THE CULTURAL EBOOK

168 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

PRESERVING ENDANGERED LANGUAGES:
CELTIC

Learning Outcome 5.4.3

Understand why the number of Celtic speakers
has declined and how the languages are being
preserved.

Some endangered languages are being preserved. None- .A.FIGURE 5-35 WELSH Membersof theWelshlanguageSocietyprotest
theless, linguists expect that hundreds of languages will closureof smallruralschoolst;hesignssay"saveourWelsh-speakinvgillage
become extinct during the twenty-first century and that schools."
only about 300 languages are clearly safe from extinction
because they have sufficient speakers and official govern- IRISH. Irish Gaelic and English are the Republic of
Ireland's two official languages. Irish is spoken by 350,000
ment support. people on a daily basis, and 1.5 million say that they can
The Celtic branch of Inda-European is of particular in- speak it (Figure 5-36). An Irish-language TV station began
broadcasting in 1996. English road signs were banned
terest to English speakers because it was the major lan- from portions of western Ireland in 2005. The revlval is
guage in the British Isles before the Germanic Angles, being led by young Irish living in other countries who
Jutes, and Saxons invaded. Two thousand years ago, Celtic wish to distinguish themselves from the English (in much
languages were spoken in much of present-day Germany, the same way that Canadians traveling abroad often make
France, and northern Italy, as well as in the British Isles. efforts to distinguish themselves from U.S. citizens). Jrish
Today, Celtic languages survive only in remote parts of singers, including many rock groups (although not U2),
Scotland, Wales, and Ireland and on the Brittany penin- have begun to record and perform in Gaelic.

sula of France. In the 1300s, the Irish were forbidden to speak their
The Celtic language branch is divided into Goidelic own language in the presence of their English masters.
By the nineteenth century, Irish children were required
(Gaelic) and Brythonic groups. Two Goidelic languages
survive-Irish Gaelic and Scottish Gaelic. Speakers of Bry-
thonic (also called Cymric or Britannic) fled westward dur-
ing the Germanic invasions to Wales, southwestward to
Cornwall, or southward across the English Channel to
the Brittany peninsula of France. Recent efforts have pre-
vented the disappearance of Celtic languages and others in
Europe. The fate of five Celtic languages is described here,
in order of number of speakers.

WELSH (BRYTHONIC). Wales-the name derived from l' FIGURE 5-36 IRISH Thenameof the pubmeans"the little bridge"in Irish.
the Germanic invaders' word for foreign-was conquered
by the English in 1283. Welsh remained dominant in Wales
until the nineteenth century, when many English speakers
migrated there to work in coal mines and factories. A 2004
survey found 611,000 Welsh speakers in Wales, 22 percent
of the population. In some isolated communities in the
northwest, especially in the county of Gwynedd, two-
thirds speak Welsh.

Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (Welsh Language Society)
has been instrumental in preserving the language. Britain's
1988 Education Act made Welsh language training a com-
pulsory subject in all schools in Wales, and Welsh history
and music have been added to the curriculum. All local
governments and utility companies are now obliged to
provide services in Welsh. Welsh-language road signs have
been posted throughout Wales, and the British Broadcast-
ing Corporation (BBC)produces Welsh-language television
and radio programs (Figure 5-35). Knowledge of Welsh is
now required for many jobs, especially in public service,
media, culture, and sports.

to wear "tally sticks" around their necks at school. The
teacher carved a notch in the stick every day the child used
an Irish word, and at the end of the day meted out punish-
ment based on the number of tallies. Parents encouraged

their children to learn English so that they could compete
for jobs.

Pause and Reflect 5.4.3 . SifC,b
Use Google Translate to type something in English €iLt~J1

and see its translation in Irish and in Welsh. Do Irish lallrnaill

and Welsh appear similar or very different? J

BRETON. In Brittany-like Cornwall, an isolated
peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean-around
250,000 people speak Breton regularly. Breton differs from
the other Celtic languages in that it has more French words
(Figure 5-37).

SCOTTISH. In Scotland 59,000, or 1 percent of the
people, speak Scottish Gaelic (Figure 5-38). An extensive
body of literature exists in Gaelic languages, including
the Robert Burns poem Auld Lang Syne ("old long since"),
the basis for the popular New Year's Eve song. Gaelic was
carried from Ireland to Scotland about 1,500 years ago.

CORNISH. Cornish became extinct in 1777, with ..t.FIGURE5-38 SCOTTISH Thesignoverthe doorsaysthat thisis a florist.
the death of the language's last known native speaker, Eileanlarmainisthe Scottishnameforthe villageof lsleornsayS,cotland
Dolly Pentreath, who lived in Mousehole (pronounced
"muzzle"). Before Pentreath died, an English historian
wrote down as much of her speech as possible so that
future generations could study the Cornish language. One
of her last utterances was later translated as "I will not
speak English ... you ugly, black toad!"

T FIGUR5E-37 BRETONSignforthetownisinFrenchandBretonI.nthe A few hundred people have become fluent in tue for-
backgrounids the world'slargestcollectionosfancientstones,whichwereerected merly extinct Cornish language, which was revived in the
morethan 5,000yearsago bypeoplewhoinhabitedBrittanybeforethe Celts. l 920s. Comish is taught in grade schools and adult eve-
ning courses and is used in some church services. Some
banks accept checks written in Cornish. See the Sustain-
ability and Inequality in Our Global Village box for more
on the revival of Cornish. After years of dispute over how
to spell the revived language, various groups advocating
for the revival of Cornish reached an agreement in 2008
on a standard written version of the language. Because
the language became extinct, it is impossible to know pre-
cisely how to pronounce Cornish words.

The long-term decline of languages such as Celtic pro-
vides an excellent example of the precarious struggle for
survival that many languages experience. Faced with the
diffusion of alternatives used by people with greater po-
litical and economic strength, speakers of Celtic and other
languages must work hard to preserve their linguistic cul-
tural identity.

169

11nm1""'"''""'"

170 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

PRESERVING ABORIGINAL AND MAORI preserve the Maori language. Most notably, Maori has became
IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND one of New Zealand's three official languages, along With
English and sign language. AMaori Language Commission was
English is the most widely used language in Australia and established to preserve the language. Despite official policies,
New Zealand as a result of British colonization during the only 1 percent of New Zealanders are fluent in Maori, most
early nineteenth century. Settlers in Australia and New of whom are over age 50. Preserving the language requires
Zealand established and maintained outposts of British skilled teachers and the willingness to endure inconvenience
culture, including use of the English language. compared to using the world's lingua franca, English.

Though English remains the dominant language of Aus- On the other hand, New Zealand's language require-
tralia and New Zealand, the languages that predate British set- ment for immigrants is more stringent than Australia's: In
tlement survive in both countries. However, the two countries most circumstances, immigrants must already be fluent in
have adopted different policies with regard to preserving in- English, although free English lessons are available to im-
digenous languages. Australia regards English as a tool for pro- migrants for the exceptions. More remote from Asian land-
moting cultural diversity, whereas New Zealand regards lin- masses, New Zealand has attracted fewer Asian immigrants.
guistic diversity as an important element of cultural diversity.
Pause and Reflect 5.4.6
AUSTRALIA. In Australia, 1 percent of the population is Which language policy do you favor, Australia's or
Aboriginal. Many elements of Aboriginal culture are now New Zealand's? Why?
being preserved. But educatlon is oriented toward teaching
English rather than maintaining local languages. English PRESERVING OCCITAN IN FRANCE
is the language of instruction throughout Australia, and
others are relegated to the status of second language. The most important linguistic difference within France is
between the north and the south (refer to Figure 5-13). In
An essential element in maintaining British culture the north, the most commonly spoken language is what
was restriction of immigration from non-English-speaking is now known as French. The standard form of French de-
places during the nineteenth and early twentieth centu- rives from Francien, which was once a dialect of the lle-de-
ries. Fear of immigration was especially strong in Australia France region of the country.
because of its proximity to other Asian countries. Under a
"White Australia" policy, every prospective immigrant was Francien became the standard form of French because
required to write 50 words of a European language dictated the region included Paris, which became the capital and
by an immigration officer. The dictati.on test was not elim- largest city of France. Francien French became the coun-
inated until 1957. The Australian government now merely try's official language in the sixteenth century, and local
requires that immigrants learn English. dialects tended to disappear as a result of the capital's long-
time dominance over French political, economic, and so-
NEW ZEALAND. In New Zealand, more than 10 percent of cial life.
the population is Maori, descendents of Polynesian people
who migrated there around 1,000 years ago (Figure 5-39). In Occitan is spoken by about 2 million people in southern
contrast with Australia, New Zealand has adopted policies to France and adjacent countries. The name derives from the
French region of Aquitaine, which in French has a similar

.A.FIGURE5.39 MAORI LANGUAGE, NEW ZEALAND Thesign,inMaori,isthe nameofthisplace,andis said
to be the world'ssecond-longesptlacename,at 85 lettersT. heMaoritranslatesas "thesummitwhereTamateat,he
manwiththebigknees,theclimberofmountainst,he land-swallowewrhotravelledabout,playedhisnosefluteto
hislovedone."

Chapter S: Languages 171

SUSTAINABILITAYND INEQUALITYIN OURGLOBALVILLAGE

PreservingLesser-UsedLanguages

The sustainability of any language Welcome to
depends on the political and military
strength of its speakers. The Celtic CORNWALL
languages declined because the Celts
lost most of the territory they once KERNOW
controlled to speakers of other lan-
guages. Most remaining Celtic speak- 'gas dynergh
ers also know the language of their
English or French conquerors. ,A.FIGURE5-40 CORNISHSignfor the townis in EnglishandCornishT. he
literalEnglishtranslationof the Cornishversionis "Cornwallwelcomesyou."
ln 1982, the European Union
established the European Bureau The European Union cut off fund- faith Gymmeg are expected to carry
for Lesser Used Languages (EBLUL), ing for EBLULin 2010, and the office the responsibility of preserving lesser-
based in Dublin, Ireland, to provide was closed. Local individually based
financial support for the preserva- organizations such as Cymdeithns yr used languages.
tion of several dozen indigenous,
regional, and minority languages
spoken by 46 million Europeans.
The Celtic languages received a
lot of attention from EBLUL; for
example, in 2002, EBLUL granted
Cornish official status within the
European Union (Figure 5-40).

pronunciation to Occitan. Numerous dialects of Occitan curriculum established by the national ministry of educa- /
are spoken, including Auvergnat, Gascon, and Provenr;:al tion. Still, many people living in southern France want to
see more efforts by the government of France to encourage
French dialects of northern France are sometimes the use of Occitan (Figure 5-41).
known by the French phrases langue d'oi'I and the southern
as langue d'oc. It is worth exploring these terms, for they 4 FIGURE5-41 PROVENCALPeopledemonstratein BeaucaireF.rancef.or
provide insight into how languages evolve. These names the preservationof the Provencallanguagelangue d'oc.
derive from different ways in which the
word for "yes" was said. One Roman term
for "yes" was hoc illud est, meaning "that
is so." In the south, the phrase was short-
ened to hoc, or oc, because the /h/ sound
was generally dropped, just as we drop it
on the word honor today. Northerners
shortened the phrase to o-il after the first
sound in the first two words of the phrase,
again with the initial /h/ suppressed. If
the two syllables of o-il are spoken very
rapidly, they are combined into a sound
like the English word wheel. Eventually,
the final consonant was eliminated, as
in many French words, giving a sound
for "yes" like the English we, spelled in
French ouL

The French government has estab-
lished bilingual elementary and high
schools called calandretas in the Occitan region. These
schools teach both French and Occitan, according ttl a

172 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

~6- ... .-.---------------------------- ENGLISH: AN EXAMPLE OF A LINGUA

Global Dominance of English FRANCA

Learning Outcome 5.4.4 A language of International communication, such as Eng-
lish, is known as a lingua franca. To facilitate trade, speak-
Understand the concept of a lingua franca. ers of two different languages create a lingua franca by mix-
ing elements of the two languages into a simple common
One of the most fundamental needs in a global society is language. The term, which means languageof the Franks,
a common language for communication. Increasingly in was originally applied by Arab traders during the Middle
the modern world, the language of international commu- Ages to describe the language they used to communicate
nication is English. A Polish airline pilot who flies over with Europeans, whom they called Franks.
Spain speaks to the traffic controller on the ground in
English. Swiss bankers speak a dialect of German among People in smaller countries need to learn English to
themselves, but with German bankers they prefer to speak participate more fully in the global economy and culture.
English rather than German. English is the official lan- All children learn English in the schools of countries such
guage at an aircraft factory in France and an appliance as the Netherlands and Sweden to facilitate international
company in Italy. communication. This may seem culturally unfair, but ob-
viously it is more likely that several million Dutch people
The dominance of English as an international language will learn English than that a half-billion English speakers
has facilitated the diffusion of popular culture and science around the world will learn Dutch.
and the growth of international trade. However, people
who forsake their native language must weigh the benefits The rapid growth in importance of English is reflected
of using English against the cost of losing a fundamental in the percentage of students learning English as a sec-
element of local cultural identity. ond language in school. More than 90 percent of students
in the European Union learn English in middle or high
English is the first language of 328 million people and school, not just in smaller countries such as Denmark and
is spoken fluently by another estimated 1/z to 1 billion the Netherlands but also in populous countries such as
people (Figure 5-42). English is an official language in France, Germany, and Spain. The Japanese government,
57 countries, more than any other language, and is the having determined that fluency in English is mandatory
predominant language in 2 more (Australia and the United in a global economy, has even considered adding English
States). Two billion people-one-third of the world-live as a second official language.
in a country where English is an official language, even if
they cannot speak it (Figure 5-43). Foreign students increasingly seek admission to uni-
versities in countries that teach in English rather than in 1

80' -

140'

English-speaking 60' 80' 100' 120' 1'0' 160" 180'
countries

Otticiallanguage
Defactolanguage

100' GO' 21J' O' 'lJ1' 40'

.._FIGURE 5-42 ENGLISH-SPEAKING COUNTRIES Englishis an officiallanguagein 56countriesE. nglishis
alsothe predominanltanguagein the UnitedKingdomU, nitedStatesa, ndAustralia,althoughthesecountrieshave
declaredit to bethe officiallanguage.

--u J .... Chapter 5: Languages 173

!ACI ""' tJ :p,,.-.T!fl,(YVI! some elements of their own languages. A pidgin language
t: has no native speakers; it is always spoken in addition to
one's native language.
Iy . Other than English, modern lingua franca languages
mclude Swahili in E.astAfrica, Hindi in South Asia, Indo-
0 nesian in Southeast Asia, and Russian in the former Soviet
Union. A number of African and Asian countries that be-
A FIGURE5-43 TEACHINGENGLISHEnglishis widelytaughtaroundthe came independent in the twentieth century adopted Eng-
world,includingthis schoolin China. lish or Swahili as an official language for government busi-
ness, as well as for commerce, even if the majority of the
German, French, or Russian. Students around the world people couldn't speak it.
want to learn in English because they believe it is the most
effective way to work in the global economy and partici- In view of the global dominance of English, many U.S.
pate in the global culture. citizens do not recognize the importance of learning other
languages. One of the best ways to learn about the beliefs,
A group that learns English or another lingua franca traits, and values of people living in other regions is to
may learn a simplified form, called a pidgin language. learn their language. The lack of effort by Americans to
To communicate with speakers of another language, two learn other languages is a source of resentment among
groups construct a pidgin language by learning a few of people elsewhere in the world, especially when Americans
the grammar rules and words of a lingua franca, mixing in visit or work in other countries. The inability to speak
other languages is also a handicap for Americans who try
to conduct international business. Successful entry into
new overseas markets requires knowledge of local culture,
and officials who can speak the local language are better
able to obtain important information. Japanese businesses
that wish to expand in the United States send English-
speaking officials, but American businesses that wish to
sell products to the Japanese are rarely able to send a
Japanese-speaking employee.

CONTEMPORARGY EOGRAPHICTOOLS

The Deathof Englishas a LinguaFranca?

English wiU disappear as a lingua A FIGURE 5-44 UK CENSUS FORM IN WELSH Whatisbeingaskedin
franca, claims Nicholas Ostler, who questions18and 19?
heads the United Kingdom'~ Founda-
tion for Endangered Languages, and
no other language will replace it. Ad-
vances in technology enable people
to continue speaking their native lan-
guage while using the computer and
speech recognition devices to trans-
late between it and English.

Figme 5-44 is an excerpt from the
Welsh language version of the 2011
UK census form. 'What are questions
18 and 19 asking? Use an online trans-
lation service, such as Google transla-
tor, at http://translate.google.com. Set
the left box for Welsh and the right
box for English, and type the Welsh
from the census form into the left box.

1 ,11111mn
•,

174 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

EXPANSION DIFFUSION OF ENGLISH an effective way to teach African Americans who otherwise
perform poorly in school.

Learning Outcome 5.4.5 Pause and Reflect 5.4.5
Understand how English has diffused to other Should AAVE be taught in schools? Why or why not?

languages. APPALACHIAN ENGLISH. Natives of Appalachian com-
munities, such as in rural West Virginia, also have a dis-
In the past, a lingua franca achieved widespread distribu-
tion through migration and conquest. Two thousand years tinctive dialect, pronouncing hollowas "holler" and creek
ago, use of Latin spread through Europe along with the
Roman Empire. In recent centuries, use of English spread as "crick." Distinctive grammatical practices include the
around the world primarily through the British Empire. use of the double negative as in Ebonics and adding "a" in

In contrast, the recent growth in the use of English is front of verbs ending in "ing," such as a-sitting.
an example of expansion diffusion, the spread of a trait
through the snowballing effect of an idea rather than As with Ebonics, speaking an Appalachian dialect pro-
through the relocation of people. Expansion diffusion has duces both pride and problems. An Appalachian dialect is
occurred in two ways with English: a source of regional identity but has long been regarded
by other Americans as a sign of poor education and an
1. English is changing through diffusion of new vocabu- obstacle to obtaining employment in other regions of the
lary, speUing, and pronunciation. United States. Some Appalachian residents are "bi.dialec-
tic": They speak ''standard" English outside Appalachia
2. English words are fusing with other languages. and slip back into their regional dialect at home.

For a language to remain vibrant, new words and usage DIFFUSION TO OTHER LANGUAGES

must be coined to deal with new situations. Unlike most English words have become increasingly integrated into
examples of expansion diffusion, recent changes in Eng- other languages. Many French speakers regard the inva-
lish have percolated up from common usage and ethnic sion of English words with alarm, but Spanish speakers
dialects rather than being directed down to the masses by may find the mixing of the two languages stimulating.
elite people. Examples include dialects spoken by African

Americans and residents of Appalachia. FRANGLAIS. Traditionally, language has been an

AFRICAN AMERICAN ENGLISH. Some African Americans especially important source of national pride and identity

speak a dialect of English heavily influenced by the group's in France. The French are 1particularly upset with the

distinctive heritage of forced migration from Africa during increasing worldwide domination of English, especially
the eighteenth century to be slaves in the southern the invasion of their language by English words and the

colonies. African American slaves preserved a distinctive substitution of English for French as the most important

dialect in part to communicate in a code not understood language of international communications.

by their white masters. Black dialect words such as gumbo French is an official language in 29 countries and for

and jazz have long since diffused into the standard English hundreds of years served as the lingua franca for inter-

language. national diplomats. Many French are upset that English

In the twentieth century, many African Americans mi- words such as cowboy,hamburger,jeans, and T-shirtwere

I grated from the South to the large cities in the Northeast allowed to diffuse into the French language and destroy
If and Midwest (see Chapter 7). Living in racially segregated the language's purity. The widespread use of English in the

neighborhoods within northern cities and attending seg- French language is called Franglais, a combination of fran-
regated schools, many African Americans preserved their rais and anglais,the French words for Frenchand English.

distinctive dialect. That dialect has been termed African (Figure 5-45)

American Vernacular English (AAVE).Since 1996, the term Since 1635, the French Academy has been the supreme

Ebonics, a combination of ebony and phonics, has some- arbiter of the French language. In modern times, it has

times been used as a synonym for AAVE. promoted the use of French terms in France, such as sta-

The American Speech, Language and Hearing Associa- tionnementrather than parking,fin du semainerather than le
tion classifies AAVEas a distinct dialect, with a recognized weekend,logicierlather than softwarea, nd arrosagreather than
vocabulary, grammar, and word meaning. Among the dis- spam. France's highest court, however, ruled in 1994 that

tinctive elements of Ebonics are the use of double negatives, most of the country's laws banning Franglais were illegal.

such as "I ain't going there no more," and such sentences as SPANGLISH. English is diffusing into the Spanish
"She be at home" instead of "She is usually at home." language spoken by 34 million Hispanics in the United
States to create Spanglish, a combination of Spanish and
Use of AAVEis controversial within the African American English (Figure 5-46). In Miami's large Cuban American
community. On one hand, some regard it as substandard, community, Spanglish is sometimes called Cubonics, a
a measure of poor education, and an obstacle to success in combination of Cuban and phonetics.
the United States. Others see AAVEas a means for preserv-
ing a distinctive element of African American culture and

Chapter 5: Languages 175

derived from the English text, and is Jess awkward than the

Spanish mandar un rnensajito;i-meillaris a verb that means

"to e-mail someone." Spanglish also mixes English and

Spanish words in the same phrase. For example, a maga-

zine article is titled "When he says me voy . .. what does he

really mean?" (me voy means "I'm leaving").

Spanglish has become especially widespread in popu-

lar culture, such as song lyrics, television, and magazines

aimed at young Hispanic women, but it has also been ad-

opted by writers of serious literature. Inevitably, critics

charge that Spanglish is a substitute for rigorously learning

.l FIGURE5-45 FRANGLAISA restauranat wningmixesFrench(dejeuner, the rules of standard English and Spanish. And Spanglish
has not been promoted for use in schools, as has Ebonics.
salades, andpates), English(burgers andbagels), andfranglais(club Rather than a threat to existing languages, Spanglish is
generally regarded as enriching both English and Spanish
sandwichs).

As with Franglais, Spanglish involves converting Eng- by adopting the best elements of each-English's ability to
lish words to Spanish forms. Some of the changes modify invent new words and Spanish's ability to convey nuances
the spelling of English words to conform to Spanish pref- of emotion. Many Hispanic Americans like being able to
erences and pronunciations, such as dropping final conso- say Hablo un mix de los dos languages.

nants and replacing v with b. For example, shorts (pants) DENGLISH. The diffusion of English words into German
becomes chores, and vacuum cleaner becomes bacuncliner. is called Denglish, with the "D" for Deutsch, the German
In other cases, awkward Spanish words or phrases are word for German (Figure 5-47). In Germany, airlines, car
dropped in favor of English words. For example, parquin is
used rather than estacionamientofor "parking," and taipear dealers, and telephone companies use English slogans
is used instead of escribira maquina for "to type." in advertising. For many Germans, wishing someone
"happy birthday" sounds more melodic than the German
Spanglish is a richer integration of English with Spanish HerzlichenGliickwunschwm Geburtstag.
than the mere borrowing of English words. New words have
been invented in Spanglish that do not exist in English but The German telephone company Deutsche Telekom
would be useful if they did. For example, textear is a verb uses the German word Deutschlaridverbind11ngefnor "long
distance" and the Denglish word Cityverbindungen for

,. FIGURES-46 SPANGLISHA restauranitn SantaAna,Californiam, ixes "local" (rather than the German word Ortsverbinrl11n-
gen). The telephone company originally wanted to use
SpanishandEnglis,h.....------~--------, the English "German calls" and "city calls" to describe its

long-distance and local services, but the Institute for the

German Language, which defines rules for the use of

~~,~;r\\oJ1rosGerman, protested, so Deutsche Telekom compromised
with one German word and one Denglish word.
English has diffused into other languages as well. The
Japanese, for example, refer to beisboru ("baseball"), naifu
("knife"), and s11toroberkieki ("strawberry cake").

EXICAFNOOD ,, FIGURES-47 DENGLISHAn adfor a radiostationin Berlin,Germany,
mixesGermanandEnglish.

ENUDOPOZOLE::
FOODTO GO

176 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

"1- ••• --------------------------- time, the increasing use of other languages in the United
States is a reminder of the importance that groups place on
SPANISH AND FRENCH IN THE UNITED preserving cultural identity and the central role that Ian.
STATES AND CANADA guage plays in maintaining that identity.

learning Outcome 5.4.6 In reaction against the increasing use of Spanish in the
Understand the role of Spanish and Frenchin North United States, 30 states and a number of localities have
America. laws making English the official language. (Hawaii has two
official languages, English and Hawaiian, which is in the
North America is dominated by English speakers. However, Austronesian language family.) Some courts have judged
other languages, especially French in Canada and Spanish these laws to be unconstitutional restrictions on free speech.
in the United States, are becoming increasingly prominent.
The ms.Congress has debated enacting similar legislation.
SPANISH-SPEAKING UNITED STATES. Linguistic unity
is an apparent feature of the United States, a nation of For a state such as Montana, the law is symbolic, because
immigrants who learn English to become Americans. it has few non-English speakers. But for states such as
However, the diversity of languages in the United States is California and Florida, with large Hispanic populations, the
greater than it first appears. In 2008, a language other than debate affects access to jobs, education, and social services.
English was spoken at home by 56 million Americans over
age 5, 20 percent of the population. Spanish was spoken FRENCH-SPEAKING CANADA. French is one of
at home by 35 million people in the United States. More Canada's two official languages, along with English. French
than 2 million spoke Chinese; at least 1 million each spoke speakers comprise one-fourth of the country's population.
French, German, Korean, Tagalog, and Vietnamese. Most French-speaking Canadians are clustered in Quebec,
where they account for more than three-fourths of the
Spanjsh has become an increasingly important lan- province's speakers (Figure 5-49). Colonized by the French
guage in recent years because of large-scale immigration in the seventeenth century, Quebec was captured by the
from Latin America. In some communities, public notices, British in 1763, and in 1867 it became one of the provinces
government documents, and advertisements are printed in the Confederation of Canada.
in Spanish. Several hundred Spanish-language newspapers
and radio and television stations operate in the United Until recently, Quebec was one of Canada's poorest and
States, especially in southern Florida, the Southwest, and least-developed provinces. Its economic and political ac-
large northern cities, where most of the 35 million Spanish- tivities were dominated by an English-speaking minority,
speaking people live (Figure 5-48). and the province suffered from cultural isolation and lack

Promoting the use of English symbolizes that language of French-speaking leaders.
is the chief cultural bond in the United States in an other- When French President Charles de Gaulle visited Quebec
wise heterogeneous society. With the growing dominance
of the English language in the global economy and cul- in 1967, he encouraged the development of an independent
ture, knowledge of English is important for people around Quebec by shouting in his speech, "Vive le Quebec /ibre!"
the world, not just inside the United States. At the same ("Long live free Quebec!") Voters in Quebec have thus far
rejected separation from Canada, but by a slim majority.

Percenot fpopulatiotnhat Percent
speakSpanishat home Frenchspeakers

- above15.0 5.1-9.0 -88-100
.9.1-15.0 1.0-5.0 -63.4-87.9

• FIGURE5-48 SPANISHSPEAKERSIN THE UNITED STATESThelargest 25.1-63.3
percentagesofSpanishspeakersare inthe Southwesat nd inFlorida. 5.1-25
0-5
sparsely
lnhabi1ed

• FIGURE5.49 CANADA'S FRENCH-ENGLISH LANGUAGE BOUNDARY

Frenchisthe firstlanguageof 81percentlivinginthe provinceofQuebecand8
percentofCanadianslivingelsewhereinthe country.

Chapter 5: Languages 177

The Quebec government has made the use of 2.0,---

French mandatory in many daily activities. Quebec's ui' 1.8 Chinese French

Commission de Toponymie has renamed towns, ,Cg: 1.6 • Japanese • German
rivers, and mountains that have names with Eng- - Korean • Spanish
lish-language origins. French must be the predomi- 8.1.4 • Arabic English
Russian 01her
C: • Portuguese
-...~.. 1.2
nant language on all commercial signs, and the leg-
islature passed a law banning non-French outdoor '3 1.0

Q,

signs altogether. (However, the Canadian Supreme 8.o.s-

Court ruled this legislation unconstitutional.) 4>
Confrontation during the 1970s and 1980s has
~ 0.6
been replaced in Quebec by increased cooperation
C:

0 0.4-

between French and English speakers. The neighbor- 0.2

hoods of Montreal, Quebec's largest city, were once ~9~9~6---=1~99~s=--2~0~0-o--2·00-2--2-oro_4__ 20~0-6--2~0~08--2~010
highly segregated between French-speaking residents
on the east and English-speaking residents on the west, A FIGURE 5-50 LANGUAGES OF ONLINE SPEAKERS Englishremainsthe most
but in recent years they have become more linguisti- widelyusedlanguageonthe Internet,but Chineseisgrowingmorerapidly.

cally mixed. One-third of Quebec's native English The U.S.-based Internet Corporation for Assigned Names
speakers have married French speakers in recent years. Chil- and Numbers {ICAr--lNh) as been responsible for assigning
dren of English speakers are increasingly likely to be bilingual. domain names and for the suffixes following the dot, such
as "com" and "edu." Domain names in the rest of the world
Although French dominates over English, Quebec faces include a two-letter suffix for the country, such as "fr" for
a fresh challenge of integrating a large number of immi- France and "jp" for Japan, whereas U.S.-based domain
grants from Europe, Asia, and Latin America who don't names don't need the suffix. Reflecting the globalization of
speak French. Many immigrants would prefer to use Eng- the languages of the Internet, ICANN agreed in 2009 to per-
lish rather than French as their lingua franca but are pro- mit domain names in characters other than Latin. Arabic,
hibited from doing so by the Quebec government. Even Chinese, and other characters may now be used.
immigrants who learn to speak French charge that they
face discrimination because of their accents. U.S.-based companies provide the principal search en-

ENGLISH ON THE INTERNET gines for Internet users everywhere. U.S.-based Google was
used for 83 percent of all searches worldwide in 201 l.. Google,

The emergence of the Internet as an important means of which offers search engines in languages other than English,
communication has further strengthened the dominance of was heavily criticized when its Mandarin-language Google.
English. Because a majority of the material on the Internet is en was designed to block web sites that China's government
in English, knowledge of English is essential for Internet users deemed unsuitable. A distant second was another U.S.-based
around the world. English was the dominant language of the company, Yahoo!, with 6 percent. A Chinese-language ser-
Internet during the l 990s. In 1998, 71 percent of people on- vice Baidu was in third place in 2011, at 5 percent worldwide.

line were using English (Figure 5-50). The early dominance Pause and Reflect 5.4.4
of English on the Internet was partly a reflection of the fact

that the most populous English-speaking country, the United Go to the home page of Google in a language other

States, had a head start on the rest of the world in making the than English. How similar or different does it appear

Internet available to most of its citizens (refer to Figure 4-32). from the familiar English version?

English continued as the leading Internet language in

the first years of the twenty-first century, but it was far CHECK-IN:KEY ISSUE4
less dominant. The percentage of English-language online

users declined from 46 percent in 2000 to 27 percent in Why Do People Preserve Local
2010. Chinese (Mandarin) language online users increased
from 2 percent of the world total in 1998 to 22 percent in Languages?

2010, and Mandarin will probably replace English as the ✓ Some countries peacefully embrace multiple
most-frequently used online language before 2020. languages.

English may be less dominant as the language of the In- ✓ Some languages survive in isolation from
ternet in the twenty-first century. But the United States- others, while some languages become extinct.
and with it the English language-remains the Internet

leader in key respects. The United States created the English- ✓ Some endangered languages are being
language nomenclature for the Internet that the rest of the preserved.
~orld has followed. The designation "www," which Eng-
lish speakers recognize as an abbreviation of "World Wide ✓ English has increasingly become the world's
Web," is awkward in other languages, most of which do most important lingua franca, but Mandarin is
not have an equivalent sound to the English w. In French, catching up.

for example, w is pronounced "doo-blah-vay."

ltlffnftmm, ~1111111

178 THE CULTURAL LANDSC~~E

Summary and Review KEY ISSUE2

1KEY ISSUE Why Is English Related To Other Languages?

Where Are languages Distributed? English is in the Germanic branch of the lndo-European language
family. Nearly one-half of huma[.lS c:::urrentlyspeak a language in
Languages can be classified as belonging to particular families.
Some families are divided into branches and groups. the lndo-European family. All lndo-twopean languages can be

LEARNING OUTCOME5.1.1 Name the largest language families. traced to a common ancestor.
• The two largest language families are Indo-Ruropean and
Sino-Tibetan. LEARNINGOUTCOME5.2.1: Learn the distributl'on of the Ger-
manic and Inda-Iranian branches of lndo-European.
LEARNINGOUTCOME5.1.2: Identify the names and distribution
of the two largest language families. • Th~ four largest branches of Indo-European are lndo-1ranian,
Romance, Ger.manic, and Saito-Slavic.
• Inda-European is tpe predominant language family of Europe,
Latin America, North America, South Asia, and South Pacific. LEARNINGOUTCOME5.2.2: Learn the distribution of the Balto-
Sino-Tibetan is the predominant language family of East Asia. Slavic and Romance branches of Indo-European.

LEARNING OUTCOME5,1.3: Identify the names and distribution • Batto-Slavic predominates in Eastern Europe, Romance In
of the large~t language families in additi0n to lndo-European and Southern Europe and Latin America, Germanic in Northern
Sino-Tibetan. Europe and North America, and lndo-Iranian in South Asia
and Central Asia.
• In addition to lndo-European and Sino-Tibetan, most of the
world's remaining major language families are centered in Asia. LEARNINGOUTCOME5.2.3: Understand the origin and diffusion
of English.
THINKING GEOGRAPHICALLY5.1: What features of the Sino-Ti-
betan family make it especially difficult to learn to speak and to • English is a Germanic branch language because German-
write the lan1,ruages? speaking tribe-s invaded England more than 1,500 years ago.
Romance branch wotds entered English after French-speak-
GOOGLEEARTH5.1: Asakusa Shin-Nakamise is a shopping area in ing Normans invaded England nearly 1,000 years ago.
Tokyo. What are examples of English-language slgrts in the area?
LEARNINGOUTCOME5.2.4: Understand the two theories of the
origin and diffusion of Inda-European.

• Indo-European originated before recorded history; two com-

peting theories disagree on whether origin and diffusion oc-

curred primarily because of conquest or agriculture.

THINKING GEOGRAPHICALLY5.2: Should the United States make
English the official language? Why or why not? Should more
than one language be made official? If so, which ones?

GOOGLE EARTH 5.2: Fly to Kut11luk, Russia, near the northern
shore of the Caspian Sea and switch to ground-level view. Does
the ancient homeland of the Kurgan warriors appear flat or
mountainous? Grasslands or forests?

Key Terms Language branch (p. 143) A collt!clionof language~related through a
common ancestor that existed several thousand yearsago. Differencesare
Creole, or creolized language (p. l 63) A lJngL1agethat result~from not as extensive or as old as with language families.and archaeological
the mixing of a colonizer's language with the indigenous language of evidence can confirm that the branches derived from the sam.: family.
the people being uominated.
Language family (p. 143) A collection of languages related to each
Denglish (p. 175) A cornbina1ion of German and English. other through a common ancestor long before recorded history.

Dialect (p. 158) A regional variety of a language distinguished by vo- Language group (p. 143) A collection of languages within a branch
cabulary, spelling. and pronundation. Lhatshare a common origin in the relative!)•recent past and di)play
relatively few differences in grammar and vocabulary.
Ebonics (p. 17'1)/\ dialect spoken by ,ome African Americans.
Lingua franca (p. 172) A language mutually undc.rstood and com•
Extinct language (p 166) A language that was once used by people in manly used in trade by people who have differenl native languages.
daily activities hut is no longer used.
Literary t.radHion (p. 1-13)A language that is written as well as
Franglais (p. 174) A term used by the ~rcnch for English words that spoken.
have entered the French language; a combination of (r11111,:aamisl a11-
glai~, the French words for French and Ellgli.lh. respectively. Logogram ,p. 146) A symbol that represents a word rather than a
lsogloss (p. 158) A boundary that separates regions in which different
language usages predominate. sound.
Isolated language (p. 166) A language that is unrelated 10 any other
languages and therefore not attached to any language family.

Language (p. 1-13)A system of communication through the u~eof
speech, a collection of sound~ understood by a group of people to have
the same meaning.

Chapter 5: Languages 179

KEY ISSUE3 KEY ISSUE4 ___ _j

V'v y Do Individual Languages Vary Among Places? Why Do People Preserve Local Languages?

A dialect ls a regional variation of a language. English has become the most important language for international
communication in culture and business.
LEARNINGOUTCOME5.3.1: Describe the main dialects in the
United States. LEARNING OUTCOME5.4.1: Understand how several countries
peacefully embrace more than one language.
• L.S. English Is divided into four main dialects. Differences
can be traced to patterns of migration to the American colo- • Switzerland, Belgium, and Nigeria have varying approaches
nies from various parts of England. to multilingual societies.

LEARNINGOUTCOME5.3.2: Understand the main ways that Brit- LEARNINGOUTCOME5.4.2: Understand what is meant by an Iso-
ish and U.S. English dialects vary lated language and an extinct language.

British and American dialects vary by vocabulary, spelling, • Thousands of languages once in use are now extinct. Some
and pronunciation. isolated languages survive that are unrelated to any other.

LEARNINGOUTCOME5.3.3: Understand why it is sometimes dif- LEARNINGOUTCOME5.4.3: Understand why the number of Celtic
ficult to distinguish between a language and a dialect. speakers has declined and how the languages are being preserved.

The distinction is often based on political decisions rather • Celtic languages are being preserved through the efforts of
than tne actual characteristics of the languages or dialects. advocacy groups and government agencies.

THINKING GEOGRAPHICALLY5.3: Based on a comparison of Fig- LEARNINGOUTCOME5.4.4: Understand the concept of a lingua
ure 5-23 center and right, which dialects are forecast to expand, franca.
and which are expected to contract by 2030? What geographic
factor would account for this changing distribution? • Alingua franca is a language of international communication.

GOOGLEEARTH5.3: Circus,such as Piccadilly Circus in London, • English is currently the world's most widely used lingua franca.
is an example of a British word that differs from American usage.
LEARNINGOUTCOME5.4.5: Understand how Engllsh has diffused
The name Piccadillycan be traced to a house by that name built to other languages.
around 1612 by Robert Baker, a tailor who had a shop that sold
stiff collars known as piccadills.Based on the feature visible here • English is being combined with other languages, such as
in the middle of Piccadilly Circus what would be the American French and Spanish.
equivalent of a cirrns?
LEARNINGOUTCOME5.4.6: Understand the role of Spanish and
French in North America.

• French is widely used in Canada, especially in Quebec. Spanish
is widely used in the United States.

THINKING GEOGRAPHICALLY5.4: Because of Quebec's French lan-
guage and culture, some in the province have advocated Quebec's
separating from Canada and becoming an independent nation.
Is a monolingual nation preferable to a bilingual one? State your
argument for or against Quebec's independence.

GOOGLEEARTH5.4: Fly to 47 Mostyn St, Llandudno, Wales. In
what language are most of the shop signs? In what language are
most of the street signs and the sign in front of the church?

Official language (p. 143) ·1he language adopted for u~e by the MasteringGeographyTM
go\'ernment for U1crnnduct of busine,s and publication or documenh.
Looking for additional review and test prep materials?
Pidgin language Ip 173) A form of ~peech that ,11.loptsa simplified Visit the Study Area in MasteringGeography™ to
gra □1111M and limited vocabulary of <1l111guafrnnca; used for commu- enhance your geographic literacy, spatial reasoning
nications among spt:akers ol two different languJg~s. skills, and understanding of this chapter's content by
accessing a variety of resources, including MapMaster'M
Received Pronunciation (Rl'l (p. 160! rhe dialect of English assod- interactive maps, videos, RSS feeds, flashcards, web
ated with uppc:r-d,1ss Britons living in l nndon ,111dnow considered links, self-study quizzes, and an eText version of
,tandJrli In the United Kingdom. The Cultural Landscape.
www.masteringgeography.com
Spanghsh ,p. 174) A combination of SpJnish dnd English ~poken br
Hispanic Americam.

\tandard language (p. 1601 I he form of a language used for offlcial
11overnment business. education. and mass communications.
Vulgar Latin (p. I 55) A form of Latin U1ed in daily c-onvcrsallon by
ancient Romans, as oppmed to the stand;ud diali.:d, which was usect
tor oflldal documents.

--...... Chapter

Religions

Why are all of these clothed people standing in the Ganges Whyis this rock important to many religions?Page 221
River?Page 204

l KEY ISSUE 2

11 Why Do Religions
Have Different
KEYISSUE 1 Distributions?

Where Are
Religions
Distributed?

A World of Religions p. 183 Origin and Diffusion p. 192

Onlya few religionscan claimthe adherence of large numbers Somereligionshave known originsand diffusion,and some are
of people. shrouded in mystery.

180

.A.The Dalai Lama,the spiritual leader of Tibetan
Buddhists,is as important to that religion ijS the
Popeis to RomanCatholicsT. heDalaiLamahas be-
comean articulate spokespersonfor retigiousfree-
dom,and in 1989he was awarded the world'smost
prestigious award for peace, the Nobel Prize.De-
. spite the efforts of the DalaiLamaand olher Bud-
dhists, though, when the current generation of
priests dies,many Buddhisttraditions in Tibetmay
he lost forever.

3llt_:y ISSUE KEY ISSUE4

Why Do Religions Why Do Territorial
Organize Space Conflicts Arise
in Distinctive Among Religious
Patterns? Groups?

Religions in the Environment Warring Religions p. 212
p.200
Followersof one religion often clash with followers of other
Religionsleave their mark on the landscape in manyways. religions,or with nonreligiousinstitutions.

181

~MIHIHIHffllMf HHH"II

Introducing • People care deeply about their religion and draw from
religion their core values and beliefs, an essential ele-
Religions ment of the definition of culture (Figure 6-1).

Religion interests geographers because it is • Some religions are actually designed to appeal lo people
essential for understanding how humans oc- throughout the world, whereas other religions are de-
cupy Earth. As always, human geographers signed to appeal primarily to people in geographically
start by asking "where?" and "why?"
limited areas.
Geographers document the places where various religions
are located in the world and offer explanations for why • Religious values are important in understanding not
some religions have widespread distributions and others only how people identify themselves, as was the case
(Ire highly clustered in particular places. The predomi- with language, bul also the meaningful ways they orga-
nant religion varies among regions of the world, as well as
among regions within North America. nize the landscape.

To understand why some religions occupy more space • Most (though not all) religions require exclusive ad-
than others, geographers must look at differences among herence, so adopting a global religion usually requires
practices of various faiths. Geographers, though, are not turning away from a traditional local religion. ln con-
theologians, so they stay focused on the elements of re- trast, people can learn a globally important language
ligions thal are geographically significant. Geographers such as English and at the same time still speak the lan-
study spatial connections in religion:
• The dlstinctive place of origin of religions guage of their local culture.
• The extent of diffusion of religions from their places of
• As with language, migranls take their religion with
origin them to new locations, but although migrants typi-
• The processes by which religions diffused to other cally learn the language of the new location, they re-
tain their religion.
locations
• The religious practices and beliefs that lead some re- This chapter starts by describing the distribution of
major religions, and then the second section explains why
ligions to have more widespread distributions than some religions have diJfused widely and others have not
others As a major facet of culture, religion leaves a strong imprint
Geographers find the tension in scale between global- on the physical environment, discllssed in the third sec-
ization and local diversity especially acute in religion for a
number of reasons: tion of the chapter.
Religion, like other cultural characteristics, can be a

source of pride and a means of identification with a di,timl
culture. Unfortunately, intense identification with one reli-
gion can lead adherents into conflict with followers of other
religions, as discussed in the fourth key issue of the chapter.

1• KEY ISSUE describes wl,ere religions are distributed.

fhe major world religions show patterns of globaliza-
tion and local diversity. Some religions are distribLtted
throughout the world, and in fact explicitly wish to be
so distributed. Other religions are highly clustered and
reflect diverse local culhiral and physical conditions.
Similarly, the distcibution of religions varies within re-
gions, such as Europe and North America.

• 2KEY ISSUE explains wily religions have varying dis-

tributions. Some religions have well documented places
of origin of origin and processes of diffusion to other re-
gions. Other religions have unknown origins and lirn·

ited diffusion.

• 3KEY ISSUE 1.liscusses distinctive patterns that reli-

gions have placed on the landscape. Religions have
constructed places of worship and derive distinctive
meaning from the physical landscape.

.AFIGURE6-1 MANY FAITHS AnnuaTl hanksgivinIgnterfaithServiceT, rinity 4• KEY ISSUE examines conflicts among religions. Reli-
UnitedMethodisCt hurchA, ustinT, exas.
gious groups have fought with each other, as well as with
governments. The attempt by adherents of one religion
to organize Earth's surface can come in conflict with at-

tempts by others.

182

Chapter 6: Religions 183

KEY ISSUE 1 China, which had ruled Tibet from 1720 until its inde-
pendence in 1911, invaded the rugged, isolated country in
Where Are Religions 1950, turned it into a province named Xizang in 1951, and
installed a Communist government in Tibet in 1953. The
Distributed? Chinese Communists sought to reduce the domination of
Buddhist monks in the country's daily life by destroying
■ Distribution of Religions monasteries and temples. Farmers were required to join ag-
ricultural communes unsuitable for their nomadic style of
■ Branches of Universalizing Religions raising livestock, especially yaks. After crushing a rebellion
in 1959, China executed or imprisoned tens of thousands
■ Ethnic Religions and forced another 100,000, including the Dalai Lama, to
emigrate. Buddhist temples were closed and demolished,
When the Dalai Lama dies, Tibetan Buddhists believe that and religious artifacts and scriptures were destroyed.
his spirit enters the body of a child. In 193 7, a group of
priests located and recognized a 2-year-old child named In recent years, the Chinese have built new roads and
Tenzin Gyatso as the fourteenth Dalai Lama, the incarna- power plants to help raise the low standard of living in Tibet.
tion of the deceased thirteenth Dalai Lama, Bodhisattva The Chinese argue that they have brought modern conve-
Avalokiteshvara. The child was brought to Lhasa in 1939 niences to Tibet, including paved roads, hospitals, schools,
when he was 4 and enthroned a year later. Priests trained and agricultural practices. Some monasteries have been re-
the young Dalai Lama to assume leadership and sent him built, but no new monks are being trained. At the same time,
to college when he was 16. The Chapter Opener shows the the Chinese have secured their hold on Tibet by encouraging
fourteenth Dalai Lama at age 67. immigration from other parts of China. The Chinese govern-
ment opposes efforts by other countries and international
The Dalai Lama-which translates ' as "oceanic organizations to encourage greater autonomy for Tibet.
teacher"-is not only the spiritual leader of Tibetan
Buddhism but was once also the head of the government Why did the Chinese try to dismantle the religious in-
ofTibet. Daily life in Tibet was traditionally dominated by stitutions of a poor, remote country? At issue was the fact
Buddhist rites. As recently as the 1950s, one-fourth of all that the presence of strong religious feelings among the
males were monks, and polygamy was encouraged among Tibetan people conflicted with the aims of the Chinese
other males to produce enough children to prevent the government.
population from declining. Figure 6-2 shows the Dalai
Lama's former palace in Tibet's capital Lhasa, situated in The conflict between traditional Buddhism and the
the Himalaya Mountains. Chinese government is one of many examples of the im-
pact of religion. ln the modern world of global econom-
ics and culture, local religious belief continues to play a
strong role in people's lives.

T FIGURE6-2 POTALAPALACE,LHASA,TIBET DalaiLamaslivedin the palacefrom1649until 1959,when
the fourteenthDalaiLamawasforcedto migrate.

EUROPE CENTRAALSIA Chapter 6: Religions 185

60' EASTASIA

r \. ,pO
SOUTHASIA , -,. • • .•

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Olh!!rC:.nri!l!Jil'l ,. • ...., • II'

~';· PACIFIC
OCEAN
INDIAN
OCEAN

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SOUTHEASATSIA

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l
26%Stl'lr11Musfim

fJ/' 100° 120' 11IO'

TABLE6.1 RELIGIONSOF THE UNITED STATES A Methodist church: 13 million One of the Churches of Christ: 3 million

Nonreligious or atheist: 30 million A United Methodist church: 8 million A Christian Church (Disciples of Christ):
Christians: 161 million
An African Methodist Episcopal or 1 million
Roman Catholics: 66 million
Protestants: 82 million Episcopal Zion church: 4 million A Seventh Day Adventist church: 1

A Baptist church: 37 million A Pentecostal church: 11 million million
A Southern Baptist Convention church: A Church of God in Christ: 6 million Orthodox: 3 million
17 million
A National Baptist Convention, U.S.A., One of the Assemblies of God A church of the Greek Orthodox
church: 8 million
A National Baptist Convention of churches: 3 million Archdiocese of America: 2 million
America church: 4 million One of the Pentecostal Assemblies Another Orthodox church: 1 million
A National Missionary Baptist
of the world churches: 2 million Other Christians: 10 million
Convention of America church:
3 million A Lutheran church: B million A Church of JesusChrist of Latter-Day
A Progressive National Baptist
Convention church: 3 million An Evangelical Lutheran Church in Saints: 6 million
An American Baptist Church, USA:
2 million America: 5 million A Jehovah's Witness church: 1 million
Another Baptist church: 3 million
One of the Lutheran Church Missouri Other Christians: 3 million

Synod churches: 3 million· Buddhists:1 million

A Presbyterian Church U.S.A.:4 million Hindus: 1 million

A Reformed church: 2 million Jews: 3 milllon

A United Church of Christ: 1 million Muslims: 1 million

Another Reformed Church: 1 million Other faiths: 6 million

An Episcopal church: 2 million

184 THECULTURALLANDSCAPE NORTHAMERICA

Distribution of Religions 3%Othe1relig1ons

Learning Outcome 6.1.1 22'Y.Catholoc ~
\: 25%Nonreligloos
Describe the distribution of the major religions.
yI 2%SunniMusirn
Only a few religions can claim the adherence of large num- -:( 2%Jewish
bers of people. Each of these faiths has a distinctive distri- 18,_ .(
bution across Earth's surface. 28%O!heCr hns1,an
Protestant
Geographers distinguish two types of religions:
>II' P/lCtfic-
• Universalizing religions attempt to be global, to ap- ,OCEAN
peal to all people, wherever they may live in the world,
not just to those of one culture or location. 120' AI
100' 0
• Ethnic religions appeal primarily to one group of peo-
ple living in one place. LATIANMERICA

Statistics on the number of followers of religions can r3%Non<ellglous4%Otherrelig10ns
be controversial. No official count of religious mem- /~9% P1o<eS1ant
bership is taken in the United States or in many other
countries. Most statistics in this chapter come from Ad- Y er---r.
herents.com, an organization not affiliated with any re-
ligion. According to Adherents.com, approximately 58 84o/~C.1lhohc
percent of the world's population practice a universal-
izing religion, 26 percent an ethnic religion, and 16 per- Universalizinrgeligions
cent no religion.
Christianity Islam I.
The three universallzing religions with the largest num-
bers of adherents are Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism. RomanCatholic Sunni
According to Adherents.com, there are 2.1 billion Chris-
tians, 1.5 billion Muslims, and 376 million Buddhists in Pros1estant • Shiite
the world. Each of these- religions has a distinctive distri-
bution (Figure 6-3). The next three largest universalizing - Eastern otheruniversalizing
religions are Sikhism (23 million adherents), Baha'i (7 mil- Orthodox religions
lion), and Zoroastrianism (3 million).
Other Buddhism
Hinduism is the ethnic religion with by far the largest
number of adherents-900 million. Three other ethnic re- -Sikhism
ligions have at least 100 million adherents: Chinese tradi-
tional (394 million), Asian primal-indigenous (300 million), EthnicReligions
and African traditional religions (100 million). Three
others-Juchte, Spiritism, and Judaism-have between Hinduism •African
14 million and 19 million adherents each. •Judaism
",0• Mixedwith
The nonreligious category consists primarily of people universalitillQ
who express no religious interest or preference and don't
participate in any organized religious activity. Some peo- A. FIGURE6-3 WORLD DISTRIBUTION OF RELIGIONS The
ple in this group espouse atheism, which is belief that God piechartsshowtheshareof majorreligionsin eachworld region.
does not exist, or agnosticism, which is belief that noth-
ing can be known about whether God exists. According to RomanCatholic14.1%
Adherents.com, most people in this category affirm nei-
ther belief nor lack of belief in God or some other Higher Africanethnic5.9% Orthodo3x2%
Power.

Figure 6-4 shows the worldwide percentage of people
adhering to the various religions. The small pie charts in
Figure 6-3 show the overall proportion of the world's reli-
gions in each world region. Table 6-1 shows the distribu-
tion of religions in the United States.

186 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

I Branches of Universalizing run through the middle of countries. For example, t
Religions Netherlands and Switzerland have approximately eqt
I percentages of Roman Catholics and Protestants, butt
learning Outcome 6.1.2 Roman Catholic populations are concentrated in t
t.;, Describe the distribution of the major branches of
Christianity. f11south of these countries and the Protestant populati

The three principal universalizing religions are divided in the north.
into branches, denominations, and sects. A branch is The Orthodox branch of Christianity (often called
a large and fundamental division within a religion. A
denomination is a division of a branch that unites a num- em Orthodox) is a collection of 14 self-governing churc~
ber of local congregations in a single legal and administra- in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. More than 40 perc~
tive body. A sect is a relatively small group that has broken of all Orthodox Christians belong to the Russian Orthoq
away from an established denomination. Church, the largest of these 14 churches. Christianity cm

CHRISTIANITY Jto Russia in the tenth century, and the Russian Orthod

Christianity has more than 2 billion adherents, more Church was established in the sixteenth century.
than any other world religion, and it also has the most Nine of the other 13 self-governing churches were es ,
widespread distribution. It is the predominant religion in
North America, South America, Europe, and Australia, and 1lished in the nineteenth century or twentieth century.
countries with a Christian majority exist in Africa and Asia
as well (Figure 6-5). largest of these 9, the Romanian Church, includes 20 pem
of all Eastern Orthodox Christians. The Bulgarian, Greek,a
BRANCHESOF CHRISTIANITY IN EUROPE. Christianity Serbian Orthodox churches have approximately 10 perc
has three major branches-Roman Catholic, Protestant, and each. The other 5 recently established Orthodox churche,
Orthodox. According to EncyclopaediaBritannica, Roman those of Albania, Cypms, Georgia, Poland, and Sina
Catholics comprise S1 percent of the world's Christians, combined account for about 2 percent of all Orthod
Protestants 24 percent, and Orthodox 11 percent. In Christians. The remaining 4 of the 14 Eastern Orthod
addition, 14 percent of Christians belong to churches that churches-those of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antio1
do not consider themselves to be within any of these three and Jerusalem-trace their origins to the earliest days
branches. Christianity. They have a combined membership of ab<
3 percent of all Orthodox Christians.
In Europe, Roman Catholicism is the dominant Chris-
tian branch in the southwest and east, Protestantism in BRANCHES OF CHRISTIANITY IN THE WESTE
the northwest, and Orthodoxy in the east and southeast. HEMISPHERE. The overwhelming percentage of peo·
The regions of Roman Catholic and Protestant majori- living in the Western Hemisphere-nearly 90 percent-
ties frequently have sharp boundaries, even when they Christian. About 5 percent belong to other religions, a
the remaining 6 percent profess adherence to no religic

A fairly sharp boundary exists within the West<
Hemisphere in the predominant branches of Christian
Roman Catholics comprise 93 percent of Christians in La
America, compared with 40 percent in North Ameri
Within North America, Roman Catholics are clustered
the southwestern and northeastern United States and·
Canadian province of Quebec.

◄ FIGURE6-S DISTRIBUTIO
OF CHRISTIANSAt least
80percentof thepopulation
adheresto Christianityin Euro1
theWesternHemisphereth, eS1

Pacifica, ndselectedcountriesi

sub-SaharaAnfrica.

20"~

~•c::60'_ _;1.;.;.411'_...;11C' I
PercentChristian
80 andabo,e , .. ..,.\
40-79
Below40 IC' 1l' 20"

,,41111111I1 .

Chapter 6: Religions 187

fallhSothetrhanChrlstlat1i5t,y9% Roman adherents, split from the Egyptian Coptic Church in 1948,
although it traces its roots to the fourth century, when two
OtheCrilristia6n.4% Catholic shipwrecked Christians, who were taken as slaves, ulti-
Lutheran3.9"• 32.5% mately converted the Ethiopian king to Christianity.

Pentecosla5l.4%/. The Armenian Church originated in Antioch, Syria,
and was important in diffusing Christianity to South
Methodi6s.t4% Asia and East Asia between the seventh and thirteenth
centuries. The church's few present-day adherents are
J,,.FIGURE6-6 PERCENTAGEOF FAITHSIN THE UNITED STATES concentrated in Lebanon and Armenia, as well as in
northeastern Turkey and western Azerbaijan. Despite
Approximatel6ypercentof the U.Sp. opulationadhereto a religionotherthan the small number of adherents, the Armenian Church,
Christianitay,nd 15percentadhereto no religion. like other small sects, plays a significant role in regional
conflicts. For example, Armenian Christians have fought
Protestant churches have approximately 82 million for the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh, a portion of
members, or about 28 percent of the U.S. population over Azerbaijan, because Nagorno-Karabakh is predominantly
age five (Figure 6-6). Baptist churches have the largest num- Armenian, whereas the remainder of Azerbaijan is over-
ber of adherents in the United States, about 37 million com- whelmingly Shiite Muslim (see Chapter 7).
bined over age five (refer to Table 6-1). Membershjp in some
Protestant churches varies by region of the United States. The Maronites are another example of a small Chris-
Baptists, for example, are highly clustered in the southeast, tian sect that plays a disproportionately prominent role in
and Lutherans in the upper Midwest. Other Christian political unrest. They are clustered in Lebanon, which has
denominations are more evenly distributed around the suffered through a long civil war fought among religious
country (Figure 6-7). groups (see Chapter 7).

OTHER CHRISTIANS. Several other Christian churches In the United States, members of The Church of Jesus
developed independently of the three main branches. Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) regard their church
Many of these Christian communities were isolated as a branch of Christianity separate from other branches.
from others at an early point in the development of About 3 percent of Americans are members of the Latter-
Christianity, partly because of differences in doctrine and day Saints, and a large percentage is clustered in Utah and
partly as a result of Islamic control of intervening territory surrounding states.
in Southwest Asia and North Africa.
Pause and Reflect 6.1.2
Two small Christian churches survive in northeast
Africa-the Coptic Church of E.gypt and the Ethiopian Based on what you see in Figure 6-6 or Table 6-1,
Church. The Ethiopian Church, with perhaps 10 million what are some of the largest Christian denominations
in the United States that do not have highly
clustered distributions in Figure 6-7?

Ch4'1Stlan .,.. -:S ◄ FIGURE6-7
Lal!et•dasyern,s Other
Lulhera,1 - Me!hodiSI DISTRIBUTION OF CHRISTIANS IN THE UNITED
Mennor>le • Relcrmed
STATESTheshadedareasareU.Sc. ountiesin whichmore
than50percentof churchmembershipis concentratedin
eitherRomanCatholicismor oneProtestandt enominationT.he
distinctivedistributionof religiousgroupswithin the United
Statesresultsfrom patternsof migration,especiallyfromEurope
in the nineteenthcenturyandfrom LatinAmericain recentyears.

II l■■ffl■IIII

188 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

___________________________-·:,,,
Iran and more than half of the population in Azerbai.

jan, lraq, and the less populous countries of Oman and

ISLAM Bahrain.

Learning Outcome 6.1.3 ISLAM IN EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA. The Muslim
Identify the major branches of Islam and Buddhism. population of North America and Europe has increased

Islam, the religion of 1.5 billion people, is the predom- rapidly in recent years.
inant religion of the Middle East from North Africa to In Europe, Muslims account for 5 percent of the popu-
Central Asia (Figure 6-8). Half of the world's Muslims live
in four countries outside the Middle East-Indonesia, lation. France has the largest Muslim population, about
4 mi.Ilion, a legacy of immigration from predominantly
Muslim former colonies in North Africa. Germany has

Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India. about 3 million Muslims, also a legacy of immigration,
The word ls/am in Arabic means "submission to the will in Germany's case primarily from Turkey. In Southeast
Europe, Albania, Bosnia, and Serbia each have about
of God," and it has a similar root to the Arabic word for peace.
An adherent of the religion of Islam is known as a Muslim, 2 million Muslims.
Estimates of the number of Muslims in North America
which in Arabic means "one who surrenders to God."
vary widely, from l million to 5 million, but in any event,

BRANCHES OF ISLAM. Islam is divided into two important the number has increased dramatically from only a few
hundred thousand in 1990. Muslims in the United States
branches: come from a variety of backgrounds. According to the U.S.
• Sunni. The word Sunni comes from the Arabic for State Department, approximately one-third of U.S. Muslims
trace their ancestry to Pakistan and other South Asian coun-
"people following the example of Muhammad." Sun- tries and one-fourth from Arab countries of Southwest Asia
nis comprise 83 percent of Muslims and are the larg- and North Africa. Many of these Muslims immigrated to
est branch in most Muslim countries in Southwest Asia the United States during the 1990s. Another one-fourth are
African Americans, who have converted to lslam.
and North Africa.
Islam also has a presence in the United States through
• Shiite. The word Shiite comes from the Arabic word for the Nation of Islam, also known as Black Muslims, founded
"sectarian." Shiites (sometimes called Shias in English) in Detroit in 1930 and led for more than 40 years by Elijah
comprise 16 percent of Muslims, clustered in a hand- Muhammad, who called himself "the messenger of Allah."
ful of countries. Nearly 30 percent of all Shiites live in
Iran, 15 percent in Pakistan, and 10 percent in Iraq. Shi-
ites comprise nearly 90 percent of the population in

- -80"

80'

----

PercenMt uslml

• 80andabove lO'
-40-79
120'
20-39
Below20

J,. FIGURE 6-8 DISTRIBUTION OF MUSLIMS Atleast80 percentof the populationadheresto Islamin

SouthwesAt sia& NorthAfricaandselectedcountriesin SoutheastAsia.

Chapter 6: Religions 189

BlackMuslims lived austerely and advocated a separate au- Buddhists is also difficult to count because Buddhism, al-
tonomous nation within the United States for their adher- though a universalizing religion, differs in significant re-
ents. Tension between Muhammad and a Black Muslim spects from the Western concept of a formal religious sys-
minister, Malcolm X, divided the sect during the 1960s. tem. Someone can be both a Buddhist and a believer in
After a pilgrimage to Makkah in 1963, Malcolm X con- other Eastern religions, whereas Christianity and Islam
verted to orthodox Islam and founded the Organization both require exclusive adherence. Most Buddhists in
of Afro-American Unity. He was assassinated in 1965. After China and Japan, in particular, believe at the same time in
Muhammad's death, in 1975, his son Wallace D. Muham- an ethnic religion.
mad led the Black Muslims closer to the principles of or-
thodox Islam, and the organization's name was changed OTHER UNIVERSALIZING RELIGIONS
to the American Muslim Mission. A splinter group adopted
the original name, Nation of Islam, and continues to fol- Sikhism and Baha'i are the two universalizing religions
low the separatist teachings of Elijah Muhammad. other than Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism that have
the largest numbers of adherents. There are an estimated
BUDDHISM 23 million Sikhs and 7 million Baha'fs. All but 3 million
Sikhs are clustered in the Punjab region of In9ia Baha'is
Buddhism, the third of the world's major universalizing are dispersed among many countries, primarily in Africa
religions, is clustered primarily in East Asia and Southeast and Asia.
Asia.Like the other two universalizing religions, Buddhism
split into more than one branch, as followers disagreed on Sikhism's first guru (rellgious teacher or enlightener)
interpreting statements by the founder, Siddhartha Gau- was Nanak (1469-1538), who lived in a village near the
tama. The three main branches are (Figure 6-9): city of Lahore, in present-day Pakistan. God was revealed
to Guru Nanak as The One Supreme Being, or Creator,
• Mahayana. Mahayanists account for about 56 percent who rules the universe by divine will. Only God is per-
of Buddhists, primarily in. China, Japan, and Korea. fect, but people have the capacity for continual improve-
ment and movement toward perfection by taking indi-
• Theravada. Theravadists comprise about 38 percent of vidual responsibility for their deeds and actions on Earth,
Buddhists, especially in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Sri such as heartfelt adoration, devotion, and surrender to
Lanka, and Thailand. the one God. Sikhism's most important ceremony, intro-
duced by the tenth guru, Gobind Singh (1666-1708), is
• Vajrayana. Vajrayanists, also known as Lamaists and the Amrit (or Baptism), in which Sikhs declare they will
Tantrayanists, comprise about 6 percent and are found uphold the principles of the faith. Gobind Singh also in-
primarily in Tibet and Mongolia. troduced the practice of men wearing turbans on their
heads and never cutting their beards or hair. Wearing a
An accurate count of Buddhists is especially difficult uniform gave Sikhs a disciplined outlook and a sense of
because only a few people participate in Buddhist insti- unity of purpose.
tutions. Religious functions are performed primarily by
monks rather than by the general public. The number of The Baha'i religion is even more recent than Sikhism.
It grew out of the Babi faith, which was founded in Shiraz,
PACIFIC J Iran, in 1844 by Siyyid 'Ali Muhammad, known as the Bab
OCEAN (Persian for "gateway"). Baha'is believe that one of the
N Bab's disciples, Husayn 'Ali Nuri, known as Baha'u'llah
(Arabic for "Glory of God"), was the prophet and messen-
ger of God. Baha'u'llah's function was to overcome the dis-
unity of religions and establish a universal faith through
abolition of racial, class, and religious prejudices.

""' Olu1-.11ono1 Pauseand Reflect6.1.3
-~•1:lvid$bi
Refer to the small pie charts in Figure 6-3. Which
-Slt%Ml:t801\U,;\IJIWC regions have enough adherents of each of the three
universalizing religions so that all three appear on
SIIX'tlltt!l<I0-1''- the pie charts?
- Stkl\s ◄l1lrl,ill'.GUe1o1!

&~is!lar~sua
bolhbt:oll'•0'9

4 FIGURE 6-9 DISTRIBUTION OF BUDDHISTS AND SIKHS

Atleast40 percentof the populationadheresto Buddhismin EastAsiaand
SoutheasAt sia.At least40 percentof the populationadheresto Sikhismin
northwesternIndia.

IIIIHR-IIIIIII

190 THE CULTURALLANDSCAPE

Ethnic Religions because they are based on oral traditions rather than writ-
ing. Juchte is classified as a religion by Adherents.com but
not by other sources.

Learning Outcome 6.1.4 CHINESE TRADITIONAL. Adherents.com considers Chi-
Describe the distribution of the largest ethnic nese traditional religion to be a combination of Buddhism
religions. (a universalizing religion) with Confucianism, Taoism,
and other traditional Chinese practices. Most Chinese who
In contrast to universalizing religions, which often spread consider themselves religious blend together the religious
from one culture to another, ethnic religions tend to re- cultures of these multiple traditions:
main within the culture where they originated. Ethnic
religions typically have much more clustered distribu- • Confucianism. Confucius (551--479 s.c.) was a philoso.
tions than do universalizing religions. The ethnic religion pher and teacher in the Chinese province of Lu. His say-
with by far the largest number of followers is Hinduism. ings, which were recorded by his students, emphasized
Ethnic religions in Asia and Africa comprise most of the the importance of the ancient Chinese tradition of Ii,
remainder. which can be translated roughly as "propriety" or "cor-
rect behavior." Confucianism prescribed a series of ethical
HINDUISM principles for the orderly conduct of daily life in China,
such as following traditions, fulfilling obligations, and
Hinduism is the world's third-largest religion, with 900 treating others with sympathy and respect. These rules
million adherents, but 90 percent of Hindus are concen- applied to China's rulers as well as to their subjects.
trated in one country, India, and most of the remainder
can be found in India's neighbors Bangladesh and Nepal. • Taoism. Lao-Zi (604-531? s.c., also spelled Lao Tse) or-
Hindus comprise more than 80 percent of the population ganized Taoism. Although a government administrator
of India and Nepal, about 9 percent in Bangladesh, and a by profession, Lao-Zi's writings emphasized the mys-
small minority in every other country (Figure 6-10). tical and magical aspects of life rather than the im-
portance of public service, which Confucius had em-
The average Hindu has allegiance to a particular god or phasized. Tao, which means "the way" or "the path,"
concept within a broad range of possibilities. The manifes- cannot be comprehended by reason and knowledge be-
tation of God with the largest number of adherents-an cause not everything is knowable. (Figure 6-11).
estimated 80 percent-is Vaishnavism, which worships the
god Vishnu, a loving god incarnated as Krishna. The sec- Commingling of diverse philosophies is not totally for-
ond-largest is Sivaism, dedicated to Siva, a protective and eign to Americans. The tenets of a religion such as Christi-
destructive god. anity, the wisdom of the ancient Greek philosophers, and
the ideals of the Declaration of Independence can all be
held dear without doing grave injustice to the others.

OTHER ASIAN ETHNIC RELIGIONS Pause and Reflect 6.1.4

Three religions based in East Asia and Southeast Asia show Referring to Table 6-1, which ethnic religions have at
the difficulty of classifying ethnic religions and count- least 1 million adherents in the United States?
ing adherents. Chinese traditional religions are syncretic,
which means they combine several traditions. Primal- PRIMAL-INDIGENOUS. Several hundred million people
indigenous religions are especially difficult to document practice what Adherents.com has grouped into the category
primal-indigenous religions. Most of these people reside in
'f FIGURE6-10 ► FIGURE6-11 Southeast Asia or South Pacific islands.
DISTRIBUTIONOF HINDUS All DISTRIBUTIONOF
but 1Opercentof the world's TAOISTSAll but 4 percentof Relatively little is known about primal-indigenous re-
Hinduslive in India. the world'sTaoistslive in China. ligions because written documents have not come down
from ancestors. Religious rituals are passed rrom one gen-
Pt!fCOnolf world Hindupopulation PertenlofWOflTdaoistpopulation eration to the next by word of mouth. Followers of pri-
mal-indigenous religions believe that because God dwells
\---Banglades2h% Oilier5% \lTaiwan2% Other2"/o within all things, everything in nature is spiritual. Narra-
tives concerning nature are specific to the physical land-
Nepal3%;\ scape where they are told.

/ Included in this group are Shamanism and Paganism.
According to Shamans, invisible forces or spirits affect the
India \ China lives of the living. Pagan used to refer to the practices of
90!'. 96% ancient peoples, such as the Greeks and Romans, who had
multiple gods with human forms. The term is currently
used to refer to beliefs that originated with religions that
predated Christianity and Islam.

Chapter 6: Religions 191

JUCHTE. Most North Koreans are classified by Adherents. JUDAISM. Roughly two-fifths of the world's 14 million
corn as following Juchte, which is a Korean word meaning Jews live in the United States and another two-fifths in
"self-reliance." Juchte was organized by Kim II-sung, the Israel. The name fudaism derives from Judah, one of the
leader of North Korea between 1948 and his death in patriarch Jacob's 12 sons; Israel is another biblical name for
1994. Rather than a religion, Juchte is widely regarded as a Jacob. The Bible recounts the ancient history of the Jewish
government ideology or philosophy. people. Judaism plays a more substantial role in Western
civilization than its number of adherents would suggest:
OTHER ETHNIC RELIGIONS
• Judaism is the first recorded religion to espouse
Outside Asia, the principal ethnic religions are African. monotheism, belief that there is only one God. Fun-
Spiritism and Judaism are other ethnic religions that have damental to Judaism is belief in one all-powerful God.
at least 10 million adherents worldwide. Judaism offered a sharp contrast to the polytheism
practiced by neighboring people, who worshipped a
AFRICAN TRADITIONAL. Approximately 100 mil1ion collection of gods.
Africans, 12 percent of the continent's people, follow
traditional ethnic religions sometimes called animism. • Two of the three main universalizing religions-
Animists believe that inanimate objects such as plants Christianity and Islam-find some of their roots in
and stones, or natural events such as thunderstorms and Judaism. About 4,000 years ago Abraham, considered
earthquakes, are "animated," or have discrete spirits and the patriarch or father of Judaism, migrated from pres-
conscious life. ent-day Iraq to present-day Israel, along a route known
as the Fertile Crescent (see discussion of the Fertile Cres-
African animist religions are apparently based on cent in Chapter 8 and Figure 8-10). About 2,000 years
monotheistic concepts, although below the supreme god after Abraham, Jesus was Jewish, born about 500 years
there is a hierarchy of divinities. These divinities may be after Jesus Muhammad traced his ancestry to Abraham.
assistants to the supreme god or personifications of natu-
ral phenomena, such as trees or rivers. CHECK-IN:KEY ,SSUE1

Africa is 46 percent Christian-split about evenly Where Are Religions Distributed?
among Roman Catholic, Protestant, and other-and an-
other 40 percent are Muslims (Figure 6-12). The growth ✓ Religions can be classified into universalizing l
in the two universalizing refer to at the expense of ethnic and ethnic.
religions reflects fundamental geographic differences be- i
tween the two types of religions, discussed in the next key ✓ The three largest universalizing religions are
issue.
Christianity, which is found primarily in Europe,
SPlRITISM. Spiritism is the belief that the human
personality continues to exist after death and can North America, and Latin America; Islam, which
communicate with the living through the agency of a
medium or psychic. Most Spiritists reside in Brazil. is found primarily in Southeast, Central, and

Southwest Asia, as well as North Africa; and

Buddhism, which is found primarily in East Asia.

✓ The largest ethnic religion is Hinduism, which is
found primarily in South Asia.

Percent ◄ FIGURE6-12
traditionalreliglon DISTRIBUTIONOF
AFRICAN TRADITIONAL
-70-100 RELIGIONSThepercentagoef
50-70 animistsin sub-SaharaAnfrica
hasdeclinedfrom morethan
30-50 70percentin 1900to around
10-30 1 12percentin 2010.Asrecently
0-10 as1980,some200million
Africans-half thepopulation
of theregionat thetime-
wereclassifiedasanimists.
Followersof traditionaAl frican
religionsnowconstitutea clear
majorityof thepopulation
onlyin BotswanaT.herapld
declinein animistsinAfricahas
beencausedbyinueasesin
thenumbersof Christiansand
Muslims.

192 THECULTURALLANDSCAPE

KEY ISSUE2 CONTEMPORARGYEOGRAPHICTOOLS

Why Do Religions CountingReligious
Have Different
Distributions? Adherents

■ Origin of Religions An accurate count of the number of adherents to vari-
■ Diffusion of Religions ous religions, branches, denominations, and sects is
impossible in the United States because the census
Learning Outcome 6.2.1 does not ask questions about religion. Other coun-
Describe the origin of universalizing religions. tries do ask about religion.

We can identify several major geographic differences be- In Canada, for example, the census asks:
tween universalizing and ethnic religions. These differ-
ences include the locations where the religions originated, "What is this person's religion? Indicate a specific denom-
the processes by which they diffused from their place of ori- ination or reUgion even if this person is not cmrently a
gin to other regions, the types of places that are considered practising member of that group. For example, Roman
holy, the calendar dates identified as important holidays, Catholic, Ukrainian Catholic, United Church, Angllcan,
and attitudes toward modifying the physical environment. Lutheran, Baptist, Coptic Orthodox, Greek Orthodox,
Jewish, Islam, Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh,etc."
Origin of Religions
D Specifyone denomination or religion only ___ _
Universalizing religions have precise places of origin based
on events in the lifeof a man. Ethnic religions have unknown D No religion
or unclear origins, not tied to single historical individuals.
Critics charged that including the phrase "even if this
Each of the three universalizing religions can be traced personisnotcurrentlyapractisingmember"inflatedthe
to the actions and teachings of a man who lived since the number of people who were thought to be religious in
start of recorded history. The beginnings of Buddhism go Canada.
back about 2,500 years, Christianity 2,000 years, and [slam
1,500 years. Specific events also led to the division of the Nonetheless, an analysts of recent census data by
universalizing religions into branches. mathematicians showed that the fastest-growing re-
sponse to census questions about religion in a num-
ber of countries is "unaffiUated." When they extrap-
olated Lhe growth of "unaffmated" into the future,
the mathematicians concluded that religion would
become extinct during the twenty-first century in
nine countries: Australia, Austria, Canada, the Czech
Republic, Finland, lreland, the Netherlands, New Zea-
land, and Switzerland.

ORIGIN OF BUDDHISM a privileged existence, sheltered from life's hardships.
Gautama had a beautiful wife, palaces, and servants.
The founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha Gautama, was born
about 563 s.c. in LumbinI in present-day Nepal, near the According to Buddhist legend, Gautama's life changed
border with India (Figure 6-13). The son of a lord, he led after a series of four trips. He encountered a decrepit old
man on the first trip, a disease-ridden man on the sec-
T FIGURE6-13 ORIGIN OF BUDDHISM Ruinsof shrinesconstructed ond trip, and a corpse on the third trip. After witnessing
aroundBuddha'sbirthplacein Lumbini,Nepal. these scenes of pain and suffering, Gautama began to feel
he could no longer enjoy his life of comfort and security.
Then, on a fourth trip, Gautama saw a monk, who taught
him about withdrawal from the world.

At age 29 Gautama left his palace one night and lived in
a forest for the next 6 years, thinking and experimenting
with forms of meditation. Gautama emerged as the Buddha,
the "awakened or enlightened one," and spent 45 years
preaching his views across India. In the process, he trained
monks, established orders, and preached to the public.

The foundation of Buddhism is represented by these
cbncepts, known as the Four Noble Truths:

1. All living beings must endure suffering.

2. Suffering, which is caused by a desire to live, leads to
reincarnation (repeated rebirth in new bodies or forms
of life).

J. The goal of all existence is to escape suffering and the
endless cycle of reincarnation into Nirvana (a state
of complete redemption), which is achieved through
mental and moral self-purification.

4. Nirvana is attained through an Eightfold Path, which
includes rightness of belief, resolve, speech, action,
livelihood, effort, thought, and meditation.

THERAVADA BUDDHISM. Theravada is the older of A FIGURE6-14 ORIGIN OF CHRISTIANITY Thistombin the centerof the
the two largest branches of Buddhism. The word means Churchof the HolySepulchrein Jerusalemwaserectedon thesitewhereJesus
"the way of the elders," indicating the Theravada is thoughtto havebeenburiedandresurrecte.d
.Buddhists' belief that they are closer to Buddha's original
approach. Theravadists believe that Buddhism is a full- that Jesus died to atone for human sins, that he was raised
time occupation, so to become a good Buddhist, one must from the dead by God, and that his Resurrection from the
renounce worldly goods and become a monk. dead provides people with hope for salvation.

MAHAYANA BUDDHISM. Mahayana split from Theravada ROMAN CATHOLIC BRANCH. Roman Catholics accept
Buddhism about 2,000 years ago. Mahayana is translated the teachings of the Bible, as well as the interpretation of
as the great vehicle, and Mahayanists call Theravada those teachings by the Church hierarchy, headed by the
Buddhism by the name Hinayana, or the inferior vehicle. Pope. Roman Catholics recognize the Pope as possessing
Mahayanists claim that their approach to Buddhism can a universal primacy or authority, and they believe that
help more people because it is less demanding and aIJ- the Church is infallible in resolving theological disputes.
encompassing. Theravadists emphasize Buddha's life of self- According to Roman Catholic belief, God conveys His
help and years of solitary introspection, and Mahayanists grace directly to humanity through seven sacraments:
emphasize Buddha's later years of teaching and helping Baptism, the Eucharist (the partaking of bread and wine
others. Theravadists cite Buddha's wisdom and Mahayanists that repeats the actions of Jesus at the Last Supper),
his compassion. Penance, Confirmation, Matrimony, Holy Orders, and
Anointing the Sick.
VAJRAYANA BUDDHISM. Vajrayanas emphasize the
practice of rituals, known as Tantras, which have been ORTHODOX BRANCH. Orthodoxy comprises the faith
recorded in texts. Vajrayanas believe that Buddha began to and practices of a collection of churches that arose in the
practice Tantras during his lifetime, although other Buddhists eastern part of the Roman Empire. The split between the
regard Vajrayana as an approach to Buddhism that evolved Roman and Eastern churches dates to the fifth century,
from Mahayana Buddhism several centuries later. as a result of rivalry between the Pope of Rome and the
Patriarchy of Constantinople, which was especially intense
ORIGIN OF CHRISTIANITY after the collapse of the Roman Empire. The split between
the two churches became final in 1054, when Pope Leo
Christianity was founded upon the teachiAgs of Jesus, who IX condemned the Patriarch of Constantinople. Orthodox
was born in Bethlehem between 8 and 4 B.c. and died on a Christians accept the seven sacraments but reject doctrines
cross in Jerusalem about A.o. 30. Raised as aJew, Jesus gath- that the Roman Catholic Church added since the eighth
ered a small band of disciples and preached the coming century.
of the Kingdom of God. The four Gospels of the Christian
Bible-Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John-document mira- PROTESTANT BRANCH. Protestantism originated with
cles and extraordinary deeds that Jesus performed. He was the principles of the Reformation in the sixteenth century.
referred to as Christ, from the Greek word for the Hebrew The Reformation movement is regarded as beginning when
word messiah, which means ''anointed." Martin Luther (1483-1546) posted 95 theses on the door of
the church at Wittenberg on October 31, 1517. According
In the third year of his mission, Jesus was betrayed to to Luther, individuals have primary responsibility for
the authorities by one of his companions, Judas Iscariot. achieving personal salvation through direct communication
After sharing the Last Supper (the Jewish Passover Seder) with God. Grace is achieved through faith rather than
with his disciples in Jerusalem, Jesus was arrested and put through sacraments performed by the Church.
to death as an agitator. On the third day after his death, his
tomb was found empty (Figure 6-14). Christians believe

193

194 THECULTURALLANDSCAPE

ORIGIN OF ISLAM

learning Outcome 6.2.2

Understand differences in the origin of
universalizing and ethnic religions.

Like other universalizing religions, Islam arose from the • FIGURE 6·15 ORIGIN OF ISLAM Muhammadis buriedunderthegreen
teachings of a historical founder. The core of Islamic belief domein theMosqueof the Propheitn Madinah,SaudAi rabia.Themosque,
involves performing five acts, known as five pillars of faith: built on thesiteof Muhammad'hsouse,is thesecondholiestin Islamandthe
secondlargestmosquein theworld.
l. Shahadah, which means frequent recitation that there
is no god worthy of worship except the one God, the known as the Hijra(from the Arabic word for "migration,"
source of all creation, and Muhammad is the messenger sometimes spelled hegira)-marl<s the beginning of the
of God. Muslim calendar. Yathrib was subsequently renamed
Madinah, Arabic for "the City of the Prophet" (Figure 6-15).
2. Sa/at, which means that five times daily, a Muslim After several years, Muhammad and his followers returned
prays, facing the city of Makkah (Mecca), as a direct to Makkah and established Islam as the city's religion. By
link to God. Muhammad's death, in 632 at about age 63, Islam had
spread through most of present-day Saudi Arabia.
3. Zakat, which means that a Muslim gives generously to
charity as an act of purification and growth. SHIITES VERSUS SUNNIS. Differences between the
two main branches of Islam-Shiites and Sunnis-go
4. Sawm of Ramadan, which means that a Muslim fasts dur- back to the earliest days of the religion and basicall>
ing the month of Ramadan as an act of self-purification. reflect disagreement over the line of succession in Islamic
leadership. Muhammad had no surviving son and nc
5. Hajj, which means that if physically and financially follower of comparable leadership ability. His successor wai
able, a Muslim makes a pilgrimage to Makkah. his father-in-law, Abu llakr (573-634), an early supporte
from Makkah, who became known as caliph ("successor o
Islam traces its origin to the same narrative as Judaism the prophet"). The next two caliphs, Umar (634-644) anc
and Christianity. All three religions consider Adam to have Uthman (644-656), expanded the territory under Muslin
been the first man and Abraham to have been one of his influence to Egypt and Persia.
descendants. According to tbe biblical narrative:
Uthman was a member of a powerful Makkah clan tha
• Abraham married Sarah, who did not bear children; as had initially opposed Muhammad before the clan's con
polygamy was a custom of the culture, Abraham then version to Islam. The more ardent converts criticized Utt:
married Hagar, who bore a son, Ishmael. man for seeking compromises with other formerly paga
families in Makkah. Uthman's opponents found a leadr
• Sarah's fortunes changed, and she bore a son, Isaac. in Ali (600?-661), a cousin and son-in-Jaw of Muhammac
and thus Muhammad's nearest male heir. When Uthma
• Jews and Christians trace their story through Abraham's was murdered, in 656, Ali became caliph, although fi,
original wife Sarah and her son Isaac. years later he, too, was assassinated (Figure 6-16).

• Muslims trace their story through his second wife, Ali's descendants claim leadership of Islam, and Shiit1
Hagar, and her son Ishmael; the Islamic tradition tells support this claim. But Shiites disagree among themselv,
that Abraham brought Hagar and Ishmael to Makkah about the precise line of succession from AH to mode1
(spelled Mecca on many English-language maps), in times. They acknowledge that the chain of leadership w
present-day Saudi Arabia. broken, but they dispute the date and events surroundir
the disruption.
• Centuries later, according to the Muslim narrative, one
of lshmael's descendants, Muhammad, became the During the 1970s both the shah (king) of Iran and ,
Prophet of Islam. ayatollah (religious scholar) named Khomeini claim1
to be the divinely appointed interpreter of Islam for ti
PROPHET MUHAMMAD. Muhammad was born
in Makkah about 570. At age 40, while engaged in a
meditative retreat, Muhammad is believed by Muslims
to have received his first revelation from God through
the Angel Gabriel. The Quran, the holiest book in Islam,
is accepted by Muslims to be a record of God's words, as
revealed to the Prophet Muhammad through Gabriel.
Arabic is the lingua franca, or language of communication,
within the Muslim world, because it is the language in
which the Quran is written.

Islam teaches that as he began to preach the truth that
God had revealed to him, Muhammad suffered persecu-
tion, and in 622 he was commanded by God to emigrate.
His migration from Makkah to the city ofYathrib-an event

Chapter 6: Religions 195

Shiites. The allegiance of the Iranian Shiites switched from
the shah to the ayatollah largely because the ayatollah
made a more convincing case that he was more faithfully
adhering to the rigid laws laid down by Muhammad in the

Quran.

ORIGIN OF OTHER UNIVERSALIZING A FIGURE6-16 ORIGINOF SHIITEISLAM Theshrineof ImamAli, in Najaf,
RELIGIONS Iran,containsthe tombofAli, fromwhomtracesthe Shiitebranchof Islam.

Sikhism and Baha'f were founded more recently than the surviving Hindu documents were written around 1500 s.c.,
three large universalizing religions. The founder of Sikh- although archaeological explorations have unearthed ob-
ism, Guru Nanak, traveled widely through South Asia jects relating to the religion from 2500 B.c. Aryan tribes
around 500 years ago, preaching his new faith, and many from Central Asia invaded India about 1400 s.c. and
people became his Sikhs, which is the Hindi word for "dis- brought with them Inda-European languages, as discussed
ciples." Nine other gurus succeeded Guru Nanak. Arjan, in Chapter 5. In addition to their language, the Aryans
the fifth guru, compiled and edited in 1604 the Guru brought their religion. The Aryans first settled in the area
Gmnth Sahib (the Holy Granth of Enlightenment), which now called the Punjab in northwestern India and later
became the book of Sikh holy scriptures. migrated east to the Ganges River valley, as far as Bengal.
Centuries of intermingling with the Dravidians already liv-
When it was established in Iran during the nineteenth ing in the area modified their religious beliefs (Figure 6-17).
century, Baha'i provoked strong opposition from Shiite
Muslims. The Bab was executed in 1850, as were 20,000 of Pauseand Reflect 6.2.2
his followers. Baha'u'llah, the prophet of Baha'i, was also What is the significance of Abraham in Judaism,
arrested but was released in 1853 and exiled to Baghdad. In Christianity, and Islam?
1863, his claim that he was the messenger of God antici-
pated by the Bab was accepted by other followers. Before he
died in 1892, Baha'u'llah appointed his eldest son 'Abdu'I-
Baha (1844-1921) to be the leader of the Baha'i commu-
nity and the authorized interpreter of his teachings.

UNKNOWN ORIGIN OF HINDUISM

Unlike the universa1izing religions, Hinduism did not orig-
inate with a specific founder. The origins of Christianity,
lslam, and Buddhism are recorded in the relatively recent
past, but Hinduism existed prior to recorded history.

The word Hinduism originated in the sixth century B.c.
to refer to people living in what is now India. The earliest

.,___,.,.,_. :: ◄ FIGURE6-17 ORIGIN OF HINDUISM

..~£~ Mountl<iaila(salsospelledKallashi)nTibetis
- ~r
a pJaceof eternalblissin Hinduisma,swellas
_•£.._,,.;,.,. severaol therreligionsB, ecaupsfeitsimportance,

nahuman,lrnecordehdlstOflMeSver:·
itss believe
h

196 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE expansion (diffusion through a snowballing effect)
Within expansion diffusion, we distinguished betweer
-··'";....-------------------------- hierarchical diffusion (diffusion through key leaders:
and contagious diffusion (widespread diffusion). Chris-
Diffusion of Religions tianity dlffused through a combination of these forms oJ
diffusion.
Learning Outcome 6.2.3
Describe the processof diffusion of universalizing HIERARCHICAL DIFFUSION OF CHRISTIANITY. ThE
religions. dominance of Christianity throughout the Roman Empin
was assured during the fourth century through hierarchical
The universalizing religions diffused from specific hearths, diffusion-acceptance of the religion by the empire's ke1
or places of origin, to other regions of the world. In con- elite figure, the emperor. Emperor Constantine (2747-337)
trast, most ethnic religions typically remain clustered in encouraged the spread of Christianity by embracing it in
one location. 313, and Emperor Theodosius proclaimed it the empire'i
official religion in 380. In subsequent centuries, Christianity
The hearths where each of the three largest universal- further diffused into Eastern Europe through conversion ol
izing religions originated are based on the events in the kings or other elite figures (Figure 6-19). Latin Americans
lives of the three key individuals. All three hearths are are predominantly Roman Catholic because their territory
in Asia (Christianity and Islam in Southwest Asia, Bud- was colonized by the Spanish and Portuguese, who brought
dhism in South Asia). Followers transmitted the messages with them to the Western Hemisphere their religion as well
preached in the hearths to people elsewhere, diffusing as their languages.
them across Earth's surface along distinctive paths, as
shown in Figure 6-18. RELOCATION DIFFUSION OF CHRISTIANITY. Chris-

DIFFUSION OF CHRISTIANITY

Christianity's diffusion has been rather clearly recorded
since Jesus first set forth its tenets in the Roman province
known at the time as Judea. Consequently, geographers
can examine its diffusion by reconstructing patterns of
communications, interaction, and migration.

In Chapter 1 two processes of diffusion were iden-
tified-relocation (diffusion through migration) and

l,

O" ll"E 90 E 120"E 160'E

• FIGURE6-18 DIFFUSIONOF UNIVERSALIZINGRELIGIONSBuddhism'shearthis in present-dayNepal
andnorthernIndia,Christianity'sin present-dayIsrael,andIslam'sin present-daySaudAi rabia.Buddhism
diffusedprimarilyeasttowardEastAsiaandSoutheasAt sia,Christianitywest towardEuropea, ndIslamwest
towardnorthernAfricaandeasttowardsouthwesternA.sia.

Chapter 6: Religions 197

,rr'wL - Similarly, geographers trace
the distribution of other Chris-
ATLANTIC tian denominations within the
OCEAN United States to the fact that
migrants came from different
ROftle• parts of Europe, especially dur-
ing the nineteenth century. Fol-
{ r·0' 10'1: ' lowers of The Church of Jesus
I Christ of Latter-day Saints, pop-
sI ( doth ularly known as Mormons, set-
tled at Fayette, New York, near
Strongly ¾ect; 1erranean · l!J)hos., the hometown of their founder
Christianby: 20'E Joseph Smith. During Smith's
S . re life, the group moved several
A 0. 200 ea times in search of religious free-
A.O4. 00 85'11'.ea dom. Eventually, under the
AD.600 leadership of Brigham Young,
V 30'~ I if,,•ro.a1ein they migrated to the sparsely
inhabited Salt Lake Valley in the
Paul's ( 2-50 500MHa present-day state of Utah.
Journeys
250 500JOlomtltf'li
-First

-second

-+Third

\

.l FIGURE6-19 DIFFUSIONOF CHRISTIANITYChristianitybeganto diffusefromJudeathroughEurope DIFFUSION OF ISLAM

duringthe time of the RomanEmpireandcontinuedafterthe empire'scollapseP. aulof Tarsusa, discipleof Jesus,

traveledespeciallyextensivelythroughthe RomanEmpireasa missionary. Muhammad's successors orga-

nized followers who extended

Canada (except Quebec) and the United States have the region of Muslim control

Protestant majorities because their early colonists came over an extensive area of Africa, Asia, and Europe (Fig-

primarily from Protestant England. Some regions and lo- ure 6-20). Within a century of Muhammad's death, Mus-

calities within the United States and Canada are predom- lims controlled Palestine, the Persian Empire, and much of

inantly Roman Catholic because of immigration from India, resulting in the conversion of many non-Arabs to

Roman Catholic countries (refer to Figure 6-7). Immigra- Islam, often through intermarriage.

tion from Mexico and other Latin American countries has To the west, Muslims diffused across North Africa,

concentrated Roman Catholics in the Southwest, whereas crossed the Strait of Gibraltar, and retained part of West-

French settlement from the seventeenth century, as well ern Europe, particularly much of present-day Spain, until

as recent immigration, has produced a predominantly 1492. During the same century in which the Christians

Roman Catholic Quebec. regained all of Western Europe, Muslims took control of

much of southeastern Europe and Turkey.

'f FIGURE6-20 DIFFUSIONOF ISLAM Islamdiffusedrapidlyfrom As was the case with Christianity, Islam, as a universal-

its pointof originin present-daySaudAi rabiaW. ithin200years,Muslims izing religion, diffused well beyond its hearth in Southwest

controlledmuchof SouthwesAt sia& NorthAfricaandsouthwesternEurope. Asia through relocation diffusion of missionaries to por-

SubsequentlIys,lambecamethepredominanrteligionasfareastasIndonesia. tions of sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. Although

rA:T~LcA:N-TNIC:.-I-T-~--®-::.::r.KF::slI:l:NA.-GN-KD:1O.s~M-:=-"---.~...--t ;.s._::,,.--:.::;:;_-~~4--i::.-.,=._c,.,1:~:-----,-<-,,:-•:~---) ------~,._ it is spatially isolated in South-

~ east Asia from the Islamic core

OCEAN ~,ou[v[eCn~ilmcee,°• f-,1=.1t.t-__·,e~v..,i:,t-.:.,"Js,<n,...f~~n-l~len~ora.p/<leg.,_1-<s..~:·.•' ,• ..,- .{ _ ~ I, region, Indonesia, the world's
~qcl~ -
I fourth-most-populous country,
I
~ .7 j 1 'il , N

lpledor- Zmg~ -•~illiV\--.,.~·,1-:7- 1 ,1--r . pre domm. an tly Mus11·m be-
IS
smna,,an<l.
\J~CordO'la

1
T1•'or·~•e·nlf",-_.,.- ~•N~':'P.1;e v"'\I, t ·• cause Arab traders brought the
A ~,::-,,...,_.._......-,
,,, - ·..,,,.
= , · .,. __A.':,.lfangey-(•'._ Merv Kabul religion there in the thirteenth
f\.•.Y.n.,.,wa..J;r.wJ~~"er.o,Ou2'e0,f'rEranean S e 8 1 Century.
•
LJ ~f • ~
•ttemt
'o,a111i!cll! 0 11aghdad
I '- "-~...J:,',--..:;- ~.~_~usalem-<1 > •1sr,11an /

Muslimby: ~ [j Pause and Reflect 6.2.3
(
-A.D.632 Does the diffusion of Islam
A.O6. 61 Fi { provide a good example
A.O7.50 of hierarchical diffusion,
relocation diffusion, or both?
--+ Militarcyampaign
\,....~'°°/-,-r"°~"
NNes

~ '250 $00 IOll.'m~ltfs

'-. 1ll'E10-N

_________________________,....•..
198 THECULTURALLANDSCAPE

and from Korea to Japan two centuries later. During the

DIFFUSION OF BUDDHISM same era,Buddhism lost its original base of support in India.

Learning Outcome 6.2.4 DIFFUSION OF OTHER UNIVERSALIZING
RELIGIONS
compare the diffusion of universalizing and ethnic
The Baha'i religion diffused to other regions in the late
religions. nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, under the lead-
ership of 'Abdu'I-Baha, son of the prophet Baha'u'llah.
Buddhism did not diffuse rapidly from its point of origin Baha'i also spread rapidly during the late twentieth century,
in northeastern India (Figure 6-21). Most responsible for when a temple was constructed on every continent.
the spread of Buddhism was Asoka, emperor of the Magad-
han Empire from about 273 to 232 B.c. Sikhism remained relatively clustered in the Punjab,
where the religion originated. Sikhs fought with Muslims
The Magadhan Empire formed the nucleus of several to gain control of the Punjab region, and they achieved
powerful kingdoms in South Asia between the sixth their ambition in 1802, when they created an indepen-
century e.c. and the eighth century A.D. About 257 s.c., dent state in the Punjab. The British took over the Punjab
at the height of the Magadhan Empire's power, Asoka in 1849 as part of its India colony but granted the Sikhs a
became a Buddhist and thereafter attempted to put into privileged position and let them fight in the British army.
practice Buddha's social principles. A council organized
by Asoka at Pataliputra decided to send missionaries to When the British government created the independent
territories neighboring the Magadhan Empire. Emperor states of India and Pakistan in 1947, it divided the Punjab
Asoka's son, Mahinda, led a mission to the island of between the two instead of giving the Sikhs a separate
Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), where the king and his sub- country. Preferring to Jive in Hindu-dominated India
jects were converted to Buddhism. As a result, Sri Lanka rather than Muslim-dominated Pakistan, 2.5 million Sikhs
is the country that claims the longest continuous tradi- moved from Pakistan's West Punjab region to East Punjab
tion of practicing Buddhism. Missionaries were also sent in India.
in the third century B.c.to Kashmir, the Himalayas, Burma
(Myanmar), and elsewhere in India. LACK OF DIFFUSION OF ETHNIC RELIGIONS

In the first century A.D., merchants along the trading :viost ethnic religions have limited, if any, diffusion. These
routes from northeastern India introduced Buddhism to religions lack missionaries who are devoted to converting
Chlna. Many Chinese were receptive to the ideas brought people from other religions. Thus, the diffusion of univer-
by Buddhist missionaries, and Buddhist texts were trans- salizing religions, especially Christianity and Jslam, typi-
lated into Chinese languages. Chinese rulers allowed their cally comes at the expense of ethnic religions.
people to become Buddhist monks during the fourth
century A.IJ., and in the following centuries Buddhism MINGLING OF ETHNIC AND UNIVERSALIZING RELIGIONS.
turned into a genuinely Chinese religion. Buddhism fur-
ther diffused from China to Korea in the fourth century Universalizing religions may supplant ethnic religions or
mingle with them. In some African countries, Christian
Sea of •o N practices are similar to those of their former European
Jsp~n colonial masters. Equatorial Guinea, a former Spanish
colony, ls mostly Roman Catholic; Namibia, a former
-· CEhainJat PACIFIC German colony, is heavily Lutheran. Elsewhere, traditional
Sea OCEAN African religious ideas and practices have been merged
with Christianity. For example, African rituals may give
Tropit 01C1nce, relative prominence to the worship of ancestors. Desire for
a merger of traditional practices with Christianity has led
SRI B!Hldhlsbt y: to the formation of several thousand churches in Africa not
~NKA affiliated with established churches elsewhere in the world.
•2ooec
In East Asia, Buddhism is the universalizing religion
AO.700 that has most mingled with ethnic religions, such as Shin-
A.O 1100 toism in Japan. Shintoists initially resisted Buddhism
when it first diffused to Japan from Korea in the ninth cen-
IND/AN OCEAN o· tury. Later, Shintoists embraced Buddhism and amalgam-
ated elements of the two religions. Buddhist priests took
0 ..ao l!l00ff.tli!$ over most of the Shinto shrines, but Buddhist deities came
~ to be regarded by the Japanese as Shintoist deities instead.
of---"tT:»
UI~ The current situation in Japan offers a strong caution
to anyone attempting to document the number of adher-
1. f ents of any religion. Although Japan is a wealthy country

_.,FIGURE6·21 DIFFUSIONOF BUDDHISM Buddhismdiffusedslowly
fromitscoreinnortheasternIndia.Buddhismwasnotwell establishedin China
until800yearsafterBuddha'sdeath.

Chapter 6: Religions 199

with excellent record keeping, the number of Shintoists Percen1of worldJewish population
in the country is currently estimated at either 4 million or Olher7.4%
100 million. When responding to questionnaires, around
4 million, or 3 percent, of the Japanese state that they ~
are Shintoist, and that's the number that Adherents.com
uses. But Shinto organizations in Japan place the number OmeErurope Israel
42.5%
at 100 million, or 80 percent, based on record keeping 8.9o/,
and participating in major Shinto holidays. Meanwhile,

around 100 million Japanese say they are Buddhists. So
if the higher number for Shintoists is correct, then most

of the 123 million inhabitants of Japan profess to follow
both religions.

ETHNIC RELIGIONS AND MIGRATION. Ethnic religions I 2010 I

can diffuse if adherents migrate to new locations for A FIGURE6-22 DISTRIBUTION OF JEWS, 1910 AND 2010 MostJews
livedin Europe(includingRussiaa) centuryago;nowmostlivein Israelor the
economic reasons and are not forced to adopt a strongly UnitedStates.

entrenched universalizing religion. For example, the term ghetto originated during the sixteenth century in
Venice, Italy, as a reference to the city's foundry or metal-
1.3 million inhabitants of Mauritius include 52 percent casting district, where Jews were forced to live. Ghettos
were frequently surrounded by walls, and the gates were
Hindu, 28 percent Christian (26 percent Roman Catholic locked at night to prevent escape.

and 2 percent Anglican), and 17 percent Muslim. The Beginning in the 1930s, but especially during World
War II (1939-1945), the Nazis systematically rounded up
religious diversity is a function of the country's history of a large percentage of European Jews, transported them
to concentration camps, and exterminated them in the
immigration. Holocaust. About 4 million Jews died in the camps and
2 million in other ways. Many of the survivors migrated to
A 2,040-square-kilometer (788-square-mile) island lo- Israel. Today, less than 15 percent of the world's 1S million
Jews live in Europe, compared to 90 percent a century ago
cated in the Indian Ocean 800 kilometers (500 miles) east (Figure 6-22).

of Madagascar, Mauritius was uninhabited until 1638, so

it had no traditional ethnic religion. That year, Dutch

settlers arrived to plant sugarcane and naturally brought

their religion-Christianity-with them. France gained

control of Mauritius in 1721 and imported African slaves

to work on the sugarcane plantations. Then the British

took over in 1810 and brought workers from India.

Mauritius became independent in 1992. Hinduism on

Mauritius traces back to the Indian immigrants, Islam to

the African immigrants, and Christianity to the European

immigrants.

DIFFUSION OF JUDAISM. The spatial distribution of Pause and Reflect 6.2.4
Jews differs from that of other ethnic religions because What country had the largest Jewish population in
Judaism is practiced in many countries, not just its place 1910?
of origin. Only since the creation of the state of Israel in
1948 has a significant percentage of the world's Jews lived CHECK-IN: KEY ISSUE 2
in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Why Do Religions Have Different
Most Jews have not lived in the Eastern Mediterranean Distributions?
since A.D. 70, when the Romans forced them to disperse
throughout the world, an action known as the diaspora, ✓ Ethnic religions typically have unknown or
from the Greek word for "dispersion." The Romans forced unclear origins, whereas universalizing religions
the diaspora after crushing an attempt by the Jews to rebel have well documented places of origin based
against Roman rule. on events in the life of a man.

Most Jews migrated from the eastern Mediterranean ✓ Universalizing religions typically diffuse widely
to Europe, although some went to North Africa and Asia. from their place of origin, whereas ethnic
Having been exiled from the home of their ethnic religion, religions typically do not.
Jews lived among other nationalities, retaining separate re-
ligious practices but adopting other cultural characteristics
of the host country, such as language.

Other nationalities often persecuted the Jews living in
their midst. Historically, the Jews of many European coun-
tries were forced to live in ghettos, defined as city neigh-
borhoods set up by law to be inhabited only by Jews. The

200 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

l(EY ISSUE "power." Church also refers to a gathering of believers, as
well as the building at which the gathering occurs.
Why Do Religions
The church plays a more critical role in Christianity
Organize Space in than do buildings in other religions, in part because the
Distinctive Patterns? structure is an expression of religious principles, an en-
vironment in the image of God. The church is also more
■ Sacred Space prominent in Christianity because attendance at a collec-
tive service of worship is considered extremely important.
■ The Calendar
The prominence of churches on the landscape also
■ Administration of Space stems from their style of construction and location. In
some communities, the church was traditionally the largest
Learning Outcome 6.3.1 and tallest building and was placed at an important square
Compare the role of places of worship in various or other prominent location. Although such characteristics
religions. may no longer apply in large cities, they are frequently still
true for small towns and neighborhoods within cities.
Geographers study the major impact on the landscape
made by all religions, regardless of whether they are uni- Since Christianity split into many denominations, no
versalizing or ethnic. In large cities and small villages single style of church construction has dominated. Churches
around the world, regardless of the region's prevailing re- reflect both the cultural values of the denomination and
ligion, the tallest, most elaborate buildings are often reli- the region's architectural heritage. Orthodox churches fol-
gious structures. low an architectural style that developed in the Byzantine
Empire during the fifth century. Byzantine-style Orthodox
Sacred Space churches tend to be highly ornate, topped by prominent
domes. Many Protestant churches in North America, on
The distribution of religious elements on the landscape re- the other hand, are simple, with little ornamentation. Thi~
flects the importance of religion in people's values. The austerity is a reflection of the Protestant conception of a
impact of religion on the landscape is particularly pro- church as an assembly hall for the congregation.
found, for many religious people believe that their life on
Earth ought to be spent in service to God. Availability of building materials also influences churd
appearance. In the United States, early churches were mos•
The impact of religion is clearly seen in the arrange- frequently built of wood in the Northeast, brick in the South
ment of human activities on the landscape at several east, and adobe in the Southwest. Stucco and stone predomi
scales, from relatively small parcels of land to entire com- nated in Latin America. This diversity reflected differences ir
munities. How each religion distributes its elements on the the most common building materials found by early settlers
landscape depends on its beliefs. Important religious land
uses include burial of the dead and religious settlements. MUSLIM MOSQUES. Religious buildings are highl:
visible and important features of the landscapes in region
PLACES OF WORSHIP IN UNIVERSALIZING dominated by religions other than Christianity. But unlik
RELIGIONS Christianity, other major religions do not consider thei
important buildings sanctified places of worship.
Church, basilica, mosque, temple, pagoda, and synagogue
are familiar names that identify places of worship in vari- Muslims consider a mosque to be a space for comm1.,
ous religions. Sacred structures are physical "anchors" of nlty assembly. Unlike a church, a mosque is not viewe,
religion. All major religions have structures, but the func- as a sanctified place but rather as a location for the corr
tions of the buildings influence the arrangement of the munity to gather together for worship. Mosques are foun
structures across the landscape. They may house shrines primarily in larger cities of the Muslim world; simple struc
or be places where people assemble for worship. Some re- tures may serve as places of prayer in rural villages.
ligions require a relatively large number of elaborate struc-
tures, whereas others have more modest needs. A mosque is organized around a central courtyard-
traditionally open-air, although it may be enclosed i
CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. The Christian landscape is harsher climates. The pulpit is placed at the end of tr
dominated by a high density of churches. The word church courtyard facing Makkah, the direction toward which a
derives from a Greek term meaning "lord," "master," and Muslims pray. Surrounding the courtyard is a cloister us£
for schools and nonreligious activities. A distinctive fe
ture of the mosque is the minaret, a tower where a ma
known as a muezzin summons people to worship.

BUDDHIST PAGODAS. The pagoda is a prominent ar
visually attractive element of the Buddhist landscap
Frequently elaborate and delicate in appearance, pagod
typically include tall, many-sided towers arranged in a seri
of tiers, balconies, and slanting roofs. Pagodas contain reli

Chapter 6: Religions 201

that Buddhists believe to be a portion of Buddha's body or
clothing (Figure 6-23). After Buddha's death, his followers
scrambled to obtain these relics. As part of the process of
dlffusing the religion, Buddhists carried these relics to other
countries and built pagodas for them. Pagodas are not
designed for congregational worship. Individual prayer or
meditation is more likely to be undertaken at an adjacent
temple, at a remote monastery, or in a home.

BAHA'i HOUSES OF WORSHIP. Baha'is have built 4 FIGURE6-24 BAHA'I HOUSESOFWORSHIPShrineof theBabH, aifaI,srael.
Houses of Worship in Wilmette, IUinois, in 1953; Sydney,
Australia, and Kampala, Uganda, both in 1961; Lagenhain, SIKHISM'S GOLDEN TEMPLE OF AMRITSAR. Sikhism's
near Frankfurt, Germany, in 1964; Panama City, Panama, in most holy structure, the Darbar Sahib, or Golden Temple,
1972; Tiapapata, near Apia, Samoa, in 1984; and New was built at Amritsar, in the Punjab, by Arjan, the fifth guru,
Delhi, [ndia, in 1986 (Figure 6-24). The first Baha'i House during the sixteenth century (Figure 6-25). The holiest
of Worship, built in 1908 in Ashgabat, Russia, now the book in Sikhism, the Guru Granth Sahib, is kept there.
capital of Turkmenistan, was turned into a museum by
the Soviet Union and demolished in 1962 after a severe Militant Sikhs used the Golden Temple at Amritsar as a
earthquake. Additional Houses of Worship are planned in base for launching attacks in support of greater autonmy
Tehran, Iran; Santiago, Chile; and Haifa, Israel. for the Punjab during the 1980s. In 1984, the Indian army
attacked the Golden Temple at Amritsar and killed be-
The locations have not been selected because of prox- tween 500 and 1,500 Sikhs defending the temple. In retali-
iinity to clusters of Baha'is. Instead, the Houses of Worship ation later that year, India's Prime Minister Indira Gandhi
have been dispersed to different continents to dramatize was assassinated by two of her guards, who were Sikhs.
Baha'i as a universalizing religion with adherents all over
the world. The Houses of Worship are open to adherents
of all religions, and services include reciting the scriptures
of various religions.

Pause and Reflect 6.3.1

What is the purpose of the main religious structure in
Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Baha'i, and Sikhism?

T FIGURE6-25 SIKHGOLDENTEMPLEOFAMRITSAR,INDIA
TheDarbarSahibo, r GoldTemplea, tAmritsari,sthe mostholystructurefor Sikhs,
mostof whomlivein northwesternIndia.

4 FIGURE6-23 BUDDHISTPAGODA, SARNATH, INDIA TheDhamek
pagoda,in DeerPark,Samath,wasbuilt in the third centurys.c.,andis
probablytheoldestsurvivingBuddhiststructurein theworld.

llllllillllRIRIRII

202 THECULTURALLANDSCAPE

SACRED PLACES IN UNIVERSALIZING of the eight places are concentrated in a small area
RELIGIONS northeastern India and southern Nepal:

Learning Outcome 6.3.2 • Lumbini in southern Nepal, where Buddha was bo
Explain why places are sacred in universalizing around 563 s.c., is most important. Many sanctuarj
religions. and monuments were built there, but all are in rui1
today.
Religions may elevate particular places to holy positions.
Universalizing and ethnic religions differ on the types of • Bodh Gaya, 250 kilometers (150 miles) southeast
places that are considered holy: Buddha's birthplace, is the site of the second gre
event in his life, where he reached perfect wisdom.
• An ethnic religion typically has a less widespread dis- temple has stood near the site since the third centu
tribution than a universalizing one in part because its s.c., and part of the surrounding railing built in the fiJ
holy places derive from the distinctive physical envi- century A.O. still stands. Because Buddha reached pt
ronment of its hearth, such as mountains, rivers, or feet Enlightenment while sitting under a bo tree, tb
rock formations. tree has become a holy object as well (Figure 6-27). •
honor Buddha, the bo tree has been diffused to oth
• A universalizing religion endows with holiness cit- Buddhist countries, such as China and Japan.
ies and other places associated with the founder's life.
Its holy places do not necessarily have to be near each • Deer Park in Sarnath, where Buddha gave his first S<
other, and they do not need to be related to any partic-
ular physical environment. mon, is the third important location. The Dhamek t

Buddhism and Jslam are the universalizing religions goda at Sarnath, built in the third century e.c., is pro
that place the most emphasis on identifying shrines. ably the oldest surviving structure in India (refer
Places are holy because they are the locations of important Figure 6-23). Nearby is an important library of Buddh
events in the life of Buddha or Muhammad. Making a literature, including many works removed from Tit
pilgrimage to these holy places~a journey for religious when Tibet's Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama, we
purposes to a place considered sacred-is incorporated into exile.
into the rituals of some religions. Hindus and Muslims are
especially encouraged to make pilgrimages to visit holy • Kusinagara, the fourth holy place, is where Budd
places in accordance with recommended itineraries. died at age 80 and passed into Nirvana, a state of pea<
ful extinction (Figure 6-28). Temples built at the site,
currently in ruins.

Four other sites in northeastern lndia are particula:
sacred because they were the locations of Buddha's pri
cipal miracles:

• Sravasn is where Buddha performed his greatest mirac
Before an assembled audience of competing religic
leaders, Buddha created multiple images of himself a

O 76 160 Kllometer:s _.,FIGURE6-27 BO TREE, BODH GAYA, INDIA A Buddhistmonksits
undera Botreeat BodhGaya,the placewhereBuddhareachedperfect
$W-,ttlff"""71't'-::~ wisdom.

_.,FIGURE6-26 HOLYPLACESIN BUDDHISM Mostareclusteredin
northeasternIndiaandsouthernNepalbecausetheywerethe locationsof
importanteventsin Buddha'slife.

·-

.Allftl1t 1.111■11a

Chapter 6: Religions 203

A FIGURE6-28 SLEEPINGBUDDHA, KU~INAGARA Thestatueof Buddha
asleepmarksthe locationwhereBuddhaisthoughtto haveattainednirvana.

visited heaven. SravasH became an active center of A FIGURE6-29 MASJID AL-HARAM, MAKKAH, SAUDI ARABIA The
Buddhism, and one of the most important monasteries blackcube-likeKa'baat the centerofMasjidal-Haram(GreatMosquei)n
was established there. Makkahis Islam'sholiestobject.

• Samkasya, the second miracle site, is where Buddha The second-most-holy geographic location in Islam is
is said to have ascended to heaven, preached to his Madinah (Medina), a city of 1.3 million inhabitants, 350
mother, and returned to Earth. kilometers (220 miles) north of Makkah. Muhammad re-
ceived his first support from the people of Madinah and
• Rajagrha, the third site, is holy because Buddha tamed became the city's chief administrator. Muhammad's tomb
a wild elephant there, and shortly after Buddha's death, is at Madinah, inside Islam's second-largest mosque (refer
it became the site of the first Buddhist Council. to Figure 6-15).

• Vaisala, the fourth location, is the site of Buddha's an- Every healthy Muslim who has adequate financial re-
nouncement of his impending death and the second sources is expected to undertake a pilgrimage, called a
Buddhist Council. hajj, to Makkah (Mecca). Regardless of nationality and
economlc background, all pilgrims dress alike, in plain
All four miracle sites are in ruins today, although exca- white robes, to emphasize common loyalty to Islam and
vation activity is under way. the equality of people in the eyes of Allah. A precise set
of rituals is practiced, culminating in a visit to the Ka'ba.
HOLY PLACES IN ISLAM. The holiest locations in Islam The hajj attracts millions of Muslims annually to Makkah.
are in cities associated with the life of Muhammad. The Hajj visas are issued by the government of Saudi Arabia ac-
holiest city for Muslims is Makkah (Mecca), the birthplace cording to a formuJa of 1 per 1,000 Muslims in a country.
of Muhammad. The word mecca now has a general Roughly 80 percent come from Southwest Asia & North
meaning in the English language as a goal sought or a Africa and 20 percent from elsewhere in Asia. Although In-
center of activity. donesia is the country with the most Muslims, it has not
sent the largest number of pilgrims to Makkah because of
Now a city of 1.3 million inhabitants, Makkah contains the relatively long travel distance.
the holiest object in the Islamic landscape, namely al-Ka'ba,
a cubelike structure encased in silk, which stands at the cen- Pause and Reflect 6.3.2
ter of the Great Mosque, Masjid al-Haram, Islam's largest Based on-the lives of the Buddha and the prophet
mosque (Figure 6-29). The Ka'ba, thought by Muslims to Muhammad, what types of sites are likely to
have been built by Abraham and Ishmael, contains a black be goals of pilgrimage for the followers of a
stone that Muslims believe was given to Abraham by universalizing religion?
Gabriel as a sign of a covenant with Ishmael and the
Muslim people.

The Ka'ba had been a religious shrine in Makkah for
centuries before the origin of Islam. After Muhammad de-
feated the local people, he captured the Ka'ba, cleared it of
idols, and rededicated it to the all-powerful Allah (God).
The Masjid al-Haram mosque also contains the well of
Zamzam, considered to have the same water source as that
given to Hagar by the Angel Gabriel to quench the thirst
of her infant, Ishmael.

204 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

com~itments of ~me and money as well as undergoln

THE LANDSCAPE IN ETHNIC RELIGIONS considerable physical hardship. Recent improvements ·g

learning Outcome 6.3.3 transportation have increased the accessibility of shnnt
Analyze the importance of the physical geography in
ethnic religions. Hindus can now reach holy places in the Himalat

One of the principal reasons that ethnic religions are Mountains by bus or car, and Muslims from all over tha
highly clustered Is that they are closely tied to the physi-
cal geography of a particular place. Pilgrimages arc under- world can reach Makkah by airplane. e
taken to view these physical features.
HINDUTEMPLES. Sacred structures for collective worsh·
HINDU LANDSCAPE. As an ethnic religion of India, ar~ r~latively unlm~ortant in Asian ethnic and universalizi~:
Hinduism is closely tied to the physical geography of r~hg1ons. Instead, important religious functions are more
India. According to a survey conducted by the geographer likely to take place at home within the family. Temples are
Surinder Bhardwaj, the natural features most likely to built to house shrines for particular gods rather than for
rank among the holiest shrines in India are riverbanks congregational worship. The Hindu temple serves as a home
and coastlines. I!Indus consider a pilgrimage, known to one or more gods, although a particular god may have
as a ~irtha, to be an act of purification. Although not a
substitute for meditation, the pilgrimage is an important more than one temple.
act in achieving redemption. A typical Hindu temple contains a small, dimly lit inte-
. Hindu holy places are organized Into a hierarchy. Par-
t1cularly sacred places attract Ilindus from all over India, rior room where a symbolic artifact or some other image of
despite the relatively remote locations of some; less impor- the god rests. Because congregational worship is not part
tant shrines attract primarily local pilgrims. Because Hin- of Hinduism, the temple does not need a large closed inte-
duism has no central authority, the relative importance rior space filled with scats. The site of the temple, usually
of shrines is established by tradition, not by doctrine. For demarcated by a wall, may also contain a structure for a
example, many Hmdus make long-distance pilgrimages caretaker and a pool for ritual baths. Space may be devoted
to Mt. Kailas, located at the source of the Ganges in the to ritual processions.
Himalayas, which is holy because Siva lives there (refer to
Figure 6-17). Other mountains may attract only local pil- Wealthy individuals or groups usually maintain local
grims: Local residents may consider a nearby mountain to temples. Size and number of temples are determined bv
be holy if Siva is thought to have visited it at one time. local preferences and commitment of resources rath~r
than standards imposed by religious doctrine.
Hindus believe that they achieve purification by bath-
ing in holy rivers. The Ganges is the holiest river in India COSMOGONY
because it is supposed to spring forth from the hair of Siva,
one of the main deities. Indians come from all over the Ethnic religions differ from universalizing religions in their
country to Hardwar, the most popular location for bathing understanding of relationships between human being~ and
in the Ganges (Figure 6-30). nature. These differences derive from distinctive concepts
of cosmogony, which is a set of religious beliefs concern-
The remoteness of holy places from population clus- ing the origin of the universe. A variety of events in the
ters once meant that making a pilgrimage required major physical environment are more likely to be incorporated
into the principles of an ethnic religion. These events range
T FIGURE 6-30 BATHING IN THE GANGES, HAROWAR, INDIA Hindus from the familiar and predictable to unexpected disa1,tcrs.
bathe In the Ganges Riverto wash away their sins.
COSMOGONY IN ETHNIC RELIGIONS. Chinese ethnic
religions, such as Confucianism and Taoism, believe that
the universe is made up of two forces, yin and yang, which
exist in everything. The yin force is associated with earth,
darkness, female, cold, depth, passivity, and death. The
yang force is associated with heaven, light, male, heat
height, activity, and life. Yin and yang forces interact with
~ach other to achieve balance and harmony, but they are
m a constant state of change. An imbalance results in
disorder and chaos. The prlnciple of yin and yang applies
to the creation and transformation of all natural features.

COSMOGONY IN UNIVERSALIZING RELIGIONS. The
universalizing religions that originated in Southwest Asia,
notably Christianity and Islam, consider that God created
the universe, Including Earth's physical environment
and human beings. A religious person can serve God
by cultivating the land, draining wetlands, clearing
forests, building new settlements, and otherwise making

Chapter 6: Religions 205

Ji.FIGURE6-31 STONEHENGEStonehengein, southwesternEnglandw, as THE SOLSTICE. The solstice has special significance
constructedbetween4,000and 5,000yearsago. in some ethnic religions. A major holiday in some pagan
religions is the winter solstice, December 21 or 22 in the
productive use of natural features that God created. As the Northern Hemisphere. The winter solstice is the shortest day
very creator of Earth itself, God is more powerful than any and longest night of the year,when the Sun appears lowest
force of nature, and if in conflict, the laws of God take in the sky, and the apparent movement of the Sun's path
precedence over laws of nature. north or south comes to a stop before reversing direction
(solsticecomes from the Latin to "stand still"). Stonehenge,
Christian and Islamic cosmogony differ in some re- a collection of stones erected in southwestern England some
spects. For example, Roman Catholic catechism states that 3,500 years ago (Figure 6-31), is a prominent remnant of a
Earth was given by God to humanity to finish the task of pagan structure apparently aligned so the Sun rises between
creation. Obeying the all-supreme power of God meam in- two stones on the summer and winter solstices (Figure 6-32).
dependence from the tyranny of natural forces. Muslims
regard humans as representatives of God on Earth, capable If you stand at the western facade of the U.S. Capitol
of reflecting the attributes of God in their deeds, such as in Washington at sunset on the summer solstice Uune
growing food or doing other hard work to improve the 21 or 22 in the Northern Hemisphere) and look down
land. But they believe that humans are not partners with Pennsylvania Avenue, the Sun is directly over the cen-
God, who alone was responsible for Earth's creation. ter of the avenue. Similarly, at the winter solstice, sunset
is directly aligned with the view from the Capitol down
In the name of God, some people have sought mas- Maryland Avenue. Will archaeologists of the distant fu-
tery over nature, not merely independence from it. Large- ture think we erected the Capitol Building and aligned the
scale development of remaining wilderness is advocated streets as a religious ritual? Did the planner of Washington,
by some religious people as a way to serve God. To those Pierre L'Enfant, create the pattern accidentally or deliber-
who follow this approach, failure to make full and com- ately, and if so, why?
plete use of Earth's natural resources is considered a vio-
lation of biblical teachings. Christians are more likely to Pause and Reflect 6.3.3
consider floods, droughts, and other natural disasters to be
preventable and may take steps to overcome the problem How do adherents of universalizing religions such
by modifying the environment. Some Christians regard as Christianity and Islam and adherents of ethnic
natural disasters as punishment for human sins. religions tend to differ in their attitudes toward
Earth's physical environment?
Adherents of ethnic religions do not attempt to trans-
form the environment to the same extent. To animists, for T FIGURE6-32 SUNRISEON THE SOLSTICEAT STONEHENGEStones
example, God's powers are mystical, and only a few people wereapparentlyalignedwith regardfor the solstice.
on Earth can harness these powers for medical or other
purposes. God can be placated, however, through prayer
and sacrifice. Environmental hazards may be accepted as
normal and unavoidable.

206 THECULTURALLANDSCAPE

DISPOSING OF THE DEAD Traditional burial practices in China have put pressure
on agricultural land. By burying dead relatives, rural resi-
Learning Outcome 6.3.4 dents have removed as much as 10 percent of the land
Describe ways in which the landscape is used in from productive agriculture. The government in China
religiously significant ways. has ordered the practice discontinued, even urging farm-
ers to plow over old burial mounds. Cremation is encour-

aged instead.

A prominent example of religiously inspired arrangement OTHER METHODS OF DISPOSING OF BODIES. Not all
of land at a smaller scale is burial practices. Climate, topog- faiths bury their dead. Hindus generally practice cremation
raphy, and religious doctrine combine to create differences rather than burial (Figure 6-34). The body is washed with
in practices to shelter the dead. water from the Ganges River and then burned with a
slow fire on a funeral pyre. Burial is reserved for children,
BURIAL. Christians, Muslims, and Jews usually bury ascetics, and people with certain diseases. Cremation is
considered an act of purification, although it tends to
their dead in a specially designated area called a cemetery
strain India's wood supply.
(Figure 6-33). The Christian burial practice can be traced Motivation for cremation may have originated from

to the early years of the religion. In ancient Rome, unwillingness on the part of nomads to leave their dead
behind, possibly because of fear that the body could be at-
underground passages known as catacombswere used to tacked by wild beasts or evil spirits, or even return to life.
Cremation could also free the soul from the body for depar-
bury early Christians (and to protect the faithful when the ture to the afterworld and provide warmth and comfort for
the soul as it embarked on the journey to the afterworld.
religion was still illegal). .. . . Cremation was the principal form of disposing of bodies
in Europe before Christianity. It is still practiced in parts of
After Christianity became legal, Chnst1ans buned their Southeast Asia, possibly because of Hindu influence.

dead in the yard around the church. As these burial places To strip away unclean portions of the body, Zoroastrians
(Parsis) traditionally exposed the dead to scavenging birds
became overcrowded, separate burial grounds had to be and animals. The ancient Zoroastrians did not want the
body to contaminate the sacred elements of fire, earth, or
established outside the city walls. Public health and sanita- water. The dead were exposed in a circular structure called
a dak/11na,or tower of silence (Figure 6-35). Tibetan Bud-
tion considerations in the nineteenth century led to pub- dhists also practiced exposure for some dead, with crema-
tion reserved for the most exalted priests.
lic management of many cemeteries. Some cemeteries are
Disposal of bodies at sea is used in some parts ?f
still operated by religious organizations. The remains of Micronesia, but the practice is much less common than m
the past. The bodies of lower-class people would be flung
the dead are customarily aligned in some traditional direc- into the sea; elites could be set adrift on a raft or boat.
Water burial was regarded as a safeguard against being con-
tion. Some Christians bury the dead with the feet toward
taminated by the dead.
Jerusalem so that they may meet Christ there on the Day

of Judgment.
Cemeteries may consume significant space in a com-

munity, increasing the competition for scarce space. In

congested urban areas, Christians and Muslims have tra-

ditionally used cemeteries as public open space. Before the

widespread development of public parks in the nineteenth

century, cemeteries were frequently the only green space

in rapidly growing cities. Cemeteries are still used as ~~rks
in Muslim countries, where the idea faces less oppos1t1on

than in Christian societies.

T FIGURE 6-33 MUSLIM CEMETERY Fatimidcemeteryi,n Aswan,Egypt,is T FIGURE 6-34 HINDU CREMATIONFamilymemberscovera bodywith
approximately1,000yearsold. woodfor cremationA, gra,India.

Chapter 6: Religions 207

• FIGURE6-35 ZOROASTRIAN TOWER OF SILENCE, YAZD, IRAN Most utopian communities declined in importance or
Zoroastrianpslacedbodiesin the pit in the centerof the tower.Thepracticehas disappeared altogether. Some disappeared because the in-
beendiscontinued. habitants were celibate and could not attract immigrants;
in other cases, residents moved away in search of better
Pause and Reflect 6.3.4 economic conditions. The utopian communities that have
What are some of the cultural or religious factors not been demolished are now inhabited by people who are
that influence methods of disposing of bodies other not members of the original religious sect, although a few
than burial? have been preserved as museums.

RELIGIOUS SETTLEMENTS AND PLACE Although most colonial settlements were not planned
NAMES primarily for religious purposes, religious principles af-
fected many of the designs. Most early New England set-
Buildings for worship and burial places are smaller-scale tlers were members of a Puritan Protestant denomination.
manifestations of religion on the landscape, but there are The Puritans generally migrated together from England
larger-scale examples-entire settlements. Most human and preferred to live near each other in clustered settle-
settlements serve an economic purpose (see Chapter 12), ments rather than on dispersed, isolated farms. Reflecting
the importance of religion in their lives, New England set-
but some are established primarily for religious reasons. tlers placed the church at the most prominent location in
the center of the settlement, usually adjacent to a public
UTOPIAN SETTLEMENTS. A utopiansettlementis an ideal
open space known as a common, because it was for com-
community built around a religious way of life. Buildings
are sited and economic activities organized to integrate mon use by everyone.
religious principles into all aspects of daily life. An early
utopian settlement in the United States was Bethlehem, RELIGIOUS PLACE NAMES. Roman Catholic immigrants
Pennsylvania, founded in 1741 by Moravians, Christians
who had emigrated from the present-day Czech Republic. have frequently given religious place names, or toponyms,
By 1858, some 130 different utopian settlements had
begun in the United States, in conformance with a group's to their settlements in the New World, particularly in
distinctive religious beliefs. Examples include Oneida, Quebec and the U.S. Southwest. Quebec's boundaries
New York; Ephrata, Pennsylvania; Nauvoo, Illinois; and with Ontario and the United States clearly illustrate the
New Harmony, Indiana. difference between toponyms selected by Roman Catholic
and Protestant settlers. Religious place names are common
The culmination of the utopian movement in the in Quebec but rare in the two neighbors (Figure 6-36).
United States was the construction of Salt Lake City by the
Mormons, beginning in 1848. The layout of Salt Lake City ·!1-fJff'Jn
is based on a plan of the city of Zion given to the church .5'1,•A.;~•~
elders in 1833 by the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith. The
city has a regular grid pattern, unusually broad boulevards, IL E:ntit,df-S~M. Stt-.l.Hlt. 5-t.~•• .s~..;.11~:µt
and church-related buildings situated at strategic points. .lt~-41-Pa
St...S~-00.li'r,-.:.. 1'.(Q:,1• st..-,.
&1.~r.1.ttiipn.•
•'-~• •

,,. Nrc:0r..-.-1rw1. i~• a,ow,i•
OU~BEC

A

N
UNITED STATES

NEW YORK

• FIGURE6-36 RELIGIOUS TOPONYMS PlacenamesnearQuebec's
boundarieswith Ontarioandthe UnitedStatesshowthe impactof religionon
the landscapeIn. Quebeca, provincewith a predominantlyRomanCatholic
populationa, largenumberof settlementsarenamedfor saints,where
relativelyfew religioustoponymsarefoundin predominantlPy rotestant
Ontario,NewYork,andVermont.

208 THECULTURALLANDSCAPE

The Calendar 't' FIGURE6-37 ETHNIC RELIGIOUS HOLIDAY Onthe holidayof Sukkot,
Jewscarrya lulav(branchesof datepalmentwinedwith myrtleandwillow)
Learning Outcome 6.3.5 andanetrog(yellowcitron)to symbolizegratitudefor themanyagricultural
Compare the calendars and holidays of ethnic and bountiesofferedby God.
universalizing religions.

Universalizing and ethnic religions have different ap- • Rosh Hashanah (New Year) and Yam Kippur (Day of
proaches to the calendar. An ethnic religion typically has a Atonement), the two most holy and solemn days in the
more clustered distribution than a universalizing religion, Jewish calendar, come in the autumn, which is the sea-
in part because its holidays are based on the distinctive son when grain crops are planted in the Mediterranean
physical geography of the homeland. In universalizing re- agricultural region and therefore a time of hope and
ligions, major holidays relate to events in the life of the worry over whether the upcoming winter's rainfall will
founder rather than to the changing seasons of one par- be sufficient.
ticular place.
In daily business, North Americans use the solar calen-
A prominent feature of ethnic religions is celebration dar of 12 months, each containing 30 or 31 days, taking up
of the seasons-the calendar's annual cycle of variation in the astronomical slack with 28 or 29 days in February. But
climatic conditions. Knowledge of the calendar is critical lsrael-the only country where Jews are in the majority-
to successful agriculture, whether for sedentary crop farm- uses a lunar rather than a solar calendar.
ers or nomadic animal herders. The seasonal variations
of temperature and precipitation help farmers select the THE CALENDAR IN UNIVERSALIZING
appropriate times for planting and harvesting and make
the best choice of crops. Rituals are performed to pray for RELIGIONS
favorable environmental conditions or to give thanks for
past success. The principal purpose of the holidays in universaliz-
ing religions is to commemorate events in the founder's
THE CALENDAR IN JUDAISM life. Examples can be found in the various univer5alizing
religions:
Judaism is classified as an ethnic, rather than a univer-
salizing, religion in part because its major holidays are • Islam. Like Judaism, Islam uses a lunar calendar (Fig-
based on events in the agricultural calendar of the reli- ure 6-38). Whereas the Jewish calendar inserts an extra
gion's homeland in present-day Israel. These agricultural month every few years to match the agricultural and
holidays later gained importance because they also com- solar calendars, Islam as a universalizing religion re-
memorated events in the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt, tains a strict lunar calendar. Jn a 30-year cycle, the
as recounted in the Bible. The reinterpretation of natural Islamic calendar has 19 years with 354 days and
holidays in light of historical events has been especially 11 years with 355 days.
important for Jews in North America, Europe, and other As a result of using a lunar calendar, Muslim holidays
regions who are unfamiliar with the agricultural calendar arrive in d.ifferent seasons from generation to genera-
of Southwest Asia. Major Jewish holidays include: tion. For example, during the holy month of Ramadan,
Muslims fast during daylight every day and try to make
• Pesach (Passover) derives from traditional agricultural a pilgrimage to the holy city of Makkah. At the mo-
practices in which farmers offered God the first fruits of ment, the start of Ramadan is occurring in the Northern
the new spring harvest and herders sacrificed a young Hemisphere summer-for example, June 18, 2015, on
animal at the time when cows began to calve. It also the western Gregorian calendar. In A.O. 1995, Ramadan
recalls the liberation of the Jews from slavery in Egypt fell on October 5, and in A.D. 2025 Ramadan will start
and the miracle of their successful flight under the lead-
ership of Moses.

• Sukkot celebrates the final gathering of fruits for the
year, and prayers, especially for rain, are offered to bring
success in the upcoming agricultural year (Figure 6-37).
It derives from the Hebrew word for the booths, or tem-
porary shelters, occupied by Jews during their wander-
ing in the wilderness for 40 years after fleeing Egypt.

• Shavuot (Feast of Weeks) comes at the end of the grain
harvest. It is also considered the date during the wan-
dering when Moses received the Ten Commandments
from God.

J,,.FIGURE 6-38 NEW MOON IN ISLAM IslamandJudaismusea lunar
calendarsT. heappearanceofthe newMoon,seenhereovertheJumairah
Mosquein Dubai,UnitedArabEmiratesm, arksthe newmonthinJudaismand
Islamand isa holidayforbothreligions.

February 28. Because Ramadan occurs at different times .L FIGURE 6-39 RAMADAN Eatingfoodduringa streetcelebrationonthe
of the solar year in different generations, the number of nightbeforethe startoffastingforRamadaninIstanbulT, urkey.
hours of the daily fast varies widely because the amount
of daylight varies by season and by location on Earth's harvest. Northern Europe and North America do not
surface (Figure 6-39). have a major Christian holiday at harvest time, which
would be placed in the fall.
Observance of Ramadan can be a hardship because
it can interfere with critical agricultural activities, de- Most Northern Europeans and North Americans as-
pending on the season. However, as a universalizing sociate Christmas, the birthday of Jesus, with winter
religion with 1.5 billion adherents worldwide, Islam is conditions, such as tow temperatures, snow cover, and
practiced in various climates and latitudes. If Ramadan the absence of vegetation except for needle leaf ever-
were fixed at the same time of the Middle East's agri- greens. But for Christians in the Southern Hemisphere,
cultural year, Muslims in various places of the world December 25 is the height of the summer, with warm
would need to make different adjustments to observe days and abundant sunlight.
Ramadan.
• Buddhism.All Buddhists celebrate as major holidays
• Baha'i. The Baha'is use a calendar established by the Buddha's birth, Enlightenment, and death. However,
Bab and confirmed by Baha'u'Uah, in which the year not all Buddhists observe them on the same days. Japa-
is divided into 19 months of 19 days each, with the ad- nese Buddhists celebrate Buddha's birth on April 8, his
dition of 4 intercatary days (5 in leap years). The year Enlightenment on December 8, and his death on Feb-
begins on the first day of spring, March 21, which is ruary 15; Theravadist Buddhists observe all three events
one of several holy days in the Baha'i calendar. Baha'is on the same day, usually in April.
are supposed to attend the Nineteen Day Feast, held
on the first day of each month of the Baha'i calen- • Sikhism.The major holidays in Sikhism are the births
dar, to pray, read scriptures, and discuss community and deaths of the religion's 10 gurus. The tenth guru,
activities. Gobind Singh, declared that after his death, instead
of an eleventh guru, Sikhism's highest spiritual au-
• Christianity. Christians commemorate the resurrec- thority would be the holy scriptures the Guru Granth
tion of Jesus on Easter, observed on the first Sunday Sahib. A major holiday in Sikhism is the day when the
after the first full Moon following the spring equinox Holy Granth was installed as the religion's spiritual
in late March. But not all Christians observe Easter on guide. Commemorating historical events distinguishes
the same day because Protestant and Roman Catholic Sikhism as a universalizing religion, in contrast to In-
branches calculate the date on the Gregorian calendar, dia's major ethnic religion, Hinduism, which glorifies
but Orthodox churches use the Julian calendar. the physical geography of India.
Christians associate their holidays with seasonal
variations in the calendar, but climate and the agri- Pause and Reflect 6.3.5
cultural cycle are not central to the liturgy and rituals.
Christians may relate Easter to the agricultural cycle, Why do some religions organize their annual
but that relationship differs depending on where they calendar_saccording to the lunar cycle-?
Jive. In Southern Europe, Easter is a joyous time of
209

210 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

Administration of Space Pope in Rome (Figure 6-40). Here is the top hierarchy o:
Roman Catholicism:

• The Popeis also the bishop of the Diocese of Rome.

Learning Outcome 6.3.6 • Archbishops report to the Pope. Each heads a province
Compare the administrative organization of which is a group of several dioceses. The archbisho(
hierarchical and locally autonomous religions. also is bishop of one diocese within the province, anc
some distinguished archbishops are elevated to th(
Followers of a universalizing religion must be connected rank of cardinal.
in order to ensure communication and consistency of doc-
trine. The method of interaction varies among universal- • Bishops report to an archbishop. Each administers a dio
izing religions, branches, and denominations. Ethnic reli- cese, which is the basic unit of geographic organizatiot
gions tend not to have organized, central authorities. in the Roman Catholic Church. The bishop's headquar
ters, called a "see," is typically the largest city in th1
diocese.

HIERARCHICAL RELIGIONS • Priests report to bishops. A diocese is spatially dividec
into parishes, each headed by a priest.

A hierarchical religion has a well-defined geographic

structure and organizes territory into local administrative

units. Roman Catholicism provides a good example of a Pause and Reflect 6.3.6
hierarchical religion. What are the different spatial units of administration

LATTER-DAY SAINTS. Latter-day Saints (Mormons) exer- in the Roman Catholic Church?

cise strong organization of the landscape. The territory ~

occupied by Mmmons, primarily Utah and portions of The area and population of parishes and diocese
surrounding states, is organized into wards, with populations vary according to historical factors and the distributio1
of approximately 750 each. Several wards are combined into of Roman Catholics across Earth's surface. Tn parts o
a stake of approximately 5,000 people. The highest authority Europe, the overwhelming majority of the dense popula
in the Church-the board and president-frequently redraws tion is Roman Catholic. Consequently, the density of pa1
ward and stake boundaries in rapidly growing areas to reflect ishes is high. A typical parish may encompass only a fe,
the ideal population standards. square kilometers and fewer than 1,000 people. At th

ROMAN CATHOLIC HIERARCHY. The Roman Cathblic other extreme, Latin American parishes may encompas
Church has organized much of Earth's inhabited land into several hundred square kilometers and 5,000 people. Th
an administrative structure ultimately accountable to the more dispersed Latin American distribution is attributabl

partly to a lower population densit

0 200 40DMlret than in Europe.
Because Roman Catholicism is
1--.-'-i---'
hierarchical religion, individual pa1
_ O 200 ◄OOl<iloln

r- ishes must work closely with centrall
located officials concerning ritual
40• and procedures. lf Latin America fo.

lowed the European model of sma

parishes, many would be too remot

for the priest to communicate wit.

..,. others in the hierarchy. The less ir

-~ ./ ~';Jc tensive network of Roman Catholi
institutions also results in part fror
PACIFIC'
OCl:AN '/' Yi' colonial traditions, for both Portt

30< '1 guese and Spanish rulers discourage

120' ~~- parish development in Latin Americ,
The Roman Catholic population :
GulfofM';, ex,co I
"11~• growing rapidly in the U.S. Southwe:

~, ~· ~ and in suburbs of some large Nort
7 American and European cities. Som
r------~----....:.9:S.."..----"~=-----'~ 85

Diocese(bishop) • Arctidiocese of these areas have a low density c

A FIGURE 6-40 ROMAN CATHOLIC HIERARCHY IN THE UNITED STATES TheRomanCatholic parishes and dioceses compared t
Churchdividesthe UnitedStatesintoprovincese,achheadedbyan archbishopP. rovinceasresubdivided the popwation, so the Church mu:
intodioceses,eachheadedbya bishop.Thearchbishopofa provincealsoservesasthe bishopofa diocese.
Diocesesthat are headedbyarchbishopsare calledarchdioceses. adjust !ts territorial organizatio1
New local administrative units can t

Chapter 6: Religions 211

created, although funds to provide the desired number of bureaucracy people who administer Islamic institutions.
churches, schools, and other religious structures might be These administrators interpret Islamic law and run welfare
scarce. Conversely, the Roman Catholic population is de- programs.
clining in inner cities and rural areas. Maintaining services
in these areas is expensive, but the process of combining Strong unity in the Islamic world is maintained by a
parishes and closing schools is very difficult. relatively high degree of communication and migration,
such as the pilgrimage to Makkah. In addition, uniformity
LOCALLY AUTONOMOUS RELIGIONS is fostered by Islamic doctrine, which offers more explicit
commands than other religions.
Some universalizing religions are highly autonomous reli-
gions, or self-sufficient, and interaction among communi- PROTESTANT DENOMINATIONS. Protestant Christian
ties is confined to little more than loose cooperation and denominations vary in geographic structure from extremely
shared ideas. Islam and some Protestant denominations autonomous to somewhat hierarchical. The Episcopalian,
are good examples. Lutheran, and most Methodist churches have hierarchical
structures, somewhat comparable to the Roman Catholic
LOCAL AUTONOMY IN ISLAM. Among the three large Church. Extremely autonomous denominations such as
universalizing religions, Islam provides the most local Baptists and UnHed Church of Christ are organized into self.
autonomy. Like other locally autonomous religions, Islam governing congregations. Each congregation establishes the
has neither a religious hierarchy nor a formal territorial precise form of worship and selects the leadership.
organization. A mosque is a place for public ceremony,
and a leader known as a muezzin calls the faithful to prayer Presbyterian churches represent an intermediate degree
(Figure 6-41), but everyone is expected to participate of autonomy. Individual churches are united in a presby-
equally in the rituals and is encouraged to pray privately. tery, several of which in turn are governed by a synod, with
a general assembly as ultimate authority over all churches.
Tn the absence of a hierarchy, the only formal orga- Each Presbyterian church is governed by an elected board
nization of territory in Islam is through the coincidence of directors with tay members.
of religious territory with secular states. Governments in
some predominantly Islamic countries include in their ETHNIC RELIGIONS. Judaism and Hinduism also have
no centralized structure of religious control. To conduct
T FIGURE 6-41 CALLING MUSLIMS TO PRAYER,CAIRO, EGYPT a full service, Judaism merely requires the presence of 10
adult males. (Females count in some Jewish communities.)
Muslimsarecalledto prayerbya mue2zinw, horecitestheshahadah.
Hinduism is even more autonomous because worship is
usually done atone or with others in the household. Hin-
dus share ideas primarily through undertaking pilgrimages
and reading traditional writings.

CHECK-IN: KEY ISSUE 3

Why Do Religions Organize Space in
Distinctive Patterns?

✓ Religious structures. such as churches and
mosques, are prominent features of the
landscape.

✓ Some religions encourage pilgrimages to holy
places.

✓ Ethnic religions are more closely tied to
their local physical environment than are
universalizing religions.

✓ The calendar typically revolves around the
physical environment in ethnic religions and the
founder's life in universalizing religions.

✓ Some religions have hierarchical administrative
structures, whereas others emphasize local
autonomy.

212 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

KEY ISSUE4 society. Yet, in recent years, religious principles have be-
come increasingly important in the political organization
Why Do Territorial of countries, especially where a branch of Christianity or
Islam is the prevailjng religion.

Conflicts Arise among RELIGION VERSUS SOCIAL CHANGE

Religious Groups? In developing countries, participation in the global econ
omy and culture can expose local residents to values an
■ Religion versus Government Policies beliefs originating in developed countries of North Amer,
ica and Europe. North Americans and Europeans may no
■ Religion versus Religion view economic development as incompatible with reli-
gious values, but many religious adherents in developing
Learning Outcome 6.4.1 countries do, especially where Christianity is not the pre-,
Understand reasons for religious conflicts arising dominant religion.
from government policies.
TALIBAN VERSUS WESTERN VALUES. When thj
Th'e twentieth century was a century of global conflict- Taliban gained power in Afghanistan in 1996, man
two world wars during the first half of the century and Afghans welcomed them as preferable to the corrupt and
the Cold War between supporters of democracy and com- brutal warlords who had been running the country. U.S,
munism during the second half. With the end of the Cold and other Western officials also welcomed them as stron~
War, the threat of global conflict has receded in the twenty- defenders against a possible new invasion by Russia.
first century, but local conflicts have increased in areas of
cultural diversity, as will be discussed in Chapters 7 and 8. The Taliban (which means "religious students") had rur
Islamic Knowledge Movement [religious] schools, mosques
An element of cultural diversity that has led to con- shrines, and other religious and social services since th<
flict in many localities is religion. The attempt by intense seventh century A.D., shortly after the arrival of Islam ir
adherents of one religion to organize Earth's surface can Afghanistan. Once in control of Afghanistan's governmen
conflict with the spatial expression of other religious or in the 1990s, the Taliban imposed very strict laws inspirec
nonreligious ideas. by Islamic values as the Taliban interpreted them:

Contributing to more intense religious conflict has • "Western, non-Islamic" leisure activities were banned
been a resurgence of religious fundamentalism, which is such as playing music, flying kites, watching television
a literal interpretation and a strict and intense adherence and surfing the Internet.
to basic principles of a religion (or a religious branch, de-
nomination, or sect). In a world increasingly dominated • Soccer stadiums were converted to settings for execu
by a global culture and economy, religious fundamental- tions and floggings.
ism ls one of the most important ways in which a group
can maintain a distinctive cultural identity. A group • Men were beaten for shaving their beards and womei
convinced that its religious view is the correct one may stoned for committing adultery.
spatially intrude upon the territory controlled by other re-
ligious groups. • Homosexuals were buried alive, and prostitutes wer
hanged in front of large audiences.

• Thieves had their hands cut off, and women wearin
nail polish had their fingers cut off.

Religion versus Government Western values were not the only targets: Enormou
Policies Buddhist statues as old as the second century A.D. were dE
strayed in 2001 because they were worshipped as "grave1
Religious groups may oppose government policies seen as images," in violation of Islam (Figure 6-42). The Ministr
promoting social change conflicting with traditional reli- for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice er
gious values. The role of religion in organizing Earth's sur- forced the laws. The Taliban believed that they had bee
face has diminished in some societies because of political called by Allah to purge Afghanistan of sin and violenc
and economic change. and make it a pure Islamic state. Islamic scholars criticize
the Taliban as poorly educated in Islamic law and histor
Islam has been particularly affected by a perceived con- and for misreading the Quran.
flict between religious values and modernization of the
economy. Hinduism also has been forced to react to new A U.5.-led coalition overthrew the Taliban in 2001 an
nonreligious ideas from the West. Buddhism, Christianity, replaced it with a democratically elected governmen
and Islam have all been challenged by Communist However, the Taliban was able to regroup and resume ii
governments that diminish the importance of religion in fight to regain control of Afghanistan and parts of Pakista
(see Chapter 8).

"- FIGURE 6-43 HINDU CASTE Youngboysof the BrahmanK, shatriyaa, nd
Vaisyacastesperforma ceremonyto markthe beginningof theirstudies.

"- FIGURE6-42 TALIBAN DESTRUCTION (top)An Imagetakenin 1998of descended from the indigenous people who dwelled in India
a 55-meter(180-foot)statueof Buddhain BamiyanA, fghanistan(.bottom)The prior to the Aryan conquest.
emptynicheaftertheTalibandestroyedthestatuein 2001.
Over the centuries, these original castes split into thou-
Pause and Reflect 6.4.1 sands of subcastes. Until recently, social relations among
Why did the Taliban destroy priceless artistic works the castes were limited, and the rights of non-Brahmans,
from Afghanistan's ancient past? especially Dalits, were restricted. In Hinduism, because ev-
eryone was different, it was natural that each individual
HINDUISM VERSUS SOCIAL EQUALITY. Hinduism has should belong to a particular caste or position in the so-
been strongly challenged since the 1800s, when British cial order. British admjn.istrators and Christian mission-
colonial administrators introduced their social and moral aries pointed out the shortcomings of the caste system,
concepts to India. The most vulnerable aspect of the Hindu such as neglect of the untouchables' health and economic
religion was its rigid caste system, which was the class or problems.
distinct hereditary order into which a Hin.du was assigned,
according to religious law. The type of Hinduism practiced depends in part on an
individual's caste. A high-caste Brahman may practice a
The caste system apparently originated around 1500 form of Hinduism based on knowledge of relatively ob-
n.c.,when Aryans invaded India from the west. The Aryans scure historical texts. At the other end of the caste system,
divided themselves into four castes t'1at developed strong a low-caste illiterate in a rural village may perform reli-
differences in social and economic position: gious rituals without a highly developed set of written ex-
planations for them.
• Brahmans, the priests and top administrators (Figure6-43)
• Kshatriyas, or warriors The rigid caste system has been considerably relaxed
• Vaisyas, or merchants in recent years. The Indian government classifies un-
touchables, shudras, and other historically discriminated
• Shudras, or agricultural workers and artisans castes as "scheduled castes." They comprise 16 percent of
The Shudras occupied a distinctly lower status than the India's total population and are now often called Dalit
other three castes. Below the four castes were the Dalits, (Figure 6-46). Consciousness of caste persists: A govern-
outcasts, or untouchables, who did work considered too ment plan to devise a quota system designed to give
dirty for other castes. In theory, the untouchables were untouchables more places in the country's universities
generated strong opposition. People looking for a mar-
riage partner advertise their caste and the castes they are
willing to consider for a spouse.

'f FIGURE6-44 DALIT A Dalitcleansthestreetsin India,

214 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

RELIGION VERSUS COMMUNISM especially where Roman Catholicism is the most prevalent
branch of Christianity, including Croatia, the Czech Re.
Leaming Outcome 6.4.2 public, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Slove-
nia. Property confiscated by the Communist governments
Summarize reasons for conflicts between religions. reverted to Church ownership, and attendance at church
services increased.
Organjzed religion was challenged in the twentieth cen-
tury by the rise of Communism in Eastern Europe and Asia. In Central Asia, countries that were former parts of the
The three religions most affected were Orthodox Christi- Soviet Union-Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turk-
anity, Islam, and Buddhism. Communist regimes generally menistan, and Uzbekistan-most people are Muslims.
discouraged religious belief and practice. These newly independent countries are struggling to de-
termine the extent to which laws should be rewritten to
CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM VERSUS THE FORMER conform to Islamic custom rather than to the secular tradi-
tion inherited from the Soviet Union.
SOVIET UNION. In 1721, Czar Peter the Great made the
Russian Orthodox Church a part of the Russian government Pause and Reflect 6.4.2
(Figure 6-45). The patriarch of the Russian Orthodox
Church was replaced by a 12-member committee, known How did the end of communism in the former Soviet
as the Holy Synod, nominated by the czar. Union and Eastern Europe affect religion?

Following the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, whlch over- BUDDHISM VERSUS SOUTHEAST ASIAN COUNTRIES.
threw the czar, the Communist government of the Soviet
Union pursued antireligious programs. Karl Marx had called In Southeast Asia, Buddhists were hurt by the long
religjon "the opium of the people," a view shared by V. I. Vietnam War-waged between the French and later by the
Lenin and other early Communist leaders. Marxism became Americans, on one side, and Communist groups on the
the official doctrine of the Soviet Union, so religious doc- other. Neither antagonist was particularly sympathetic to
trine was a potential threat to the success of the revolution. Buddhists. U.S. air raids in Laos and Cambodia destroyed
many Buddhist shrines, and other shrines were vandalized
The Soviet government in 1918 eliminated the official by Vietnamese and by the Khmer Rouge Cambodiar
church-state connection that Peter the Great had forged. Communists. On a number of occasions, Buddhist!
All church buildings and property were nationalized and immolated (burned) themselves to protest policies of th1
could be used only with local government permission. South Vietnamese government.
People's religious beliefs could not be destroyed overnight,
but the role of organized religion in Soviet life could be The cwrent Communist governments in Southeast Asi;
reduced-and it was. The Orthodox religion retained ad- have discouraged religious activities and permitted monu
herents in the Soviet Union, especially among the elderly, ments to decay, most notably the Angkor Wat complex i1
but younger people generally had little contact with the Cambodia, considered one of the world's most beautiful Bud
church beyond attending a service perhaps once a year. dhlst and Hindu structures (Figure 6-46). In any event, thes
With religious organizations prevented from conducting countries do not have the funds necessary to restore the struc
social and cultural work, religion dwindled in daily life. tures, although international organizations have helped.

The end of Communist rule in the late twentieth
century brought a religious revival in Eastern Europe,

T FIGURE 6-45 ST BASIL'S, MOSCOW ARussianOrthodoxcathedrahl as
stoodat thecenterofMoscowsincethesixteenthcenturyT. hecommunists
turnedit intoa museum.

~ FIGURE 6-46 VANDALIZING RELIGIOUS SHRINES AngkoWr at,
Cambodiac,onsideredoneof theworld'smostimportanHt induandBuddhis
shrinesw, asvandalizedbytheKhmerRouge.

Chapter 6: Religions 215

Religion versus Religion

Refer to the map of world religions near the beginning of
this chapter (Figure 6-3). Conflicts are most likely to occur
where colors change, indicating a boundary between two
religious groups.

Two long-standing conflicts involving religious groups
are in Northern Ireland and Southwest Asia.

RELIGIOUS WARS IN IRELAND

The most troublesome religious boundary in Western PercentProlestant
Europe lies on the island of Eire (Ireland). The Republic
of Ireland, which occupies five-sixths of the island, is -75-100
87 percent Roman Catholic, but the island's northern one- -50-74
sixth, which is part of the United Kingdom rather than
Ireland, is 46 percent Protestant and 40 percent Roman 25-49
Catholic, according to the 2001 census. (The remaining 10-24
14 percent stated no religion or did not respond.) 0-9

The entire island was an English colony for many cen- A FIGURE6-47 DISTRIBUTIONOFCATHOLICSAND PROTESTANTISN
turies and was made part of the United Kingdom in 1801. IRELAND,1911 long a colonyof EnglandI,relandbecamea self-governing
Agitation for independence from Britain increased in Ire- dominionwithin theBritishEmpirein 1921.In 1937,it becamea completely
land during the nineteenth century, especially after poor Independenctountryb, ut 26districtsin thenorthof Irelandchoseto remain
economic conditions and famine in the 1840s led to mass partof the UnitedKingdomT. heRepublicof Irelandtodayis 87percentRoman
emigration. Following a succession of bloody confronta- Catholicw. hereasNorthernIrelandhasa Protestanmt ajorityT. heboundary
tions, Ireland became a self-governing dominion within betweenRomanCatholicsandProtestantdsoesnotcoincidepreciselwy ith
the British Empire in 1921. Complete independence was the internationabl orders, oNorthernIrelandincludesomecommunitietshat
declared in 1937, and a republic was created in 1949. arepredominantlyRomanCatholicT. hisistheroot of a religiousconflictthat
When most of Ireland became independent, a majority in continuestoday.
six northern counties voted to remain in the United King-
dom. Protestants, who comprised the majority in North- =Highways . . - ,.1 Belfa,r1.otig~ I , A
ern Ireland, preferred to be part of the predominantly - Majoroads ,
Protestant United Kingdom rather than join the predomi- -Railroads N
nantly Roman Catholic Republic of Ireland (Figure 6-47). OfQtlal
lert.111
Roman Catholics in Northern Ireland have been vic-
timized by discriminatory practices, such as exclusion 41-60
from higher-paying jobs and better schools. The capital 21-40
Belfast is highly segregated, with predominantly Catholic Below21
neighborhoods to the west and Protestant neighborhoods
to the east (Figure 6-48). Demonstrations by Roman Cath- A FIGURE6-48 DISTRIBUTIONOF CATHOLICSANO PROTESTANTS
olics protesting discrimination began in 1968. Since then, IN BELFASTBelfastN, orthernIreland,is highlysegregatedM. ostRoman
more than 3,000 have been killed in Northern Ireland- Catholicsliveto thewest,andProtestanttso theeast.
both Protestants and Roman Catholics-in a continuing
cycle of demonstrations and protests. equally committed to union with the Republic of Ireland,
peaceful settlement appears difficult. Peace agreements
A small number of Roman Catholics in both Northern implemented in 1999 provided for the sharing of power,
Ireland and the Republic of Ireland joined the Irish Re- but the British government has suspended the arrange-
publican Army (IRA),a militant organization dedicated to ment several times because of violations.
achieving Irish national unity by whatever means avail-
able, including violence. Similarly, a scattering of Prot-
estants created extremist organizations to fight the IRA,
including the Ulster Defense Force (UDF).

Although the overwhelming majority of Northern
Ireland's Roman Catholics and Protestants are willing to
live peacefully with the other religious group, extremists
disrupt daily life for everyone and do well in elections. As
long as most Protestants are firmly committed to remain-
ing in the United Kingdom and most Roman Catholics are

11111111■■

216 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

Muslims made further gains in Europe in subsequent yea1

RELIGIOUS WARS IN THE MIDDLE EAST and continued to control portions of present-day Spa!•
until 1492, but Martel's victory ensured that Christianit

Learning Outcome 6.4.3 rather than Islam would be Europe's dominant religion.
Analyze reasons for religlous conflict in the Middle To the east, Ottoman Turks captured Eastern Orthc

dox Christianity's most important city, Constantinopl

East. (present-day Istanbul in Turkey), in 1453 and advanced

Conflict in the Middle East is among the world's longest few years later into southeast Europe, as far north as pre
standing and most intractable. Jews, Christians, and Mus- ent-day Bosnia & Herzegovina. The recent civil war in th;
lims have fought for many centuries years to control the country is a legacy of the fifteenth-century Muslim inv,
same small strip of land in the Eastern Mediterranean.
sion (see Chapter 7).
To some extent, the hostility among Christians, Muslims, To recapture the Holy Land from its Muslim conquc
and Jews in the Middle East stems from their similar her-
itage. All three groups trace their origins to Abraham in ors, European Christians launched a series of milita1
the Hebrew Bible narrative, but the religions diverged in campaigns, known as Crusades, over a ISO-year perio
ways that have made it difficult for them to share the same Crusaders captured Jerusalem from the Muslims in lOS
during the First Crusade, lost it in 1187 (which led to ti
Third Crusade), regained it in 1229 as part of a treary en

territory: ing the Sixth Crusade, and lost it again in 1244.

• Judaism, an ethnic religion, makes a special claim to the Pause and Reflect 6.4.3
territory it calls the Promised Land. The major events in Why ls a narrow strip of land at the eastern end of
the development of Judaism took place there, and the the Mediterranean Sea so important in Judaism,
religion's customs and rituals acquired meaning from Christianity, and Islam?
the agricultural life of the ancient Israelite tribes. De-
scendants of l 0 of Jacob's sons, plus 2 of his grandsons,

constituted the 12 tribes of Israelites who emigrated PARTITION OF PALESTINE. The Muslim Ottom,
from l:.gypt in the Exodus narrative. Each received a Empire controlled Palestine for most of the four centur
portion of Canaan. After the Romans gained control of between 1516 and 1917. Upon the empire's defeat
Judea, which they later renamed the province of Pales- World War I, the United Kingdom took over Palestir
tine, they dispersed the Jews from Palestine, and only
a handful were permitted to live In the region until the under a mandate from the League of ations, and la

twentieth century. from the United Nations.
For a few years, the British allowed some Jews to retu
• Islam became the most widely practiced religion in
Palestine after the Muslim army conquered ii in the to Palestine, but immigration was restricted again duri
seventh century A.o. Muslims regard Jerusalem as their the 1930s, in response to intense pressure by Arabs in t
third holiest city, after Makkah and Madinah, because region. As violence initiated by both Jewish and Musi
it is the place from which Muhammad is thought to settlers escalated after World War II, the British annoum
their intention to withdraw from Palestine. The Unit
have ascended to heaven. Nations voted In 1947 to partition the Palestine Mand

• Christianity considers Palestine the Holy Land and Jeru- into two independent states, one Jewl~h and one A1

salem the Holy City because the major events in Jesus's (Figure 6-49, left). Jerusalem was to be an internatio1

life, death, and Resurrection were concentrated there. city, open to all religions, and run by the United Nation

Most inhabitants of Palestine accepted Christianity
after the religion was officially adopted by the Roman WARS BETWEEN ISRAELAND NEIGHBORS. When 1

Empire and before the Muslim army conquest in the British withdrew in 1948, Jews declared an independ,

seventh century. state of Israel within the boundaries prescribed by the 1

CRUSADES. In the seventh century, Muslims, now also resolution. Over the next quarter-century, Israel fou;
called Arabs because they came from the Arabian peninsula, four wars with its neighbors:
captured most of the Middle East, Including Palestine and
Jerusalem. The Arab Muslim presence the Arabic language • 1948-1949 Independence War. The day after Is1
across the Middle East and diffused subsequently converted declared independence, the neighboring Arab st,
most of the people from Christianity to Islam. declared war. Israel survived the attack, and the cc
batants signed an armistice In 1949. Israel's bounda
The Arab Muslims moved west across North Africa and were extended beyond the UN partition, including
invaded Europe at Gibraltar in A.O. 711 (see Figure 6-20). western suburbs of Jerusalem. Jordan gained contra
The army conquered most of the Iberian Peninsula, crossed the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including the ,
the Pyrenees Mountains a few years later, and for a time oc- City, where holy places are clustered. Egypt gained
cupied much of present-day France. Its initial advance in
Europe was halted by the Franks (a West Germanic peo- Gaza Strip.
ple), Jed by Charles Martel, at Poitiers, France, in 732. The
• 1956 Suez War. Egypt seized the Suez Canal, a
shipping route between Europe and Asia that had b

u.N.PartitionPlan1947 After1948-49 War LEBAI.ON MiddleEastSince1967Ylar Chapter 6: Religions 217
ArabMuslimstate OccupiebdyIsrael
Jewishstate •Israel ◄ FIGURE 6-49
Jordan • GapturebdyIsrael, BOUNDARY CHANGESIN
returnetdo Egypt
Mediterranean Mediterranean ISRAEL/PALESTINE(left)
Sea Sea • CapturebdyIsrael, The1947 UNpartitionplan,
somePalestiniacnonlrol (center)Israelafterthe
,\ l 1948-1949 war,(right)Israel
~ Mediterranean andits neighborsincethe
~... Sea 1967 Six-DayWar.

EGYPT Dso.a.d

A SAUDI EGYPT SAUDI EGYPT OflDAfj._
ARABIA ARABIA
N ~ A SAUDI
RodSea I ARABIA
N N
R«JSaa

built and controlled up until then by France and the • 1979 Peace Treaty. Egypt's President Anwar Sadat and
United Kingdom. Egypt also blockaded international Israel's Prime Minister Menachem Begin signed a peace
waterways near its shores that Israeli ships were using, treaty in 1979, following a series of meetings with U.S.
Israel, France, and the United Kingdom attacked Egypt President Jimmy Carter at Camp David, Maryland.
and got the waterways reopened, although Egypt re- Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt, and in re-
tained control of the Suez Canal. turn Egypt recognized Israel's right to exist. Sadat was
assassinated by Egyptian soldiers, who were extremist
• 1967 Six-Day War. Israel's neighbors massed a quarter- Muslims opposed to compromising with Israel, but his
million troops along the borders and again blocked successor Hosoi Mubarak carried out the terms of the
Israeli ships from using international waterways. In re- treaty. A half-century after the Six-Day War, the status
taliation, Israel launched a surprise attack, destroying of the other territories occupied by Israel has still not
the coalition's air forces. Israel captured territory: been settled.
• From Jordan, the Old City of Jerusalem and the West
Bank (the territory west of the Jordan River taken by
Jordan in the 1948-1949 war) (figure 6-50)
• From Syria, the Golan
Heights
• From Egypt, the
Gaza Strip and Sinai
Peninsula

• 1973 Yorn Kippur War. A

surprise attack on lsrael by
its neighbors took place
on the holiest day of the
year for Jews. The war
ended without a change
in boundaries.

► FIGURE 6-50 WEST BANK
SETTLEMENT In thisGoogleEarth
imagefrom2010,the Israelisettlement
Betarlllit is underconstruction(top
of the photo)in theWestBank,ona
hillsideoverlookingthe Palestinian
villagesNahalin(bottom)andHusan
(top right).