The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest, rising in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia and flowing about 2,000 kilometres through Washington and along the Oregon border to the Pacific. Its drainage basin covers roughly the size of France and spans seven US states and one Canadian province. It carries more water into the eastern Pacific than any other river. For thousands of years its salmon sustained Indigenous peoples. Since the late 19th century, dams, locks and channels have transformed it, and its 14 main-stem dams produce more than 44 percent of total US hydroelectric power.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.