3.5-3.8 APHUG
T oday, few formal colonies remain in the world, but the practices left behind
by the European powers are present in their former colonies. The afternoon
break for tea, a British tradition, is still practiced in Kenya and India.
Christianity and the legacy of colonial languages are still widespread in many
former colonies.
Influences of Colonialism, Imperialism, and Trade
Colonialism, imperialism, and trade have played a powerful role in spreading
religion and culture. Historians often divide European colonialism into two
separate waves. From the 16th through the 18th centuries, Europeans colonized
the Americas and South Asia. Then, during the next two centuries, European
powers expanded colonization into most of Africa, Southwest Asia, and other
coastal regions of East and Southeast Asia.
Imperialism and colonialism are related ideas, but they are not the same.
Imperialism is a broader concept that includes a variety of ways of influencing
another country or group of people by direct conquest, economic control,
or cultural dominance. Colonialism is a particular type of imperialism in
which people move into and settle on the land of another country. Examples
of imperialism and colonialism can be found throughout history and all over
the world, but modern European imperialism and colonialism are the most
relevant to the current political map because they strongly influenced the
diffusion of language and religion.
European colonizers imposed their cultural traits on the local populations.
For example, before European colonization, most religions practiced by the
native indigenous people of Africa and North America were forms of animism,
the belief that non-living objects, such as rivers or mountains, possess spirits.
Europeans forced many of their colonial subjects to adopt the Christian faith.
The Spanish and French spread Roman Catholicism throughout Latin America
and North America. The English and Dutch spread forms of Protestantism in
their North American colonies.
Diffusion of Languages
Languages commonly spread through both relocation and expansion diffusion.
As people migrated and colonized to new locations, they brought their culture
and language with them via relocation diffusion. Additionally, via political
164 HUMAN GEOGRAPHY: AP. EDITION
control a colonial language would be imposed hierarchically as the language
of trade, business, and politics. People wanting to benefit financially would
connect to these networks of power and influence by learning and speaking
colonial languages resulting in an expansion of language. Some languages
spread over wide areas of the world and often follow a mixture of types of
diffusion. The major globalized languages of the world-English, French,
Spanish, and Arabic-spread from their hearths largely because of conquest
and colonialism. In the case of Arabic, its use as the standard religious language
in Islam contributed to its success and facilitated an expansion of adherents.
Widely Diffused Languages Trade has aided the spread of languages
because ships, railroads, and other forms of transportation built and
strengthened connections between places. Trade, conquest, and colonialism
have so widely spread some languages that more people speak it outside
its hearth than within it. For example, the largest population of speakers of
Portuguese are in Brazil, not Portugal. The same is true for English, Spanish,
and French-the highest population of speakers for each of those languages are
not in the hearth.
MOST SPOKEN LANGUAGES IN THE WORLD IN ORDER OF TOTAL SPEAKERS
Language Language Total Population Total Speakers Worldwide 2019
Hearth of Hearth 2019 (native and second language)
English England 55 million Over 1.5 billion
Mandarin China 1.4 billion Over 1.2 billion
(Chinese)
Hindi India 1.3 billion Over 615 million
Spanish Spain 47 million Over 570 million
French France 67 million Over 300 million
Arabic Arabian 78 million Over 270 million
Peninsula
Chart appears in order of total speakers worldwide. Which languages have not diffused extensively from
their hearth? What are reasons why they did not diffuse widely?
Limited Diffusion of Manadrin Some languages have never diffused
widely. Mandarin Chinese, though the second-most commonly spoken
language in the world, did not spread globally. China has been among the most
powerful and innovative countries in the world for much of the past 2,000
years, and its merchants settled in various parts of Asia and locations in the
Pacific Ocean. Yet China never established colonies outside of Asia and, as
a result, Chinese speakers have always been concentrated in China and port
cities in Asia.
Mandarin does have the most native speakers, those who use the language
learned from birth, with over 900 million native speakers. The Chinese
government wants to increase the number of Mandarin speakers and has been
using government policies and its economic influence to encourage the use of
Mandarin throughout Asia and across the world.
3.5: HISTORICAL CAUSES OF DIFFUSION 165
English as a Lingua Franca
Unlike Chinese, English has a wide spatial distribution. English is the most
widely used language in the world, with over 1.5 billion speakers. Native
speakers (380 million) are concentrated in lands colonized by Great Britain
such as the United States, Canada, South Africa, India, and Australia.
However, most speakers of English do not use it as their primary language.
Rather, they use it as a lingua franca, a common language used by people who
do not share the same native language. For example, Nigerians commonly
speak one of 500 indigenous languages at home, but they learn English to
communicate with everyone who does not speak their language. Globalization
and new technology explain why English is often used as a lingua franca:
• U.S. and British multinational corporations made English the common
language for international business.
• Scientists and other scholars, airline pilots, and journalists have used
English to communicate with others across the globe.
• English evolved as the lingua franca of the Internet and is widely used in
social media.
• English is often spoken by actors in television shows and movies which
are shown around the world.
The wide use of English has made communication among people around
the world easier. However, it has also sparked resentment in some who feel that
the intrusion of American English language and western culture delegitimizes
their own unique linguistic and cultural practices.
Creating New Words and Languages
Many new words begin as slang, words used informally by a segment of the
population. As the world has become more globalized, certain words have spread
dramatically and their meaning has changed. For example, the word brunch was
slang before it became standard. Slang used in video gaming chats such as "w00t;'
to express excitement or victory, has diffused to common language today as woot.
Pidgin Languages
When speakers of two different languages have extensive contact with each
other, often because of trade, they sometimes develop a pidgin language, a
simplified mixture of two languages. A pidgin language has fewer grammar
rules and a smaller vocabulary than either language but is not the native
language of either group. In Papua New Guinea, the pidgin combines English
and Papuan languages.
Creole Languages
Over time, two or more separate languages can mix and develop a more formal
structure and vocabulary so that they are no longer a pidgin language. They
create a new combined language, known as a creole language. Afrikaans is
166 HUMAN GEOGRAPHY: AP" EDITION
a creole language spoken in South Africa that combines Dutch with several
European and African languages.
On the islands of the Caribbean, creole languages are common. Africans
captured and enslaved in the Americas between the 1500s and the 1800s were
unable to transplant their languages. Stolen from their communities, they
were forced onto ships with captives from various regions in Africa. With no
common language among the groups of captives, communication was difficult.
Most groups lost their languages after a generation in the Americas because
of this linguistic isolation. Yet they were able to create creole languages by
combining parts of their African languages with the European colonizers'
languages of English, Spanish, French, or Portuguese.
The most widely used creole language in the Americas is found in Haiti.
Haitian Creole is derived mostly from French with influences from numerous
languages of West Africa. It has become an official language of Haiti and a
source of national pride and cultural identity.
Swahili in East Africa
Another example of language mixing occurred in East Africa. As early as the
8th century, trade between Arab-speaking merchants and Bantu-speaking
residents resulted in the development of Swahili. Swahili is estimated to be
spoken by some 50 to 100 million people in Africa and is an official language of
five African nations- Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, and the Democratic
Republic of the Congo. Many proponents believe that using Swahili as the
common language of Africa would help promote unity within the continent.
They also feel it would help Africans overcome the legacy of colonialism. Using
Swahili would help erase the notion that speaking European languages is
prestigious and critical for advancement while using native languages is viewed
as an obstacle to advancements in social, economic, and political spheres.
!REFLECT ON THE ESSENTIAL QUESTION
Essential Question: How do historical processes impact current cultural patterns?
Historical Processes That Have
Shaped Culture
KEY TERMS
imperialism
colonialism
animism
native speakers
lingua franca
slang
Resulting Cultural Patterns
pidgin language
creole language
3.5: HISTORICAL CAUSES OF DIFFUSION 167
3.6
Contemporary Causes of Diffusion
Essential Question: How do contemporary processes impact cultural
patterns?
Cultural ideas and practices are socially constructed and change through both
small-scale and large-scale processes such as urbanization and globalization.
Social constructs are ideas, concepts, or perceptions that have been created
and accepted by people in a society or social group and are not created by
nature. These processes influences culture through media, technological
change, politics, economics, and social relationships. In the past, technology
has facilitated the spread of multiple languages. However, contemporary
communication technologies have encouraged the use of fewer languages,
especially English, Chinese, and Spanish. Globalization has further encouraged
this phenomena because of the fundamental need for a lingua franca to
communicate across cultures.
Communication Technologies
Communication technologies have allowed for the globalization of popular
culture through multiple methods of spatial diffusion. Music, video games, TV
shows, cars, and clothing are heavily influenced by mass media, the Internet,
and traditional and online publishing.
Due to historical processes such as colonialism, conquest, and trade, the
English language diffused around the world. More recent developments in the
ease of use and access to many of these technologies have served to strengthen
the use of American English around the world. The elite hierarchies, or most
influential creators of popular or global culture, continue to concentrate in
the usual major cities-New York City, Los Angeles, London, and Tokyo.
Major news networks, publishers, and multinational corporations have driven
popular culture creation over the last 75 years.
However, access to social media, search engines, and entertainment on the
web is challenging traditional corporate sources of popular culture. The rise of
social media allows for individuals or small groups of people to promote their
own self-produced forms of entertainment (TikTok and YouTube, for example),
eSports, fashion, and other products, creating influencers who challenge the
status quo and how culture is created and diffused.
As a result of technological changes, the rate of diffusion has increased
dramatically and the patterns of diffusion have taken on new and interesting
forms. Social media at its heart is a form of expansion and contagious diffusion.
However, hierarchical diffusion is shown via the connections that people have
168 HUMAN GEOGRAPHY: AP' EDITION
with influencers and the vast networks of their followers. The hierarchical
diffusion graphic below also illustrates a nodal, or functional regional pattern.
Technology can be a global equalizing force by helping to provide access to
information and economic opportunity. However, if a person does not have
access to the Internet, the world is still a very unequal place.
HIERARCHICAL DIFFUSION VIA SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS
The size of the circles indicates the number of followers. Arrows indicate sharing of information. Each
follower would also have their own network of connection. What could be added to this graphic/model to
make it a more complete representation of how diffusion works on the Internet and social media? Defend
your response with evidence or examples.
Time-Space Convergence
The greater interconnection between places that results from improvements
in transportation is called time-space convergence. It often makes places less
culturally distinct. For example, in 1492 it took Christopher Columbus 36
days to cross the Atlantic Ocean on a wind-powered ship. By 1907, that time
was reduced to 4.5 days due to the invention of the steam engine. Modern
commercial aviation replaced ocean liners as the dominant mode of transatlantic
transportation. A commercial airplane makes the transatlantic journey
from Europe to North America in about 7 hours. Modern communication
technologies have caused a similar change in the amount of time needed for
information to travel.
Time-space convergence provides another way of thinking about geography
as not just physical space but also of relative distance. While transportation
and communication changes do not actually "shrink" the earth, the time and
cost of movement between places have greatly decreased, making the earth feel
smaller. This demonstrates how a person's sense of time and space vary based
upon cultural, economic, and social factors.
3.6: CONTEMPORARY CAUSES OF DIFFUSION 169
Cultural Convergence and Divergence
As the relative distance between places shrinks, the interactions among cultures
increases. Some argue that globalization is resulting in cultural convergence-
cultures are becoming similar to each other and sharing more cultural traits,
ideas, and beliefs. This cultural homogenization, or becoming more alike, is
a concern for many societies and is met with resistance by some people. (See
Topic 3.8.) These interactions often result in cultural change. For example,
people around the world wear jeans and t-shirts on a daily basis and are less
likely to wear the traditional clothing of their ancestors or parents. In many
instances, cultural convergence can cause indigenous or traditional cultures
and languages to become extinct.
Occasionally, people use new technologies and social media to help preserve
local or threatened languages. Technology is used to record and preserve
languages that could become extinct in the face of cultural convergence.
Communities of speakers use social media to discuss and share their cultural
beliefs and language with other members of the community who are separated
from or have left an area. That increases the likelihood of preservation of some
elements of language and culture.
Cultural divergence is the idea that a culture may change over time as the
elements of distance, time, physical separation, and modern technology create
divisions and changes. A culture's isolation because of absorbing barriers of
physical geography, such as mountains, oceans, or distance, can halt diffusion.
The longer a group is isolated, the more slowly its culture will change or diverge
from the original culture. Today, most barriers are permeable, which means
that part of an idea or trait may reach a cultural group but usually not enough
to rapidly change the entire culture. As new ideas seep into the culture, the pace
and changes can occur more quickly, especially if a person moves away from
their home and into a city or new region.
REFLECT ON THE ESSENTIAL QUESTION
Essential Question: How do contemporary processes impact cultural patterns?
Methods of Contemporary Diffusion
KEY TERMS
social constructs
time-space convergence
170 HUMAN GEOGRAPHY: AP. EDITION
How Methods Diffuse Culture
cultural convergence
cultural divergence
3.7
Diffusion of Religion and Language
Essential Question: What factors lead to the diffusion of universalizing
and ethnic religions?
The Navajo, a Native American group of the Southwest United States, face
many of the same problems as indigenous people across the world-the loss
of their native language and culture in the context of globalization. Currently
there are approximately 7,000 languages that people around the world speak.
But by the end of the century, about half of those languages will be gone. Most
of the languages are spoken by small, isolated groups. As these groups become
integrated into the larger society, the people often learn the language of the
majority. The traditional language falls into disuse and becomes extinct. Since
language is the key element in communication, with this loss of the language
comes a loss of a central part of a group's history, ethnicity, and cultural identity.
Relationships Among Languages
As the Navajo example illustrates, language is essential to a group's culture.
It creates a sense of place and a cultural landscape. The Navajos' experience
shows that today's communication technologies are reshaping cultures and
bringing drastic changes to languages. Some of these changes can contribute to
destroying age-old practices and languages.
Yet language, like all elements of culture, has always been changing. The
earliest languages spread from their culture hearths and faced a multitude of
local, international, and global forces. These global forces include conquest,
colonialism, imperialism, trade, and the widespread instant communication of
the present day.
Origins of Language
Currently, linguists, scientists who study languages, have differing theories as
to when humans first began communicating through spoken sounds. Some
claim first communication began as recently as tens of thousands of years ago
to as long ago as a few hundred thousand years. They are also unsure how
language diffused:
• Was it through the dispersion of people, who carried language with them
as they spread across the planet?
• Was it through transmission, as people learned language from their
neighbors?
• Was it through conquest, with one people imposing language on others?
3.7: DIFFUSION OF RELIGION AND LANGUAGE 171
Language Families
Linguists also are uncertain whether all languages descended from one original
language. They do agree that nearly all of the languages spoken today can
be grouped into about 15 language families. The relationship among these
language families is often shown on a language tree because it suggests how
several languages are related to each other, as well as how one language grows
out of another.
The distribution of languages reflects human migrations. For example, the
migration of Huns from central Asia to central Europe around 1,500 years ago
explains why the languages most like Hungarian are found nearly 3,000 miles
east of Hungary.
lndo~European Languages
One of the 15 major language families is the Indo-European language family,
a large group of languages that might have descended from a language spoken
around 6,000 years ago. Nearly half of the world's population speaks one of the
languages of the Indo-European language family. This family includes about
2.8 billion native speakers of between 400 and 500 languages.
EXAMPLES OF INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES
Proto-Indo-European
Germanic Celtic Latin and Romance Indo-Iranian
Balto-Slavic ( Greek )
The British Isles were settled by waves of Germanic speaking peoples over millennia. In 1066 French was
introduced to the islands when England was conquered by William the Conqueror of Normandy.
One of the branches of the Indo-European language tree is Latin, and
its history shows the difficulties in the study of language. Languages are
challenging to study because they constantly evolve as people move away
from the languages' cultural hearths, have contact with other languages, or are
isolated from other languages.
172 HUMAN GEOGRAPHY: AP' EDITION
Two thousand years ago, when the Roman Empire dominated much of
what is present-day Europe, people there spoke Latin. However, as the empire
dissolved, starting in the 5th century, transportation became more dangerous
and trade declined. As a result, Latin speakers became geographically isolated
from each other. The unifying language of Latin diverged into dozens of
distinct regional languages, known as Romance languages. Most of these later
vanished, but Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian, and Romanian, among
others survived and grew. The historical connection among these languages is
evident in their similar words.
LATIN WORDS RELATED TO WORDS IN OTHER LANGUAGES
Latin (meaning Pater Mater Panis Lupus Die
in English) (father) (mother) (bread) (wolf) (day)
Portuguese Pai Mae Pao Lobo Dia
Spanish Padre Madre Pan Lobo Dia
French Pere Mere Pain Loup Jour
Italian Padre Madre Pane Lupo Giorno
Romanian Tata Mama Paine Lup Zi
What patterns of similarity do you notice between words in each of the Latin-based languages? What
does this tell us about the different languages' development?
Note that English words such as father and mother are similar to Latin
words, but words such as bread and wolf are not. This suggests that English is
not a direct descendant of Latin. English evolved from a Germanic language
but has been heavily influenced by Romance languages such as French.
Accents and Dialects
Languages can be further divided into smaller categories by other traits. One is
by accent, how words sound when pronounced. Accents often reflect social class
or geographic region. The boundaries between variations in pronunciations or
word usage are called isoglosses. For example, as you move from east to west
in Texas, the term "dry creek bed" used near Dallas is replaced by the Spanish
word "arroyo:' This isogloss represents the boundary between southern dialect
and a Texan variation.
Variations in accent, grammar, usage, and spelling create dialects, or
regional variations of a language. Variations between dialects are large enough
that most speakers notice them, but small enough that speakers can understand
each other easily. Often, the dialect spoken by the most influential group in a
country is considered the standard, and others are modifications of it. "Hello,
everyone" is standard. "Hi, y'all" and "Hi, you guys" are dialectical variations.
Dialects often include distinct adages, or sayings that attempt to express a
truth about life, such as "the early bird gets the worm:' Additionally, dialects are
geographic and create formal regions of a country or the world. Within dialects
3.7: DIFFUSION OF RELIGION AND LANGUAGE 173
are subdialects. For example, in the United States, a native of Texas is likely to
speak a different dialect than a native of New York City.
Often, dialects are the legacy of differences in the past, but they can also be
a first step in the evolution of a new language. Just as the Romance languages
emerged as regional variations of Latin, new languages are developing
today. For example, if the differences between British English and American
English increased so much that speakers could not easily communicate with
each other, the two would be classified as different languages instead of
dialects of one.
The following chart shows differences between two dialects of English-
American and British.
DIALECTS OF AMERICAN ENGLISH AND BRITISH ENGLISH
Category American English British English
Vocabulary • Elevator • Lift
• Apartment • Flat
• Parking lot • Car park
• Trunk (of a car) • Boot
• Gas (for a car) • Petrol
Pronunciation • Lieutenant (loo-TEN-uhnt) • Lieutenant (lef-TEN-uhnt)
• Schedule (SKED-juhl) • Schedule (SCHEDZH-uhl)
Spelling • Meter • Metre
• Color • Colour
• Tire • Tyre
• Center • Centre
• Theater • Theatre
Common Phrases • "I'm tired." • "I'm knackered."
• "I'll call you." • "I'll ring you."
Language Policies and Cultural Landscape
Language is important to a group's cultural identity. Because a culture occupies
a certain spatial area, its language becomes intertwined with that place and its
landscape. For example, native Hawaiians, whose economy relies on fishing,
have five dozen words for fishing nets. In addition, signs can create a cultural
landscape as they reflect the people's linguistic heritage and tie them to that
place-from the single-language signs in France to bilingual signs in places
such as Belgium, Quebec, or Wales.
Toponyms
Toponyms, or the names of places (see Topic 1.4), can provide insights into the
physical geography, the history, or the culture of a location or region. Closely
reviewing maps or listening to how people in a region refer to specific places
helps geographers gain insight into the historical, cultural, ethnic, religious, and
linguistic story of a location. For example, in 657 B.C.E., the Greeks founded a
174 HUMAN GEOGRAPHY: AP' EDITION
colony that they named Byzantium, after a leader named Byzas. When the city
fell under Roman control, it was remained Constantinople, after the Roman
emperor Constantine. When the Turks seized the city in 1453, they started to
call it Istanbul, which means "to the citf' Geographers look for clues as to why
a place may have multiple names depending on who you ask and the point in
history.
Official Languages
While the United States does not have an official language, one designated by
law to be the language of government, some countries do. These countries can
be grouped into three categories:
• Some countries are homogeneous, or made up largely of ethnically
similar people, such as in Iceland, Japan, or Slovenia.
• Some countries use language to discourage people from maintaining a
traditional culture. English colonizers did this in Ireland, Scotland, and
Wales to promote quick assimilation.
• Some countries include several large ethnic groups. These countries want
to honor all groups equally. For example, Zimbabwe is home to several
large ethnic groups, so it has 16 official languages. People use English as
a lingua franca to make communication easier.
English is the most common official language in the world with 64
countries, followed by French (32), Arabic (27), Spanish (23), and Portuguese
(10). Official language does not necessarily mean the most spoken language in
a country.
EXAMPLES OF OFFICIAL LANGUAGES IN AFRICA
Language
- Arabic
- English
- French
c=J Portuguese
- Spanish
c=] Other
0
t The map above represents some
but not all official languages in
Africa. Using the map describe the
distribution pattern of each language
shown. What does Ethiopia having
an "Other" language tell you about
its political history?
3.7: DIFFUSION OF RELIGION AND LANGUAGE 175
Ethnic and Universalizing Religious
Religion is intertwined with all other aspects of history and geography because,
compared to other aspects of culture, it is relatively resistant to decay over
time and distance. For example, descendants of immigrants often adopt a
new language but continue to practice the faith of their ancestors and remain
adherents, or believers in their faith. Developing strong mental maps of the
origins, diffusion, and distribution of major religions and their divisions is one
of the most valuable ways to understand culture.
Ethnic religions are belief traditions that emphasize strong cultural
characteristics among their followers. In most cases, adherents of an ethnic
religion are born or adopted into it. Members have a shared historical
experience or struggle that creates strong bonds. Ethnic religions rarely recruit
new followers actively. Rather, they spread as a result of relocation diffusion.
Hinduism and Judaism are the world's two most widespread ethnic religions.
The Jewish Diaspora and global migration of Hindus from India are examples
of such relocation diffusion.
In contrast to an ethnic religion, a universal religion actively seeks converts
to its faith regardless of their ethnic backgrounds. Universalizing religions
are open to all people regardless of their ethnicity, language, social status or
nationality. The major universalizing religions of the world are Christianity,
Islam, and Buddhism. Sikhism is also considered universalizing but has a much
more limited geographic diffusion. Universalizing religions have spread far
from their original hearths because existing members feel a mandate to spread
their beliefs to others. To carry out this mandate, members of universalizing
religions often serve as missionaries who both perform charitable works and
convert non-believers.
Eastern Religions
Several belief systems have developed in Asia. Of these, two developed in India
and have diffused to other places from there.
Hinduism Classified as an ethnic religion, Hinduism includes the worship
of many deities, so most scholars consider it polytheistic, which means having
many gods. However, Hindus consider all deities as manifestations of one god,
so it can be considered monotheistic, which means having one god. Hindus
believe in karma-the idea that behaviors have consequences in the present
life or a future life-and in dharma-which means the righteous path. For
part of its history, Hinduism worked closely with a caste system, a rigid class
structure, that shaped Indian society. The concept of reincarnation or rebirth
based on the quality of life a person lived is a central belief of most Hindus.
A soul would spiritually advance enough to become liberated from this cycle
of death and rebirth. Rivers are considered sacred and symbolic of life and
purification of sin.
Buddhism Buddhism grew out of the teachings of a prince named
Siddhartha who lived around 600 B.C.E. Accepting many beliefs of Hinduism
but rejecting the caste system, Siddhartha became known as the Buddha, or
176 HUMAN GEOGRAPHY: AP. EDITION
"enlightened one:' According to Buddhist traditions, Siddhartha had been
meditating for several days underneath a bodhi tree when he finally understood
the cause of suffering and how to end it. Buddhist doctrines became summarized
in the Four Noble Truths, which sought to eliminate desire and suffering by
following the Eightfold Path. Siddhartha advised followers to escape the cycle
of suffering through "right" views, hopes, speech, conduct, livelihood, effort,
mindfulness, and meditation. This path requires an individual to meditate,
reflect, and refrain from excessive earthly pleasures. The goal is, over time, to
achieve enlightenment and the peaceful bliss known as nirvana, which would
end the cycle of reincarnation.
1,000 Miles
THE SPREAD OF BUDDHISM
INDIAN
OCEAN
The hearth and diffusion routes of Buddhism
Sikhism A relatively new universalizing monotheistic faith, Sikhism was
founded by Guru Nanak in the Punjab region that crosses the border of India
and Pakistan during the 16th century. Most Sikhs live on the Indian side of
the border and enjoy more religious freedom than those of other religions in
the area. The faith stresses serving others, honesty, hard work, and generosity
rather than rituals. All men who are baptized add the name Singh (lion) and
women add the name Kaur (princess). This practice was adopted to break down
the influence of family names and the caste system in India in order to create a
more equal society. A Sikh's place of worship is called a gurdwara and followers
usually attend a service once a week. All gurdwaras have a worship gathering
space and contain a food kitchen that serves meals to people of all faiths. The
most holy place is the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India.
3.7: DIFFUSION OF RELIGION AND LANGUAGE 177
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Sikh pilgrim at the Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) in Amritsar, India
Middle Eastern Religions
Three major religions trace their history to Abraham. He was a religious leader
who lived in the Middle East around 1800 B.C.E.
Judaism Judaism was among the first monotheistic faiths. Jews believe
that the writing known as the Torah expresses divine will. It is supplemented
by other writings as well as unwritten laws and customs. For the past 2,000
years, most Jews lived in Europe and North Africa. Always a small minority,
they often suffered persecution. In the late 1800s, Jews searching for religious
liberty began efforts to establish a homeland in the Middle East and began
their migration to the United States. During World War II, the systematic
murder of six million Jews by Nazi Germany, an event known as the Holocaust,
strengthened the movement to create a predominantly Jewish state in the
Middle East. In 1948, the country of Israel was formed. Jews from around the
world migrated there.
Christianity Christianity began when followers of a Jewish teacher, Jesus
(c. 4 B.C.E. to c. 30 C.E.), evolved into their own religion based on the belief
that Jesus was the son of God and the savior of humans. He emphasized the
importance of faith, love, and peace. Christianity spread outward from the
Middle East to become the dominant religion in Europe, and then to America
and other parts of the world.
There are three main branches of Christianity-Roman Catholic, Protestant
and Eastern Orthodox- with hundreds of further subdivisions. Strong patterns
associated with language help to explain in part the geographic distribution
of both religion and language. Many Catholics trace their heritage or colonial
history to regions that spoke Romance languages such as French, Spanish, or
178 HUMAN GEOGRAPHY: AP' EDITION
Portuguese. Protestants often have a similar history with northern European
and Germanic languages like English. And many eastern European countries
have a complex religious history related to a mix of Eastern Orthodox, Judaism,
and Islam. While Christianity diffused primarily west, north, and east from its
hearth in Israel, in one unique case it diffused south. In Ethiopia, Christianity
attracted many adherents.
Islam Islam is the religion followed by Muslims. Muslims believe that
Allah-the Arabic word for God-revealed his teachings to humans through a
series of prophets. The last of these was Muhammad, who lived in what is now
Saudi Arabia in the 6th and 7th centuries C.E.
Muslims believe that Allah communicated his teachings to Muhammad,
who shared them with people in the book of holy writings known as the Quran.
The core principles of the Quran became known as the Five Pillars of Islam:
• belief in one god-Allah
• ritual prayer
• almsgiving (giving of wealth or volunteering for charitable causes)
• fasting ( abstaining from food or drink)
• pilgrimage to Mecca
Muslims evolved a law code based on the Quran, called sharia, to regulate
religious and civic behavior. Sharia made no distinction between religious and
civil law and countries that operate under it are considered theocracies. (See
Topic 3.3.)
The two major subdivisions oflslam are the Sunni (90 percent of adherents)
and Shia ( 10 percent of adherents). Countries with the highest Shia populations
are Iran, India, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen, and other countries in the Middle East
and Africa.
Diffusion and Pilgrimage The two largest universalizing religions are
Christianity and Islam. Each spread from their hearths partially through
conquest and colonization.
Christianity, which was found mostly in Europe in the 15th century, added
millions of followers when Christian missionaries accompanied European
explorers and conquerors to the Western Hemisphere, southern Africa, and
Australia. As Europeans expanded their empires, they converted people to
Christianity, sometimes forcefully.
Islam spread in much the same way, through the Middle East, North
Africa, and Asia. Today, Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world based
on natural increase.
In many faith traditions, followers feel called to go on a pilgrimage, a
religious journey taken by a person to a sacred place of his or her religion. Each
year, over 20 million Hindus journey to the Ganges River, millions of Muslims
travel to Mecca (a pilgrimage known as a hajj), and many Muslims, Jews, and
Christians visit Jerusalem's many holy sites.
3.7: DIFFUSION OF RELIGION AND LANGUAGE 179
RELIGIOUS HEARTHS AND DIFFUSION
Religion Hearth Type of Diffusion
(number of
adherents)
Hinduism Along Indus River • Expansion diffusion across Indian subcontinent
(1.1 billion) in present-day • Relocation diffusion in recent decades to
Pakistan Europe and the United States
Buddhism South Asia in • Contagious diffusion as teachings spread
(500 million) present-day Nepal throughout East and Southeast Asia along land
and water trading routes
• Relocation diffusion throughout the world
Sikhism Punjab (crosses . Contagious diffusion via conversion
(20 million) border of India and • Relocation diffusion mostly within the former
Pakistan) British Empire and the United States
Judaism Eastern . Relocation diffusion throughout North Africa
(15 million) Mediterranean and and Europe forced by the Romans beginning
southwestern Asia; around 70 C.E.
present-day Israel • Relocation diffusion to the United States and
other countries including return migration to
Israel post-1948
Christianity Eastern . Contagious diffusion via conversion and
(2.3 billion) Mediterranean and missionaries through the Middle East, Europe,
southwestern Asia and Central Asia
• Hierarchical diffusion through conversion of
rulers, who then forced their followers to adopt
the faith
• Expansion and relocation diffusion throughout
the world via imperialism and colonialism
Islam Southwest Asia • Contagious diffusion by trade and conquest to
(1.8 billion) Spain, Africa, and much of Asia
• Relocation diffusion throughout the world
180 HUMAN GEOGRAPHY: AP' EDITION
DIFFUSION OF RELIGIONS
0
.
.
.
.
.
.
. ... ~(
. ~::J J\ .
.
.
.
.
. . •. • .. Buddhism •' • . . . . . .... ·-~ ;
1,000 Miles
0 1,000 Kilometers
The map above show the historical diffusion of the four largest religions. The map does not show the
global spread of Christianity during the European Imperialism and Colonialism period.
REFLECT ON THE ESSENTIAL QUESTION
Essential Question: What factors led to the diffusion of universalizing and ethnic
religions?
Universalizing and Ethnic Religions
KEY TERMS
linguists
language tree
lndo-European language family
Romance languages
isoglosses
dialects
adages
toponyms
official language
homogeneous
adherents
ethnic religions
universal religion
Types of Diffusion
Hinduism
polytheistic
monotheistic
karma
caste system
Buddhism
Sikh ism
gurdwara
Judaism
Christianity
Islam
pilgrimage
J
3.7: DIFFUSION OF RELIGION AND LANGUAGE 181
3.8
Effects of Diffusion
Essential Question: How does the process of diffusion change the
cultural landscape?
Cultural diffusion changes the cultural landscape and can be a source
of controversy. One assumption is that globalization would result in
homogenization of cultures, or making people of different places more alike.
Theories about the effects of homogenization include losses of indigenous
languages, religious practices, unique architectural styles, artistic expression,
etc. People in some places respond to globalization in ways quite different from
those of people in other places. They adopt and adapt some practices into their
local culture while rejecting other aspects.
Smartphones and texting provide a good example of local adaptations.
Texters in different countries have developed different shortcuts to lessen the
number of keystrokes or to express emotions. For example, someone in the
United States might use :) to represent a smiling face, while a person in Korea
would use AA _
Contact Between Cultures
Diffusion describes the ways cultures spread. As they spread, they come into
contact with other cultures. The interaction of cultures is one of the driving
forces in human history, and it can have several types of results, ranging from
a person fully adopting the culture to picking up several cultural traits to
acquiring no traits.
Acculturation
Often, an ethnic or immigrant group moving to a new area adopts the values
and practices of the larger group that has received them, while still maintaining
valuable elements of their own culture. This is called acculturation. For
example, in the 1880s, the Syndergaard family migrated from Denmark to the
United States, settling in a Danish enclave in Iowa. The mother and father gave
most of their ten children common Danish names, such as Inger and Niels. They
commonly ate Danish foods, including spherical pancakes called abelskivver.
Within three generations, their descendants still ate abelskivver, but they had
names common in U.S. culture, such as Susan, Jim, and Dave.
Another example of acculturation occurs when children or families speak
Spanish or another native language at home but at school or work, they speak
English. Acculturation is one reason why so many immigrants are multilingual.
182 HUMAN GEOGRAPHY: AP. EDITION
Assimilation
Unlike acculturation, assimilation happens when an ethnic group can no longer
be distinguished from the receiving group. This often occurs as ethnic groups
become more affluent and leave their ethnic areas. Complete assimilation rarely
happens, though. Usually, the one trait that is retained the longest is religion.
For example, the grandchildren of immigrants from India might no longer
speak Hindi or eat traditional Indian cuisine daily, but they might still practice
their Hindu faith. Commonly, the third and fourth generations of an ethnic
group display a resurgence in ethnic pride by organizing festivals, learning
their ethnic language, and revitalizing ethnic neighborhoods.
Syncretism
The fusion or blending of two distinctive cultural traits into a unique new
hybrid trait is called syncretism. This process results in new practices, beliefs,
innovations, and traits within a society and ultimately results in changes to
culture. This process is most likely to occur when different cultures are in
proximity to each other and can occur via immigration, marriage between
two groups, conquest, or simple creativity. One example is the blending of
American fast food with cuisine from another culture, such as Taco Bell or
Panda Express. Another example is the blending of snow skiing with inspiration
from skateboarding and surfing, resulting in snowboarding. Holidays, such as
Christmas, are a blending of a German tradition (decorating a tree), a Turkish
belief (St. Nick-Santa Claus), a Christian doctrine (birth of Jesus), and
American commercialism.
Most religions and languages are modified or blended as groups of people
interact and create new meanings and traditions that reflect elements of
multiple cultures. Additionally, music styles are often syncretic. Contemporary
hip-hop freestyle rapping was influenced by Black jazz musicians of the 1930s
and 1940s. Their willingness to improvise and create new rhythmic beats freely
while playing allowed creativity and expression of culture and emotion. Hip-
hop rappers incorporated this jazz freestyle rhythm and on-the-fly rhyming
into their stories and poetic songs to express their views of inner-city America.
Glocalization is a form of syncretism that involves the creation of products
or services for the global market by adapting them to local cultures. An example
would be how McDonald's created the McCafe idea of designer coffees and
pastries to attract customers in France. This blended model of fast food and
coffee was so successful it diffused back to the United States market.
Multiculturalism
Without full assimilation, most receiving societies, such as the United States,
are characterized by multiculturalism, the coexistence of several cultures in
one society with the ideal of all cultures being valued and worthy of study. A
major idea of multiculturalism is that the interaction of cultures enriches the
lives of all.
3.8: EFFECTS OF DIFFUSION 183
Foods commonly eaten in the United States demonstrate the benefits
of multiculturalism. Many foods introduced by one specific cultural group
became common in the diet of people of all cultural groups:
• Corn, tomatoes, and potatoes come from indigenous American groups.
• Peanuts were first grown in South America and rice was first grown in
China, but both entered the North American diet by way of Africa.
• Bagels were first made by Jews in eastern Europe.
Nativism
However, coexistence of cultures can also bring conflicts, as people and groups
with different values, beliefs, and customs often clash. Minority groups can face
prejudice and discrimination. Refugees hoping to settle in the United States
after fleeing Syria at the outbreak of the 2011 civil war faced opposition from
Americans who feared that some refugees might be terrorists.
In some cases, the conflict between two cultures becomes harsh. Nativist,
or anti-immigrant, attitudes may form among the cultural majority, sometimes
bringing violence and government actions against the immigrant or minority
group. Often, nativist attitudes are directed toward one particular group. For
example, from the mid-1800s through the early 1900s, many native-born
Protestants in the United state were strongly opposed to Roman Catholic
immigrant from Ireland, Italy, Poland, and other countries. Mexican Americans
and other immigrant from Spanish-speaking countries have often faced
oppostion from nativist groups.
Other times, nativism reflects a general dislike of people from other
countries, or xenophobia. A more contemporary example is the poor reception
that Syrian refugees experienced in some European countries. Many Europeans
feared the introduction of non-European languages, religions, and cultural
practices of the largely Muslim Syrian refugee population.
jREFLECT ON THE ESSENTIAL QUESTION
Essential Question: How does the process of diffusion change the cultural
landscape?
list of the Effects of Diffusion
of Culture
KEY TERMS
homogenization
acculturation
assimilation
syncretism
184 HUMAN GEOGRAPHY: AP. EDITION
Explanation of the Effects of Diffusion
of Culture
glocalization
multiculturalism
nativist