Across the globe and throughout time, people have organized into regional groups. The regions changed over time in response to different factors, as noted in archaeological/anthropological evidence and historical documentation. Early mega-regions, such as empires and dynasties, and smaller tribal regions, developed in response to environmental/geographical character, food, economics, political structures, and social order.
Physical environment determined available food, which had a critical role to play in both the size and character of regions. Nomadic peoples, such as the Inuit and North America’s Plains Indians formed comparatively large tribal regions based on game animals’ migratory patterns. Agrarian cultures developed as small production areas connected via collector and trade routes, such as the Inca and Ancient Greeks; they built cities.
Early commodity exchange catalyzed technological developments. Trade sparked cultures to establish trade routes and develop transportation suitable to service those routes. Agreements and political and social structures supported the exchange of goods. Military power, mostly in the form of human capital, and technologies were used to expand and maintain trade routes and protect regional resources. Knowledge, beliefs, and biological adaptations and pathogens also traveled along trade routes, contributing to how regions changed.
Distinct cultures organized around specific geographical areas. These regions contained commodity producing areas; social, political, and economic centers (cities); regionally specific technologies; belief systems; and unique biological character.
Changes in one region had the ability to affect other regions, with change occurring more quickly in areas closest to established trade routes. Human migrations, prompted in part by the search for food and safety, contributed to regional change.
Regions have never ceased changing. The way regions connect to each other continues to evolve, and those areas at connectivity hubs change most rapidly.
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