The earliest civilizations developed around river valleys and are knows as Ancient River Valley Civilizations. These developed from 4000-2000 BCE. Alle these civilizations had urban life, political institutions, trade and large scale agriculture just to name a few characteristics. The Egyptian civilization along the Nile, Mesopotamia along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, The Indus Valley civilization, and civilizations along the Yellow and Yangzi in China.
