Location Location Location

Through my civilization game playing time I have learned that location is key in the success of a civilization. This reminds me of the known slogan of "location, location, location". The location that I am specifically talking about is waterfront. There are many beneifits of having a civilization near the water, the most important being: fertile land, maritime food and resources, trade transportation, and security. Land near a body of water tends to have more nutrients and tends to be more fertile. This is key to a good amount of farming land. With fertile soil a farm will flurish, allowing the city to obtain food surplus. If a city is not placed near a body of water then the crops are not as flurished, meaning that the soil isn't as rich. Case in point, a river bed is a much more desireable place to establish a city than a desert. This is why a key point in the game is to choose a continent that has a lot of opportunities for good land. Another feature of waterfront is maritime food and resources. This is specifically fishing and gathering of sea creatures such as fish, crab, shrip, lobster, etc. These goods can be consumed and/or tranded for other desired goods. Along with food supply, waterfront allows for easy transportation. This can be good for trade and transport as well as miliarty. This feature can be imperative in the economy of a civilization, providing easier trade networking and easier shipping of goods. Having bodies of water for trade allows the civilization to trade with not just the other civilizations of the area but in other continents because of the ability to get to them. This can provide your civilization with a stable economy but also with new technology and resources that they might not have been able to obtain because of the different resources availiable in different continents. The other side of the transportation concept is military. With water ways it is easy to transport a large military force to other places at the same time and often at a faster rate than if they were to travel by land. One last benifit of having waterfront is security. This is true because you can have a navy that protects your waterfront from invaders but mainly because if you have the water on one side of your civilization that means that you are on the end of a continent. This is important because if you were in the center then you would be surrounded by neighboring civilizations, making you easier pray for an enemy to surround you. Being on the end allows you to not become surrounded.