Governments, federated states, sovereign states.
I hope this is what you mean.
Answer:
1
Explanation:
The rest are wrong b/c it helped <em>expand</em> China rather than isolate it, they didn't use ships on the Silk Road, and it brought better communications, etc. between countries.
It's becasue human populations are concentrated in areas that are lacking proper resources.
the action or process of settling among and establishing control over the indigenous people of an area.