I would like to dedicate this page to my 7th Grade History Teacher, Mr.Vaught to prove to him that I was a good student. I would also like to dedicate this book to my little brother, Jackson. He will never overthrow me.

Enjoy ;)

Hi, I'm Jackson your friendly guide to this amazing book of facts. Geography is pretty cool. Let's learn about it!

Geography is the climate of any location on earth. Geography can be about land or water. The climate of a specific location can determined by how close and far away a location is from the equator. The equator is an invisible line crossing the earth. There are many other lines too! Longitude lines run up and down or North and South. Latitude lines run side to side or east to west. These lines can't be seen by your eyes. Pretty cool right?

SO MUCH MONEY! Let's learn about Economics.

Economics is all about economies. Economies can be based off trade. There are four different types of economies. The first type is market economy. In a market economy there is a lot of competition and everyone has freedom or choice. Command economies have no choice or freedom. They are told what to make. Traditional economies are based on what families need and their beliefs guide their decisions. Mixed economies share the decision on what gets made between the government and the people.

Without a government things would be crazy. That is why almost every country has a government. Let's learn more!

Different types of governments are found in different types of countries. In Tribal rule, tribe members make the decisions. In a Direct Democracy all adults take part on voting on an problem. An Oligarchy is controlled by a small group of people. The Absolute Monarchy is pretty cool. A king or queen has all the power! A dictatorship means there is one leader, that leader is not elected. The Constitutional Monarcy has a leader but the leader has little to no power. Representative/Democracy or Republic means people vote for who they want to run the country, whoever is elected will then make laws and rules.

There are lots of cultures! Let's learn more.

All cultures have a language. People who speak different languages usually have different cultures. Sometimes cultural diffusion happens. Cultural diffusion is the movement of a culture. Cultures are a way of life for many people. Some believe their culture is better than others. This is called ethnocentrism. Cultures have beliefs, customs, ideas, religion, language, government, and many other things that make them unique.

Almost everyone has a religion. Religions are super fun to learn about so let's get to learning!

Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam are all different types of religions. Christianity believes in God and Jesus. The read from the Bible. Judaism believers believe in the God of Abraham they read a Torah. Islamic believers read the Quran and worship Muhammad and God. People who practice Buddhism worship the Buddha. Buddhists read many different books. Hinduism is one of the oldest religions and is still around today. Hindus worship Dieties and their holy book is The Vedas.

Did you know that River Civilizations have been around for a long time? Let's learn more.

There have been three river civilizations throughout history. Egypt is located around the Nile. The early Egyptian people chose the Nile because it flooded every summer, formed a delta in the sea, and the mud could be used to make pottery. There are nine main Gods. The pharaoh would be considered a God. Egypt was the first to have theocracy, meaning it was ruled by religious leaders. After the Pharaoh died their body would be mummified and they would be buried with all the possessions they would need in the after life.

The Indus River Civilization chose their river because of the good soil, fishing, drinking water, and mud for their houses. Indus river civilization had a writing system as well as a religion but we cannot understand it. They had seals which may have been money, religious symbols, or many other things. The Indus river people did not fight with each other; they never had to because they always had enough resources. It is unknown how they ceased to exist, but some ideas include: earthquake, invasion, massive flood or even a drought.

The Mesopotamia region has very rich soil making it perfect for farming. Unlike other civilizations Mesopotamia had a class system. It had three classes, the top, the middle, and the bottom class. The bottom class consisted of slaves. People in debt or criminals were considered slaves. There are two empires the first empire was the Akkadian Empire and the second was the Babylonian Empire. Both were later combined into Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia invented the first ever writing system called cuneiform. Scribes would write down important information. Mesopotamia also had a set of laws called Hammurabi's Code. Hammurabi created the laws to bring justice for all. The code listed illegal acts and the punishment for each act.

There have been many empires in the history of time let's learn about some big ones!

The Chinese dynasties are a few of the oldest dynasties in history. There are seven major dynasties they are the Qin, Shang, Han, Ming, Qing, Song, and Zhou dynasties. The Mongols were also a dynasty of the Chinese but they were not exactly Chinese. The Mongols were led by Genghis Khan and they were one of the very few times China was ruled by outsiders. The Mongols invaded China and helped to protect and advance the silk road. Marco Polo traveled the silk road and was able to describe the stories found. Religion and technology ideas were traded along the route. The route mainly traded with Romans. Ancient China was one of the last to develop in the river civilizations. The Chinese did have a writing system, called calligraphy. The Chinese were polytheistic and believed in the Mandate of Heaven.