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__ India __

__ Geography: __
The Indian subcontinent is located in the south part of the continent Asia. This large landmass was originally connected to Africa. It broke off about 90 million years ago and drifted toward South Asia. When it collided with the continent, the pressure caused the ground to buckle up, creating the Himalayas, the highest mountain range on Earth. The Himalayas make up India's northern border. They also nearly surround the nations of Nepal and Bhutan, which are in between China and India. Smaller parts of the Himalayas bring the mountain range into Western Pakistan and Central Afghanistan. The Himalayas have helped keep India safe from invaders, although there are numerous passes through which invaders came, such as the Khyber Pass. South of the Himalayas, the Ganges River runs through India's northern plains and meets up with the Brahmaputra River in the heart of Bangladesh. The flood plains along rivers have attracted many people over the course of history, because of their very rich soil. The Indian subcontinent is a peninsula which juts out into the Indian Ocean. Each side of India is bordered by mountain ranges, called the Western and Eastern Ghats. Other than these ranges, the Indian subcontinent is a fairly flat highland, called the Deccan Plateau. The island of Sri Lanka is off the southern Indian coast. Of India's southwest coast lie the Maldives, which are a chain of 1,190 islands.

__ Climate: __
South Asia contains many different climate areas. India and Bangladesh have humid subtropical or tropical wet climates. It is also dry there. Temperatures can reach eighty degrees fahrenheit in the coolest months! The worst heat, in May, can be more than one hundred degrees fahrenheit! Pakistan and Afghanistan have arid and semiarid climates. In the mountains, the peaks are covered with snow year round. The mountains and foothills also contain fertile valleys, grasslands and forests.

The Himalayas regulate the region's climate. They block much of the cold and dry air that would otherwise get into South Asia from the north during winter. The mountains also draw some moisture out of the winds. The moisture falls as rain and snow.

South Asia has seasonal winds, which are known as monsoons. The monsoon blows from the northeast for most of the year, bringing dry air. However, it blows from the southwest during the wet season, which lasts from June to September. The wind picks up moisture from the Indian Ocean and dumps heavy rain on India's west coast, northern plains, and the northeast each year. The Western Ghats block block some of the moisture from the monsoon, so the area to the east of the Western Ghats has a semiarid climate. The southwest monsoon is necessary for the farming industry, but it also brings intense storms and floods. The southwest monsoon can't penetrate into Afghanistan, leaving much of its land dry for the entire year.

__ Use of the Land: __
Although most South Asians work in the agriculture industry, the farms in this area tend to be small. This is because many farmers engage in subsistence farming. Subsistence farming is when farmers grow food for themselves, but don't send much of it to a market.

In the mid 1960s, the Green Revolution began because of new technology. This was an increase in agricultural production. This produced more food for the fast growing population. However, some farmers used too many chemicals and pesticides, chemicals that keep bugs away. They also pumped too much water out of wells to irrigate crops. These things poisoned the soil, fouled the rivers, and dried up the wells.

The area also has many resources. Rivers provide hydropower (a form of renewable energy) and mines produce iron ore, copper, bauxite, and coal. Petroleum and natural gas are also found in the plateaus and mountains. These resources support manufacturing in India and Pakistan.

__ Early History:[[image:Harrapa Picture.jpg align="left" caption="An Early Harrapan City" link="http://www.thenagain.info/webchron/india/harappa.html"]] __
The early Indian civilizations began in the Indus River Valley. The first of these was the Harappans. They built cities between 2600 B.C. and 1900 B.C. These cities were very advanced for the time. Some of the Harappan cities even had sewage systems! They were also some of the first to build sailing ships. The Harappans were a nation of farmers, craftspeople, and traders, most of whom were wealthy. The Harappans also developed a writing system, which can't be understood today.

The Harappans grew barley, wheat, melons, and dates. These were used to feed the growing population. They also grew cotton, which they used to make garments. Extra crops were loaded onto sailboats for trade with Mesopotamia (which is modern day Iraq). They also fished and herded sheep, goats, and a type of cattle called zebus.

The Himalayas were a source of flint. The Harappans made this into blades and other assorted tools. Copper and tin were also mined and were used to make saws, axes, and chisels. The nearby forests also provided wood for firewood and tool handles. The Harappans also used gemstones, such as lapis lazuli, that were found in the Thar Desert to the east to make jewelry that was traded.

In 1750 B.C., the Aryans invaded the Indus River Valley from the north and then spread across all of Ancient India. Historians believe that the Aryans destroyed the Harappans, but there is no evidence of this. Some Aryans went to the Ganges River Valley instead. The Aryans spent many years clearing jungles there to make suitable farmland. Rice was a major crop, along with millet, a type of grass known for it's grain.

The Aryans left little evidence about how they lived. However, there are two collections of their literature that remain. These are called the Mahabhharata and the Ramayana, which are poems, telling stories of war, kings, and heros.

Vedas were books of religious poems, hymns, and rituals, which became the first scriptures of Hinduism. Indian history from about 1700 to 500 B.C. is called the Vedic period, after these texts.

Some historians also believe that the Harappan civilization ended because of environmental changes. This probably happened around 1800 B.C. At about this time, the Saraswati River (also known as the Ghaggar-Hakra River) dried up and the Indus River changed it's course. Both of these things probably played a role. People had also destroyed the forests around the Indus River Valley for firewood. Very little rain fell between the monsoons. Without the floodwaters of the rivers, the surrounding farmland dried up. The shift also caused devastating floods, and for riverside towns to lose trade.

The Harappans exchanged many goods, such as grain, copper pots, pans, mirrors, elephant ivory, and lapis lazuli. Ships would leave Harappan ports between November and April, when the wind blew northeast. They set out again from their original destination between July and September, when the wind blew from the southwest.The Harappans traded with Persia and China with pack animals that they would load, such as camels. The Harappans also learned many things because of trade with other nations. They began growing Chinese rice and learned how to make a plow, called the ard from the Mesopotamians.

The people used a barter system for a time. The first silver bar coins were used after the Aryans were established. The coins came to India from Persia.

There was also a caste system in ancient India. A person was born into a caste, which could not be changed. There are four main classes, the Brahmins, the priests and the king, the Kshatriyas, the warriors and aristocrats (rulers), the Vaishyas, the artisans, merchants, and traders, and the Shudras, the peasants.

The Indus River Valley:
Thousands of years ago, the Indus River Valley was lush, although it is now dry and barren (located in present day Pakistan). Melting ice and snow would come down from the HImalayas to the valley in the spring. The monsoon also caused the river to overflow, keeping the lands near it fertile.

__ The Aryans: __
The Aryans had holy books called Vedas. These books give records of how the Aryans lived. Many Vedas tell about the Aryans battles against the people of the Indus and Ganges River Valleys.

Aryans lived in ganas, which mean collections. Each gana was made up of several families and was ruled by a raja, or king. Each gana had it's own territory. Most gana houses had only one room where all the family members lived. The houses were generally made of wood and straw. Rulers and nobels generally lived in larger houses. Aryan homes also had a central hearth, called a yagna. Family members would gather around the yagna to eat and tell stories about the day. There was a fire tender in the household, who made sure that the fire didn't go out. Fire was considered a gift from Agni, the fire god.



Until about 500 B.C., Aryan women had more freedom. They could own property and some even became famous warriors. However, the Brahmins developed new ideas over the years. One of these ideas was that women should be strictly controlled. Women were no longer allowed to own property and their husbands were chosen for them by their parents. Women were taught to obey the male members of the family. Children began working at a young age. Young boys were taught mathematics and astronomy, but the girls had no formal education.

Around 800 B.C., the Aryans learned how to use iron to make weapons. They probably learned this skill from the people of West Asia, called the Assyrians. The Aryans conquered more of India using there newfound weapons. They eventually settled in the Ganges River Valley, not long after 800 B.C.

Not long after 800 B.C., the Aryans were more cut off from the people of West and Central Asia, because they were farther from them, in the Ganges River Valley. They began to mix with the Indian people. The Indian gods became mixed with the Aryan gods at this time. The Marabharata tells the story of the Aryan conquest of the Ganges River Valley.

Despite the Aryans conquest, they didn't rule all of India. The rule of the southern parts of India belonged to many independent kings. The Ramayana tells the story of the fights between the southern people and the Aryans

__ Early Empires: __
After the Aryans, India was divided into many different provinces. A man named Chandragupta Maurya rose to the throne of the largest one and conquered the other provinces. He began the Mauryan empire. His grandson, Asoka, ruled the largest empire in Indian history. However, after his death, the empire began to decline and another man, Chandra Gupta (not related to Chandragupta Maurya) founded the Gupta empire, which lasted into the fifth century. However, the empire began to break up at that point and invaders from northern Asia, called the White Huns, further weakened the empire.

__** Arts and Religions of Early India: **__
In the Gupta Period (around 500 AD), Ajanta and Ellora, two great cave temples, were carved. Scenes from the life of the Buddha and statues of Buddha became popular around this time.

The conquests of Alexander the Great in India brought more into Indian art. This happened in the 320s B.C. Companies of Greek soldiers left in present day Afghanistan and Pakistan attracted Greek sculptors. The Greek style carvings attracted attention in India and the first life sized stone carvings date back to the 200s B.C., just after Alexander the Great's conquest.

There are four main Indian religions: Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism.

Buddhism is based on the belief that all pain is caused by desire. It is said that desire can be eliminated by following the Eightfold Noble Path. Once you have reached the point of no desire, you will be in a state of paradise, called nirvana. Buddhism was created by Siddhartha Gautama, a young Indian prince who set out to change the world.

Many gods and goddesses are worshipped in Hinduism. They are worshipped in the home and by numerous sects. A caste system is strictly enforced in Hinduism. All Hindus are expected to make an annual pilgrimage to a holy site, such as the Ganges River. To die in a holy place ensured rebirth. Some Hindu gods and goddesses are Brahma (the creator of the universe), Vishnu (the preserver of the universe), Shiva (the destroyer and changer of the universe), Parvati, the wife of Shiva, Lakshmi, the wife of Vishnu, and Sarasvati, the wife of Brahma.

In Jainism, the main idea is non-violence. There are no gods or goddesses worshipped in this religion. Many Jains are monks or nuns who see the world as a place of suffering. The try to reach self-liberation, called moksha. Some very religious Jains wear masks over their mouths, so that they will not inhale and accidentally kill an insect!

The central idea of Sikhism is that a good life will achieve immunity with God. Sikhs also believe in reincarnation. Sikhs honor the 10 gurus, the last of which developed the Sikh community. Sikhs have great influence in India and there are cries for a seperate homeland in northern India.

__ Ancient Indian Government: __
The Kshatriyas were the caste that included the different government officials. According to "The Laws of Manu", the main duties of the Kshatriyas caste was to give gifts to the Brahmans, the highest caste, to protect the people, to offer sacrifices, and to study the holy books, Vedas. Some Kshatriyas chose to be merchants or artisans, instead of government officials, but they still enjoyed the privileges of the Kshatriyas caste.

The king was the supreme member of the Kshatriyas caste. While he could put forth decisions, his power was limited by the Council of Ministers. This small, influential group set the government's policy. The king could not authorize a major decision without the approval of the Council of Ministers. The Council had the authority to criticize and/or overrule him! An example of this was when King Rudradaman wanted to repair a broken dam. The Council of Ministers thought that it was a futile task, and deprived him of government funds, which made the king reach into his own treasury for the money!

In Mauryan times, the kingdom was organized into several large provinces. Each of these was governed by a member of the holy family. The provinces were further divided into districts, which were administrated by a deputy, who was selected by the provincial governor and a council of prominent residents. The towns and cities themselves were administrated by chiefs and councils. Many other major and minor officials did other things, such as collecting taxes, supervising road construction, maintenance, counting the population, measuring the land, regulating water use, and policing the streets. Government magistrates, from the Brahman or Kshatriyas caste, judged most of the legal cases, like a court.

Another category of government officials were the overseers, or spies. The job of these agents was to patrol the land and to enquire into all that went on in it. They would search for signs of disloyalty, dishonesty, and unrest. They would then report back to the king in secret. The brought regular reports from their assigned territories in the kingdom.


 * __Payment of Government Officials:__**

The amount of money received by government officials varied by rank. The Arthasastra recommended payment of 48,000 panas (silver coins) to a prime minister, 12,000 panas for a provincial governor, and up to 1,000 panas for a spy. The government also paid the families of civil servants who were injured or died on a job.

**__ Wars: __**
== The kings of India also sought to extend it through conquest. The Indians maintained a large standing army. It is said by Greek writers that the army of Chandragupta Maurya was made up of more than 600,000 men! The Kshatriyas were the backbone of the army, because they received military education. They were the most skilled soldiers and held many leadership posts. The Brahmins were also generals, while the lower castes were the foot soldiers. ==

The Indian army was divided into four main parts, the elephants, calvary, chariots, and infantry. The war elephants would be at the front of the army, smashing through the enemy lines like tanks. Each elephant had a driver and two or three soldiers with bows and spears. The calvary was used for surprise attacks and other situations that required speed. Some historians believe that the effectiveness of the calvary was impaired by the weird custom of giving the horses a large drink of wine before the battle. The war chariots were made of wood, which was covered with metal plates. The earlier chariots were light and swift. However, over time, the chariots became larger, heavy, and difficult to handle. When Alexander the Great invaded India in 327 B.C., he battled a force of war chariots. An ancient Roman historian described them of "barely any service." Each chariot was drawn by four horses and carried six men. The chariots kept sticking in the mud and were almost immovable because of their great weight. The infantry was the largest part of the Indian army. It was responsible for most of the fighting on the open ground and in sieges. Foot soldiers carried bows as tall as themselves, which fired arrows a little short of three meters. They also had swords, spears, daggers, and battle-axes.

__** India's Modern Culture: **__
Manipuri is a language that is primarily spoken in the State of Manipur. There are only two lexical categories in Manipur, nouns and verbs. Adjectives and adverbs blend with the verbs. The origin of the Manipuri alphabet is unknown. Some people believe that the alphabet has been used for over 4,000 years, while others think that it was developed from the Bengali alphabet,in the seventeenth century.

Bengal tigers live in India and are the most common type of tiger, accounting for about half of all wild tigers. They are sometimes called the Indian tiger. They have become an important part of Indian tradition and lore.

Batik is an ancient Indian art. It translates to "wax writing" in English. It is a way of decorating cloth by covering some of it with wax and dying the cloth. Batik can be traced back 2,000 years! It was revived in the 20th century.

Hindi language is considered the national language of India, although there are several other languages.It is spoken as a first language by 425 million people. Literary Hindi was written in the Devanagari Script. Literary Hindi has also been influenced by Sanskrit. The are many dialects of Hindi.

An arrangement of flowers called a pookalam is made in India during the long Onam Celebration. Many kilos of flowers are carefully laid out at this time to make a rug like arrangement. It is considered good luck to make a pookalam during the celebration.

The Indian flag has three different colored bands and a wheel on the center band. The orange band at the top stands for courage and sacrifice. The white band in the middle stands for purity and truth. The green band at the bottom stands for faith and fertility. The wheel like structure is an ancient Buddhist symbol, which is known as the Wheel of Law. It symbolizes peaceful change.

__ ** Important People in India: ** __

Mother Teresa was born in Skopje, Macedonia, on August 26, 1910. When she turned 18, she left her family and joined the Sisters of Loreto to spread the love of Christ. This was an Irish group with missions in India. Mother Teresa taught at St. Mary's high school in Calcutta. However, the suffering outside the city walls left a deep impression on her and she worked with the poorest of the poor, trying to help them. She opened an open air school for slum children and received both voluntary and financial support which allowed her to expand her work. She has won many awards, including the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize in 1971.

Mahatma or Mohandas Gandhi was a Hindu leader. He helped the people of India in their fight for independence from Great Britan. He organized non violent protests in order to convince the British to grant this wish.

Indira Gandhi was the first female prime minister and became prime minister in 1966, after her father, Jawaharlal Nehru's, death. Indira was one of India's most notable and controversial political leaders.

__ Music: __
One instrument is called the dholak. It is a barrel shaped hand drum. It is widely popular in folk and popular music in India. The flute is one of the oldest musical instruments in India. It was developed independently of the western flute. It is a cylindrical tube, bored with a number of holes. The length and number of the holes can vary. The sitar is one of the most popular classical instruments and is in the lute family. The modern sitar has seven strings and two frets that are used to adjust the pitch.

Indian classical music, folk music,and modern music. Music has always been an important part of Indian life. Each region in India has it's own kind of folk music. Film music is also very popular in India.

__ Modern History: __
South Asia is full of ups and downs. It includes many of the poorest and most populated countries in the world. These countries are threatened by numerous things. Bangladesh and the Maldives are threatened by rising sea levels and natural disasters. India and Pakistan come close to war sometimes, because of their dispute over Kashmir. However, South Asia also holds great promise. Democracy is widespread throughout India. The country's economy is improving as well. The new economic programs are helping people to rise out of poverty. The regions technical and scientific skills are in high demand, and South Asia's artistic energies fuel an exciting and influential culture.

South Asia has always been a well defined cultural area. Many of it's languages also share the same ancestor. Many parts of the region were also united under Mauryan, Mughal, and British rule. South Asians also share many cultural traditions, although religious diversity has increased.

Ancient Hindu literature tells of gods and heros. These stories are called epics. The epics helped to define the values of the Hindu culture, such as courage and faithfulness. Many of these cultural values are expressed in films, which come out of Bollywood. Bollywood is India's version of Hollywood and is based in Mumbai (previously Bombay).

Many people in India and Nepal are Hindu. Muslims also form a large majority in these areas. They are in the majority in some places, such as Kashmir. Muslims form the largest religious group in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. Sikhism flourishes in the Punjab area of northwest India. Buddhism was once widely spread, but it is strongest today in Nepal, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka.

A lasting solution is needed for the Kashmir conflict. The dispute of the area goes back to the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947. The area had a large Muslim population, but a Hindi ruler. He couldn't decide which side to go on. While he was deciding, Pakistanis crossed the border. The ruler agreed to enter India if the army came to their aid. However, the clash between the Pakistanis and Indians turned into a long campaign and was only stopped by a United Nations ceasefire in 1949. Neither India or Pakistan is willing to give up its claim to the region, so there has been a stalemate for 50 years, with no solutions.

Many Indians live in poverty, however, India has made remarkable strides because of careful economic planning and foreign aid. India now makes far more crops than it needs. The government is also backing off businesses, allowing more private industries to develop. A large middle class has developed in India.

The governments of South Asia are also relatively new. The Indian government is a secular democracy, meaning that the government and religion are set apart. The voters elect the members of one house of Parliament and another branch of legislature, which elects the second house of Parliament. The voter elected house of Parliament selects the prime minister from the majority party and all three houses vote to elect the president. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh also have democracies, but citizens don't enjoy the same level of rights as those in India do. Nepal recently ended its monarchy and is now a democratic republic, although the government is still quite new. In Pakistan, the government was overthrown by the military in 1999 and citizens lost many rights. The people took back the government in 2008. The prime minister of Pakistan must be muslim. Bhutan is also a democratic republic.

__ Government of India: __
India is a secular democracy, which means that government and religion are separate, unlike Pakistan and Afghanistan. In India, voters elect the House of the People (one of the two houses of Parliament) and the State Assemblies. The State Assemblies then elect the Council of States (the second house of Parliament). The prime minister is drawn from the majority party in Parliament. The House of the People, the State Assemblies, and the Council of States all elect the president.

The current president of India is Shri Pranab Mukherjee The prime minster of India is Dr. Manmohan Singh. The vice president of India is Shri Mohd. Hamid Ansari. The chief justice of the Indian supreme court is Altamas Kabir. P. Sathasivam. G.S. Singhvi, Aftab Alam, R.M. Lodha, H.L. Dattu, Balbir Singh Chauhan, and many other judges are also on the court.

__ Take-Home Quiz: __
__**Ancient Egypt:**__

The ancient Egyptian civilization began near the shores of the Nile River. People began moving into the valley over 10,000 years ago. The people needed water from the river, because the country got little rain. The land near the Nile was also fertile, which was good for farming. In the summer, the Nile River would flood the surrounding land, leaving a layer of fertile soil which was good for planting crops in. Eventually, the Egyptians found a way to trap and save the floodwater to use at a later time. Farmers began to work together to bring the floodwater to their farms and soon, people began to live and work together in villages. A man named Menes ruled several villages about 5,000 years ago. He was able to bring all the villages in Egypt under his rule. In this way, Menes became the first king, or pharaoh (which means great house or great palace) of Egypt. He built a capital city which was called Memphis. The pharaoh also made laws for the people. The people of Egypt also provided him with a service or good, based on their occupation. The second most powerful group were the nobles. The artists also had some power. The other people of Egypt had little power in the government. Unlike most other early civilizations, women had the same rights as men in Ancient Egypt. The Egyptians also believed in many gods. They believed that the sun was a god named Ra. Each day, they would watch as the sun rose, traveled across the sky, and set again. They believed that life was like this. Someone was born when the sun rose and died when it set. They also believed that a person would live multiple lives. However, things had to be done to ensure this. First, the body would have to be protected. The way the Egyptians did this was called mummification. They put chemicals on the bodies, wrapped the bodies in large strips of cloth, and covered the bodies with a tar like substance. These preserved bodies are mummies. The body also had to be placed in a tomb. Things that the person might want in the next life, such as riches and games were also placed in the tomb. There were also paintings on the walls of what the person enjoyed during life. Some kinds of tombs were made for the pharaohs. These were larger and were called pyramids. They are triangular. The largest pyramid is the Great Pyramid, which was built about 4,500 years ago. Many of the pharaohs tombs were filled with treasures. Many were robbed, but the tomb of Tutankhamen wasn't robbed. He is called the boy-king because he died when he was eighteen years old. The Egyptians also invented a calendar. They noticed that the Nile flooded every 365 and that it happened at the same time each year. This gave them the idea that the year could be divided into equal portions of time. They also invented a type of paper called papyrus and a writing system. Their writing system was made up of hieroglyphs, or pictures. Each picture stood for an object, idea, sound, or action. A stone was found about 200 years ago with hieroglyphs and other languages on it Scientists used the other languages to translate the hieroglyphs. About 3,000 years ago, Egypt began to grow weak. Eventually, Egypt was invaded by other nations.

Egypt's history is divided into three parts. The old kingdom, the middle kingdom, and the new kingdom. During the old kingdom (2700-2200 B.C.), pharaohs had absolute power. They were only buried in pyramids during this pyramid. The middle kingdom (2100-1800 B.C.) was Egypt's golden age. Trade, arts, and literature flourished during this time. Large armies were formed to defend Egypt. Pharaohs also decided that pyramids were too easy to spot and rob and were buried in hidden tombs. The new kingdom (1500-1000 B.C.) was during the time that Egypt expanded through conquest and became a world power. The pharaohs were buried in the are known as the Valley of the Kings during this time.

__**Middle Ages:**__

The years between the fall of Rome and 1500 A.D. are called the Middle Ages. The early years of the Middle Ages were hard on people. Many people fought for power and land. The system of feudalism finally brought order to Europe. Feudalism was a kind of government and a way of life. The king was the most powerful. The higher nobles were vassals to the king and had knights. They were given land by the king. The lower nobles also had knights and were vassals to the higher nobles. The nobles would fight for the king in return for land that the king gave them. The common people were serfs. They had to pay rent and taxes and farmed, They couldn't move. In return for their service, they were given protection by the nobles. In the early Middle Ages, many people lived on a manor. This included the noble's house, a village, a church, a mill, and fields and woods. The manor had to make its own goods, because trade had died out at this point. Most people of Western Europe were Christians by 1000 A.D. They were members of the Roman Catholic Church. The church kept people together. The church also kept education from dying out. Priests sometimes taught others how to read and write. History was also recorded in the churches. When Jerusalem (a holy city) was captured by the Muslims, the Pope said that it was the duty of the Christians to take it back. The crusades started, which involved many Christians going to Jerusalem to try to free it. They succeeded, but the Muslims took it back later. Eventually, trade grew back in Europe. There was also a trade between Europe and the east. The crusaders brought back treasures and goods with them. People who worked at certain jobs formed groups called guilds.

Cathedrals were built to honor God during the Middle Ages. These were very fancy churches and cost a fortune to build. They also took decades to build.Many cathedrals were built in the shape of a cross. They also had a crypt, a storage area, and a graveyard for the clergy. There were many magnificent tapestries and statues in cathedrals (most art was for religious purposes at that time). However, it was dark inside cathedrals, so it was hard to see.

__**Early Modern Europe:**__

The Renaissance took place in Early Modern Europe. Renaissance means rebirth in French. People developed new ideas during this period about literature, art, and science. The artists of this time admired the ancient Greek and Latin artists. However, they also began to develop new ideas. Michelangelo was one of the greatest artists of the Renaissance. Leonardo da Vinci also lived during this period. He made many wonders including the //Mona Lisa.// Leonardo also kept a notebook of ideas for inventions. Soon, social class became less important and what a person could do became more important. In 1517, a man named Martin Luther was angry at the Roman Catholic Church. The pope would forgive people for their sins if they gave money to the church. In 1517, he tacked a list of 95 of his beliefs to the door of a cathedral in Wittenberg, Germany. Luther's ideas spread quickly because of the invention of the printing press. The church leaders told Luther to leave the Catholic church, but some people thought Luther was right. Luther left the church in 1520 and many people followed him. His followers became known as Protestants, because they protested against certain practices. This movement became known as the Reformation. In 1545, changes were also made to the Roman Catholic Church. As towns grew bigger during the Renaissance, the feudal system became weaker. During the 1500 and 1600s, more people began to think of themselves as citizens of a nation instead of a town. In 1066 A.D., a nobleman named William conquered the English and was made king of England. The government of the first European nation was quickly built up. However, the king's power was limited by acts such as the Magna Carta, which made the king abide by common law. In the 1500s and 1600s, England grew in power. Eventually, the Industrial Revolution began and people moved from the country to the cities. England's major product was textiles. New inventions such as the spinning jenny helped England to mass produce products. Working conditions were often poor during the revolution. The industries brought money and power to western nations. They changed the way people lived there.

Galileo was born in Italy during the Renaissance. Galileo became a scientist. He wanted to test his ideas and developed the foundation for the Scientific Method. Galileo discovered four of Jupiter's moons and sunspots. He also learned that the moon was covered in craters. As Galileo studied the planets and the Sun, he became convinced that the planets orbited te Sun. However, he was imprisoned for having this idea.

__ Oceania: __
The continent Oceania is made up of the island of Australia, the islands of New Zealand, and thousands of other small islands. These islands are divided into three categories: Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia. These islands were formed by volcanos erupting and then surfacing.

New Zealand is made up of three dozen small islands and two larger islands, called North Island and South Island.The climate of New Zealand is mild because it is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean. The Maori were the first people of New Zealand. The Maori still live in New Zealand today. The Maori were hunters. They also grew crops such as sweet potatoes. The Maori built their houses out of reeds.

Australia means "southern land". Australia is very dry. In fact, one third of the land is desert! The hot, dry plains of Australia are known as the outback. The first people of Australia are called the Aborigines. Aborigine means "the first known people to live in a place". The Aborigines hunted and gathered food. However, they did not farm or build villages. Instead, they lived a more nomadic life. The Aborigines used many tools to survive including a boomerang. Boomerangs are curved, flat pieces of wood or animal bone. When a boomerang is thrown, it will return to the thrower after spinning in a wide arc.The Aborigines discovered that water collected near the roots of bushes and dug it up to help them survive.

The first Europeans in Oceania were Dutch explorers and traders. William Jansz, a Dutch explorer, landed in northern Australia in 1606. He was followed by Abel Tasman in 1642. Tasman landed on an island near Australia, which is now called Tasmania. Tasman also named New Zealand after a part of the Netherlands called Zealand. However, Tasman left after a short time because he thought the Oceania was unimportant because the people there had no valuable goods to trade. In 1796, Captain James Cook, a British explorer, explored Australia and New Zealand. He saw that the area was good for farming and thought that it would be good for settlers. The first British settlers in Australia were convicts. They had to work there as punishment for their crimes. In 1851, gold was discovered in Australia. More people moved to the country and, in 1860, colonies had been founded there. In 1901, the Australians united to become an independent nation, the Commonwealth of Australia.

The first Europeans in New Zealand were traders and hunters. During the 1700s, they traded with the Maori and hunted seals and whales in the area. During the early 1800s, the British began to settle in New Zealand. New Zealand became a British territory in 1840, when William Hobson, a British officer, signed a treaty with the Maori. However, the Maori didn't want to sell their land to the British. In 1845, the Maori began to fight the British until they surrendered in 1872. In 1900, the colonists of New Zealand and the British government decided that New Zealand should become independent. New Zealand became an independent nation in 1907.

In 1852, the British Parliament passed an act which formed the House of Representatives and the Legislative Council in New Zealand. They first met in 1854. In 1907, New Zealand became a dominion, not a colony. In 1947, it was confirmed that the New Zealand Parliament had the power to make laws for the country. In 1986, British legislative powers were ended in New Zealand. The right of appeal from the New Zealand courts to the British Privy Council was abolished in 2003. These were the steps taken to help New Zealand become a nation. They did not have to fight for their independence.

Australia is one of the richest countries in the world thanks to its resources. Australian cities are similar to American cities. Fishing and farming are important in New Zealand and the other Pacific islands. Some people live as their ancestors did and others live in cities. Aborigines and Maori are also becoming a larger part of the society.

**__The Fertile Crescent Civilizations:__**

There were many civilizations in the fertile crescent. Civilization comes from an old word meaning "someone who lives in a city."


 * __Mesopotamia:__**

The Sumerians:

__Mesopotamia was one of the first civilizations.__ Mesopotamia was part of a country now called Iraq. The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers flowed through Mesopotamia. The land between these two rivers was good for farming. Mesopotamia was called the Fertile Crescent for this reason. The Mesopotamian civilization began with five steps. First, people learned how to grow crops and domesticate animals. People also began to build permanent homes. Before this step, many lived a nomadic life. People began to develop technology as a third step. They found ways to make tools from metal instead of stone and invented things such as the wheel. People also made intellectual achievements. These achievements included a system of writing and a calendar. Lastly, people created laws and rules to help the live together. As these steps were brought together, they made civilizations into what we know today. Sumer was the first large area of villages in Mesopotamia. This civilization was created about five thousand years ago. Eventually, the Sumerians created their own writing system which is called cuneiform. Sumer reached its height around 4,000 years ago. People learned how to irrigate crops and lived in large cities. Soon, traders began to come to Sumer once their ideas started to spread. When they left Sumer, they had new knowledge of the Sumerians' inventions.

The Babylonians: About 3,000 years ago, the Babylonians began to move into Mesopotamia. They built the city of Babylon. The Babylonians learned a lot from the Sumerians. They used cuneiform and built large farms and temples, or ziggurats, as the Sumerians had. Under a king named Hammurabi, the Babylonians conquered the Sumerians. Hammurabi developed a set of laws for the kingdom. He also decided which laws that had already existed in Mesopotamia were fair and which weren't. The main idea behind his laws was that strong people shouldn't hurt weak people.

The Babylonians began to fall when the Greeks came to Mesopotamia. They conquered areas and forced the people to adopt their customs. They began to build great cities, making Babylon less and less important. The Mesopotamian civilization declined as Babylon did. The old religions and customs became less important in people's lives. Eventually, Babylon declined to insignificance.

The Hebrews: The Hebrews also lived in Mesopotamia at one point. A great Hebrew leader named Abraham brought them to Egypt from Canaan, which is in present-day Israel and Lebanon. They traveled to Egypt, where the Egyptians enslaved them. In time, another great Hebrew leader, Moses, led them back towards Canaan. We now call the Hebrews' religion Judaism. The journey of the Hebrews from Egypt to near Canaan was called the Exodus, which means "departure". The laws that the Hebrews follow are called the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments were the most important Hebrew laws. They taught people to believe in God, love one another, and to honor their parents. The Ten Commandments do not allow lying, stealing, killing, cheating, or wishing you had something instead of someone else having it.

__ Ancient Africa: __
Egypt was the first civilization in Africa It is separated from the rest of Africa by a massive desert, the Sahara. The land and climate of Africa is different south of the desert. Many biomes from grassy plains to rain forests can be found in this part of the world. Many scientists believe that humanity began in Africa. The city of Zimbabwe, or Great Zimbabwe, is believed by some to be the sight of King Solomon's mines. The city was inhabited by many different people. The land south of the Sahara is called sub-Saharan Africa. The grasslands of Africa are called the savanna. Scientists know that the Sahara was a rainy, inhabited land. They know because of the cave paintings that have been found in the Sahara. Over 2,000 years ago, an African king named Piankhi traveled down the Nile River with his army and defeated the Egyptians. He established the Kingdom of Kush, just south of Egypt. The capital city was Meroe. The people of Kush learned many things from the Egyptians. THey learned how to write in hieroglyphics and learned how to make pyramids although theirs were different form the ones of Egypt. The people of Kush used elephants to trade with other countries. They were the first traders. They traveled great distances on the elephants. The kingdom of Ethiopia was located to the south of Kush. About 1,700 years ago, the people of Axum, the most important city in Ethiopia, destroyed the city of Meroe. The king had the tale of his conquest carved on a tall stone column. He had pillaged Kush and taken everything of value. Kush soon became a great trading city. People from Asia came to Axum to trade goods. Axum was very wealthy according to a visitor from Asia who said the king rode through the streets of his city in a golden chariot that was pulled by painted elephants.

During the 600th century, Axum was powerful enough to begin to conquer modern-day Yemen. However, they were repulsed by the Persians at the end of the century. Islam began rapidly spreading across northern Africa and western Asia. Most of the trade now passed through the Persian Gulf instead of the Red Sea. There may be two things that caused the decline of Axum. It may have been because of the lost trade between Axum and the Arabs and Persians. It could also have been because many trees were cut down, creating erosion. The capital moved farther into the mountains by 800 AD. Axum became more focused on agriculture and less on trading. The Christian religion came to the forefront in Axum during this time.

West of Kush and Ethiopia, another kingdom began about 1,800 years ago. Its ruler was known as Ghana, which means "king of the gold". It was later used as the name of the country. There was gold in the hills near the city of Timbuktu. The leaders of Ghana kept the location a secret. Traders came to Ghana looking for gold. They passed through desert salt mines on the way to Ghana, where they picked up salt to trade it for the gold in Ghana. Salt was necessary for human life at that point. It kept food from spoiling. Ghana had no salt, so they traded gold to get it. Ghana was conquered after about 800 years by warriors from Mali. Mali means "where the king lives". Under a king, Mansa Musa, about 700 years ago Mali became a rich kingdom and a center of learning. In 1324, Mansa Musi visited Egypt. He invited teachers there to come to Timbuktu which had turned into a place where learning was very important. Much of what we know about ancient Africa is from what travelers wrote about their visits. Without trade, we wouldn't know as much about ancient Africa as we do now.

__Middle East:__

The Middle East is spread across three continents: Africa,Asia, and Europe. The ancient Arabs were nomads. Today, most people live in towns and cities in this region.

The Middle East includes the countries of Turkey, Cyprus, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Oman, Egypt, Sudan, and Qatar.

Many different kinds of governments are found in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia and Iraq are under dictatorships. Syria is as well, but they are openly opposed by citizens. The elected president and the Parliament share power in Iran. Israel has a parliamentary democracy, meaning that the people elect the Parliament which elects the prime minister. Turkey is a presidential-parliamentary democracy. This means that the Parliament elects the president who selects the prime minister.

Most people in the MIddle East are followers of the religion Islam. Islam began in the MIddle East. The followers of this religion believe in one god, named Allah. About 610, a man named Muhammad began to preach. He gained many supporters and Islam spread. After Muhammad died in 632, other Muslim leaders continued to spread the religion. Muslim armies conquered many more people and taught them to believe in Islam. By the 800s, the Muslims had created an empire in the Middle East which lasted for hundreds of years.The Koran is the holy book of Islam. There are five religious duties that the Muslim believe are very important. They make them part of everyday life. They are called the Five Pillars of Islam. They are faith, prayer, giving help to the poor, fasting, and pilgrimage. All Muslims must only believe in one god. Muslims must turn toward Mecca and pray five times a day. The ninth month on the Muslim calendar is called Ramadan. Muslims are supposed to fast on this day from sunrise to sunset. Muslims are expected to travel to Mecca at least once. Islam has shaped the culture of the Middle East. The Koran discourages artists from making art of living beings. As a result, some of the greatest achievements in the Middle East are in poetry and architecture. The family is very important in Islamic countries. Many people live together in extended families, including cousins, aunts, and uncles, and grandparents. According to Islamic law, a man may have four wives but a woman may have only one husband. People of different genders don't often meet outside the family. It is believed that a woman must wear a black veil, called a chador, in public because it is believed that no man outside a woman's family should see her unless she is wearing a chador. The father is the head of an Islamic family. He must provide food and shelter for the family who, in return, must obey him. Many people have become rich because of the large amount of oil in the Middle East. Money from the sale of oil has made many countries in the Middle East rich. It has been known that there was oil in the Middle East for hundreds of years, but there was no use for it until recently. Oil is the main resource in the Middle East. However, oil will take a long time to be renewed if it is used up. If this happens, many countries in the region could lose their wealth. Many countries also probably depend on this oil, making a loss of oil in the Middle East even more devastating.In 1960, a group called OPEC began deciding how much oil would cost and how much could be mined up.

__ Canada __
== The Vikings were the first Europeans to visit Canada. They probably reached present-day Newfoundland around 1000 A.D. They settled in the area for a time but didn't stay long. Perhaps they found Canada ill-suited for their purposes. Five hundred years later, an explorer named John Cabot claimed Newfoundland for England. He was followed by some French explorers and Henry Hudson, who discovered Hudson Bay in 1610. ==

The first English settlement in Canada was founded in 1610, by John Guy. The Newfoundland Company was established in 1610 to help England make money in the area. The colony seemed successful at first and more colonists came. However, the winter of 1613 was difficult and the colony began to falter. Peace talks were attempted with the Native Americans but never progressed after the first meeting, probably terminating any good relationship between England and the Native Americans of the area. John Guy left the colony and headed back to England. He was replaced by John Mason who helped fortify the colony but did not tend to the fishing industry, causing the colony to collapse. In 1621, Mason left and the colony essentially collapsed. After this, no major colonies were successful for a time, because their populations couldn't be sustained. Despite the failure of the colony, it established England in a new territory.

Many resources could be found in Canada including furs and fish. The war between England and France probably had a lot to do with these resources. The two countries went to war from 1754-1763. This conflict was called the French-Indian War. Both countries fought with the backing of different Native American groups. In 1763, England won the war and took control of Canada. However, Great Britain allowed Canada many freedoms. The country kept their laws, language, and religion. Thanks to inventions such as the locomotive, more of Canada was settled. In 1867, after a little over one hundred years of British rule, Canada won the right to elect their own government. In 1871, the new nation acquired the province now known as British Columbia. The Canadian-Pacific railroad was completed around this time, helping people to get across the large country.

Canada has started a program known as multiculturalism. British, French, and Native American people live there. The government is hoping that Canada can become a richer, stronger nation if these cultures mix.

However, multiculturalism has caused a problem for Canada. Sometimes, people in Quebec feel that the province has a big French-speaking population, yet many businesses are owned by English-speaking people. This has caused some people in Quebec to want to secede from Canada. Quebec has voted to stay part of Canada for now.

The Yukon Territory, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut make up a third of Canada's land. They are in the northern part of Canada. This region has short summers and long winters, so fewer than 100,000 people live there. This area is rich in resources, so many people who live here are miners or oil company workers.

__ The Geography and Climate of the Western Hemisphere: __
The name America was first used on a map in 1507, when a mapmaker named the continents after an explorer, Amerigo Vespucci. Other explorers began to cross the ocean as well.

The climate in Canada is very cold and some parts of the country are covered with ice year-round. The west coast of the country is the warmest in the winter. Southeastern Canada has cold winters and short summers. More than half the people of the country live here. Canada's two biggest cities, Montreal and Toronto, are found here. The largest part of Canada is the Canadian Shield. This is a flat region that borders Hudson Bay. The area isn't suitable for farming, probably one of the reasons why this area isn't densely populated. However, resources can be found here. The Interior Plains are found to the west of Hudson Bay. Farms and forests cover this piece of land. The Rocky Mountains can be found west of the plains. The Pacific Ocean lies beyond. Narrow valleys, called fjords, can be found in the mountains, carved out by glaciers many years ago.

The United States and Canada have many of the same landforms. The Appalachian Mountains, for instance, run from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. The Rocky Mountains also run through Canada, The United States, and Mexico. The Interior Plains in Canada and the Great Plains in The United States are part of the same land region. Alaska has a climate similar to Canada's, with never-melting snow and fjords. However, climates found in the United States are sometimes not found in Canada. Hawaii's climate, for instance, is something you wouldn't find in Canada. Deserts are also found in the United States. One desert in California is called Death Valley because of the hot temperatures. Temperatures this high would not be found often in Canada.

Other North American countries can be found in the Caribbean Sea and the land south of Mexico, called Central America. These countries and Mexico have very warm climates. Rain forests are found in numerous places. Some of the countries in Central America are narrow. One of these countries is Panama, which was chosen to have a canal dug through it. The Panama Canal is over 50 miles long and is a great achievement. Ships sailing from New York City to San Francisco can save almost 8,000 miles by going through the canal instead of around the the tip of South America. Many problems had to be dealt with while digging the canal. Mosquitos carrying deadly diseases lived in swamps that needed to be drained. Many tons of rock and dirt had to be removed. Locks allowing ships to change between levels of water also had to be built. The Atlantic entrance is 7 miles long. On the way to the Pacific, locks will raise and lower ships to the level of the Pacific Ocean. Ships are towed by electric engines on trucks along the lock walls. It can take 15 to 20 hours to pass through the Panama Canal. It took 10 years to build the canal. Thanks to this collaboration between the United States and Panama, ships can save many hours going between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. This has probably helped trade between these two areas of the globe.

North and South America are somewhat alike. Flat plains and mountains can be found on both continents. The Andes Mountains that run along the west coast of South America are actually part of the same mountain chain that the Rocky Mountains are a part of. Volcanoes are found in this mountain range. Much of the flat land in South America is called the Amazon Basin. The Amazon River flows through this basin from the Andes Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean. Most of the Amazon Basin is covered with the Amazon Rain Forest. The Amazon Rain Forest is the largest and oldest rain forest in the world. It is warm and wet and many plants grow there. The rain forest covers about a third of South America. The rain forest is also home to the largest variety of plant and animal life on Earth. Many scientists also believe that many of the plants could have medicinal properties. Today, humans are threatening the rain forest. People have cleared large parts of the rain forest for space and wood. This has caused a habitat loss for some animals. Some experts are concerned that the rain forest could be entirely gone by 2050.

Brazil is the largest country in South America. Much of the country is covered by the Amazon Rain Forest. Brazil's shore is full of interesting things such as coral reefs, mangroves, and dunes. This signifies that Brazil has a hot climate because the country could not have these things without one. Brazil also has claim to numerous islands. Brazil also has many rivers. The Brazilian Highlands (also called the Brazilian Plateau) are about 4,000 meters above sea level and occupy most of Brazil. They cover the central, eastern, and southern parts of the country. The genera climate of Brazil is mixed, depending on elevation and proximity to the ocean. Most of the country can be defined as tropical or sub-tropical, meaning that it is usually hot and humid, although some areas experience droughts. There are usually only two seasons in most of the country: the wet season and the dry season.

Africa:
At first, Africa was only important to Europe for goods. Gold and ivory could be found in Africa. However, in the late 1400s, European countries began to open plantations in the Americas. Then, the Europeans traveled to Africa for slaves. Many times, Europeans hired slave catchers to take people for slaves. Some of these slave catchers were Africans. The slaves were crowded onto ships and began a long journey to the Americas. Many people on the slave ships were packed closely together. They didn't even have room to move. One in six Africans died during the trip. A total of 12 million slaves were sold before the slave trade ended 1870. This was one of the negative effects of two cultures coming together. The slave trade in Africa had terrible effects. Many people died, families were broken up, and many villages were almost destroyed by the trade. In Europe, racism began and the Europeans began to think they were better than the Africans. Racism is the cause of many problems in the world. As the Industrial Revolution began, Africa became more important to Europe as a source of goods. As a result of this, many European countries began using a system known as imperialism, which is the control of one country by another. The Europeans didn't care or know very much about the Africans. They separated groups that had lived together and forced groups at war to live with each other. Most Africans lived under the Europeans for 100 years until their quest for independence succeeded after World War Two. The first African nation to become independent was Ghana. A movement called Self-Government NOW was led by Kwame Nkrumah, who was Ghana's first leader. They led boycotts against European governments, helping Ghana win independence on March 6, 1957. Kenya had to fight Great Britain for control. Jomo Kenyatta was the leader of the independence movement and later, Kenya's first leader. Kenya won independence in December 1963. Nigeria was another country that won its independence from Great Britain. This happened in the 1960s. Nigeria has been helped by the money from selling oil. Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Burundi, and Eritrea were all countries that gained independence from the Europeans.

During the time when Africa was occupied. There was conflict between the British (who imagined a British African empire) and the French (who imagined a French African empire). The Upper Nile Valley was the source of many problems. Four forces from four different nations set out to claim the area, but only the French and the British reached it. The French arrived at the area first, but were driven out by the British at Fashoda. This incident was called the Fashoda Incident because of this. Luckily, fighting was averted that time.

Note: If a paragraph is disjoined from the rest of a section with a reference marker after the last sentence, I am citing the WHOLE paragraph.