The term culture is often challenging to differentiate from the term ethnicity. In this textbook, ethnicity indicates traits people are born with, including genetic backgrounds, physical features, or birthplaces. People have little choice in matters of ethnicity. Culture indicates what people learn after birth, including language, religion, and customs or traditions. Individuals can change matters of culture by individual choice after they are born. These two terms help us identify human patterns and understand a country’s driving forces.

Culture and ethnicity might also be confused with ethnic cleansing, which refers to the forced removal of people from their homeland by a more potent force of different people. Ethnic cleansing might indicate two distinct ethnic groups: one driving the other out of their homeland and taking it over. On the other hand, ethnic cleansing might also be technically cultural cleansing if the aggressor and the group drove out are of the same ethnicity but hold different cultural values, such as religion or language. The term ethnic cleansing has been used to describe either case. Genocide is the deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, racial, political, or cultural group.

Languages of the World

Language is the communication mode of human culture and represents the complete diversity of thought, literature, and the arts. It is estimated that roughly seven thousand languages are spoken worldwide today but decreasing. About a dozen are spoken by more than one hundred million people each. These are the world’s main languages used in the most populous countries. However, most of the world’s languages are spoken by a relatively small number of people. Many languages have no written form and are spoken by a declining number of people. Due to globalization, language experts estimate that one-third or more of the world’s languages are endangered (with fewer than 1,000 speakers remaining). At the same time, just twenty-three languages account for more than half of the world’s population. New languages form when populations live in isolation. In the current era, as the world’s populations are increasingly interacting, languages are being abandoned, and their speakers are switching to other tongues.

There are nine dominant language families in the world. Each of the languages within a language family shares a common ancestral language. As populations migrated from their ancestral homeland, their language evolved and separated into many new languages. The three largest language groups of the Indo-European family used in Europe are the Germanic, Romance, and Slavic groups. Other Indo- European languages include Hindi (spoken in India) and Persian (spoken in Iran).

Language Characteristics

The official language is a country’s language that is on record to be used for all its official government purposes. For example, the official language in India is Hindi, though the lingua franca is English, and several local languages may be spoken.

An accent is the pronunciation of words in a language that differs from that used by a different group of the same language. For example, people in Mississippi pronounce words differently from North Dakota, but the differences are less severe than in dialects.

A pidgin is a simplified language used to communicate between two or more groups that do not have a language in common. For example, Residents of New Guinea mix English words with their language to create a new language that can bridge speakers of different local language groups. Though the words are in English, the grammar and sentence structure are mixed according to local vocabulary. There are many English-based pidgin languages around the world.

Creole languages arise from contact between two other languages and have features of both. However, Creole is a pidgin that has become the primary language people speak at home. Creole languages are often developed in colonial settings as a dialect of the colonial language (usually French or English). For example, in the former French colony of Haiti, a French-based creole language was developed that people speak at home. At the same time, French is typically used for professional purposes.

A dead language is no longer used for local communication. For example, Latin is no longer used by local people to communicate but is still used by the Roman Catholic Church in some of its services.

Dialects are a regional variety of a language that uses different grammar or pronunciation. Examples include American English versus British English. Linguists suggest three main English language dialects in the United States: a Southern dialect, a Midland dialect, and a Northern dialect. However, television and public media communication have focused on more uniform speech patterns that have diminished the differences between these three dialects.

An isolated language is one not connected to any other language on earth. For example, Basque is not connected to any other language and is only spoken in the region of the Pyrenees between Spain and France.

A lingua franca is a second language used commercially for others outside a language group but not in their personal life.

Slang is the local use of informal words or phrases that are not part of the official language. For example, many musicians use slang in their lyrics.

Religions of the World

Religious geography studies the distribution of religions and their relationship to their place of origin. Religious geographers recognize three main types of religions: universal (or universalizing), ethnic (or cultural), and tribal (or traditional) religions. Universal religions include Christianity, Islam, and various forms of Buddhism. These religions attempt to gain worldwide acceptance and appeal to all types of people, actively looking for new members or converts. Ethnic religions appeal to a single ethnic group or culture. These religions do not actively seek out converts. Broader ethnic religions include Judaism, Shintoism, Hinduism, and Chinese religions that embrace Confucianism and Taoism. Finally, traditional religions involve the belief in some form of supernatural power that people can appeal to for help, including ancestor worship and the belief in spirits that live in various aspects of nature, such as trees, mountaintops, and streams (this is often called animism). Subsaharan Africa is home to many traditional religions.

Although the world’s primary religions are listed here, many other religions are practiced worldwide, as well as many variations of the religions outlined here. The top five religions by population are Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Because the official doctrine of Communism is nonreligious or atheist, there are many more followers of Buddhism in China than demographic listings indicate. The percentage of the world’s population that follows Buddhism is probably much higher than the 6 percent often listed for this religion.

Christianity and Islam originated from Judaism in the eastern Mediterranean and the Arabian Peninsula. Both monotheistic religions look to the Jewish patriarch Abraham as a founding personage. Christianity, based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, who lived in Palestine in the first century C.E., spread rapidly through the Roman Empire. Islam is based on the teachings of Muhammad, a seventh-century religious and political figure who lived on the Arabian Peninsula. Islam spread rapidly across North Africa, east across southern Asia, and north to Europe centuries after Muhammad’s death.

Buddhism is a religion or way of life-based on the teachings and life of Siddhartha Gautama, who lived in India/Nepal around the fifth century BCE. Buddhism has three branches: southern or Theravada Buddhism, eastern or Mahayana Buddhism, and northern or Vajrayana (Tibetan) Buddhism.

Hinduism, a religious tradition on the Indian subcontinent, is one of the oldest major religions still practiced globally. It may date back to as far as 2000 BCE or earlier. Unlike other world religions, Hinduism has no founder and is a conglomerate of diverse beliefs and traditions. Hinduism has a large body of scripture, including the Vedas, the Upanishads, and epic tales such as the Mahabharata and the Ramayana.

Sikhism, a religion founded in the Punjab region of southern Asia, is a monotheistic religion centered on justice and faith. High importance is placed on the principle of equality between all people. The writings of former gurus are the basis for the religion.

Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people, whose traditions and ethics are embodied in the Jewish religious texts, the Tanakh and the Talmud. According to Jewish tradition, Judaism began with the covenant between God and Abraham around 2000 BCE.

Shintoism is a dominant ethnic religion in Japan focused on worshipping kami, which are spirits of places, things, and processes.

Confucianism and Taoism are ethnic Chinese religions based on morality and the teachings of religious scholars such as Confucius.

In this TED Talk by Hans Rosling, the popular statistician wanted to know the connection between world religions and global population growth.

In this TED Talk by Hans Rosling, the popular statistician wanted to know the connection between world religions and global population growth.