Unit 3 Foundations: How Culture Shapes Places (AP Human Geography)

Culture (AP Human Geography)

Shared ideas, behaviors, and material objects that people learn and pass down within a group; culture is learned (not biologically inherited) and varies across space.

Nonmaterial culture

Beliefs, values, norms, language, religion, and symbols—intangible parts of culture.

Material culture

Physical things people make and use, such as buildings, clothing, tools, foods, and technology.

Cultural trait

A single element of culture (e.g., speaking Arabic, celebrating Diwali, eating with chopsticks).

Cultural complex

A set of related cultural traits that commonly occur together and form a meaningful “package” (e.g., rituals, sacred texts, and worship spaces in a religion).

Cultural system

A broad, interconnected collection of cultural complexes and traits that shapes how a society functions (e.g., religion influencing laws, holidays, and family structure).

Cultural identity

How individuals or groups understand who they are, often connected to traits like ethnicity, language, religion, nationality, gender, or region, and frequently expressed in place.

Cultural region

An area where people share one or more cultural traits; its boundaries are patterns identified by geographers and may not match political borders.

Formal (uniform) region

A cultural region defined by a consistent trait across an area (e.g., majority language), usually with fuzzy rather than sharp boundaries.

Functional (nodal) region

A region organized around a central node and the connections to it (e.g., a metro area tied by commuting or media); the node can help spread culture.

Vernacular (perceptual) region

A region defined by people’s perceptions and informal identities (e.g., “the South”); important because perceptions influence behavior and decisions.

Popular culture

Widely practiced culture spread mainly through mass media, marketing, and globalized networks; tends to be more uniform and change quickly.

Folk culture

Traditionally practiced by smaller, often more homogeneous groups; tied to particular places, passed down through tradition, and changes more slowly with more local variation.

Cultural landscape

The visible imprint of human activity and culture on the physical environment (e.g., buildings, roads, farm patterns, sacred spaces, monuments, signage).

Sequent occupance

The idea that cultural landscapes are shaped in layers over time as different groups occupy an area; older features may remain while new ones are added.

Sacred space

Places set apart for religious meaning, such as worship sites, pilgrimage destinations, burial grounds, or natural features considered holy.

Toponyms

Place names that can reflect cultural dominance, political control, and historical memory; renaming can assert identity or remove colonial reminders.

Built environment

Human-made surroundings where people live and work—homes, schools, roads, parks, and business districts.

Sense of place

The distinctive physical features and cultural meanings of a location that create attachment and identity.

Placelessness

Loss of uniqueness as places increasingly look and feel the same, often linked to standardized architecture, chain stores, and globalized popular culture.

Cultural diffusion

The spread of cultural traits (ideas, practices, technologies, goods) from one place to another; diffusion can produce hybrid outcomes rather than making places identical.

Relocation diffusion

Diffusion that occurs when people move and bring their culture with them; traits become established in the destination (often first in migrant communities).

Contagious diffusion

Diffusion that spreads through direct person-to-person contact like a ripple effect, often rapidly through dense or highly connected networks.

Hierarchical diffusion

Diffusion that spreads from influential nodes or people (e.g., major cities, elites, media centers) to other places, often “leapfrogging” over nearby areas.

Stimulus diffusion

Diffusion in which the underlying idea spreads but is adapted/modified to fit local culture, so the concept transfers even if the form changes.