Advanced Placement
Human Geography
Unit 3: Cultural Patterns
Session 1
Cultural Geography: An Introduction
 Cultural
Geography is an important
component of the human geography course.
 The modification of the natural landscape by
human activities is known as the cultural
landscape. Examples of the human imprint
on earth include:




Cities
Houses
Road systems
Suburbs
Cultural Ecology
 The field that studies the relationship
between the natural environment and culture
is known as cultural ecology.
 The cultural landscape offers clues about:
 cultural practices.
 priorities of inhabitants, both present and past.
Cultural Landscape in Peru
This view of the Sacred Valley near Cuzco reflects cultural
adaptation to the natural environment of mountain
valleys.
SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT IN
CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY
Environmental Determinism
 Environmental determinism is the belief
that the physical environment, especially
the climate and terrain, actively shapes
cultures.
 Human responses are molded almost
entirely by the environment.
Environmental Determinism
 Similar
environments
produce
similar
cultures.
 Example: People who live near coasts focus
on fishing and navigating waterways.
Environmental Determinism
 Another example: Temperate (mild) climates
produce
inventive,
industrious,
and
democratic societies that are most likely to
control others.
Environmental Determinism
 This school of thought was popular during
the early 20th century, especially among
English‐speaking geographers who used
their perspective to explain why Britain came
to dominate the globe.
Possibilism
 This
school of thought
holds
that
cultural
heritage is as important as
the physical environment in
terms of shaping human
behavior.
 The physical environment
offers many possibilities for
a culture to develop but
PEOPLE are the primary
architects of culture.
Possibilism
 People
make choices based on their
environment, BUT they are also guided by
their cultural heritage.
 Possibilists believe that technology increases
the number of options people have.
 So…technologically advanced cultures have
more control over their physical surroundings.
Environmental Perception
 This school of thought emphasizes the
importance of human perception of the
environment, rather than the actual character
of the land.
 For instance, how do humans view natural
disasters?
 Cultures shape our view of hazards and natural
disasters.
 As a result, human reactions to these events vary.
Environmental Perception
Examples:
 If people believe that a
flood was caused by the
gods, they are likely to try
to please the gods (e.g.
build an altar).
 If other people believe that
the flood was a natural
disaster, then they may
work to prevent future
damage (e.g. flood walls).
Cultural Determinism
 This
perspective emphasizes human culture as
ultimately more important than the physical
environment in shaping/molding human actions.
 Some cultural determinists have seen humans as in
opposition to the environment, and if nature is not
controlled, humans will die.
Cultural Determinism
 Modern movements encourage action to
reverse global warming, air and water
pollution, or the destruction of rain forests.
Concepts of Culture
What is culture?
 Culture is the complex mix of values, beliefs,
behaviors, and material objects that together
form a people’s way of life.
What is culture?
 Geographers specialize in the way that
culture affects the natural environment, as
well as the spatial organization that culture
stimulates.
 Culture is divided into two types: non‐material and material.
Non-material Culture
 This type of culture consists of abstract
concepts of values, beliefs, and behaviors.
 Values: culturally defined standards that guide
the way people assess goodness and beauty and
serve as guidelines for moral living
 Beliefs: specific statements that people hold to
be true
 Behaviors: actions that people take
Material Culture
 This type of culture includes
concrete human creations called
artifacts.
 Artifacts reflect values, beliefs,
and behaviors.
 Material culture is reflected in a
variety of ways, from the way
homes are constructed to what
equipment
is
used
for
construction and arrangement of
roadways.
Material Culture: Past and Present
This is a photo of a modern
day French village. The
narrow streets were built
in an earlier time when
people traveled by foot,
animal, or wagon. The
motorcycle parked by its
owner’s door is a reflection
of modern technology’s
adaptation to material
culture (winding streets,
houses without garages)
from the past.
Key points…
Non‐material culture
Material culture
 Abstract concepts  Concrete human creations
 Consists of  Consists of artifacts such as  Values
 Houses
 Beliefs
 Churches
 Behaviors
 Roadways
 Norms: the rules and  The arrangement of buildings expectations by which a society guides the behavior of its members
on the cultural landscape
Cultural Regions, Traits, and Complexes
Culture Regions
• Culture ties DIRECTLY to geography’s emphasis on space with the concept of culture region.
• What is a culture region?
It is an area marked by
culture that distinguishes
it from other regions.
Culture Traits
 A culture trait is a
single attribute of a
culture.
 A culture region
consists of countless
interrelated traits.
Culture Traits and Culture Regions
 Example– Andes Mountains in South America
 These traits help to shape the culture region:
 Colorful clothing with the group’s skillful weave and design
 Building of roads and bridges across mountain ranges
 Construction of buildings without mortar
 Terracing of land for crop growth
Terracing 
About culture traits…
 Culture
traits are NOT necessarily
confined to a single culture.
 Example: People in many cultures use
brushes to clean their teeth.
 However, the trait combines with others in
a distinctive way so that a culture
complex is formed.
Culture Complex
 A culture complex consists of common:
 values
 beliefs
 behaviors
 artifacts
Culture Complex
 A country may possess many cultural
complexes.
 Example: China
 Modern city of Xi’an combines religions and
beliefs such as Buddhism, Islam, and
Confucianism in ways that makes it a separate
culture complex.
 However, certain traits, such as Confucianism, are
shared by other complexes around Xi’an.
Culture System
 Any area with strong cultural ties that
binds its people together forms a culture
system.
 A culture system is a group of
interconnected culture complexes.
Cultural Hearths
Cultural Hearths
 A hearth is a point of origin.
 Cultural hearths are the areas where
civilizations first began. They radiated the
customs, innovations, and ideologies that
transformed the world.
Cultural Hearths
 Early cultural hearths developed in:
 Southwest Asia
 North Africa
 South Asia  East Asia
Cultural Hearth
Earliest Cultural Hearths. The earliest cultural hearths
were almost completely determined by their
geographical locations. All were in river valleys where the
soil was the most fertile and water most available for
growing crops and transportation.
Cultural Hearth
Early Aegean Cultural Hearth. This cultural hearth differed from
earlier hearths in that it centered on the Aegean Sea, not on a river
valley. The sea is calm and the islands numerous, allowing for easy
transportation so that Ancient Greeks could trade for goods that
their natural environment did not provide.
Cultural Hearths
 From
their
centers
cultural hearths grew
until they came into
contact with each other.
 The ability to travel and
come into contact with
one another was limited
by distance and level of
technology.
Cultural Hearths
 Cultural
hearths
have
shifted greatly over time.
 Example:
The Industrial
Revolution of the 18th and 19th
centuries
shifted
cultural
hearths to Europe and North
America, with modern shifts in
the 21st century continuing to
occur.
Cultural Diffusion
About cultural diffusion…
 What is it? It is the process whereby culture
spreads from its hearth to other areas.
 The long and complicated spread of culture
often makes it difficult to trace the origin,
spread, and timing of a particular trait.
About cultural diffusion…
 Developments, occasionally, CAN
be traced to a specific civilization.
These developments are known as
independent inventions.
 Example: The democratic process
of gathering assemblies to discuss
and vote on issues is often seen as
an independent invention of the
Ancient Greeks.
When does diffusion occur?
 Diffusion occurs through the movement of:
 people
 goods
 ideas
Famous Geographers and Diffusion
 Carl Sauer
 1952
 Agricultural Origins and Dispersals
 Focused on process of diffusion
 Torsten Hagerstrand
 Wrote about diffusion approximately the same time as Sauer
Categories of diffusion
 Expansion diffusion
 Relocation diffusion
Expansion Diffusion
 Expansion diffusion occurs when an innovation
or idea develops in a source area and remains
strong there while spreading outward.
Types of Expansion Diffusion
 Contagious diffusion
 Almost all individuals and areas adjacent to the
source region are affected.
 Direct contact between those in the source region
and those in outlying areas is important.
 Example: contagious diseases such as the H1N1
virus or AIDS
Types of Expansion Diffusion
 Hierarchical diffusion
 Ideas and artifacts spread first between larger
places or prominent people and only later to
smaller places or less prominent people.
 Example: Sub‐Saharan Africa
 As Islam diffused to the regions, kings and nobility
adopted the religion. Later, their subjects converted
to Islam after giving up their native religions.
Types of Expansion Diffusion
 Stimulus diffusion
 Stimulus diffusion occurs when a basic idea, but
not the specific traits, spreads to another area or
region.
 It stimulates imitative behavior within a
population.
 Example: Mainland Asia to Japan
 As Buddhism diffused from the mainland to Japan,
the Japanese imitated designs for Buddhist temples.
However, interpretations of colors were from verbal
or written descriptions and often differed from
temples in China.
Relocation Diffusion
 Relocation diffusion: Individuals or populations
migrating from the source areas physically carry
the innovation or idea to new areas.
 Example: Christian Europeans carried their faith
to the Americas, where they often actively
sought to convert natives.
A Form of Relocation Diffusion
 A particular form of relocation diffusion is
migrant diffusion, which occurs when the
spread of cultural traits is slow enough that
they weaken in the area of origin by the time
they reach other areas.
 Example: Contagious diseases that reached
the Native Americans in the New World
The Rate of Diffusion
 Diffusion
can
occur
instantly.
 However, the rate of
diffusion is influenced by
time‐distance decay.
 This means that the
influence of the cultural
traits weakens as time
and distance increase.
Key Terms from this Session
 Cultural geography
 Culture traits
 Cultural landscape
 Culture complex
 Cultural ecology
 Culture hearths
 Environmental determinism
 Cultural diffusion
 Possibilism
 Independent invention
 Environmental perception
 Expansion diffusion
 Cultural determinism
 Relocation diffusion
 Culture
 Contagious diffusion
 Non‐material culture
 Stimulus diffusion
 Material culture
 Migrant diffusion
 Culture regions
 Time‐distance decay
Advanced Placement
Human Geography
Unit 3: Cultural Patterns
Session 2
Acculturation
When cultures come into contact, one culture often dominates the other.
What is acculturation?
 Acculturation occurs when the less dominant culture adopts some of the traits of the more influential one.
 It typically takes place when immigrants take on the following in their new country:




values
attitudes
customs
speech
What is assimilation?
 If over time, immigrants lose their native
customs, including religion and language,
assimilation has occurred.
 This means that the dominant culture
completely absorbs the less dominant one.
 It sometimes occurs over the course of
several generations.
What is transculturation?
 Sometimes two‐way flows of culture reflect a
more equal exchange of cultural traits, a
process called transculturation.
Example of transculturation
 Buddhism originated in India but diffused
throughout Eastern Asia and came into
contact with Confucianism.
 Both
forces
were
strong,
and
transculturation occurred.
 Buddhism and Confucianism remained in
place to influence large populations
throughout East Asia.
Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism
What’s the difference?
Ethnocentrism
 Ethnocentrism is the practice of judging another culture by the standards of one’s own culture.
Cultural Relativism
 Cultural relativism is the practice of evaluating a culture by its own standards.
Ethnocentrism
 Ethnocentrism
can sometimes generate
misunderstanding and conflict.
 On a smaller scale, ethnocentrism is necessary for
people to be emotionally attached to their way of
life.
 If one culture considers itself to be superior,
conflict could occur.
Example of ethnocentrism
 Europeans and North Americans sometimes refer to
China as the “Far East,” because China is far east of
Europe and North America.
 This term is unfamiliar to the Chinese who sometimes
refer to their country as the “Middle Kingdom” because
they perceive China to be at the center of the world.
Cultural Relativism
Those
cultural
who
practice
relativism
believe that seeking to
understand other cultures in
the modern world is crucial
because
of
increasing
contact with one another.
Critics of Cultural Relativism
 Critics, however, point out the problems that
come with accepting all actions and values as
EQUAL.
 Their belief is that cultural relativism could
lead an individual to ignore or dismiss those
behaviors or ideas that are clearly harmful or
unjust.
Cultural Differences
Syncretism
 What is it? Syncretism is the fusion of the old
and the new.
 It helps to explain how and why cultural
changes occur.
These changes lead to a wide range of differences, including languages and religions.
Language
Language
 What is it? Language is a
systematic means of
communicating
ideas
and feelings through the
use of signs, gestures,
marks, or vocal sounds.
Language
 Language is the KEY to the world of culture.
 NO OTHER single culture trait more
commonly binds people together BECAUSE
language is a set of symbols that allows
people to communicate with one another.
Language
 Even the basic rules for writing differ
among cultures.
 Example:
 Most people in Western societies write from left to
right, but people in Northern Africa and Western
Asia write from right to left, and people in Eastern
Asia write from top to bottom.
Language and Preservation of
Culture
 Language also helps to ensure the continuity
of culture, or cultural transmission, from one
generation to the next.
 Every society transmits culture through
speech, and most today also pass it along
through writing.
 The preservation of culture is more likely to
last if people in a society can read and write.
Language
 Linguists (those who study languages)
estimate that between 5000 and 6000
languages are in use in the world today, with
some much more widely used than others.
Most Commonly Spoken Languages
(Percentages for first language speakers only)
Chinese
Spanish
English
Arabic
Hindi
Bengali
Portuguese
Russian
Japanese
Standard German
12.44%
4.85%
4.83%
3.12%
2.68%
2.66%
2.62%
2.12%
1.8%
1.33%
Source: The CIA Factbook, 2009 estimates
Language
 The most commonly spoken languages have diffused in many ways:
 trade
 conquests
 migrations
Language
 Languages are often grouped into families
with a shared, but fairly distant origin.
 Example: Indo‐European family
 Languages in this family are spoken by more than
one‐half of the world’s people.
 English is the most widely used language in this
family.
Language
 Some areas of the world are characterized
by linguistic fragmentation, a condition in
which many languages are spoken, each
by a relatively small number of people.
Language
 Example of linguistic fragmentation:
Caucasus region of Eastern Europe
 Many different culture groups have settled
here and retained their languages.
 Today several thousand languages are spoken
by fewer than 2 million people.
Language
 Romance languages are part of the Indo‐
European language family.
 They form a sub‐family, with origins in
Latin, including Spanish, French, and Italian.
Language
 Theorists
differ as to how languages
originally diffused.
 Some analysts believe it was by conquest.
 Others argue that it was the diffusion of
agricultural practices.
 The Black Sea is believed to be the heart of
Indo‐European languages.
Sources of Ten Major World Languages
Although there are thousands of languages spoken today,
the majority of people in the world speak one of the
languages indicated on the map below. The map shows the
origins of these languages before they diffused to many
other areas of the world.
Language
Standard Languages
 Recognized
by
the
government and the
intellectual elite as the
norm for use in schools,
government, media, and
other aspects of public life
 Often
the
dialects
identified with a country’s
capital city or center of
power
Official Languages
 The
language endorsed
and recognized by the
government as the one
that everyone should know
and use
Language
 Dialects are regional variants of a standard
language.
 Dialects reflect differences in:
 vocabulary
 pronunciation
 pace of speech (faster or slower)
 different phrases
Language
 An isogloss is a boundary within which
certain languages or dialects are spoken.
 An isogloss is not a clear line of
demarcation, however, with the use of
particular words fading as the boundary is
approached.
Coping with Language Barriers
 Bilingualism is the ability to communicate in
two languages.
 Multilingualism is the ability to communicate
in more than two languages.
Coping with Language Barriers
 Long‐term contact between less skilled
people sometimes results in the creation of a
pidgin, a collection of languages that
borrows words from several.
 Pidgin is essentially a hybrid language.
 Example: Lingala
 Lingala is a hybrid of Congolese dialects that the
French invented to aid in communication among
270 ethnic groups.
Coping with Language Barriers
 A lingua franca is an established language
that comes to be spoken and understood
over a large area.
 Contemporary example: English
 A language of international communication
 Often used in international business affairs
The modern area around the Mediterranean Sea. Most of the area around
the Mediterranean Sea was dominated by the Roman Empire by the early 2nd
century C.E. As political power spread, Latin became the lingua franca of the
area. Once the empire fell, the area reverted to cultural practices of its
various ethnicities, as reflected in the country and city names on the modern
map. Latin blended with native tongues to create modern languages of
Spanish, French, Italian, Romanian, and Portuguese.
Toponymy
 Toponymy is the study of place names, a
special interest of linguistic geographers.
 A careful study of a map can reveal cultural
identities and histories by simply noticing
names of geographical and political figures.
Toponymy
 Place names may:
 honor kings, queens, or heroes (e.g. Virginia for




the Virgin Queen Elizabeth).
reflect geographical origins (e.g. “York” as in New
York).
be descriptive (e.g. Rocky Mountains).
denote incidents or events (e.g. Battle Creek,
Michigan).
commemorate religious figures (e.g. St. Louis).
Language Extinction
 Extinct languages were once in use but are
no longer spoken or read in daily activities by
anyone in the world.
 The process of extinction seems to be
accelerating in modern times due to
communication
and
transportation
improvements.
 Example of extinct language: Gothic
Example of Attempt to Preserve a
Language
 Ethnic groups have pushed for measures to
preserve their languages, such as the
movement in Wales to continue to teach
Welsh, not just English, in their schools.
Other attempts at Preserving
Languages
 European Union’s Bureau of Lesser Used Languages
 Provides financial support to preserve languages
 Special efforts made to preserve Celtic languages
Other attempts at Preserving
Languages
 Peru and Quechua
 Spanish has been the dominant language in Peru
since it was conquered by Spain in the 16th
century.
 The use of Quechua, the native language, has
declined in recent years.
 The native language has been in use mainly in
rural areas.
Other attempts at Preserving
Languages
 Peru and Quechua
 On a national level, legislators have delivered speeches before Peru’s Congress in Quechua.
 On an international level, Google has launched a version of its search engine in the native language.
 Microsoft has added translations in Quechua to its Windows and Office programs.
Other attempts at Preserving
Languages
 Peru and Quechua
 In 2006 Peru’s president signed a
law making discrimination on the
basis of language a criminal offense.
Key Terms from this Session
 Language family
 Acculturation
 Language sub‐family
 Assimilation
 Standard language
 Transculturation
 Official language
 Ethnocentrism
 Dialects
 Cultural relativism
 Isogloss
 Syncretism
 Bilingual
 Language
 Multilingual
 Cultural transmission
 Pidgin
 Linguist
 Lingua franca
 Linguistic fragmentation
 Toponymy
 Extinct language
Advanced Placement
Human Geography
Unit 3: Cultural Patterns
Session 3
Religion
Religion
 Religion distinguishes itself from other belief
systems by its emphasis on the sacred and
divine.
 Religions usually explain the relationship of
the individual to the world, as well as the
meaning of life and death.
Religion
 In recent years other ideologies have
replaced religion as a key cultural component
in some societies.
 Example: humanism
 Emphasizes the ability of human beings to guide
their own lives
 Example: Marxism
 Transformed communism into a central ideology
in many areas in the 20th century
Universalizing Religions
 The three main universalizing religions are:
 Christianity
 Islam
 Buddhism
 Each attempts to be global in its appeal to all
people, not just to those living in one
location.
Universalizing Religions
 Each universalizing religion is divided into
subgroups:
 Branches are large basic divisions within a
religion.
 Denominations are divisions of branches that
unite local groups in a single administrative body.
 Sects are relatively small groups that do not
affiliate
with
the
more
mainstream
denominations.
Major Religions of the World as a
Percentage of World Population
There are many different religions in the world, but
most people who call themselves religious adhere to the
few religions identified on the chart. 60% of the world’s
population identifies with Christianity, Islam, or
Buddhism.
Religion
Christianity  This universalizing religion has the most
followers and the most widespread
distribution.
 It is the predominant religion in:
 North America
 South America
 Europe
 Australia
Religion
 Christianity has three major branches:
 Roman Catholic—50% of the world’s Christians;
concentrated in Latin America, Quebec, Central Africa,
and Southern and Eastern Europe
 Protestant —18% of world’s Christians; strong in
North America; Northern Europe, Britain, South
Africa, and Australia
 Eastern Orthodox—12% of world’s Christians;
prevalent in Eastern Europe and Russia
The remaining 15% are affiliated with a variety of African, Asian, and Latin American churches that cannot be categorized within the three major branches.
Christianity in the United States
About 50% of the U.S. population is Protestant, but they
belong to hundreds of different denominations and sects.
Even the major denominations listed below are divided into
different churches.
Religion in the United States
 There are regional differences which
means that most people live in
communities where one denomination
predominates.
 Baptists: southern states
 Methodists: Northeast and Southwest
 Lutherans: Minnesota and North Dakota
 Mormons: Utah
Religion in the United States
 Patterns have been determined PRIMARILY
because of migration/settlement patterns.
Religion
Islam
 It is the second largest religion in the world.
 It is the predominant religion in:
 Middle East from North Africa to Central Asia
 Indonesia
 Pakistan
 Bangladesh
 It is also the youngest of the world religions.
 The religion is diffusing rapidly to other areas.
Religion
Islam
 There are two branches of Islam:
 Sunni—83% of all Muslims; largest branch in the
Middle East and Asia; country with largest
concentration is Indonesia
 Shiite —16% of all Muslims; most live in Iran; also
followers in Pakistan, Iraq, Turkey, Azerbaijan,
Afghanistan, andYemen
Religion
Islam
 The split between the Sunni and Shiite branches
occurred over the rightful successor
Muhammad, the religion’s founder.
to
Al‐Rifa'i Mosque
Egypt
Religion
 The Sunni believed that Muhammad’s
successor should be chosen by
agreement among the religion’s leaders.
 The Shiite believed that the successor
should be a member of Muhammad’s
family.
 Differences led to conflict that created
hostilities that have continued through
the years.
Sunnis and Shiites in the Middle East
Only two countries in the Middle East are majority Shiite: Iran
and Iraq. All the rest, with the exception of Lebanon and Israel,
are majority Sunni. Historically, there have been many tensions
between the two groups.
Religion
Buddhism
 It is the third largest universalizing religion.
 The hearth of the religion was India where its
founder, Siddharta (the Buddha) lived.
Religion
Buddhism
 The religion diffused along the Silk Road
across the Indian Ocean to East and
Southeast Asia primarily.
 Today, the predominant religion in India is
Hinduism.
Religion
Buddhism
 Buddhism has three main branches:
 Mahayana—56% of Buddhists; characterized by
broad inclusion of ideas and deities from other
religions as it spread across East Asia
 Theraveda—38% of Buddhists; stricter adherence
to Buddha’s teachings; strong in Southeast Asia
 Tantrayana—6% of Buddhists; emphasis on
magic and meditation; found primarily in Tibet
and Mongolia
Other Universalizing Religions
 Sikhism stresses continual improvement and
movement toward perfection through
individuals taking responsibility for their own
actions.
 It combines Hinduism and Islam but centers its
teaching on the founder, Nanak.
 Followers are concentrated in the Punjab region
of India.
Other Universalizing Religions
 Baha’i is a relatively new faith founded in Iran in 1844.
 Most followers live in Iran.
Ethnic Religions
 These religions appeal primarily to one
group of people living in one place.
 Followers do not seek converts outside the
group that gave rise to the religion.
 These religions tend to be spatially
concentrated.
 Exception: Judaism
 Adherents are widely scattered.
Ethnic Religions
Hinduism
 It is the world’s third largest religion.
 Most adherents live in India.
 It is generally regarded as the world’s oldest
organized religion.
Ethnic Religions
Hinduism
 The religion has no central god or single holy
book.
 There is a belief in the existence of a
universal spirit (Brahman) that manifests
itself in many shapes and forms, including
Vishnu and Shiva.
Ethnic Religions
The Chinese Religions
 Buddhism often blends with local belief
systems, including Confucianism and
Daoism, both of which are often viewed as
philosophies.
Ethnic Religions
The Chinese Religions
 Confucianism provides
a code of moral conduct
based on humaneness
and family loyalty.
Ethnic Religions
The Chinese Religions
 Daoism holds that human happiness lies in
maintaining proper harmony with nature.
Ethnic Religions
Shintoism
 It is a native ethnic religion of Japan.
 It focuses on nature and reverence of
ancestor.
 Although it is no longer the state religion of
Japan, it still thrives in the country.
 Prayers are offered to ancestors, and shrines
mark reverence for house deities.
Ethnic Religions
Judaism
 It is one of the world’s oldest religions
founded by Abraham in the lands bordering
the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
 Its members are widely distributed across the
earth because of diaspora, or forced exodus
from their lands of origin.
Ethnic Religions
Judaism
 It is the first recorded monotheistic religion,
centered on the belief in one God.
 Christianity and Islam have their roots in
Judaism.
 Jesus was born a Jew and Muhammad traced
his ancestry to Abraham.
Ethnic Religions
Shamanism  Shamanism is an ethnic religion in which
people follow their shaman, a religious leader
and teacher who is believed to be in contact
with the supernatural.
Shamanism is reflected on the “totem poles” of North American natives. 
Ethnic Religions
Shamanism  Shamans in East Asia are believed to be in
contact with the ancestors.
 In Africa, shamanism takes the form of
animism, the belief that inanimate objects
(rocks, rivers, plants) have spirits and
conscious life.
Ethnic Religions
Traditional Religions
 Traditional religions are an integral part of a
local culture and society.
 Example: Shamanism
 Example: Native African religions
The Spatial Impact of Religions
 In large cities around the world, the tallest,
most centralized, and elaborate buildings are
often religious structures.
The Spatial Impact of Religions
 Many
structures are arranged around
religious buildings.
 Example: The Hindu cultural landscape is
dotted with shrines that impose minimal
disruption to the natural landscape.
The Spatial Impact of Religions
 Shrines are located near water, because
water is part of sacred rituals.
 It is believed that gods will not venture far
from water.
The Spatial Impact of Religions
 Bodhi
trees
are
protected in Buddhist
lands, marking the
cultural landscapes of
many villages and
towns.
The Spatial Impact of Religions
 An important religious land use that impacts the cultural landscape has to do with disposing of the dead.
 Practices include:
 cemeteries
 cremations
Key Terms from this Session
 religion
 humanism
 Marxism
 universalizing religion
 erthnic religion
 branch  denomination
 sect
Religions to Know from this
Session
 Christianity

Roman Catholicism
 Protestantism
 Eastern Orthodoxy
 Islam

Sunnni
 Shiite
 Buddhism

Mahayana
 Theraveda
 Tantrayana
 Sikhism
 Baha’I
 Hinduism
 Confucianism
 Shintoism
 Judaism
 Shamanism

animism
 Traditional religions
Advanced Placement
Human Geography
Unit 3: Cultural Patterns
Session 4
Popular and Folk Culture
What is the difference between
folk culture and popular culture?
Folk Culture
Popular Culture
 Traditionally practiced by  Found in large small, homogeneous groups living in isolated rural areas
 Controlled by tradition and resistance to change is strong
 Most groups self‐sufficient
 Tools, food, and music mostly homemade
heterogeneous societies that are bonded by a common culture despite the many differences among the people who share it
 General mass of people conforming to and then abandoning ever‐changing cultural trends More about folk culture…
 Folk life is the composite culture,
both material and non‐material,
that shapes the lives of folk
societies, such as those in rural
areas during the early settlement
of the U.S.
More about folk culture…
 Today, true folk societies no
longer exist in the U.S. although
the Amish are one of the least
altered folk groups in the
country.
More about folk culture…
 The Amish
 They reject the use of electricity, cars, and modern
dress.
 The areas the live in provide good examples of
folk culture regions, where people live in a land
space and share at least some of the same folk
customs.
More about folk culture…
 The Amish
 The largest concentrations of this folk group are in
Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana.
 The Amish farms are identifiable on the
landscape because of buggies and horses and a
lack of electrical lines, and people dress in
traditional styles.
More about folk culture…
 Folk
cultures contribute to diversity
because they are relatively isolated.
 They MAY diffuse to other locations, but
generally the diffusion is slow because people
often do NOT leave the areas where they
grew up.
More about folk culture…
 The Physical Environment
 Since folk societies are usually agricultural
with limited technology, they are particularly
responsive to the environment.
 Methods for dealing with the environment
vary from culture to culture.
More about folk culture…
 Example of a folk culture
coping with the physical
environment:
 The Netherlands
 Wooden shoes are worn to
cope with working in the wet
fields.
 Not all cultures in the world
that have wet fields have
used
wooden
shoes.
Therefore, the Netherlands
is unique.
More about folk culture…
 Food habits derive from the environment
according to the climate and growing season.
 Folk societies prepare and cook foods in
various ways, and they even differ in what
they consider to be edible.
More about folk culture…
 Food taboos and folk culture
 Example—Hindu culture
 There is a taboo against eating cows, which
deprives some of a readily available food
source.
 However, the taboo makes environmental
sense because oxen are needed to clear
fields each year.
More about folk culture…
 Housing Styles
 They reflect both cultural and
environmental influences.
 Folk societies are limited in
their building materials by the
resources available in the
environment.
 Example: If trees are available,
wooden houses will be built.
New England Houses
• On the top right (# 1) is the
saltbox house style originating
in New England around 1650
and commonly built by the early
18th century.
# 1
• On the bottom right (# 2) is the
“Cape Cod” style house, also a
New England Style, that
originated in the late 17th
century.
• Both styles diffused west and
south through New York,
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio,
and Michigan by the late 19th
century.
# 2
Traditional House in Peru
The thatched‐roof house
in this modern‐day photo
on the right provides
evidence that housing
styles still may reflect
folk cultures. Thatched
roofs appear in other
cultures, but this style is
particular to the Andes
Mountain valleys in
South America.
Folk Music
 North American folk
music
began
as
immigrants carried their
songs to the New World,
but the imported songs
became “Americanized”
and new songs were
added to the American
experience.
Folk Music Culture Regions
 The Northern Song Area
 Found in
 Maritime Provinces of Canada
 New England
 Middle Atlantic States
 Its ballads are close to English originals, a
characteristic reinforced by new immigrants.
 Use of:
 fiddles
 fife‐and‐drum bands
Folk Music Culture Regions
 The Southern and Appalachian Song Area
 Region extends
 Westward to Texas
 The words speak of hard lives and backwoods style, which form the roots of “country” music.
Folk Music Culture Regions
 The Western Song Area
 Found west of the Mississippi River
 This regional music reflects the experiences
of cowboys, plains farmers, river people, and
gold seekers.
Folk Music Culture Regions
 The
Black Song Style
Family
 This style grew out of the
slave experiences in the
rural South.
 It features both choral and
instrumental music, a strong
beat, and deep‐pitched
mellow voices.
More about popular culture…
 Popular culture involves the vast majority of
a population, exposing them to similar
consumer and recreational choices that lead
them to behave in similar ways.
 Popular culture breeds homogeneity.
More about popular culture…
 Popular culture began to replace traditional
culture in everyday life in industrialized
societies with the development of:
 Mechanization
 Mass production
 Mass distribution (stores; mail order)
National Uniformities and
Globalization
 Landscapes of uniformity through popular
culture tend to take on a national character.
 Ways of life differ from country to country
or region to region.
 Example: Many chain stores have globalized
such as those in America.
National Uniformities and
Globalization
 The globalization of popular
culture is resented by many
people.
 It sometimes is seen as a type
of dominance by the West.
 The influence of popular
culture through globalization
is even regulated by some
governments (e.g. Iran).
Environmental Impact of Popular
Culture
 Some environmental consequences of popular culture include:
 Uniform landscapes
 Not only do buildings look alike, but the streets are
arranged the same regardless of location (e.g. fast
food restaurants are located near convenience
stores).
Environmental Impact of Popular
Culture
 Some environmental consequences of popular culture include:
 Demand for natural resources increases.
 Fads may increase demands for animal skins or foods that are not easy to produce quickly. Environmental Impact of Popular
Culture
 Some environmental consequences of popular culture include:
 Pollution
 One of the most significant problems of modern
mass society is the pollution created by a high
volume of wastes.
Cultural Landscapes and Cultural Identity
Each culture region develops a distinctive cultural landscape as people modify the environment to their specific needs, technologies, and lifestyles.
Landscapes and Values
 The value systems of cultures affect the
ways people use the natural environment.
 Example: the buffalo
 Native Americans of the Central Plains used every
part of the animals and killed them because it was
necessary for survival.
 Europeans saw buffalo as a source of hides to sell
or trade and left carcasses to rot.
Landscapes and Identity
 People express cultural beliefs through
transforming elements of the world into
symbols that carry a particular meaning
recognized by people who share a culture.
 Examples:
 monuments
 flags
 slogans
 religious icons
Cultural Identity through Mascots
The above drawings of a bear, a blue jay, and a bobcat represent
some common mascots for sports teams. The symbols represent
more than the team; they reflect the cultural identity of a school
that often draws from a culture region. The cultural landscape
around the school often makes common use of the symbols, and
students even wear them on their clothing and book bags.
Regional Identity
 Geographers who study the cultural landscape
recognize that the concept of regional identity
can be problematic as symbols clash with values
of people in other regions.
 Example:
The Muslim practice of never
depicting Allah or Muhammad in paintings or
drawings clashed with the western value of
freedom of the press when a Danish cartoonist
broke the ban in 2005.
Symbolic Landscapes
 All landscapes can be seen as symbolic, but
the signs and images found on the landscape
convey messages that urge interpretation.
 Although many symbols today are
international, others reflect regional
cultures that give people a sense of place.
Symbols
The three symbols above represent various cultural
landscapes and help to form cultural identities. The
Buddha statue on the left is a complex symbol central to
many Buddhist beliefs; in many western countries, the
hand gesture in the middle symbolizes victory; and the
hand gesture on the right symbolizes prayer.
Universal Symbols
The photo taken in Xi’an, China, of three Americans and
three Muslim Chinese illustrates the point that symbols
may cross cultures and have international meaning.
Key Terms and Concepts from this
Session
 Folk culture
 Popular culture
 Folk life
 Food taboos
 Saltbox house style
 “Cape Cod” house style
 Homogeneity
 Globalization
 Symbols
 Regional identity
 Symbolic landscapes