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)