The history of Eurasia can be seen as the distinct histories of four peripheral coastal regions, East Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and Europe linked by the interior mass of the Eurasian steppe . While geographically on a separate continent North Africa has historically always been integrated into Eurasian history.

The three eastern regions developed in a similar manner with each of the three regions developing early civilizations around fertile river valleys. The civilizations in Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, and the Yangtze shared many similarities and likely exchange technologies and ideas such as mathematics, the wheel. Ancient Egypt also followed this model. Europe was different, however. It was somewhat further north and contained no river systems with regular floods to match those of the other regions. Thus Europe remained comparatively undeveloped, with only the southern tips of the continent namely Greece and Italy being able to fully borrow crops, technologies, and ideas from the Middle East and North Africa.

The steppe region had long been inhabited by mounted nomads, and from the central steppes they could reach all areas of the Asian continent. The earliest known such central expansion out of the steppe is that of the Indo-Europeans which spread their languages into the Middle East, India, Europe, and in the Tocharians to the borders of China. Throughout their history, up to the development of gunpowder all four areas would be repeatedly menaced by the nomads from the steppe.

Another important difference between Europe and the Asian regions is that while the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and China are ringed by mountains and deserts internally there are few obstructions. Throughout this meant that it was far easier to establish unified control over the entire region, and this did occur with massive empires consistently dominating the Middle East, China, and much of India. Europe, however, is riddled with internal mountain ranges: The Carpathians, the Alps, the Pyrenees and many others. Throughout its history Europe has thus usually been divided into many small states.

During the first millenium the pinnacle of human civilization shifted northwards. In Europe the Mediterranean region was supplanted by the German and Frankish lands. In the Middle East the main power centre became Anatolia with the once dominant Mesopotamia its vassal. In China the power centre moved from the Yangtze to the more northern Yellow River. While India also saw its northern half become dominant. In part this is linked to technological developments, such as the heavy plow , that made life in northern latitudes more bearable. The southern areas tended to be lacking in natural resources and also had little timber. The Iron Age made large stands of timber essential to a nation's success due to the amounts of fuel needed for smelting iron. Southern regions had some timber but over time this became depleted.

See also:

• History of Europe
• History of the Middle East
• History of South Asia
• History of East Asia
• History of Asia
• History by continent