Category: Histories of countries and key towns and cities around the world

By Tim Lambert Ancient Indonesia The first people in Indonesia arrived about 40,000 years ago when the sea level was lower and it was joined to Asia by a land bridge. Then at the end of the last ice age about 10,000 BC, a new wave of people came. At first, they hunted animals, collected… Continue reading A Brief History of Indonesia

By Tim Lambert Ancient Persia The Persian Empire The Persian Empire was created by Cyrus II, known as Cyrus the Great (559-529 BC). Cyrus first defeated another Iranian people called the Medes. In 547, he defeated the kingdom of Lydia (in what is now Turkey) at the Battle of Pterya and became the ruler of… Continue reading A Brief History of Iran

By Tim Lambert Ancient Iraq Sumer was the world’s first civilization. It arose about 3,500 BC in what is now Iraq, in the land between the Tigris and the Euphrates. Several city-states grew up, each one ruling an area of the surrounding countryside. About 3,300 BC, the Sumerians invented writing on clay tablets. However, the… Continue reading A Brief History of Iraq

By Tim Lambert The First Japanese Human beings have lived in Japan for at least 30,000 years. During the last ice age, Japan was connected to mainland Asia by a land bridge and Stone Age hunters were able to walk across. When the ice age ended about 10,000 BC, Japan became a group of islands.… Continue reading A Brief History of Japan

By Tim Lambert Early Kazakhstan After 6,000 BC, Stone Age farmers lived in what is now Kazakhstan. By about 2,000 BC, they had learned to make bronze tools. They also made chariots, and they built burial mounds. About 900 BC, the people of what is now Kazakhstan had learned to use iron. From about 900… Continue reading A Brief History of Kazakhstan

By Tim Lambert Early Kenya The earliest inhabitants of Kenya were hunter-gatherers but from about 2,000 BC herders came to the region. Then from about 800 AD Arabs sailed to Kenya. Some settled and intermarried and they created the Swahili culture along the coast. The first European to reach Kenya was Vasco da Gama in… Continue reading A Brief History of Kenya

By Tim Lambert Ancient Korea By 4000 BC stone age farmers were living in Korea. By 1000 BC they had learned to use bronze. By about 300 BC they had learned to use iron to make tools and weapons. At first, Korea was divided into tribes but eventually organized kingdoms emerged. There were 3 of… Continue reading A Brief History of Korea

By Tim Lambert Ancient Laos The earliest inhabitants of Laos were hunter-gatherers. Later they were farmers growing rice and pulses. The first farmers used stone tools but from about 2,000 BC bronze was used in Laos and from about 500 BC iron. However, unlike Vietnam, the people of Laos were influenced by Indian rather than… Continue reading A Brief History of Laos

By Tim Lambert Early Latvia The earliest people in Latvia were Stone Age hunters and gatherers who arrived there after the last ice age about 9000 BC. However, the ancestors of today’s Latvians were Baltic tribes who migrated to the area about 2,000 BC. In the 12th century AD, some of the last pagans in… Continue reading A Brief History of Latvia

By Tim Lambert Early Liberia It’s believed the ancestors of the indigenous people of Liberia migrated there between the 12th century and the 16th century. The Portuguese reached the coast in the 15th century and trade began in pepper, ivory, and slaves. In 1816 the American Colonization Society was formed. It aimed to resettle free… Continue reading A Brief History of Liberia