East-West Orientation of Historical Empires and Modern States

Authors

  • Peter Turchin University of Connecticut
  • Jonathan M. Adams Rutgers University
  • Thomas D. Hall Depauw University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/jwsr.2006.369

Abstract

Jared Diamond (1997) hypothesized that if environment is important in limiting the spread of cultures, cultural units would also tend to extend more broadly along lines of latitude than along lines of longitude. We test this hypothesis by studying the range shapes of (a) historical empires and (b) modern states. Our analysis of the 62 largest empires in history supports this conjecture: there is a statistically significant tendency to expand more east-west than north-south. Modern states also show this trend, although the results are not statistically significant.

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Published

2006-08-26

How to Cite

Turchin, P., Adams, J. M., & Hall, T. D. (2006). East-West Orientation of Historical Empires and Modern States. Journal of World-Systems Research, 12(2), 219–229. https://doi.org/10.5195/jwsr.2006.369

Issue

Volume 12, Issue 2, 2006

Section

General Section

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