Does anyone know bodies of water that have influenced nations or regions?

Question

Can someone tell me bodies of water that have influenced the economic, political, & social development of a nation or region throughout history

Answer 1

Bodies of water have influenced the the development of nations since the beginning of time. The cradle of civilization was situated between the Tigris-Euphrates, for those very reasons. The water barriers somewhat protected the region, provided water for irrigation, and water borne trade to move good and products.
The Nile, gave birth to the Egyptian civilization.
Before Rome road networks were mostly found within cities and rarely found outside of cities. Trade route were mostly be water, either a sea or rivers. Water was needed to irrigate farmland, farms were needed to feed populations.
Water way were used and barriers to protect cities and civilizations. Look at the number of cities that are situated on a river. London, Paris, Rome, Berlin, Istanbul, Moscow, Washington DC, etc almost every major capital city in the world is on or near a water mass or river.
Japan escaped the invasion of the Mongol's due to the Sea that separated Japan from mainland Asia. England has relied upon the Sea as their first line of defense since the beginning of time. England became the might est sea power in the world because of it. The Roman expansion stopped basically at the Rhine. The armies of Europe moved on the rivers. Egypt could not move far beyond their Nile base.
Bodies of water have influenced the developmant of civilizations since the begining of time.

Answer 2

I'm assuming that someone's set you this question - it's not the sort of thing that pops into your head (usually) while you are washing the dishes or mowing the lawn and you think "I must ask that on yahoo.." Ok, so I suspect that you're being asked for some specific cases and WHY, rather than a list of all of the rivers and the oceans in the world. All of them could be correct, because folk have pretty much (nearly all) lived near water at some stage (or been driven away from it or had it disappear on them) and been influenced by it.

So some examples.(1) The English Channel, allowed Britain to develop a separate identity to the rest of Europe, to defend itself, and in doing so encouraged the growth of the British Navy that was a key factor in the development of the British dominance of the seas and the creation of the British Empire. (2) The Venetian lagoon, allowed Venice (isolated in the middle of the lagoon) to maintain it's independence for over a thousand years and build it's wealth by making it (arguably) the most defensible city in Europe (it was eventually captured by Napoleon). (3) The river Nile, allowed the development of intense agriculture in ancient Egypt, that funded the development of armies and cities. Furthermore the annual flooding of the river required that people's plots of land had to be re-surveyed each year (the flood obliterated fences etc), which led to the study of geometry, that was passed on (later) to the Greeks.

So you could look up Venice, English Channel and Nile in Wiki for more information. For a non-European perspective you could also try the Tonle Sap (Cambodia). But really, the issue seems to be that your prof or teacher wants you to 'drill down' into the subject, rather than find any body of water that is 'more influential' than any other. It's a good question actually..

Answer 3

Rivers that have influenced history, Euphrates, influenced the direction of the Middle East, Babylonian empire, Persian Empire, Israel and modern day Iraq, Nile, Egyptian empire, used by the Roman Empire to conquer Egypt, now used as the entry point for the Suez Canal, Mekong, been the life blood for alot of nations in Asia, Yangtze, this one gives nutrients for the bread basket in China. Seas that have influenced history, Red sea, features alot throughout the bible (along with the Nile and Euphrates), North sea, seen many European naval battles, Coral sea, Battles fought here turned the tide against the Japanese in WW2 and the Mediterranean, without the Mediterranean the Roman empire could not have reached anywhere as far as it did.

Answer 4

Athens became a mighty power, and developed a culture which still makes us what we are today. But what did Sparta leave the world? What is the difference? Sparta was a land power, but Athens was a naval power. The body of water was the eastern Mediterranean. The Athenians traded widely , and became strong by their status as traders and bankers, maintaining a currency with inherent worth, not just ever-inflating fiat money. The traders continuously brought back ideas from Egypt and Turkey and the Athenian culture flourished on this. So great minds like those of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle were nourished in this great center of trade. And the body of water made it all possible.

Answer 5

Once man moved into sailing then all water or the travelling of such influenced history. Try the travels of the vikings who actually landed in part of nth america and as far as the carribean Try the explorations of the spanish. the British opening up the pacific ocean to discovery and trade. The dutch into what is now indonesia. On a more localised situation then try the riverboats of the mississipi trading up and down one of the worlds great arterial waterways.

Answer 6

Atlantic and Pacific Ocean for America - Manifest Destiny.

Also the Tigris and Euphrates rivers influenced the first known city I believe it was called Ra located near or in present day Iraq.

Answer 7

How about the seas that surround Australia and New Zealand. They kept both countries alienated from the rest of the world for thousands of years. As an example, New Zealand was declared in 1840, and Australia was declared in 1788. Just to contrast, America was declared in 1492.

Answer 8

How about he Dardanelles, the Straits of Marmara, Peloponnese? Separate Europe from Asia, and entrance/exit from the Black Sea.

Answer 9

..... the nile, um both our occeans right now the artic ocean cause its getting bigger... thats really a huge list the st lawerance in canada the medirterean if i splet it right anyway pick a country an look at its major bodie of water and you tell me what happened around it

Answer 10

nile river
tigris/euphrates rivers
mississippi river
the 4 major oceans: arctic, indian, atlantic, and pacific
mediterranean sea
gulf of mexico
rio grande river
colorado river
ganges river
st. lawrence river
chesapeake bay
great lakes: superior, huron, erie. ontario, michigan
thames river
english channel