The Silk Road， or Silk Route， is an interconnected series of trade routes through various regions of the Asian continent mainly connecting Chang'an (today's Xi'an) in China， with Asia Minor and the M It extends over 8，000 km (5，000 miles) on land and Trade on the Silk Route was a significant factor in the development of the great civilizations of China， ancient Egypt， Mesopotamia， Persia， India and Rome， and helped to lay the foundations for the modern Silk road is a translation from the German Seidenstraß The first person who used the term was the German geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen in [edit] Routes As it extends westwards from the commercial centers of North China， the continental Silk Road divides into north and south routes to avoid the Tibetan Plateau: The northern route passes through the Bulgar–Kypchak It travels northwest through the Chinese province of Gansu， and splits into three further routes， two of them passing north and south of the Taklamakan desert to rejoin at Kashgar; and the other going north of the Tien Shan mountains through Turfan and A All of these routes cross high mountain passes to join up at Kokand in the Fergana Valley， and the roads continue west across the Karakum Desert towards Merv， joining the southern route One route turns northwest along the Amu Darya (river) to the Aral Sea， through ancient civilizations under the present site of Astrakhan， and on to the Crimean From there it crosses the Black Sea， Marmara Sea and the Balkans to Venice， another crosses the Caspian Sea and across the Caucasus to the Black Sea in Georgia， thence to C The southern route is mainly a single route running through northern India， then the Turkestan–Khorasan region into Mesopotamia and Anatolia; having southward spurs enabling the journey to be completed by sea from various It runs south through the Sichuan Basin in China and crosses the high mountains into northeast India， probably via the Ancient tea It then travels west along the Brahmaputra and Ganges river plains， possibly joining the Grand Trunk Road west of V It runs through northern Pakistan and over the Hindu Kush mountains to rejoin the northern route briefly near M It then follows an almost straight line west through mountainous northern Iran and the northern tip of the Syrian Desert to the L From there Mediterranean trading ships plied regular routes to Italy， and land routes went either north through Anatolia or south to North A [edit] Railway The last missing link on the Silk Road was completed in 1994， when the international railway between Almaty and Urumqi [edit] Sea The Silk Road on the Sea extends from South China， to present-day Philippines， Brunei， Siam， Malacca， Ceylon， India， Pakistan， and I In Europe it extends from Israel， Lebanon， Egypt and Italy in the Mediterranean Sea， to Portugal and S On August 7， 2005 it was reported that the Antiquity and Monument Office of Hong Kong was planning to propose the Silk Road on the Sea as a UNESCO World Heritage S [edit] Origins [edit] Cross-continental journeys As the domestication of efficient pack animals and the development of shipping technology both increased the capacity for prehistoric peoples to carry heavier loads over greater distances， cultural exchanges and trade developed In addition， grassland provides fertile grazing， water， and easy passage for The vast grassland steppes of Asia enabled merchants to travel immense distances， from the shores of the Pacific to Africa and deep into Europe， without trespassing on agricultural lands and arousing [edit] Evidence for ancient transport and trade routes The ancient peoples of the Sahara imported domesticated animals from Asia between 7500 and 4000 BC Foreign artifacts dating to the 5th millennium BC in the Badarian culture of Egypt indicate contact with distant Syria [1] In predynastic Egypt， by the 4th millennium BC shipping was well established， and the donkey and possibly the dromedary had been Domestication of the Bactrian camel and use of the horse for transport then followed (see Domestication of the horse) Also by the beginning of the 4th millennium BC， ancient Egyptians in Maadi were importing pottery [2] as well as construction ideas from C By the second half of the 4th millennium BC， the gemstone Lapis lazuli was being traded from its only known source in the ancient world — Badakshan， in what is now northeastern Afghanistan — as far as Mesopotamia and E By the third millennium BC the lapis lazuli trade was extended to Harappa and Mohenjo-daro in the Indus valley， the present day P Routes along the Persian Royal Road (constructed in the 5th century BC) may have been in use as early as 3500 BC Charcoal samples found in the tombs of Nekhen， which were dated to the Naqada I and II periods， have been identified as cedar from L In 1994 excavators discovered an incised ceramic shard with the serekh sign of Narmer， dating to circa 3000 BC Mineralogical studies reveal the shard to be a fragment of a wine jar exported from the Nile valley to Israel (see Narmer) The ancient harbor constructed in Lothal， India， may be the oldest sea-faring harbor
