2. Cultural environments

2.1 What is culture?

Culture is a word that conjures up different images for different people. For some, it suggests things like music, teather and the visual arts. For others, it brings up an image of a landscape that is central to their life.

The world culture is derived from the Latin word cultura, meaning agriculture. However, even in antiquity, this word was used to also suggest a kind of "cultivation of the mind", which was achieved through things like arts and philosophy.

On the whole, the term culture encompasses the realm of human activity on planet Earth. Culture is a phenomenon that represents itself in people's beliefs, knowledge, skills, products and attitudes. Culture is transmitted from generation to generation through social learning, and it evolves over time. 

2.2 Cultural environments

Different cultural features are distributed in different parts of planet Earth. By studying these features, the planet can be divided into more or less unified cultural environments.

Each cultural environment contains certain spiritual and material cultural factors. Spiritual cultural factors encompass things such as religion and intellectual traditions, whereas material cultural factors encompass things such as architectural styles and cuisines.

Most human geographers divide the planet's population into seven distinct cultural environments:

  1. Western
  2. African
  3. Islamic
  4. Indian
  5. East Asian
  6. Southeast Asian
  7. Oceanian

Historical factors have contributed to the formation and development of these cultural environments. Natural conditions, economic factors, and social conditions have also shaped cultural environments significantly. The size of the different cultural environments has varied throughout human history. For example, the Western cultural environment has expanded from Europe to North America, Latin America, Australia and South Africa over the last 500 years. This process has taken place at the cost of other cultural environments, such as those of the native populations of these regions.

A cultural environment can be described by listing its most common languages, major religions and other shared factors. However, this does not mean that cultural environments are completely unified. In fact, most cultural environments contain significant amounts of regional variation. The staggering amount of cultural variation on our planet can be understood by studying a list of the world's languages.

Major world religions (Wikipedia)

Cultural environments.​

2.3 Characteristics of cultural environments

The Western cultural environment has its origins on the European continent. Christianity is the most significant religion in the Western world. The Western cultural environment consists of a large number of highly urbanized and industrialized regions. During the last 500 years, Europeans have spread their culture across the planet through exploration, colonization and imperialism. This has made the Western cultural environment one of the most globally significant centers of political power in the world. However,this process has also made Western culture adapt influences from other cultural environments. 

The African cultural environment is based in the continent of Africa. It is characterized by its numerous peoples, religions and languages. Various tribal languages are spoken together with European languages such as English, French and Portuguese. Christianity is one of the major religions of the African cultural environment together with various indigenous religions. The importance of family is central to many African cultures.

The Islamic cultural environment is centered in the Middle East. It is known for its strict understanding of morality. Islam is the most significant religion in the Islamic cultural environment, and the teachings of the Quran are important in daily life in many parts of the Islamic world. The development of Islamic culture has also been influenced by nomadic cultures and oasis farming. 

The East Asian cultural environment is centered in Eastern Asia. The major languages of this cultural region are Chinese, Japanese and Korean. Major religions of the cultural environment include Confucianism, Taoism, Shintoism and Buddhism. Other central characteristics of East Asian culture include a strong work ethic and a respect for one's elders.

The Indian cultural environment is based in the Indian peninsula in Southern Asia. Hinduism is one of the most significant religions of the cultural environment, which is reflected in the caste system that still shapes the lives of many people in various parts of India to this day. The Indian cultural environment was also shaped significantly by British colonial rule in India between the 18th and 20th centuries.

The Southeast Asian cultural environment is spread across the peninsulas and islands of Southeast Asia. Major languages of the region include Vietnamese, Burmese, Thai and Indonesian. Buddhism and Christianity are the two most significant religions in the area. Southeast Asia is divided by seas and mountains, which has lead to the region's large cultural variety.

The Oceanian cultural environment consists of islands scattered throughout the Pacific Ocean. A large number of languages is spoken in the area. Christianity is a major religion alongside many indigenous religions. Livelihoods are based on fishing, small scale agriculture and tourism.

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Summary

  • Culture consists of human beliefs, knowledge, products and attitudes. 
  • Culture is transfered from one generation to the next through a process of social learning. 
  • The world can be divided into seven cultural environments, each of which has their own identifying characteristics.