Basics of

Cultural
Geography

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Why is Geography and
culture related?
Introduction:

Geography is the study of the earth and the people

in it. Culture is the sum total of the knowledge,
attitudes, and habitual behavioural patterns shared
and transmitted by members of a society.
Geography and culture are inter-related.

Culture is the total way of life that characterizes a

group of people.
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It is one of the most important things that
geographers study.

There are literally thousands of cultures on the

planet today and each contributes to global
diversity.
One reason for the existence of so many cultures is
that there are so many ways that the ever-growing
population can be culturally different.

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Specifically, a culture consists of numerous
cultural components that vary from one culture
group to the next.
Cultural Components
The Cultural Components mostly include the
religion, language, architecture, cuisine,
technology, music, dance, sports, medicine, dress,
gender roles, law, education, government,
agriculture, economy, sports, grooming values,
work, ethic, etiquette, courtship, recreation and
gestures, to mention a few.
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Because of the innumerable cultural differences
that characterize people and land all over the
world, there was a need to focus on this subfield of
geography.

Hence, the subject devoted to the study of culture

was appropriately named as cultural geography.

Cultural geography is the study of relationships

between humans and location.
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Meaning of terminology

It is a very general term and highlights an

“overview” when compared to the detailed sub-
disciplines like Economic, Agricultural or Political
Geography.

The subject of cultural geography today focuses on

migration, especially, the relocation of people
from one physical location to another.
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There are certain push and pull factors to
motivate this movement.
Some are negative attributes of the location
which encourage people to leave, like
crimes,
scarcity of jobs, resources, food, etc.
Recurring war and civil unrests are also powerful
motivators.
A poor economy, continuous natural disasters, or a
strong desire to live in a developed nation,
are
other examples of push factors.
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Cultural Geography
In broad terms, cultural geography examines the
cultural values, practices, discursive and material
expressions and artefacts of people, the cultural
diversity and plurality of society.

It also emphasizes on how cultures are

distributed over space, how places and identities
are produced, how people make sense of places
and build senses of place, and how people produce
and communicate knowledge and meaning.
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Anthropology is the scientific study of humans,
human behavior and societies in the past and
present.

Social Anthropology studies patterns of

behaviour

Cultural Anthropology studies cultural

meaning, including norms and values.

Linguistic Anthropology studies how language

influences social life.14
In the late 19th century, cultural geography sought
to compare and contrast different cultures around
the world and their relationship to natural
environments.
This approach has its roots in the
anthropogeography of Friedrich Ratzel and, in
common with anthropology, it aimed to understand
cultural practices, social organizations, and
indigenous knowledge, gave to
emphasis
but people’s connections with and place
and
use nature
of .
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Wagner and Mikesell , in 1962,
defined that cultural geography is
concerned with the diverse geographic
expressions of culture (such as the
distribution of traits like religion and
language), the imprint of material
culture on the landscape and the ways
different culture use, and interact with,
the earth.
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Cultural geography focuses on cultural struggle, on
the imposition of social control through “cultural
means,” and on the construction of and resistance
to the cultural spaces that define social life in
different setting.

Mark Paterson further elaborates that " Cultural

geography is a sub-discipline of human
geography that explores the human organization
of space and the impact of human activities and
culture upon the natural environment.
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Human geography is one of the most active and
interdisciplinary areas within the social sciences.

There is a crossover in methodological and

theoretical approaches with disciplines such as
anthropology, sociology, and cultural studies.

But cultural geography in particular retains its

focus on culture and its signifying practices of self,
groups, the creation of “others” and of worlds of
experience while maintaining an emphasis on
environment, space, and place".
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The field of cultural geography is wide-ranging
and comprehensive. Though the study of different
nations and cultures in the world can be traced
back to ancient geographers such
as Ptolemy or Strabo, cultural geographyas
academic firstly got emerged as an
study, to the
determinist
alternative theories of the early Twentieth century.
environmental

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The study of cultural geography started way back
in 1920s, in the United States with the Berkeley
School describing the idea of the “cultural
landscape”.

While adopting this concept by various countries,

the pathway diverged and the notion of cultural
geography also got diversified. Great differences,
as well as startling similarities, can be seen when
comparing world cultures.

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Analysing the cultural landscapes

Rather than studying pre-determined regions based

upon environmental classifications,
geography became interested in analysing the
cultural
cultural landscapes. Geographers have the
tradition of seeing both cultures and societies are
developing out of their local landscapes but also
shaping those landscapes. This interaction between
the natural landscape and humans totally promote
the creation of cultural landscape.
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This is the foundation of cultural geography.

Cultural geography studies the geography

of culture pertaining to the following:


Theories of cultural hegemony or
cultural assimilation via cultural
imperialism.


Cultural areal differentiation, as a study of
differences in way of life encompassing ideas,
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attitudes, languages, practices, institutions

 structures of power and whole range of cultural
practices in geographical areas.]


Study of cultural landscapes and
cultural ecology.

Other topics include sense of place,
colonialism, post-colonialism,
internationalism, immigration,
emigration and ecotourism.

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Cultural Area
A cultural area is a region (area) with one
relatively homogeneous human or
activity complex of activities (culture).
These areas are primarily geographical, not
historical (but see below), and they are not
considered equivalent to Culture circles.
A culture area is a concept in cultural
anthropology where a geographic region and time
sequence (age area) is characterized by
substantially uniform environment and culture.
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For example, a music area is a cultural area
defined according to musical activity, and may or
may not conflict with the cultural areas assigned to
a given region.
Global Cultural Areas
The prescribed cultural areas constitute vast social
spaces made up of territories with
geographic common and cultural
linguistic
architectural, characteristics— and religious
characteristics, among others.

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Culture Regions
A culture region is a portion of Earth’s surface that
has common cultural elements. Identifying and
mapping culture regions are significant tasks of
cultural geographers. This can show us where
particular culture traits or cultural communities are
located.
Maps of culture regions provide answers to the
most fundamental geographical questions like
Where and what are together or away from each
other.
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Culture regions differ greatly in size. The Hindu
culture region in South Asia is an example. While
studying the world's Hindu culture region,
anybody may logically think that only Hindus
may live there.
But it is not so. That region also is a home to
millions of Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, and
other non-Hindus. Some Culture regions are
exceedingly large, like the Islamic culture region
that encompasses millions of square miles of
North Africa and Southwest Asia.
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Some are very small, like Spanish Harlem, which
encompasses about two square miles of
Manhattan.

Many others are of intermediate size, like the Corn

Belt, which occupies a portion of the mid-
western
United States.

Culture regions can be found in urban, suburban,

or rural settings. Many cities contain ethnic
neighbourhoods. 41
A typical American suburb may exhibit unique
housing, land use, and lifestyles that
differ significantly from what is observed onthe
periphery of cities in West Africa or Central
America.

Similarly, the rural parts of the world may differ

on the basis of language, religion, or some other
cultural component like agricultural practices.

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The rural culture regions in some parts of the
world might be dominated by cattle ranches, rice
fields, banana plantations, or some other form of
agriculture.

Over a period of time, the culture regions tend to

appear and disappear, and expand and contract in
between. The ancient Phoenician culture region
which initially gave way to form the Roman
culture region, got disappeared, later.

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The prevailing culture may also unite and divide
humanity.

It also creates differences (perhaps deep

animosities as seen among some nations) between
others.

Accordingly, maps of culture regions may provide

important perspectives on the contemporary
problems that are rooted in cultural differences.

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Cultural Diffusion
The term cultural diffusion is related to the spread
of a culture and/or an individual trait, and the
factors that account for such a spread.

Cultural diffusion is concerned with the spread of

culture and the factors that account for it. Typical
aspects are migration, communications, trade,
and commerce. Because culture moves over the
global space, the geography of culture is also
constantly changing.
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Generally, culture traits originate in a particular
area and spread outward, ultimately to characterize
a larger expanse of a territory.

When culture region describes the location of

culture traits or cultural communities, the cultural
diffusion helps to explain how they got together
there.

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In some parts of the world, the long-cherished
cultural traditions that were perceived by local
practitioners are found to be threatened by
intrusion (i.e., diffusion) of something coming
from outside. Westernization is a term often
associated with this process.

Thus, while cultural diffusion encourages cultural

sharing and interaction between people, it may
also promote conflict among them, because
human mind works differently based on some
reasons. 51
Cultural Landscape
The term cultural landscape is a natural landscape
as modified by human activities and bearing the
imprint of a culture group or society including
buildings, shrines, signage, sports and recreational
facilities, economic and agricultural structures,
transportation systems, etc over a location.

Today, high-rise apartment, silo, stop sign, golf

course, shopping mall, railroad, pyramid, oil
derrick, plantation areas are also coming under the
facets of cultural landscape.
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The cultural landscape consists of material aspects
of culture that characterize Earth’s surface.

That includes buildings, shrines, signage, sports

and recreational facilities, economic and
agricultural structures, crops and agricultural
fields, transportation systems, and other physical
things.

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Some geographers would include humans as
components of the cultural landscape, when their
clothing and grooming may visually reflect some
cultural preferences.

Because cultural landscape so often embodies

humans’ most basic needs—shelter, food, and
clothing—many geographers consider it the most
important aspect of cultural geography.

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All cultures change over time (albeit at different
rates). As a result, the cultural landscape of a given
locale may look much different today than in the
past.

The cultural landscapes change in bits and pieces.

Thus, most cultural landscapes are a mixture of
new buildings and old ones (including abandoned
structures), modern superhighways and old narrow
streets, gleaming office buildings and rusting
manufacturing facilities, and so on.
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Cultural Ecology

Cultural ecology describes the interactions

between a culture and its physical environment. It
addresses the relationships between culture and the
physical environment.

Normally culture arises and evolve in a great

variety of physical settings that differ in climate,
natural vegetation, soils, and landforms.

In such diverse natural environments, humans

have developed adaptive strategies to satisfy their
needs for clothing, food, and shelter.
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The result is a literal world of difference in
clothing styles and the materials from which they
are made; the production, preparation, and
consumption of foods; and the architectural styles
and materials that define human shelter.

The concept of cultural ecology often helps us

better understand the cultural landscape. Cultural
ecology focuses on culture-environment
interaction in the past as well as the present.
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Cultural Interaction

Cultural interaction is defined as the

interconnectedness of various cultural
components.

It focuses on the relationships that often exist

between cultural components that characterize a
given community.

When geographers seek to explain why a

particular culture trait is found in a particular area,
they often discover that the answer lies in another
trait possessed by that same cultural community.
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Wine shops, bars and liquor stores are not likely to
be found in Muslim neighbourhoods. It is because
of the fact that Islam forbids consumption of
alcoholic beverages.

So, cultural interaction may explain the presence

—as well as the absence—of particular traits in
particular areas.

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Mapping Cultural Geography

Based on the above said facts, the key concepts of

cultural geography includes, region,
culture diffusion, cultural
ecology,
cultural and cultural interaction.
landscape, cultural
Specifically, mapping of this involves
the following:

Delineating and describing parts of Earth
that
have common cultural elements, as well
as comparing 70
and
contrasting areas that are
 culturally different (i.e., studying the concept of
culture region);

Describing how cultural components
spread over space and come to
characterize different
parts of our planet (i.e., studying the concept of
cultural diffusion);

Appreciating how culture contributes to
the
visual distinctiveness of different areas
(i.e., studying the concept of cultural
landscape); 71

Understanding how cultural communities
 environment (i.e., studying the concept
of cultural ecology); and

Noting how one particular culture trait
might lead to theappearance of
others in a specific
cultural community (i.e., studying the
concept of cultural interaction).

These concepts, though distinct, may also overlap

in ways that help to describe and explain the nature
of cultural communities.
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Cultural landscapes are very important because
they link culture to the physical environments in
which people live. This is vital because it can
either limit or nurture the development of various
aspects of culture.

Cultural Perception

One of the main areas of cross-cultural differences

and an important source of cultural
misunderstandings is our difference of perceptions.
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Different cultures perceive things differently,
sometimes these differences are very subtle and
sometimes perceptions can lead to totally opposite
interpretations.

We all have different cultural perceptions and

these differences can impact our international
business success.

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Cultural Environments

This area deals with the role of culture in human

understanding, use, and alteration of the
environment.

It focuses on describing and analyzing the ways

language, religion, economy, government and
other cultural phenomena vary or remain constant,
from one place to another and on explaining how
humans function spatially.
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A cultural environment is a set of beliefs,
practices, customs and behaviors that are
found to be common to everyone that is
living within a certain population. 

Cultural environments shape the way that

every person develops, influencing
ideologies and personalities.
ORTHODOX JEWS
Human societies progress in small steps just as
biological evolution does, according to a study of
the structure and language of societies in South
East Asia and the Pacific Ocean.

Some more aspects

Folk customs (a.k.a. traditional customs) are

developed and practiced primarily by small,
homogeneous groups living in more isolated rural
areas. 84
WOMEN FROM CHINA’ S MIAO ETHNIC GROUP
Maasai Mara Men of Kenya
Social customs such as the provision of clothing,
shelter, transportation and food have evolved
differently in different areas of the world because
natural resources vary widely from place to place.

Folk customs reflect the benefits and constraints

of each group's environment, and through cultural
evolution, particularly the level of technology,
each generation has left its unique imprint on the
cultural landscape.
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Surface culture is composed of those aspects of a
way of life which are relatively easily observed.

Deep culture provides the foundational elements

of a culture which are often unexamined and held
at the subconscious level by most members of the
society – the attitudes, objectives, and world view.

Cultural Relations and Policies

Cultural relations may be defined as interactions,
both direct and indirect, among two or more
cultures.
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Direct interactions include physical encounters
with people and objects of another culture.

Indirect relations are more subtle, involving such

things as a person's ideas and prejudices about
another people, or cross-national influences in
philosophy, literature, music, art, and fashion.

Cultural relations, in contrast, are both narrower

and broader than the interaction of national
interests.
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Instead of power, security, or economic
considerations, cultural affairs are products of
intangible factors such as a nation's ideas,
opinions, moods, and tastes.

Symbols, words, and gestures that reflect its

people's thought and behaviour patterns comprise
their cultural vocabulary in terms of which they
relate themselves to other peoples.

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Cultural Areas of the World

The document produced by the Ministère de

l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport, has clearly
explained the cultural areas of the world with their
specific areas and characteristic features.

These areas are highlighted in the report for a

better understanding.

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The following sections provide the details:

African Cultural Area

The African cultural area covers all the countries

in sub-Saharan Africa and most of the African
continent, including the islands in the Indian
Ocean, east of Africa. Located almost entirely in
the intertropical zone, this area consists principally
of the African Shield.

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It includes various territories and societies
characterized by several lifestyles, languages and
religions.

In the pre-colonial era, this cultural area

was inhabited by populations with
different social
structures.

Some societies were organized in tribes,

while others had formed kingdoms.
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In the following centuries, the area was marked by
the slave trade and European colonization, which
resulted in the establishment of borders uniting or
dividing different ethnic groups, making the
African reality even more complex.

Sub-Saharan Africa is a land of contrasts,

a veritable mosaic of traditions and beliefs.

Certain values, however, are shared, such as

the importance of family, ancestors,
religion and 96

community life.
Changes occur throughout Africa, but different
societies are changing at different rates.
Youth is another social force responsible for
change in sub-Saharan Africa. Young people are
often underemployed or without any work at all.

Arab Cultural Area

The Arab cultural area comprises countries in
North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and the
Middle East. This cultural area is divided into two
parts by the Nile as The Maghreb, made up of the
North African countries, and the Mashreq, or
97
Levant, which, taken in its broadest geographic
sense, includes the Arab countries outside the
Maghreb.

Another characteristic feature common to

this cultural area is the Islamic religion,
although
communities may adhere to other religions. Islam
plays an important role: political power
and
religious power are often closely linked in
the countries of the Arab cultural area.
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It has been found that the cities have always been
major growth poles in the Arab cultural area.

The populations of the area banded together to

deal with the constraints of the deserts. Ancient
cities took the form of fortified medinas,
containing the Great Mosque, heart of the city and
seat of religious power, the Madrasah, an
educational institution, and the souq, the
commercial quarter/market place.

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Beginning in the 19th century, new
cities developed around the ancient ones.

As cultural hubs and centres of religious, political

and economic power, citiesexert a
attraction over powerful the populations of
cultural area. the Arab

The Arab cultural area oscillates between tradition

and modernity.

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0
East Asian Cultural Area

The East Asian cultural area comprises China,

Japan, the Korean Peninsula, Taiwan and
Southeast Asia, including the archipelagos of the
latter. It is characterized by a wide diversity of
peoples, languages and political systems.
It is also characterized by a variety of natural
conditions: vast mountainous regions and plateau,
sometimes extremely arid, and narrow but fertile
coastal plains.
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1
The territories of this area are concentrated mainly
along shorelines and at the mouths of large rivers.

The increasing attraction of rural populations to

the cities has given rise to megalopolises. The East
Asian cultural area is the most populous area in the
world.

The East Asian cultural area has produced great

civilizations and powerful empires, although often
under Chinese control.
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2
The economic growth of the countries in this
cultural area constitutes one of the most important
events of the late 20th century. In the 1960s, Japan
entered the industrialized world, followed in the
1980s by Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore and
Hong Kong, then in the 1990s by China, Thailand
and Malaysia.

The East Asian cultural area has an enormous

population pool.
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3
It has an abundant and increasingly educated work
force.

Another development factor is the transfer of

technology in some of the countries in this cultural
area.

As globalization takes over, these countries'

growing prosperity makes them important factors
on the international scene.

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4
Indian Cultural Area

This is one of the cradles of world civilization, a

historical crossroads of the great trade routes and
the birthplace of important religions such as
Hinduism and Buddhism.

The Indian cultural area comprises Bhutan, India,

Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Nepal. It also
includes Bangladesh and Pakistan, whose cultures
have been strongly influenced by India.
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5
The major part of this area consists primarily of a
large peninsula characterized by a vast central
plateau, bordered on the north by the Himalayas
and located mainly in a tropical climate zone.

The Indian cultural area is one of the most

populated areas on Earth. The Indian cultural area
reflects the blending of traditions from other
civilizations that marked the area at one time or
another.
10
6
Indian civilization influenced several areas,
particularly Indonesia, in the Indochinese
Peninsula, and South Africa, which has a large
Indian diaspora.

The globalization of the economy has favoured the

replacement of traditional subsistance farming by
export crops, which are more profitable.

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7
Large-scale, highly mechanized farming requires
very little labour, and jobs have become scarce in
rural areas.

This type of situation results in population

migration to the cities, the breakup of the family
and the erosion of family values.

Child labour and a deterioration of the social and

economic status of women are direct consequences
of this phenomenon.
10
8
Latin American Cultural Area

The Latin American cultural area is also

characterized by the intermingling of populations
of Native, European and African origin, to
a greater or lesser extent depending on the
region.

The Latin American cultural area extends from the

Rio Grande to Tierra del Fuego.

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9
Its relief is marked by the presence of huge plains,
vast plateaux, high cordilleras and the West Indian
Archipelago.

It is a mosaic of societies with a number of

characteristics in common, including Latin
languages, mostly Spanish but Portuguese as well.

This is not, however, the case in the West Indies,

where English predominates.

11
0
The population is unevenly distributed: very dense
on the islands and along the coast, and sparser in
the mountains and Amazonia.

The Western Cultural Area

The Western cultural area gradually developed in

the Mediterranean Basin and spread throughout
Europe, including Russia. It also takes in North
America and Oceania.

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1
The Atlantic and Pacific oceans played a
determining role in its expansion.

The term Western has historical, cultural,

economic and political meanings.

It expresses a particular way of living and

thinking, which is founded on the recognition of a
society based on the rule of law.

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2
The roots of the languages, alphabet system (Latin,
Greek, Cyrillic), calendar, legal systems,
architecture, as well as the philosophies of
rationalism and humanism in societies considered
Western lie in the Judeo-Christian and Greco-
Roman traditions.
Greece was the cradle of democracy, theatre,
philosophy and scientific rigour.

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3
From the Roman Empire, the Western cultural area
inherited the foundations of engineering and law.
Economic liberalism and many scientific and
technical innovations are also associated with the
Western culture.

The area is also characterized by the rise of

individualism, which is reflected in a general
decline in the birth rate and the breakup of the
family.

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4
There are other movements in this cultural area,
which has experienced large-scale immigration
from Southern countries, such as that of Latin
Americans in the United States and Africans in
Europe.

Immigrants their culture, values and

bring traditions them, creating a multiethnic
context,
with which sometimes contributes to the
emergence of ethnic such as
neighbourhoods Chinatowns.
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5
CLASS ACTIVITY

1. FORM SIX GROUPS

A. African Cultural Area
B. Arab Cultural Area
C. East Asian Cultural Area
D. Indian Cultural Area
E. Latin American Cultural Area
F. Western Cultural Area

2. DISCUSS THE DIFERENT ASPECTS OF THESE CULTURAL

AREAS PERTAINING TO;
A. PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT (LANDSCAPE, RESOURCES
ETC)
B. RELIGION
C. ECONOMY
D. ARTS