Cultural geography
Topic: Human Geography: Nature, Scope and Approaches · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 1 "Human Geography: Nature and Scope"
Meaning
Cultural geography is a sub-field of social geography. Its sister discipline is anthropology, the study of human societies and cultures. It studies how culture changes from place to place, including language, religion, customs, food, dress and material culture such as houses and tools. It also shows how culture shapes the land, through temples, pilgrimage routes and the building styles of villages and towns.
Example
The Char Dham pilgrimage circuit in Uttarakhand links Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath. It has shaped roads, rest houses and towns across the Himalaya. This is a clear subject for cultural geography.
Don't confuse with
- Cultural landscape: it is the land itself as shaped by people. Cultural geography is the field of study that looks at culture across space, including cultural landscapes.
Related concepts
- Social geography
- Gender geography
- Historical geography
- Medical geography
- Geography of leisure
- Geography of social well-being