What makes something civilized

Send us feedback. See more words from the same year. Accessed 13 Nov. More Definitions for civilized. See the full definition for civilized in the English Language Learners Dictionary. Nglish: Translation of civilized for Spanish Speakers. Britannica English: Translation of civilized for Arabic Speakers. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Log in Sign Up. Civilization describes a complex way of life characterized by urban areas, shared methods of communication, administrative infrastructure, and division of labor. Join our community of educators and receive the latest information on National Geographic's resources for you and your students. Skip to content. Photograph by W. Twitter Facebook Pinterest Google Classroom. Encyclopedic Entry Vocabulary. Incan Empire. Media Credits The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit.

Media If a media asset is downloadable, a download button appears in the corner of the media viewer. Text Text on this page is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service.

Interactives Any interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website. Related Resources. If no button appears, you cannot download or save the media. Text on this page is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service. Any interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website. You cannot download interactives. Egypt was a vast kingdom of the ancient world. It was unified around B. Today Egyptologists, archaeologists who focus on this ancient civilization, have learned a great deal about the rulers, artifacts, and customs of ancient Egypt.

Use these resources to teach your students about the ancient Egyptians. Others say that Aeneas and some of his followers escaped the fall of Troy and established the town. Regardless of which of the many myths one prefers, no one can doubt the impact of ancient Rome on western civilization.

A people known for their military, political, and social institutions, the ancient Romans conquered vast amounts of land in Europe and northern Africa, built roads and aqueducts, and spread Latin, their language, far and wide.

Use these classroom resources to teach middle schoolers about the empire of ancient Rome. Demography is the study of demographics, the social characteristics and statistics of a human population. This study of the size, age structures, and economics of different populations can be used for a variety of purposes.

Political candidates use the information to inform targeted campaigns. Scientists employ the data to answer research questions, and marketing teams use it for advertising purposes. Government and business policymakers use it to craft ideas and plan for the future. Help your students understand demographics with these classroom resources. Agricultural communities developed approximately 10, years ago when humans began to domesticate plants and animals. By establishing domesticity, families and larger groups were able to build communities and transition from a nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle dependent on foraging and hunting for survival.

Select from these resources to teach your students about agricultural communities. For thousands of years, this area was populated by groups such as the Olmec, Zapotec, Maya, Toltec, and Aztec peoples.

Cultural traits that define the region include the domestication of maize, beans, avocado, and vanilla, and a common architectural style.

Learn more about the rich cultures and lives of these early civilizations. Ancient China is responsible for a rich culture, still evident in modern China. From small farming communities rose dynasties such as the Zhou B. E , Qin B. E , and Ming C. Each had its own contribution to the region.

During the Zhou Dynasty, for example, writing was standardized, iron working refined, and famous thinkers like Confucius and Sun-Tzu lived and shared their philosophies. Learn more about the history and rich culture of Ancient China with this curated resource collection. Hunter-gatherer cultures forage or hunt food from their environment.

Often nomadic, this was the only way of life for humans until about 12, years ago when archaeologic studies show evidence of the emergence of agriculture. Human lifestyles began to change as groups formed permanent settlements and tended crops. There are still a few hunter-gatherer peoples today. Explore the lifestyle of hunter-gatherers in your classroom with these resources. Hundreds of years before the arrival of European explorers, the ancient civilizations of South America developed rich and innovative cultures that grew in and amongst the geographic features of their landscape.

The most famous of these civilizations is the Incan Empire. Emerging in C. The Inca relied on the Pacific Ocean and major rivers originating in the Amazon Basin for fishing and trade, as well as rich plant and animal life that they supported.

The Inca constructed inns, signal towers, roads, and massive forts such as the famous Machu Picchu, the ruins of which continue to teach archaeologists about the Incan Empire. Learn more about the history and rich culture of the Inca and the ancient civilizations of South America with this curated resource collection. The development of human civilizations was supported by large numbers of people who lived in sparsely-populated rural areas defined by agriculture, fishing, and trade.

Over time, as these rural populations grew, cities began to develop. Urban areas are defined by dense populations, the construction of multiple and often large buildings, monuments and other structures, and greater economic dependence on trade rather than agriculture or fishing. Even the ancient Incan, Egyptian, or Chinese civilizations, changed their environment in order to urbanize.

Modern urban cities like New York City, Beijing, Dubai, and Paris are bustling centers of business, entertainment, and trade. However, the modifications humans make to their surroundings in order to urbanize such places can impact the environment in negative ways: pollution, disruption of water flow, deforestation, and desertification.

Explore the effects of urbanization on the environment and help students explore how human cities impact the world around us with this curated collection of resources. Humans relied on hunting and gathering practices to survive for thousands of years before the development of agriculture. This more reliable food supply meant humans could stay in one place and gave rise to settled communities and cities. These urban civilizations had larger populations, unique architecture and art, systems of government, different social and economic classes, and a division of labor.

Learn more about the rise of cities with these resources. Mesopotamia is thought to be one of the places where early civilization developed. It is a historic region of West Asia within the Tigris-Euphrates river system. In fact, the word Mesopotamia means "between rivers" in Greek. Home to the ancient civilizations of Sumer, Assyria, and Babylonia these peoples are credited with influencing mathematics and astronomy.

Use these classroom resources to help your students develop a better understanding of the cradle of civilization. The silk road was a network of paths connecting civilizations in the East and West that was well traveled for approximately 1, years.

Merchants on the silk road transported goods and traded at bazaars or caravanserai along the way. They traded goods such as silk, spices, tea, ivory, cotton, wool, precious metals, and ideas.

Use these resources to explore this ancient trade route with your students. Ancient Greek politics, philosophy, art and scientific achievements greatly influenced Western civilizations today. One example of their legacy is the Olympic Games. Use the videos, media, reference materials, and other resources in this collection to teach about ancient Greece, its role in modern-day democracy, and civic engagement.

A civilization is a complex human society that may have certain characteristics of cultural and technological development. If a person or their behaviour is civilized, they are polite and behave in a calm and reasonable way:.

See more results ». Polite and respectful. Causing pleasure. Civilized also means pleasant , comfortable , well-educated , or orderly :. Translations of civilized in Chinese Traditional. See more. Need a translator? Translator tool. What is the pronunciation of civilized? Browse civilian.