The Eurasian exchange, encompassing Silk Road and Indian Ocean networks, involves movement of crops, ideas, and technologies across which broad set of regions?

• A. Afro-Eurasia
• B. Africa, Asia, and the Americas
• C. Asia and Europe
• D. Africa, Asia, and Europe

Answer: (D)

The movement along the Silk Road and Indian Ocean networks shows how interconnected the three great landmasses of Afro-Eurasia are: Africa, Asia, and Europe. These routes tied together East Asia, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean world, allowing crops, ideas, and technologies to travel far beyond their origins. For example, new crops like citrus and sugarcane spread across these networks, papermaking and gunpowder moved from East Asia into West Asia and Europe, and religious and scientific ideas traveled with merchants and scholars. Because these exchanges linked Africa, Asia, and Europe, that trio of regions best captures the scope of the Eurasian exchange.