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How Do Mountains, Deserts, and Seas Shape the Way We Live?
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May 2, 2025
They say location is everything—especially in real estate, where it influences value, access, and appeal. But the same idea applies to entire cultures. Mountains, deserts, and seas don't just define the land; they influence how communities grow, communicate, and connect. Listen to Anita on Dusty Roads as she explores how geography shapes culture—and click here (https://abusonadustyroad.com/how-geography-influences-culture-mountains-deserts-and-seas/) to read more. #DustyRoadsPodcast #GeographyAndCulture #CulturalInsights #TravelAndLearn #MountainsDesertsSeas #GlobalLiving #RealLifeGeography #CulturalConnection Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/globaltradegal)
View Video Transcript
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[Music]
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hi this is Anita from the Dusty Roads
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podcast today I want to talk about
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something which I think is really quite
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interesting it's about how geography
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influences culture you know whether a
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country or city is in the mountains the
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desert or seas it can actually influence
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the culture and and there's many reasons
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why so I find this so uh fascinating
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that you know basically where you live
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can basically influence or your
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geography around you can influence the
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culture of the area that you live you
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know mountains let's talk first about
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mountains you know mountains are both
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barriers and
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sanctuaries you know the rugged terrain
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and isolation often led to developing
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distinct cultures and dialects and and
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traditions in other words people who
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traditionally lived in the mountains
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maybe were very isolated and didn't see
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many foreigners or other people in fact
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many of them could have gone hundreds
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and hundreds of years without seeing
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anybody that you know historically
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mountainous regions had been difficult
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to invade maybe foster the sense of
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independent communities that would have
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unique
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customs you know so there's there's many
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ways that mountains sort of could shape
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culture one would be isolation and
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distinct identity you know people in the
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mountains they often developed a strong
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local identity and
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self-reliance there is could be limited
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outside influence and you know dialect
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clothing traditions economic adaptations
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they learned to adapt economically you
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know they learned to combat steep slopes
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hurting animals you know uh like yaks or
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sheeps or goats you know became common
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up the mountains you go into some places
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in Vietnam here the mountain communities
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and you see where many of the Mong the
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the hill tribes have adapted to be able
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to do terrorist type of farming where
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they've learned to be able to farm up
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the steep mountains without any type of
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equipment or
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machinery so they basically have learned
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to adapt to mountain life you know
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mountains too could also have a
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spiritual significance they could be you
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know many mountains are considered
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sacred this could influence local
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beliefs and uh pilgrimage and culture um
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houses could be built with steep roofs
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to withstand heavy snowfall or
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settlements are often you know clustered
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in valley to protect against the harsh
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winter conditions if the mountains was
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in a winter area for example where I've
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spent a lot of time in the United States
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Utah on the Rocky Mountains you can see
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how maybe even that culture of that area
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of America you know because of the snow
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you know
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adapted resilience and survival skills
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mountain dwellers often develop this
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culture of resilience and cooperation
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because they understood the survival of
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the train is very very
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important you know there's some tourist
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destinations where mountains have shaped
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culture one of my favorite is Tibet in
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in China i've actually been to Tibet in
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China and we once took a five um not a
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it was an 8-hour journey in from uh
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Chungdu into Tibet and China and I could
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tell you there the mountains definitely
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shaped the culture there because of the
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fact that the people were not used to
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having a lot of outsiders they were you
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know very much they lived their life the
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way they've always been living it that
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it truly did shape their culture of
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course another one would be the Swiss
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Alps in Switzerland or the Andes
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Mountains in Peru or the Rocky Mountains
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as I mentioned before in the US and
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Canada you know mountains actually in
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many ways have been known to shape
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culture and the way of
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life another thing would be desert
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extreme environments that can test human
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endurance and you know they can be
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extremely hot depending upon where
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they're at um they can have harsh
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climates um you know deserts you can
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have desert storms that blow through you
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know so you know a lot of times the
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deserts many cultures in in the deserts
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have nomadic traditions they rely on
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nomadic lifestyles i remember when I
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went to Mongolia and was out in the go
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Gobi desert and stayed in a a Mongolian
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gear or what they know as
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Eurs the nomads would move their cattle
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from place to place and this was a
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nomadic lifestyle that they had chosen
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and you know and I saw them too with
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extremely resilient they um it was quite
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fascinating to see how they had solar
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panels at their campsite where were
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where basically even though they were
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living this nomadic lifestyle out in
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tents they still had some of the modern
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technology with the solar panels they
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you know develop innovation with water
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conservation method the other thing I
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saw out there in the Gobi Desert in
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Mongolia was that they had these big
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buckets where they would collect
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rainwater and they bring water in you
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see architecture and how it's adapted
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they'll have different clothing a lot of
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times loose long clothing like robes or
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head covering to protect them from the
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sandstorms extreme temperatures you know
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many desert cultures have deep spiritual
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connections you know to the land where
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traditions you know root in storytelling
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and survival wisdom you know there's
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many destinations where the deserts have
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shaped the culture the Sahara desert of
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course the Arabian desert you know
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deserts in South and South Central
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America there's a Chilean desert so all
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of these places have shaped and shaped
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by culture the last one of course would
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be the sea and the oceans and you know
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coastal regions have always been about
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trade you know migration cultural
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exchange centers that's because you know
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they would have ships come in and ships
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go out and so for hundreds of years
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they've been a place where it's been a
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place of cultural exchange there's
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always been sort of like a maritime
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economy fishing ship building and trade
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usually thrive in these coastal cultures
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their culinary influences they could be
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influenced by you know spices and other
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things from other parts of the world
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they often become places of cultural
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exchange like a melting pot of different
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cultures many great civilizations from
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the you know like such as the Vikings
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were shaped with their ability to
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navigate the sea so navigation and
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exploration became very important many
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of the coastal communities will have
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many festivals and traditions which are
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related to the sea honoring deities
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fishings and maritime history and other
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things so you know some places where the
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sea could shape the culture you could
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say Venice Italy you know definitely
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with all of the waterways there you know
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within Greece itself and of course Japan
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were all places where you know the
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culture has been shaped due to the to
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being basically being an access with or
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near the waterways you when you look at
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cultures or places around the world and
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you see some of their cultures I really
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felt like this is something that's
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really interesting because something we
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often don't really think about when we
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think about cultures but we think about
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how did you know where they're located
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the location of where they're are where
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they're at how it really shaped the
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culture and that region and you know not
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just the culture but also the politics
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and and other things were shaped really
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by the location whether they were you
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know in a mountain where they became
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isolated for long periods of time
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they're in a desert where maybe life was
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brutal and more nomadic lifestyles or on
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the sea where basically there was a lot
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of maritime trade there was exploration
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and other things going on all would
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shape the culture of a region if you're
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interested and be able to learn more
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about this and see some great photos on
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this you can check out our blog on how
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geography influences culture mountains
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deserts and seas we'll put a link in the
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description below we'd like to thank you
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