The geography of the Shang Dynasty was very major for the economic side of the Shang Dynasty. For example, the animals and plants around the area were used as sources of food and tools and utilities. Also, the Huang He river was the crucial reason that the Shang Dynasty settled where it is.

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The Huang He (Yellow) River was necessary for the Shang Dynasty. The Shang Dynasty used the Yellow River for distributing the water to plants and the region. The water could be used as drinking water or as water for the soil. Farmers had to bring the water to the crops and distribute the water evenly across the plants for the plants so that they grow correctly. The rivers often flooded, so the farmers eventually took advantage of that and made an irrigation system and a way to control floods. This flooding eventually led to the surplus of crops, which helped the region by a great deal.

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The land in the Shang Dynasty was more unevenly distributed across society; the emperor got the most land, the farmers got a plot of land to grow crops, and the peasants got minimal to no area. The farmers used bronze tools from metallurgy to tend to the plants.

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The animals were used for meat, and they were also domesticated. Domesticated animals raised by the Shang included pigs, dogs, sheep, oxen, and even silkworms. The silkworms were used for silk, but this does not mean they made the Silk trade and the Silk Trade routes. Those were built in the Han Dynasty. The silk was used to weave into luxurious and high-quality clothes, which usually were made for the higher/upper classes.

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The crops grown and cultivated were rice, wheat, and barley, and rice was the most important of all of the crops. Nearly everyone in the region mainly ate and bought rice as the main food. Rice was essentially the most important food in all of Shang China at the time, as nearly everyone ate it. The other crops were also important. For example, wheat was used in bread, which was also used a lot in Shang China.