Cultural Geography

we started a new unit called Cultural Geography, and we already took many notes on it:
-parts of a group's everyday life
-the ideas and themes which the group will teach to all members
-these same characteristics can also link or divide a region
*examples:
-language
-religion
-ethnic heritage
*language:
-Arabic unites the Arab world.
-Spanish unites the Hispanic world.
-Brazil is the only South American nation which does not speak Spanish. It speaks Portuguese.
-Is Brazil Hispanic or Latino?     It has its own identity.
-Canada is a bilingual nation. French and English are its official languages.
-Switzerland has multiple languages but very little conflict between the groups.
-English is now considered the world language and is used for most business transactions around the world (Lingua Franka)
*Ethnic Heritage:
-In Yugoslavia, many ethnic groups were made into one country (Serbs, Croats, Bosnians, Albanians)-When strong leadership dies out, the different groups fought a very bloody civil war and how they all have separate countries.
-In the countries of Rwanda and Burundi in Africa, two ethnic groups are dominate, the Tutsis and the Hutus.
-The Tutsis are dominant in the other-- they persecute the Hutus.
-This had led to almost constant war between the groups.
-The United States and Switzerland have peacefully merged multiple ethnic groups in their countries.
-Korea and Japan have primarily one ethnic group.
*Religion:
-Religion can be both a unifying and a disunifying force.
-There are five major religions in the world today--
^Hinduism
^Buddhism
^Judaism
^Christianity
^Islam