Does the geography of a place reflect its culture?

A particular place has a particular geography. But there are many places, like our country India, who have a geography that is extremely diversified. In India, in Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh, it has a freezing cold temperature. The states of Rajasthan and Gujarat on the other hand, have temperatures reaching over 50° Centigrade.

Not only India, but continents such as Africa and South America also have different kinds of geographical and climatic diversity. In Africa, in the north, we have the largest desert in the world, The Sahara desert. Also, if we move to the Central African region, then we have the Congo Rainforest, which is one of the largest rainforests in the world, and is situated around the Congo River.

In South America, the largest rainforest of the world, the Amazon rainforest is situated around the Amazon River. Also, the driest desert of the world, the Atacama Desert in Chile is also situated in the South American continent, near to the coast of the Pacific Ocean.

If you take a look at the culture of these places, then you will see that the culture is inclined with the geographical structure of a particular place. For example, in Africa you will see that in the Central region, the tribes of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the surrounding countries use items that are available in the rainforests. They make shacks out of hay. They eat fruits available in the forest and hunt animals for food which also live in the forests. These people have adapted to the geographical region of Central Africa and so they live in the way the forest has inclined them to.

Similarly, the Inuit people of Greenland, live in very cold and harsh conditions. The food is very scarce in Greenland, and also the temperatures are freezing cold. They also hunt animals and fish for food. They wear coats made out of leather of the animals to keep themselves warm.

With these examples, we can infer that the Tribes of the DRC and the Inuit people of Greenland have adapted themselves and their culture as per the geographical region, that is, they use things that are available in the region in which they live.

Geography creates a huge mark on people’s living styles. And people’s living styles is the culture. This happens because the people have to use what is available to them, and they have to adapt to the geographical conditions of their region. Hence, geography creates difference and influences culture of a particular place.