Rise+of+British+Empire+-+Climate+and+Geography



At the end of the rise (1814) the British Empire had colonies in North America, Africa, southern Asia, Australia and the Pacific. During its rise, it controlled at least one nation in every continent except for Antarctica. Due to its massive size, the climate and geography of the empire differed from each colony/nation.

 **England [4]**  
 * "mid-latitude" oceanic climate (warm summers, cool winters - −5 °C - 30 °C)
 * lot of precipitation (838mm/year)
 * Isle of Wight is the largest island
 * bordered bodies of water: North Sea, English Channel, Celtic Sea, Irish Sea, Atlantic Ocean
 * Major rivers: Thames, Severn, Trent, Humber, Yorkshire Ouse, Tyne, Mersey, Dee, Avo
 * northern and western parts are mountainous
 * eastern part is most a marsh area
 * borders Wales and Scotland
 * had easy access to the world's great waterways, so naval superiority was a must
 * isolated from the rest of the world by water, so it was rarely invaded

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<span style="display: block; color: rgb(188, 21, 21); font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"> <span style="color: rgb(245, 66, 66); font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: left; display: block;">**India (British states) [2]**
 * <span style="color: rgb(28, 146, 28); font-family: Georgia,serif;">British settlements probably received 22°C - 28°C as their annual mean temperature
 * <span style="color: rgb(28, 146, 28); font-family: Georgia,serif;">settlements varied from 60-200mm/year
 * <span style="color: rgb(28, 146, 28); font-family: Georgia,serif;">entire country borders Bangladesh, Pakistan, China, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, and Afghanistan
 * <span style="color: rgb(28, 146, 28); font-family: Georgia,serif;">entire country bordered bodies of water: Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal
 * <span style="color: rgb(28, 146, 28); font-family: Georgia,serif;">major rivers of entire country: Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, Sutlej
 * <span style="color: rgb(28, 146, 28); font-family: Georgia,serif;">southwest summer monsoon: 4 months when large (convective) thunderstorms take over most of India
 * <span style="color: rgb(28, 146, 28); font-family: Georgia,serif;">North Andaman Island is the largest island
 * <span style="color: rgb(28, 146, 28); font-family: Georgia,serif;">divided into three main regions: the Himalayas (mountainous), the Gangetic Plain (foothills of the mountains, mini-hills), and peninsular India or Southern India (mainly flat, plains)
 * <span style="color: rgb(28, 146, 28); font-family: Georgia,serif;">Since it was close to China had access to the ocean, the British took advantage of India and used it as a major sea port for trading with worldwide markets

<span style="color: rgb(245, 66, 66); font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: left; display: block;">**American Colonies (The 13 Colonies) [3]** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">Appalachian Mountains divided the colonies from New France and Native tribes
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">Bordered bodies of water: Atlantic Ocean
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">The interior of the colonies mainly consisted of an area called Appalachian highlands - foots of the Appalachian Mountains)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">Flat plains (contained many nutrients, perfect for farming) split the ocean and the inner highlands
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">Major rivers: Susquehanna, Connecticut
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">annually received 40-50mm of rain
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">Northern half of colonies were: cold and humid (needle-leaf and mixed forested area) / annual average temperature 10°C - 15°C
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">Southern half of colonies were mild and humid (grasslands and mixed forested area) / annual average temperature 15°C - 21°C
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">geography made it a valuable place for farming, fishing, logging, and trading with British Canada, and the Caribbean

<span style="color: rgb(245, 66, 66);"> <span style="color: rgb(245, 66, 66); font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: left; display: block;">**British Canada (Atlantic Provinces + Ontario + Quebec [1]**
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">Major Rivers: Ottawa, St. Lawrence
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">Bordered bodies of Water: Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Hudson's Bay (including James Bay), Labrador Strait
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">July: 20°C - 25°C / January: -15°C - -1°C
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">generally very flat, and plains; there are many "mini-hill" areas (esp. near the Appalachian Mountains)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">covered in forests (made logging a very popular industry
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">Southern Ontario + Quebec, and the Maritimes were perfect for farming due to enriched soil
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">(mostly) Newfoundland and Martimes were used for fishing and ship-building due to their accessibility to the Atlantic Ocean
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">Halifax was used a major port (the harbour did not freeze despite the cold weather)

<span style="color: rgb(245, 66, 66); font-family: Georgia,serif; text-align: left; display: block;">**British West Indies [5]**
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">formed of many small islands (some major territories include <span style="color: rgb(245, 66, 66);">[[image:http://www.mjinnocencebracelets.com/879299329_8e6968ca43_o.jpg width="485" height="247" align="right" caption="Forested Areas - The Blue Mountains of West Indies" link="http://www.mjinnocencebracelets.com/879299329_8e6968ca43_o.jpg"]] Grenada, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, and The Bahamas)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">was a highly successful area of adaptability of new crops/animals (e.g. sugarcane)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">climate is fairly warm (January: 22°C - 25°C / July: 25°C - 29°C)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">sun's intense heat (islands are very close to the equator) is cooled by the Atlantic Ocean and the trade winds (from the northeast throughout the year)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">The Westerlies helped in guiding sailing ships across the Atlantic from the West Indies to western Europe
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">some islands include mountains, which vary the weather greatly (e.g. rain shadows)
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; color: rgb(28, 146, 28);">many forests - so logging was a major industry

1 -** <span class="wiki_link_ext">" [|Canada]." __The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition__. 2008. //Encyclopedia.com.// 10 May. 2009 <[]>.
 * References
 * 2 -** "[|India]." __The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition__. 2008. //Encyclopedia.com.// 10 May. 2009 <[]>.
 * 3 -** "[|United States]." __The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition__. 2008. //Encyclopedia.com.// 10 May. 2009 <[]>.
 * 4 -** "England [II. The Land]." // Microsoft® Student 2009 [DVD]//. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2008.
 * 5 -** "West Indies [III. The Land and Resources]." // Microsoft® Student 2009 [DVD]//. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2008.

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