2012 Cultural Regions of the World [Type the document subtitle] Sonia Nazneen Geography and Environment Jahangirnagar University Savar, Dhaka. Department of Geography & Environment Department of Geography & Environment JAHANGIRNAGAR UNIVERSITY Cultural Regions of the World INTRODUCTION The surface of the earth is approximately 70.9% water and 29.1% land. The former portion is divided into large water bodies termed oceans. The land portion is generally divided into several, large, discrete landmasses termed continents. Depending on the convention used, the number of continents can vary from five to seven. Geography comes from the Greek “Geo” (the world) and “Graphos” (to write about or to describe). Studies the location and distribution of features on the Earth’s surface. Its features are Human activities, Natural environment, and the relationship between the two, Answers where and why. REGION Regions marked by internal homogeneity are grouped together as formal regions. A natural region such as the Rocky Mountain is expressed by the dominance of a particular physical. A region can be conceptualized as a spatial system. For example- those centered on an urban core area, a node, a focus of regional interaction- are identified collectively as functional regions. According to S.M.N Kaidsman, ʺ Region is such an area which contains fundamental characteristics.̏ According to Professor E.R.G Taylor, ʺ Region is a unique area of the earth curst.̏ According to D,Hervey, ʺ Region is one of the concept of classification & it perform the explanatory & methodical role in study & research.̏ THE BASIC CRITERIA OF REGION ●Regions obviously have location. ●-relative location (more meaningful and practical criterion) ●-cultural infusions (Indo China) ●-a particular landscape (Amazon basin or rocky mountain) ●Regions also have area. ●-the New York Metropolitan area, Corn Belt, Sun Belt ●Cultural regions ●-religious affiliation, dominant language, land division, settlement pattern. CLASSIFICATION OF REGION Region can be classified in four ways: ●By Method: ▪ Formal Region ▪ Functional Region ●By Boundary: ▪ Macro Region ▪Meso Region ▪ Micro Region ●By Characteristic: ▪ Uniform Region ▪ Un-uniform Region ●By Object: ▪ Economic Region ▪ Cultural Region ▪ Social Region ▪ Political Region ▪ Climatic Regionn ▪Agriculture Region ▪Vegetation Region ▪ Physiographic Region ▪Environmental Region In this assignment the topics is Cultural Regions of the World. It is elaborately given below. CULTURAL REGIONS A cultural region is a portion of Earth’s surface that has common cultural elements. Identifying and mapping culture regions are significant tasks because they show us where particular culture traits or cultural communities are located. The concept of cultural region serves roughly the same educational purpose as that of historical period. When teaching world history, for example, the subject is commonly divided into time segments that might be labeled The Neolithic Revolution, The Cold War Era, and so forth. Similarly, the purpose of regions (which also are arbitrary) is to make geography—or cultural geography, in this case—more comprehensible by dividing the world into areas that have something in common. CULTURAL REGIONS OF THE WORLD Different anthropologist, sociologist, geographers are divided the cultural region in various way. American geographer De Belji divided the world into 12 cultural regions. The major cultural of the world are listed below- European cultural region Islamic cultural region South Asian cultural region Chinese cultural region Southeast Asian cultural region African cultural region Latin American cultural region Anglo American cultural region Former USSR & East European cultural region Australian cultural region Pacific cultural region Japanese cultural region Fig: World Cultural Regions a. EUROPEAN CULTURAL REGION Location: The whole European continent includes this cultural region. Race: The peoples are Caucasoid race. Skin color is White, eyes are blue or brown. Language: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch etc languages are found here. Religion: The Euro barometer Poll 2005 found that, on average, 52% of the citizens of EU member states state that they "believe in God", 27% believe there is some sort of spirit or life force while 18% do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God or life force. 3% declined to answer. Christianity has been the dominant religion shaping European culture for at least the last 1700 years. Modern philosophical thought has very much been influenced by Christian philosophers such as St Thomas Aquinas and Erasmus. Food: Western cuisines also put substantial emphasis on sauces as condiments, seasonings, or accompaniments (in part due to the difficulty of seasonings penetrating the often larger pieces of meat used in Western cooking). Many dairy products are utilized in the cooking process, except in nouvelle cuisine. Wheat-flour bread has long been the most common sources of starch in this cuisine, along with pasta, dumplings and pastries, although the potato has become a major starch plant in the diet of Europeans and their diaspora since the European colonization of the Americas. Fig: Race, food, sports, religious activities, dance, architecture. Festival: Mainly Christmas day, valentine day, thirty first night, tomatino festival, hallowing day etc. Dress: Shirt, pants, coat, tie, scart, t-shirt etc. Sports: European sports include-Association football, Cricket, Cycling, discus throw, javelin throw, shot put, Field Hockey, Golf, Handball, Rugby League, Tennis, Alpine Wrestling etc & many other sports. Arts: Painting, Sculpture, Music (Classical Music, Folk Music, Popular Music), Architecture, Literature, Performing arts, Film, Video Game. Industries: Industrially developed. Science & Technology: Europe has produced some of the greatest scientists, inventors and intellectuals in history- Albert Einstein, Johannes Kepler, Johannes Gutenber, Isaac Newton, Robert Hooke, Michael Faraday, James Joule, Edward Jenner, John Dalton, George Stephenson, Florence Nightingale, George Cayley, Frank Whittle, Alan Turing, Stephen Hawking etc. Technologically is very developed. Agriculture: Agriculturally solvent & also export foods & raw material. Transportation: Very modern & develop transportation system. b. ISLAMIC CULTURAL REGION Location: North Africa and Southwest Asia. Race: Peoples are Mongoloid & Negroid race. Negroid peoples are black in color. Mongoloid peoples long head & black eyes. Language: Early Muslim literature is in Arabic, as that was the language of the Islamic prophet Muhammad's communities in Mecca and Medina Religion: Islamic culture generally includes all the practices which have developed around the religion of Islam, including Qur'anic ones such as prayer (salah) and non-Qur'anic such as divisions of the world in Islam Food: Kabsa also called Majboos, famous in Saudia Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, and United Arab Emirates Festival: Eid ul-Fitr, Eid ul-Adha, Ashurah (see also Hosay and Tabuik), Mawlid, Lailat al Miraj and Shab-e-baraat. Dress: Kabli, Panjabi, Paijama, Scarf, Borkha. Hijab etc. Fig: Architecture, art, food, religious activities. Industries: Industrially not develop. These countries are rich in oil resource. They mainly depends on oil exporting. Sports: Camel race, Ram race, sword fighting etc. Arts: "Wayang Kulit", the Indonesian art of shadow puppetry, reflects a melding of indigenous and Islamic sensibilities. "Advice of the Ascetic", a 16th century Persian miniature housed in Tehran's Golestan Palace, Islamic calligraphy, Silat, Pahlavani, Kurash etc. Arab classical music, Religious music in Iran, Qawwali music. Architecture: Mecca and Medina sharif, Mosque of Nabobi, Mosque of Heram, the hanging garden, Great Mosque of Kairouan, Alhambra, Istanbul's Sultan Ahmed Mosque. Transportation: Well transportation system. c. SOUTH ASIAN CULTURAL REGION Location: South Asia or Southern Asia is the southern region of the Asian continent includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Race: Peoples are Mongoloid race. Language: Bangla, Hindi, Hindko, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Marathi, Manipuri, Nepali, Oriya, Pahari, Pashto, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Sinhala, Telugu, Tibetan, Urdu, and others. Religion: In South Asia Hinduism and Islam and in some of its countries Buddhism is the dominant religions. Other Indian religions and Christianity are practiced by significant number of people. Food: In many parts of Asia, rice is a staple food, and it is mostly served steamed or as a porridge known as congee. Chicken tikka, Tamil cuisine, Kabsa, Tamil cuisine, Kabsa etc. Festival: Hindus-Puja, Arti, Diwali: Muslims- Eid ul-Fitr, Eid ul-Adha, Ashurah (see also Hosay and Tabuik), Mawlid, Lailat al Miraj and Shab-e-baraat; Buddhist- Buddha purnima, magi purnima etc. Dress: Shari, lungi, shirt, pant, Panjabi, salwor kamij, duti etc. Sports: Hadudu, football. Cricket, boat race etc. Fig: Food, dress, Architecture, religious activities, poet. Arts: Hindustani classical music, Mappila Songs, Duff Muttu, Sufis, Visual arts, the polymath Rabindranath Tagore, a Bengali poet, dramatist, and writer from India, became in 1913 the first Asian Nobel laureate. Industries: Developing countries. So industrially not develop. d. CHINESE CULTURAL REGION Location: China, Mongolia, Koreas Island, Thaiwan. Language: Chinese language Race: Peoples are Mongoloid race. Religion: The main religion is Buddha. Food: Chinese meal in Suzhou with rice, shrimp, eggplant, fermented tofu, vegetable stir-fry, vegetarian duck with meat and bamboo. Festival: Wong Fei Hung and many others,Dim Mak, Wushu, Shaolin Monastery and Wudang Mountains, Kaifeng, Henan. Fig: Festival, letter, Architecture, sports, Food, dress, musical instrument, dress. Dress: Different social classes in different eras boast different fashion trends, the colour yellow or red is usually reserved for the emperor. China's fashion history covers hundreds of years with some of the most colourful and diverse arrangements. During the Qing Dynasty, China's last imperial dynasty dramatic shift of clothing occurred, the clothing of the era before the Qing Dynasty is referred to as Hanfu or traditional Han Chinese clothing. Many symbols such as phoenix have been used for decorative as well as economic purposes. Industries: Day by day this sector is developing. Sports: The most common game is Mah Jong. The same pieces are used for other styled games such as Shanghai Solitaire. Others include pai gow, pai gow poker and other bone domino games. weiqi and xiangqi are also popular. Ethnic games like Chinese yo-yo are also part of the culture. Arts: Fine art, folk art and performance art, Chinese opera. Porcelain pottery was one of the first forms of art in the Palaeolithic period. Early Chinese music and poetry was influenced by the Book of Songs, Chinese painting became a highly appreciated art in court circles encompassing a wide variety of Shan shui with specialized styles such as Ming Dynasty painting. Early Chinese music was based on percussion instruments, which later gave away to stringed and reed instruments. By the Han dynasty papercutting became a new art form after the invention of paper. Chinese opera would also be introduced and branched regionally in additional to other performance formats such as variety arts. e. SOUTHEAST ASIAN CULTURAL REGION Location: It is very uniform cultural region. It includes Mayanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Philipine, Indonesia. Language: Major languages are Malay, Thai, Burmese. Race: Peoples are Mongoloid race. Religion: The main religion is Buddha. Food: Rice, shrimp, eggplant, fermented tofu, vegetable stir-fry, vegetarian duck with meat and bamboo. Dress: Dynasty dramatic shift of clothing occurred, the clothing of the era before the Qing Dynasty is referred to as Hanfu or traditional Han clothing. Many symbols such as phoenix have been used for decorative as well as economic purposes. Fig: Festival, musical instrument, art, Architecture, Food, letter. Festival: Shaolin Monastery and Wudang Mountains, Kaifeng, Henan. Sports: Pai gow, pai gow poker and other bone domino games. weiqi and xiangqi are also popular. Arts: The Tai, coming late into Southeast Asia, brought with them some Chinese artistic traditions, but they soon shed them in favour of the Khmer and Mon traditions, and the only indications of their earlier contact with Chinese arts were in the style of their temples, especially the tapering roof, and in their lacquerware. Main articles: Baybayin, Jawi script, S.E.A. Write Award, and Thai alphabet. Agriculture: All the countries are developed in agriculture. f. AFRICAN CULTURAL REGION Location: The countries which are found southern part of Shahara dessert are included in this region. Such as- South Africa, Zire, Anglo, Benin, Tanjania etc. Language: Various language are found here such as Hanitil, Hamatil & other ethnic language. Race: Nigroid race. Religion: Major religions are muslim & other ethnic religions. Food: This meal, consisting of injera and several kinds of Wat (stew), is typical of Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisine. Africa is a huge continent and the food and drink of Africa reflect local influences, as also glimpses of colonial food traditions, including use of food products like peppers, groundnuts and maize introduced by the colonizers. The African cuisine is a combination of traditional fruits and vegetables, milk, and meat products. The African village diet is often milk, curds and whey. Festival: Nigro day, many other ethnic fastivals. Dress: Handwoven fabrics with decorative woven borders. Women's traditional clothes in Ethiopia are made from cloth called shemma and used to make habesha qemis: it is basically cotton cloth, about 90 cm wide, woven in long strips which are then sewn together. Sometimes shiny threads are woven into the fabric for an elegant effect. Fig: Race with musical instrument, sculpture, Food, cloth. Arts: The culture of Africa encompasses and includes all cultures within the continent of Africa. There is a political or racial split between North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, which is in turn divided into a great number of ethnic cultures. African cultures are diverse and varied and not static, and like most of the world have been impacted upon by both internal and external forces. Music: Samba, Jazz, Rhythm and Blues, Rock & Roll, Salsa, and Rap music Agriculture: Agriculture based economy. Industries: This is the poor continent of the world. So industrially is not developed. Folklore: Like all human cultures, African folklore represents a variety of social facets of African culture. Like almost all civilizations and cultures, flood myths have been circulating in different parts of Africa. Culture and religion share space and are deeply intertwined in African cultures. In Ethiopia, Christianity and Islam form the core aspects of Ethiopian culture and inform dietary customs as well as rituals and rites. According to a Pygmy myth, Chameleon hearing a strange noise in a tree cut open its trunk and water came out in a great flood that spread all over the land. g. LATIN AMERICAN CULTURAL REGION Location: All countries of South America & south of North America. Language: Spanish, Portuguese, Quechua, Mayan languages, Guaraní, French, Aymara, Nahuatl, Italian and others. Race: Nigroid & Caucasoid. Religion: The primary religion throughout Latin America is Christianity, mostly Roman Catholicism. Latin America, and in particular Brazil, are active in developing the quasi-socialist Roman Catholic movement known as Liberation Theology Fig: Comayagua, Food, Che Guevara, A bull fight, Peruvian dance , "Alegria por la vida", Salsa dancing, Argentine Tango, dancing folklórico in the traditional dress of Jalisco, Romantic Painting. Sports: Mainly Latin American countries are famous for football. A bull fight in Bogotá, legacy of Hispanic culture, Baseball and football are Venezuela's most popular sports, and the Venezuela national football team. Ethnic groups: Latin America has a very diverse population with many ethnic groups and different ancestries. Only in three countries, do the Amerindians make up the majority of the population. This is the case of Peru, Guatemala and Bolivia. In the rest of the continent, most of the Native American descendants are of mixed race ancestry. Dance: Flamenco Dares the Unpredictable the Tango, Salsa, Peruvian dance, Peruvian dance. Food: Fiambre, Guatemalan traditional dish, Antigua Guatemal, the enchilada, quesadilla also traditional dish. Dress: Authentic Mexican Guayaberas , Lake Atitlán etc. Arts and crafts: As Latin American Art Prices Rise, So Does Forgeries, From Mexican Soil to Museum Sanctum, Latin American Folk Institute, New Mexico Courts Spain as Both Sides Hope to Profit, Web Museum of Latin America . Festival: The annual "Alegria por la vida" Carnaval in Managua, Nicaragua; marimba which is also common across Central America; , sensual form of dance music called Palo de Mayo; Peruvian fastival is primarily rooted in Amerindian and Spanish traditions. h. ANGLO AMERICAN CULTURAL REGION Location: Anglo-America includes the United States (Hawaii excluded) and Canada in North America, and the term is frequently used in reference to the two countries together. Other areas composing the Anglophone Caribbean include territories of the British West Indies, Belize, Bermuda, and Guyana. Language: English, Spanish, and French. Race: Caucasians, Mestizos and Blacks. Religion: Major religions are Christian & Jews. Food: Zomato, Maxican cousin is very famous. Dress: Ttraditional dress of Jalisco, fresa, Lake Atitlán. Fig: Festival, art, Food, Bull race. Ethnic group: As a noun, Anglo-American can refer to an English-speaking European American and/or an English Canadian, sometimes shortened to Anglo. In many spheres, Anglo has come to denote all English-speaking people and their descendants, regardless of prior ethnic background, much like Hispanic refers to people of any race. Festival: Colorful festival, Festival Flag, Bread festival, Tulip festival of Canada, Starry festive night in Mexico. Agriculture: Modern agriculture system. Sports: El Hombre, The Other Pro Soccer, Soccer star Diego Maradona arrives in Cuba for medical treatment, U.S. Loses Turf War, Bull race etc. Arts: Folklore dances of Mexico, Sculpture, Handy Craft, Flamenco Dares the Unpredictable. Music: Calypso suffers as new music influences Trinidad and Tobago, where Mexico (Not Salsa) is king. i. FORMER USSR & EAST EUROPEAN CULTURAL REGION Location: Eastern Europe, as defined by the United Nations Statistics Division, includes the countries of Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation and Slovakia as well as the Slavic republics of Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine. Race: Caucasoid & few are Mongoloid. Ethnic groups of USSR: Baltics (Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian), Caucasus (Armenian, Azerbaijan, Georgian), Central Asia (Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik Turkmen, Uzbek), Slavic + Moldova (Russian, Belorussian, Ukrainian, Moldovan), Russian Far East (Siberia). Sports: Basketball, football, Calcio, discus throw, javelin throw and shot put, Field Hockey, Golf, Handball, Tennis, Table Tennis, Real Tennis Religion: Christianity and Islam had the greatest number of adherents among the Soviet state's religious citizens. Eastern Christianity predominated among Christians, with Russia's traditional Russian Orthodox Church being the Soviet Union's largest Christian denomination. Food: Steak, nouvelle, pasta, dumplings and pastries, Sauces as condiments, seasonings, Steak, nouvelle, sauces as condiments, seasonings. Fig: Painting, Music, Film, Religious function. Festival: The Salzburg Festival, the Bayreuth Festival, the Edinburgh International Festival and the BBC Proms are major European festivals, and International Chopin Piano Competition is the world's oldest monographic music competition. Language: English, Russian, Spanish, Slavic, Turkic, Caucasus language. Arts: Painting, Classical sculpture, Ancient Greek sculpture, Gothic art, Renaissance, Mannerist, Baroque, Neoclassicism, Modernism, Postminimalism, found art, Postmodern art, Conceptual art. Important classical composers from Europe include Hildegard von Bingen, Guillaume de Machaut, Pérotin, Guillaume Dufay, Orlande de Lassus, Jean-Baptiste Lully, J.S. Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Liszt, Chopin was a contemporary popular opera singer. Folk music is embedded in an unwritten, aural tradition, but was increasingly transcribed from the nineteenth century onwards. Baroque architecture, Beaux-Arts architecture, Expressionist architecture, Stalinist architecture, Deconstructivism. Music: Shostakovich's veristic opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District was denounced in Pravda newspaper as "formalism" and soon removed from theatres for years.The music patriarchs of the era were Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Aram Khachaturian. violinists David Oistrakh, Leonid Kogan, Gidon Kremer, Viktor Tretyakov and Oleg Kagan; cellists Mstislav Rostropovich, Daniel Schafran, and Natalia Gutman; violist Yuri Bashmet; pianists Sviatoslav Richter, Emil Gilels. j. AUSTRALIAN CULTURAL REGION Location: Australian continent mainly Australia & New Zealand. Language: Australia has no official language; it is largely monolingual with English being the "de facto" national language. Australian English is a major variety of the language which is immediately distinguishable from British, American, and other national dialects by virtue of its unique accents, pronunciations, idioms and vocabulary, although its spelling more closely reflects British versions rather than American. Race: The oldest surviving cultural traditions in Australia – and some of the oldest surviving cultural traditions on earth – are those of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Religion: Australia has no official state religion and Section 116 of the Australian Constitution prohibits the Commonwealth government from establishing a church or interfering with the freedom of religion.[83] According to the 2006 Australian Census, 63.9% of Australians were listed as Christian. Food: Vegemite, Fish and chips, Bush tucker, macadamia nuts to kangaroo meat, Les Hiddins, known as The Bush Tucker Man, ANZAC biscuits, Pavlova, Penfolds Grange. Fig: Opera House, Statue, Australian Aborigine, the Crocodile Hunter, Sports, Food. Dress: There has no official designated national dress, but iconic local styles include bushwear and surfwear. Festival: New Year's Day, Anzac Day, Anzac Day, Rugby league, rugby union and netball Sports: The sporting successes of Australians at elite levels in such events as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, World Cup competitions in cricket, rugby union, rugby league, field hockey, netball, and major tournaments in tennis, golf, surfing, and other sports are a source of great pride for many people in Australia. Arts: The arts in Australia—film, music, painting, theatre, dance and crafts—have achieved international recognition. While much of Australia's cultural output has traditionally tended to fit with general trends and styles in Western arts, the arts as practiced by indigenous Australians represent a unique Australian cultural tradition. Architecture: Sydney Opera House, Harbour Bridge, Victorian era, Australian Convict Sites, Hyde Park Barracks, Port Arthur , and the Royal Exhibition Building Indigenous music: Aboriginal song was an integral part of Aboriginal culture. The most famous feature of their music is the didgeridoo. Aboriginal musicians have turned their hand to Western popular musical forms, often to considerable commercial success. Pioneers included Lionel Rose, and Jimmy Little, while notable contemporary examples include Archie Roach, the Warumpi Band, NoKTuRNL and Yothu Yindi. Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu (formerly of Yothu Yindi) has attained international success singing contemporary music in English and in the language of the Yolngu. Christine Anu is a successful Torres Strait Islander singer. k. PACIFIC CULTURAL REGION Location: Pacific cultural region includes the islands of Eastern side of Asia & Western side of America. Language: The Pacific region can be divided broadly into three groups: the Australian New Guinean and the Austronesian. Race: Mongoloid race who migrated from the Asian continent around 3,000 B.C. Religion: Consistently reports that in Pacific region found the highest percentage of atheism; many unique Christian communities, Tibetan Buddhism, a small Hindu population and an emerging Muslim population found there. Some people in the area also embrace alternative religion, such as New Age spirituality and Neo-Paganism. Cuisine: Cuisine of the area includes wild salmon, huckleberries, a wide variety of Asian cuisines, and locally-produced fruits, vegetables, and cheeses. Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Italian and Greek cuisines are prevalent throughout the Northwest. Fig: Sports, Statue, Sculpture, Race, Music, Food. Festival: The Just for Laughs Festival, or Festival Juste pour rire, a comedy festival, again highlights Quebec's love of humour. The Jazz Fest is seen on the streets of Montreal, with many street performers and crowds. The Francofolies is a festival celebrating the diversity of francophone music. Sports: Skiing, snowboarding, cycling, mountaineering, hiking, camping, hunting, fishing, boating, and water sports are popular outdoor activities. Vancouver, Seattle, Tacoma, Portland and Spokane are home to numerous professional sports teams Folklore: In terms of folklore, Quebec's French-speaking populace has the second largest body of folktales in Canada; most prominent within Quebec folklore are old parables and tales. Other forms of folklore include superstitions associated with objects, events, and dreams. The Devil at the Dance: The Devil at the Dance is an example in which the Devil was used to reinforce Christian ideals. It is the story of a young couple in love. Arts: Cinema, Circus arts, Theatre, Literature, Comic strips, Dance, Québécois folk sculpture. Agriculture: Agriculture (fruit, potatoes, Tillamook cheese, dairy, wine, vegetables, wheat, Cascade hops, barley, hazelnuts). l. JAPANESE CULTURAL REGION Location: Japanese cultural region remains Japan, North Korea and South korea. Language: Japanese & Korean. Race: Mongoloid race. Religion: Maximum inhabitants are Buddhist. Cuisine: Japanese cuisine is based on combining staple foods, typically Japanese rice or noodles, with a soup and okazu — dishes made from fish, vegetable, tofu and the like – to add flavor to the staple food. In the early modern era ingredients such as red meats that had previously not been. Festival: Hanami celebrations, Momiji, Kongōbu-ji & Kōya fastival. Dress: The Japanese word kimono means "something one wears" and this is their traditional cloth. Japan also has very distinct footwear. Tabi, an ankle high sock, is often worn with the kimono. Sports: Traditionally, sumo is considered Japan's national sport. Japanese martial arts such as judo, karate and kendo are also widely practiced and enjoyed by spectators in the country. They also play Baseball, Football, and Hockey. Arts: Traditional Japanese arts include crafts such as ceramics, textiles, lacquerware, swords and dolls; performances of bunraku, kabuki, noh, dance, and rakugo; and other practices, the tea ceremony, ikebana, martial arts, calligraphy, origami, onsen, Geisha and games. The Great Wave off Kanagawa, one of a series of woodblock prints by Hokusai. Japanese sculpture, largely of wood, and Japanese painting are among the oldest of the Japanese arts, with early figurative paintings dating back to at least 300 BC. Music: Japanese music is eclectic and diverse. Many instruments, such as the koto, were introduced in the 9th and 10th centuries. The accompanied recitative of the Noh drama dates from the 14th century and the popular folk music, with the guitar-like shamisen, from the sixteenth. Fig: Festival, Temple, Dress, Dance, Painting, Food, Statue, Sports. CONCLUSION From the above discussion we can gather knowledge about each cultural region of the world. Usually, not every person in a region belongs to the dominant, or mainstream, culture. Some regions are multicultural. For thousands of years, culture regions have changed and evolved as they have borrowed culture traits from one another. They have also come to depend upon each other economically. REFFERENCE www.wikipedia.com www.wcmc.org.uk http://www.mehrnews www.eco-pros.com.htm http://www.iran-daily.com http://www.ansamed.it/en/oman/news/ME.XEF10980.html