Site and Situation

What is meant by site?

• Site is the actual location of a city

Examples of Site

• Harbor sites: the site of a natural harbor
  • NYC
  • Alexandria, Egypt
  • Istanbul, Turkey
• Island sites: the site of islands in strategic locations
  • Paris (originally located on an island in the Seine River)
  • Hong Kong
  • Singapore
• Fall line sites: Sites where a river meets a waterfall
  • Richmond, Virginia
• Confluence sites: cities located where rivers meet
  • Khartoum, Sudan
  • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Hilltop sites: cities located on hilltops
  • Rome, Athens, Jerusalem
• Oasis sites: cities that developed in the desert where caravans stopped for water
  • Damascus, Syria
• Sites where rivers are narrow
  • London, England
  • Quebec City, Quebec

What is meant by situation?

Situation is another name for relative location- the location of a city with respect to other geographic features, regions, resources, and transport routes.

Examples of Situation

• Command of land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers
  • Baghdad, Iraq
• Command of straits and land bridge to Europe
  • Istanbul, Turkey
• Focal point of religious pilgrimage
  • Mecca, Saudi Arabia (Islam)
  • Varanasi (Benares), India (Hinduisim
• Cities that grew up along trade routes
  • Samarkand, Uzbekistan and Xi’an, China (The Silk Road)
  • Timbuktu, Mali (Trans-Sahara trade)
  • Singapore -- (maritime trade)