Identify the core and foundational civilizations that developed in diverse geographic and environmental settings, geographic location and the approximate dates of their existence

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.