主题：【原创】“四大文明古国”不是中国概念 -- 用心荐华

The Columbia Encyclopedia, in its article titled "Civilization," says that the earliest civilizations developed in the following parts of the world: "Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, India, the central Andes, and Mesoamerica." Since the 1990s, scholarship has defined Norte Chico in the coastal area of present-day Peru as another independent site of civilization.

In the United States and Canada, the AP World History teaches that the six early civilizations as the foundation of human culture are: "Mesopotamia, Egypt, Indus, Shang (or Yellow River valley), Mesoamerica and Andean South America. These "civilizations" are also discussed in this article.