1. World Geography Culture
Trip to Saudi Arabia 2005
llhammon Fall 2010

2. World Geography Culture
How do we look at different cultures in a way that will help us describe a culture?
llhammon Fall 2010

3. World Geography Culture
ABC’s of Culture
A – Appearance- what people wear
llhammon Fall 2010

4.  B – Beliefs- people’s religion; belief system
What beliefs influence people’s decisions?

5.  C – Communication; language, gestures
Languages clearly define different cultures with different dialects and accents

6.  D – dates: history
Cultures are aware and proud of their history. History unites the people and solidifies the culture.

7. ABC’s of Culture  E – entertainment: their arts, crafts, etc.
 F - food
 G – government including social rules, kinship, etc.
 H - housing
 I–information: education, how knowledge is passed on
 J – jobs: economic activities – what people do for a living
 K – kind of environment; climate, landforms
 X – extra information

8. World Geography Culture
What is Culture?
4 Stages in the development of early cultures
What is a civilization?
●a society that has shaped its own way of life to satisfy its needs.
●people have shaped their own cultural landscape.
●discovery of fire
●invention of tools
●growth of agriculture (where?)
●use of writing
●a group of people that has developed its culture and technology to include a writing system
llhammon Fall 2010

9. How do cultures change?
●Innovation is a newly developed way of doing things.

10. Mr. B’s 1st Cell Phone

11. Cultural Hearth
The place of origin of a major culture from which new ideas and technologies spread.
Examples:
River Valley Civilizations
TODAY – United States and World Megacities Cities (London, Tokyo)

12. Cultural Hearths

13. World Geography Culture
How do cultures change?
What is the most important component for culture change?
●diffusion – occurs when an innovation or other culture trait spreads through a society and perhaps into another culture region. (ex.)?
●cultural divergence – restriction of a culture from outside influences (ex)?
●Language.
●Language differences slow the process for change (How?)
llhammon Fall 2010

14. Diffusion of Religion

16. How do cultures change?
acculturation (cultural convergence) – process by which one culture changes through its meeting with another culture. (ex)?

17. World Geography Culture
●when people feel most comfortable with their own group and they believe that the ways and beliefs of their own culture are the best ones or the only right ones.
●Cultures have become more interdependent. They trade and interact with one another more than in the past.
●food
●water
●shelter
●clothing
●farming (development of agriculture)
●living in cities (urbanization)
●using machinery to make goods (technology)
What is ethnocentric?
How have cultures changed?
What are people’s basic needs? (4)
What are the three innovations having the greatest impact on Earth’s cultural geography?
llhammon Fall 2010

18. World Geography Culture
●hunting and gathering
●practice continues today
●areas where hunting and gathering continues today are sparsely settled – simple technology – but the culture may be highly complex.
●The domestication of plants/animals had an enormous impact on the physical landscapes as well as on population growth.
●It enabled people to establish permanent settlements
- specialization and division of labor developed
-small villages developed eventually into large
civilizations
-complex social institutions also developed.
What represents the earliest form of acquiring food?
What is the importance of Agriculture?
llhammon Fall 2010

19. World Geography Culture
●subsistence – production of crops for the grower’s own use. Usually, surplus crops are few and used for barter.
●commercial – developed as farm technology and has improved output. Food sold at markets.
●The development of agriculture enabled settlements to grow.
●Urbanization is the growth in the proportion of people living in towns and cities.
●The impact that the development of factories had on workers and machinery would eventually change cultures.
-specialization
-higher production levels
-lower prices
What are different types of agriculture?
What is urbanization?
What is industrialization? What were production methods before and after the development of factories?
llhammon Fall 2010

20. World Geography Culture
Culture and World events
●When people feel that their way is better than others this is called ethnocentrism and can lead to cultural conflict.
llhammon Fall 2010

21. religion affects people’s daily behavior and customs.
What are major sources of conflict?
religion affects people’s daily behavior and customs.

22. What are major sources of conflict?
Nationalism (extreme) feelings of loyalty and pride in one’s country
●Positive and negative results of nationalism –
positive – creates a source of purpose, pride, and unity.
negative – intolerance to other nationalities and justification of wars.

23. World Geography Culture
●Traditional and modern values
- the acceptance of culture change in some groups and
resistance in others. (ex)
●Politics
- the difference in the ways people organize their
governments may also be a source of cultural conflict.
●Totalitarian/Dictatorship – a society governed by one person and few advisors.
●Democratic – a society in which people have a voice in the government.
●abundance of resources increases the standard of living (SOL) for some, but limited resources may produce poor areas
What are two major types of governments?
How does economics cause conflict?
llhammon Fall 2010

24. World Geography Culture
●unequal distribution of wealth may be a source for conflict.
●More developed (industrialized) countries have gained wealth by taking valuable resources from nearby poor countries.
●The spread of culture traits today is greater that at any other time.
●The rapid diffusion of culture traits may also ignite resistance in some groups.
●anthropologists
What is the future for Cultural geography?
What is the name of the social scientists who study humans and human culture?
llhammon Fall 2010

25. World Geography Culture
World Cultures
What are “material” and “non-material” cultures?
How have anthropologists divided the world into 11 major culture areas?
●A culture’s objects, such as clothing and paintings are part of its “material” culture.
●A culture’s ideas, such as language and religion are part of its “non-material” culture.
●These culture areas are BASED on common cultural traits.
●Anglo America ●Africa S. of the Sahara
●Latin America (Sub-Saharan)
●Western Europe ●South Asia
●Central Europe and ●East Asia
Russia ●Southeast Asia
●N. Africa and SW Asia ●Australia and NZ
●Pacific Islands
llhammon Fall 2010

26. Map of world culture areas
World Geography Culture
Map of world culture areas 2 4 1 3 5
1.Tigris/Euphrates
Cultural Hearths
2. Indus River
Mesoamerica-
not “river civilizations”
3. Ganges River
4. Huang He
5. Nile River
llhammon Fall 2010