Ancient China: Geography

China is a vast country with a huge range of terrains and climates within it: mountains, deserts and coastlands and above all, the great river systems of China, the Yellow River to the north and the Yangtze to the south. All these have helped shape Chinese civilisation. Learn more about Chinese geography on this website.

Located in Southeast Asia along the coastline of the Pacific Ocean, China is the world's third largest country, after Russia and Canada. With an area of 9.6 million square kilometers and a coastline of 18,000 kilometers, its shape on the map is like a rooster. It reaches Mohe in Heilongjiang Province as its northern end, Zengmu Ansha (or James Shoal) to the south, Pamirs to the west, and expands to the eastern border at the conjunction of the Heilongjiang (Amur) River and the Wusuli (Ussuri) River, spanning about 50 degrees of latitude and 62 degrees of longitude. Read through this article to learn more.

Like the other early civilisations, Ancient China developed along rivers. There were 2 important river valleys in Ancient China: the Huang He or “Yellow” River to the north and the Yangtze River to the south. The Yellow River gets its name from the yellowish tint of its water. This comes from a rich yellow coloured soil that was great for farming. It is often called the "cradle of Chinese civilisation" because it was along its banks where the Chinese civilisation first formed. Read through this article to learn more.

The geography of Ancient China shaped the way the civilisation and culture developed. The large land was isolated from much of the rest of the world by dry deserts to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the east, and impassable mountains to the south. This enabled the Chinese to develop independently from other world civilisations. Read through this article to learn more.