Question on Geography and Empires

[Norman]

I was just looking over some of the maps we commonly use and see that a lot of them are rather featureless, we often establish political entities divided by mountain ranges and other major geographic features. Many times the only geographic barrier that seems to mean anything is an ocean.

Thus my question is this, to what degree should an ATL pay attention to the geographic and transportation realities of the time?

Also does anyone have any good maps that can be used that include geographic information?

 

[Gladi]

Bright day
Empires can hold mountain passes and rivers are veins of ancient e,pires, not obstacles.

 

[WhatIsAUserName]

Actually, rivers function pretty well as obstacles. See the Roman Empire, and it's borders on the Rhine and Danube, or the Mississippi, which for a time was the boundary of the US. Then there's the Amur and Ussuri Rivers, which were the borders between the Russian and Chinese empires, and the Uruguay River, the border between Uruguay and Argentina, and between Argentina and Brazil. The Congo was the border for DR of the Congo and the Rep of the Congo, another example of rivers as borders may be the St. Lawrence between Canada and the US. The list goes on and on.

But 95% of the time, rivers are vital to the existence of nations.