Chapter 3 Section 1Chapter 3 Section 1

Understanding Understanding CultureCulture

What Is Culture?What Is Culture? Culture Culture

Is the way of life of a group of people who Is the way of life of a group of people who share similar beliefs and customsshare similar beliefs and customs

When studying culture, geographers look When studying culture, geographers look at at 8 Characteristics of culture8 Characteristics of culture social groupssocial groups LanguageLanguage ReligionReligion daily life daily life history, history, ArtsArts GovernmentGovernment economyeconomy

What Is Culture?What Is Culture? Among social groups, Among social groups,

geographers study geographers study rich, poor, and middle rich, poor, and middle class peopleclass people

They may look at age They may look at age or genderor gender

They may study They may study different different ethnic ethnic groupsgroups People who share a People who share a

common language, common language, history, religion, and history, religion, and some physical some physical characteristicscharacteristics

What Is Culture?What Is Culture?Among people who speak the same Among people who speak the same

language, one may hear a local form of language, one may hear a local form of a languagea languageDialect, Dialect, that differs from the main that differs from the main

languagelanguage In many cultures, religion helps people In many cultures, religion helps people

answer basic questions about life’s answer basic questions about life’s meaningmeaning

Religious beliefs vary greatly around the Religious beliefs vary greatly around the world which have resulted in conflicts world which have resulted in conflicts based on religious differencesbased on religious differences

What Is Culture?What Is Culture?Daily life varies in different culturesDaily life varies in different cultures

Examples: the types of foods that Examples: the types of foods that people eat, the way they build their people eat, the way they build their homes, and celebrate holidayshomes, and celebrate holidays

History shapes how people view the History shapes how people view the worldworld

What Is Culture?What Is Culture? A culture is influenced by how it A culture is influenced by how it

remembers its successes and how it remembers its successes and how it remembers its disasters and defeatsremembers its disasters and defeats

Culture is expressed through art, including Culture is expressed through art, including painting, sculpture, architecture, dance, painting, sculpture, architecture, dance, music, theater, and literaturemusic, theater, and literature

Insight into a culture can be Insight into a culture can be gained by studying what its gained by studying what its people think is beautiful and people think is beautiful and importantimportant

What Is Culture?What Is Culture?Types of government can reflect a Types of government can reflect a

country’s culturecountry’s cultureA A democracy democracy is a form of limited is a form of limited

government in which power rests government in which power rests with the people of a nationwith the people of a nation

In a representative democracy, such In a representative democracy, such as the United States, citizens elect as the United States, citizens elect representativesrepresentatives

What Is Culture?What Is Culture?Some governments are led by Some governments are led by

individualsindividuals In a In a dictatorship, dictatorship, dictators control dictators control

and rule as they wishand rule as they wish In a In a monarchy, monarchy, kings and queens kings and queens

inherit the power to ruleinherit the power to rule In studying how the people In studying how the people

of a culture earn a living, of a culture earn a living, geographers study the geographers study the culture’s economic systemculture’s economic system

What Is Culture?What Is Culture?This “system” sets rules for how This “system” sets rules for how

people decide what goods and people decide what goods and services to produce and how they are services to produce and how they are exchangedexchanged

Cultural ChangeCultural ChangeThe process of spreading new The process of spreading new

knowledge and skills to other knowledge and skills to other cultures is called cultures is called cultural diffusioncultural diffusion

This happens as a result of trade, the This happens as a result of trade, the movement of people, war, television, movement of people, war, television, the Internet, and so onthe Internet, and so on

As people learned to grow food, they As people learned to grow food, they tended to stay in one place and build tended to stay in one place and build settlementssettlements

Cultural ChangeCultural ChangeThis produced highly developed This produced highly developed

cultures, or cultures, or civilizationscivilizations In the 1700s and 1800s, some In the 1700s and 1800s, some

countries began to industrialize and countries began to industrialize and built factories to make goods, built factories to make goods, leading to the Industrial Revolutionleading to the Industrial Revolution

More recently, the widespread use of More recently, the widespread use of computer technology has led to the computer technology has led to the Information RevolutionInformation Revolution

Cultural ChangeCultural Change People around the People around the

world can world can instantaneously send instantaneously send and receive and receive informationinformation