Cultural Region (Meaning and Explanation)

We explain what a cultural region is, what types exist and their characteristics. Furthermore, the cultural regions of the world.

far east chinese cultural region — Within a cultural region the population can share identity traits.

What is a cultural region?

A cultural region, cultural area or ethnographic area, It is a territorial portion inhabited by human groups that present homogeneous cultural elements that is, related or similar, and therefore can share important identity traits. This is a concept used in anthropology and geography.

Cultural regions are not equivalent to nation states, that is, to countries, but rather a cultural region It can cover only a portion of a country or have a presence in several countries at the same time. This is because the construction of modern nations comes after the complex historical processes that resulted in a culture.

In the field of anthropology, the concept of cultural area was coined in the first half of the 20th century, and widely used by Alfred Kroeber (1876-1960), one of the leading figures of the discipline in the United States. The concept has been rethought since then, but continues to be extremely useful for the geographical organization of human populations in the world, from the point of view of their cultural manifestations.

Characteristics of cultural regions

balkan cultural region — The population of the Balkans presents linguistic and religious variety, but the same origin.

The cultural regions are characterized by:

They present a certain degree of cultural homogeneity or failing that, a social, political and territorial unit that allows the region to be considered as a specific geographical unit.
This cultural homogeneity can be determined by various factors: linguistic, religious, traditional, ethnic, etc.
Have defined geographical-cultural borders despite the fact that cultures tend to be managed in more permeable terms, that is, with a tendency to mix and overlap. Cultural purity is an abstract and unrealizable concept.
rarely coincide with the political borders of a nation extending throughout parts of the territory (or all of it) of several nations, or different regions coexisting within the same country.

Types of cultural region

Cultural regions can be classified into:

Formal when they consist of relatively homogeneous cultural groups, although their cultural boundaries cannot be clearly drawn, due to the tendency of cultures to intermix. But they do present a defined core or center in which cultural traits are more definable.
Functional when they do not present much cultural homogeneity, but rather a grouping of cultures that are managed socially, politically and/or economically in a unitary manner, that is, as a unified whole. This occurs in regions of enormous ethnic, religious or linguistic diversity.
Popular when it comes to self-defined cultural regions, that is, defined by their own inhabitants, based on precise and fixed limits, very well identified. In them, a very strong and deep-rooted concept of identity is usually defended, through traditions, folklore, etc.

You may be interested: Population Growth

Cultural regions of the world

middle east cultural region — The Middle East has been a source of immense oil wealth.

The great cultural regions of the world, considered from a panoramic perspective, tend to be considered as the following:

Anglo-Saxon America. Defined by the predominance of English speaking, the Caucasian race and the Protestant Christian tradition, it is a region with a high level of industrialization, and which is rapidly moving towards becoming a multicultural society, given the very high level of migration it experiences.
Latin America and the Caribbean. A region of immense ethnic diversity as a result of miscegenation, a consequence in turn of the centuries of European colonization (mainly Spanish, Portuguese and French) and the historical forced migration of African slaves. Latin America is predominantly Catholic and the majority speaks Spanish or Portuguese, but customs, traditions and native or original languages, as well as those of African origin, also survive in this gigantic melting pot
The Maghreb. Mediterranean African region in which Islam and the Arab language and ethnicity predominate, with the relative cultural and ethnic homogeneity provided by their descent from the ancient Berbers. Around 86 million people are concentrated in this region, and it covers areas of historical importance such as Egypt.
Sub-Saharan Africa. It is a region of great cultural diversity, although the total predominance of black African ethnic groups, many of which do not share language, religion, or customs, but are often forced to live together due to the political distribution carried out by the European colonies established during the 19th century. Native religions coexist with Islam in this area of high social and political conflict, as well as regions of immense poverty. South Africa stands out among all, governed for much of its recent history by a white caste descended from European settlers, and which currently reaches above-average levels of industrialization.
Mediterranean Europe. Made up of Western cultures that emerged around the Mediterranean Sea and its surroundings, they are mainly related by their historical descent from the Roman Empire of antiquity, which is manifested in their Romance languages, and by their Christian religious tradition, especially in the Catholic aspect. The Caucasian race predominates, although with a significant presence of African and Middle Eastern migrants, and together with Germanic or Nordic Europe, it constitutes the former imperial center of the West, which today provides them with a multicultural existence.
Nordic Europe. Mostly of Caucasian race and of Protestant Christian religion, it is the most prosperous and industrialized European cultural region, in which languages of Germanic or Scandinavian origin predominate. Many of the nations whose territory the region covers were colonial and imperial powers, and today constitute countries with a very high standard of living.
The Balkans and Eastern Europe. Another region of immense linguistic and religious variety, but whose population is fundamentally of Slavic origin. It is the cradle of Orthodox Christianity, although Islam also has an important presence, and has witnessed important war conflicts throughout its history, since it serves as a bridge between cultural regions as dissimilar as Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
The Middle East. Also called the “Middle East”, it is a cultural region of immense importance for the history of human civilization, given that the first ancient peoples of Mesopotamia emerged in that geography. Most of its population today is Arab and Muslim, so it is a more or less uniform region, although with significant political and sectarian differences. Since the 20th century, the region has been a source of immense oil wealth, and has been an important source of global tensions after the creation of the State of Israel on Palestinian territory.
The Indian subcontinent. One of the oldest cultural regions in the world, heir to the Indus Valley civilization (Indo-Aryan people) and cradle of the Hindu religion. Its population is ethnically uniform, although deeply divided along religious lines (due to the presence of Islam and to a lesser extent Buddhism and Sikhism). It is a region of profound social and economic inequalities, with regions entirely dedicated to agriculture and others highly industrialized.
Southeast Asia. Covering all the nations of ancient Indochina and Asia Minor, it is the Asian region with the greatest ethnic and linguistic diversity, the origin of a significant number of linguistic roots of the entire continent. The Malay, East Asian and Negrito peoples coexist in the region, the latter being the oldest to populate the region. More than 593 million people inhabit this region, despite much of its geography being mostly insular.
Asian Russia. This region includes very different Asian peoples, whose greatest common historical precedent is having been part of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The region is multiracial, and includes communities of nomadic and sedentary life, descendants of ancient Turkic or Mongol peoples, in which Islam is the predominant religion.
The Far East. Ethnically uniform, this is the cultural region geographically furthest from the West, made up of people with slanted eyes and yellow complexions, a characteristic phenotype of Greater Asia. However, it is a very linguistically diverse region, with the presence of languages such as Korean, Tibetan, Mongolian, Japanese or the great variety of languages spoken in China, of which Mandarin is just one. These people inhabit some of the most overpopulated nations in the world, including highly industrialized China and Japan. The majority religion is Buddhism, in its different aspects, although it coexists with Taoism, Sikhism and local traditional religions.
Australasia. Geographically made up of Oceania and Micronesia, it is a region whose native culture is Maori, still present in different countries despite the colonization of these lands by the British Empire. In fact, some of these nations are still part of the commonwealth of the United Kingdom, and therefore are culturally related to Europe. The Caucasian population has a strong presence in Australia and New Zealand, especially.