Excerpts Of Braudel's Geography

After reading the excerpts of Braudel available on the web-site, what could you say in general about the geography of the Mediterranean and adjacent lands? In addition, discuss in detail two of these issues:
2) the relationship between mountain and plain
4) compare the geography of north Africa to that of southern Europe

2) Mediterranean has two faces first is a series of rigid mountains that overlap with each other. These mountainous peninsaula have flatlands in between them in places such as Italy and other major regions of asia Europe and Africa. The second face refers to the Mediterranean sea which is one of the most complex bodies of water in the world it opens up at the strait of Gibraltar and lies between southern Europe and north Africa. It is vast and intricate and is definitely dragmented it contains islands such as sicily which serve as a cultural meeting point. There were places that were not exposed to culture such as Sardinia which reisted muslim invasion. The mountains occupy the largest part of the peninsulas and between the mountains there are occasional hills and a few patches of plains and wide plateau.
The Mediterranean lies in between north Africa and the south of Europe.
While at the narrowest point at the strait of Gibraltar these two continents are separated by no more than 9 miles, they harbor very different climates and topographies. The south of the meditteranean harbors a great desert known as the sahara which is the worlds’ hottest desert and is approximately the size of the united states. While Europe on the other side is the complete opposite. In Europe there are various mountains complete with very fertile lands that can grow olives and and wine. Both of these continents harbor large costal cities that are centers of
trade.

In the meditteranean there is a disntincting between mountains and plains and the lifestyle that each one harbors. The mountains are known to harbor the first kind of life in the meditteranean and they are usually composed or primitive people who were hunters and gathers and nomads and herdsmen. Because the plains were susceptible to flooding the mountains offered people a better form of living and only those who were capable of developing technology and much rives lived in the plains. The plains were subject to raids and attacks from mauraders and the hillside civilization where the mountains and plans meet flourished the most. The fresh supply of mountain water helped catalyze the formation of early civilizations there are a variety of plant life that can be noticed from olive trees and willows.
The geography of north Africa is different from southern Europe. Northern Africa is not home to very fertile crops while the south of Europe can grow a variety of foods. However north Africa is not completely desolate, with places such as the nile delta and the meditteranean coast harboring several fertile lands. The atlas mountains in the south shelter fertile valleys that enable the production of olives dates and citrus in the south of Europe. South Europe and north Africa are both mountainous in the north there are the alps and the pyrennes while in the south there is the atlas mountains