It is widely known what a great influence man has on the nature of the Earth. Much less is known about the impact that natural conditions have had on human origin and evolution, as well as on the development of human society. The book tells how the natural environment determined the place of origin of the first people on the planet, talks about its participation in changing the physiological and morphological features of the human body, examines the role of the geographical environment in the origin of agriculture and cattle breeding, in the emergence of the first civilizations, in the economic and cultural development of countries and peoples. The book was written on the basis of new scientific theories and hypotheses of Soviet and foreign scientists.