WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The country’s mountainous terrain, many isolated valleys, and numerous offshore islands encouraged the formation of many local centers of power, rather than one all-powerful capital. Another key factor influencing the formation of city-states rather than kingdoms was the Mediterranean.

Detailed explanation-2: -Greece was a mainly mountainous landscape, with the Pindus Mountains and Mount Olympus, surrounded by water on three sides by the Ionian Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Aegean Sea. This meant that the Greek city-states of Ancient Greece were separated by mountains and water.

Detailed explanation-3: -Greece’s steep mountains and surrounding seas forced Greeks to settle in isolated communities. Travel by land was hard, and sea voyages were hazardous. Most ancient Greeks farmed, but good land and water were scarce. They grew grapes and olives, and raised sheep, goats, pigs, and chickens.

Detailed explanation-4: -Mountains and the sea cut off Greek centers of population from one another; such geographic barriers led the Greeks to organize many independent “city-states”. Each city-state was called a “polis”. The first loyalty of the people was not to Greece as a nation but to their own city-state.

Detailed explanation-5: -The three major aspects of Greek geography are the peninsular mainland, the Peloponnese peninsula, and the Greek islands. These each feature different types of terrain.

Detailed explanation-6: -Three elements dominate: the sea, the mountains, and the lowland.