W HAT ARE CULTURAL REGIONS ? Francisci WG.3

C ULTURAL R EGIONS : Cultural Region: An area inhabited by people who have one or more cultural traits in common, such as language, religion, or system of livelihood.

C ULTURAL R EGIONS CAN BE DEFINED BY : Language Ethnicity Religion Economics Political

E XAMPLES OF L ANGUAGE R EGIONS : Latin America: Spanish speaking; an exception is Brazil which is Portuguese speaking. Francophone World: Comprised of more than 40 French speaking countries or regions of the world.

E XAMPLES OF E THNIC R EGIONS : Chinatowns: Many major cities have sections where a large percentage of the residents are of Asian ethnic background (New York City). Kurdistan: An area in the Middle East that includes a portion of Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and the former Soviet Union; home of the Kurds, who would like their own nation – and have declared a capital and even has its own flag.

E XAMPLES OF R ELIGIOUS R EGIONS : Islam: A region that is dominant in the Middle East; also dominant in the country Indonesia. Buddhism: Religion that is dominant in Asia.

E CONOMIC R EGIONS : Wheat Belt: Areas where large quantities of wheat are grown easily; found in the Great Plains are of the United States and also in the Northern European Plain of Europe. European Union (EU): An economic organization of European countries to eliminate trade barriers.

P OLITICAL R EGIONS : North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO): An organization of countries the members of which agree to help provide security for one another. African Union (AU): An organization of African countries that eliminates African trade barriers and tries to promote democracy in Africa.