WHAT IS CULTURE & WHAT MAKES IT UP?

CULTURE IS THE TOTAL OF KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES, AND BEHAVIORS SHARED BY AND PASSED ON BY THE MEMBERS OF A SPECIFIC GROUP.

CULTURE INVOLVES THE FOLLOWING FACTORS….

FOOD & SHELTER

RELIGION

RELATIONSHIPS TO FAMILY & OTHERS

LANGUAGE

EDUCATION

SECURITY/PROTECTION

POLITICAL & SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS

CREATIVE EXPRESSION

CULTURAL CHANGE AND EXCHANGE

Innovation: Taking existing technology and resources and creating something new to meet a need

WHAT IS CULTURAL DIFFUSION?The spread of ideas, inventions, or patterns of

behavior.Examples: TV, internet, rock music, religion

Cultural hearth: site of innovation from which basic ideas, materials, and technology diffuse to many cultures.

WHAT IS ACCULTURATION?When a society changes because it

accepts or adopts an innovation.Examples: wearing jeans instead of

traditional garments or dancing to Lady Gaga in Taiwan.

LANGUAGE• Helps establish cultural identity. It builds a sense of

unity. • Geographers estimate that somewhere between 3,000

and 6,500 different languages are spoken today. • Different versions of a language are called dialects.• Language can diffuse and develop from one place to

another. • Language can also easily divide people. It is difficult

to communicate and build relationships without a common language.

POPULATIONThe earths population is currently over 7 billion!

POPULATION• Our population has been rapidly

growing ever since the Industrial Revolution.

• Improved medicine, better living condition, and advancing technology has greatly impacted the average life span.

CALCULATING POPULATION• Birthrate is the number of lives births per thousand

population. The average birthrate is 22 births per year for every thousand people on the earth.

• Fertility rate shows the average number of children a woman of childbearing years would have in her lifetime, if she had children at the current rate for her country. A fertility rate of 2.1 is needed just to replace the current population.

• Mortality (death) rate is the number of deaths each year per thousand people.

• Infant Mortality rate shows the number of deaths among children under the age of one per thousand live births.

POPULATION PYRAMIDA graph that shows the gender and age

distribution of a population.

POPULATION PYRAMIDA population pyramid allows geographers

to examine how specific events in society, such as wars, famine, or epidemics, affect the population of a country or region.

POPULATION DISTRIBUTION• People are not distributed evenly throughout the

globe. • Almost two thirds of all people live in the zone

between 20°N and 60°N latitude. • Migration greatly alters the distribution of

population. Reasons for migration are known as push-pull factors

• Push factors are those that push people out of their homeland.

• Pull factors draw or attract people to certain areas.

POPULATION DENSITY• The average number of people who live in a

measurable area, such as a square mile.

POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY• A state is an independent unit that occupies

a specific territory and has full control of its internal and external affairs. States are often referred to as countries.

• A nation is a group of people with a common culture living in an area and having a strong sense of unity.

• Most countries in the world today are nation-states.

GOVERNMENTAll countries must choose a type of

government

DEMOCRACYCitizens hold political power, either

directly or through elected representatives.

MONARCHYAbsolute monarchy: A ruling individual or

family has absolute power of the nation. Constitutional monarchy: A ruling

individual or family shares its power with the citizens of a nation

DICTATORSHIPAn individual or group holds complete

political power

Ex: North Korea

COMMUNISMNearly all political power and means of

production are held by the government in the name of all the people.

ANARCHYA state of disorder or absence of

government.

THEOCRACYA type of government in which priests rule in

the name of God

LEVELS OF GOVERNMENTCountries are often divided into smaller

units of government.

The United States has 3 main levels of government

• National• State• Local