Student Edition

World Culture Regions GUIDING QUESTION Why are world culture regions important? When looking at maps, you can start to identify regional patterns of some culture traits like language, religion, or a common history. Geographers are interested in the spatial distribution of these individual traits, but they are also interested in the broader culture regions in which these traits exist. So they often organize the world according to these broad culture regions. The map here shows such regions. The culture region of the United States and Canada stretches from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Atlantic Ocean in the east. Mountains frame the eastern and western sides of the region, cradling a central area of vast plains that are important for agriculture. The region is a land of immigrants. Many people made this land their home by choice. Others were forced to come as exiles or enslaved workers. Together these groups have shaped the culture of the region. The Latin America culture region includes Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America. The high peaks of the Andes to the lush rain forests of the Amazon have affected human settlement and cultural development here. Cultures have collided in Latin America. Native American civilizations originally flourished here. Then Europeans arrived and through the process of colonialism forced new laws, new languages, and a new religion onto the region’s inhabitants. Today the region reflects this shared colonial history. There are also contrasts between urban and rural, rich and poor, and more developed and less developed. Europe has several major peninsulas and many minor ones, with many pieces of land extending into the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Over the centuries, Europeans have taken advantage of this location by using the water as an avenue for trade and exploration. This has shaped the region’s culture through interactions with other peoples and cultures. The Europe culture region has many different languages and culture groups. World Culture Regions This map shows culture regions of the modern world. It is just one of many possible ways of identifying and organizing the world into culture regions. 60°N 60°S 30°N 0° 30°S 60°W 90°W 120°W 150°W 30°W 0° 60°E 90°E 30°E 120°E 150°E EQUATOR ARCTIC CIRCLE ANTARCTIC CIRCLE TROPIC OF CANCER TROPIC OF CAPRICORN 0 2,000 kilometers 2,000 miles 0 Equal Earth projection United States and Canada Latin America Europe Russia North Africa, Southwest Asia, and Central Asia Africa South of the Sahara South Asia East Asia Southeast Asia Australia and Oceania N S E W EXAMINE THE MAP 1. Exploring Regions Which culture regions include parts of Asia? 2. Exploring Culture Describe what you know about one of the culture regions on the map. G162