Think of Ancient China.
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Picture it in your mind. Describe to me what it looks like.
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Rough? Hilly? No, more mountainous. Dry? Desert-like? Yet more mountainous? Correct.
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Now, what does this contribute to?
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Nobody wants to walk in a desert with very little water for weeks, do they?
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You and I wouldn't want to, that's one.
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So would others. Thus the landscape played an important role in, using a pretty harsh word, "shutting" out the rest of outside influence from other civilizations. Without the landscape, China would probably be a different type of country right now.
