also ordered the construction of the Terra-Cotta Army east of his mausoleum.\n\n The tyranny of Emperor Qin Shi Huang and his successor resulted in wide opposition throughout the country. Peasant uprisings continually struck the regime of the Qin. Finally, in 207 BC, Xiangyu's army inflicted heavy losses on the Qin army; and in the following year, Liu Bang broke Xianyang, the capital of Qin, thus putting an end to the notorious Qin Dynasty.\n\nLater, in pursuit of the domination of the country, a four-year war known as the Chu-Han War broke out between Xiangyu and Liu Bang. Finally, Liu Bang defeated Xiangyu in 202 BC and established the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 24 AD), after which he proclaimed himself the emperor of the Han.
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Asia is where shipping was born, 004 ! \nWell over 1,500 years before the birth of Christ, the ship-builders of Gujerat, in India, were supplying their ships [built of saltwater-resistant timber, at that !] to distant Egypt, Mesopotamia, and even Greece ! \nAnd South Indian kings were travelling the high seas with their naval fleets - and conquering distant kingdoms including the modern-day Jawa, and Sumatra !
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Sparta (Σπάρτη) was a city in ancient Greece, whose territory included, in Classical times, all Laconia and Messenia, and which was the most powerful state of the Peloponnesus. It is also the name of a modern town some kilometres away from the ancient site. (Technically, Sparta was the name of the ancient town; Lacedaemon, Greek Λακεδαιμων, was the city-state. Sparta is now normally used for both.)\n\nThe city of Sparta lies at the northern end of the central Laconian plain, on the right bank of the river Eurotas. The site was strategically located; guarded from three sides by mountains and controlling the routes by which invading armies could penetrate Laconia and the southern Peloponnesus via the Langhda Pass over Mt Taygetus. At the same time, its distance from the sea—Sparta is 27 miles from its seaport, Gythium—made it difficult to blockade.\n\nAthens (Greek: Αθήνα, Athína (IPA: /a'θina/)) is the capital of Greece and one of the most famous cities in the world, named after goddess Athena. Modern Athens is a bustling cosmopolitan metropolis, home to some 3.7 million people. The Athens metropolitan area is currently growing both northwards and eastwards across Attica and it constitutes the dominant center of economic, financial, industrial, cultural and political life in Greece today. The city is also rapidly becoming a leading business centre in Europe. Athens is located at 38°00′N 23°43′E.\n\nAncient Athens was a powerful city-state and and a renowned center of learning, home of Plato's Academy and Aristotle's Lyceum. It is considered to have been the cradle of Western civilisation, largely due to the immense impact of its cultural and political achievements during the 4th and 5th centuries BC on the rest of the then known European Continent. The heritage of the Athenian Enlightenment is still evident in the city, portrayed through a number of spectacular ancient monuments and artworks, the most famous of all being the Parthenon on the Acropolis ("high city"), nurtured by Ictinus, Callicrates and Phidias. The latter is widely regarded as one of the finest examples of Classical Greek architecture, still standing as an epic legacy to the West and indeed to the rest of the world. Many of these cultural landmarks were renovated ahead of the 2004 Olympic Games.
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Brouse around this site - it is excellent.\n\nhttp://www.palaeos.com/Earth/Geography/Pangea.htm