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5/12/2011
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Lavaux Corniche, Switzerland(UNESCO World Heritage Site)
The relationship between political geography and culture may be described under 3 headings:
• PreservationPreservation
• Promotion
• Suppression
“Nothing unites and divides humanity more than culture. So it makes sense that there will be a variety of relationships betweenvariety of relationships between cultural geography and political
geography.”
Political Geography and Culture
• Culture as a centripetal and centrifugal force• The centrality of language and religion• Relationships between cultural boundaries and political boundaries
• Partners in nation‐building• Promotion, proscription and preservation of culture traits
• Conservative and liberal areas• Homelands, cultural preserves and reservations• Regulations that affect landscape
Taos Pueblo, New Mexico
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Taos Pueblo: Built ca. 1,000 AD; National Historic Landmark, 1960; World Heritage Site,
1992; about 150 residents in 2006
Upper East Side Historic District
“National Treasures of Japan”
• A designation bestowed by Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology on what it deems to be the country’s most precious tangible cultural attributes – typically buildings and structures.
• The moniker has been expanded to include “Living National Treasures” – which recognizes individual experts in some aspect of Japanese culture that is in danger of disappearing.
KabukiThTheater,Japan
U.S. National Heritage Fellows, 2010Linguistic suppression consists of efforts by a State to limit (or extinguish) use of a language in order to promote cultural unity and allegiance to central
th itauthority.
Which begs the question, how do you suppress a language?
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Irish road sign
Irish road signs, 2010
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Trentino‐Alto Adige/Sud TirolPart of Austria until Italian annexation (1919)
Distribution of CelticLLanguages
Bilingual road sign in Brittany
Bilingualstreet isignsin
Brittany
Official Language – a language decreed by State authority for use in government business – and by implication, common use.
De facto language – a language that is for all intents and purposes official, though not as a result of State decree.
National language – a State‐recognized first language of a region or civil division
Vernacular language – the language of the common people
Lingua franca – a language that is in general use to promote international communications in commercial, political, and other affairs.
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English is the official lingua franca of international civil aviation. That means, for
example, that for an Italian airliner that is flying from Milan (Italy) to Oslo (Norway), traversing
German and Danish airspace enroute, all communication between the pilots and air
traffic controllers is in English.
Where English is the official or de facto language
Sign outside the Oklahoma capital February 2009
OfficialLanguages
of Africa
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Linguistic groups of Nigeria
French stop sign in Quebec
The French Languageas Canadian Mother Tongue (2001)
_____________
All Canadians ‐ 23%
Quebec 82%Quebec – 82%
New Brunswick – 33%
Ontario – 6%
Nova Scotia – 4%
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Cultural differences have been factors in secessionist movements in Canada and
elsewhere.
A very bad religion map of Switzerland
A toponym is a place name.
Toponymy is the study of toponymsToponymy is the study of toponyms.
How does toponymy relate to political geography?
• The people who are in control of an area have the power to name landscape features that lie therein.
• They often do so in ways that reflect their culture, values, iconic figures and/or beliefs.
A l l i d• As a result, control is asserted.
• When control changes or passes from one government to another, toponyms may change to reflect the new political reality.
• Thus, the study of toponymy may lend insights into the status or change in political thinking that characterizes particular areas.
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The “Big 5” British Colonial Toponyms
• Victoria• AlbertAlbert
• Wellington
• Waterloo
• London
Native American toponyms: A Sampler
• Manhattan
• Canarsie
• Massapequa
• Adirondack
• Mississippi
• Michigan
• Illinois
• Chicago
• Connecticut
• Massachusetts
• Delaware
• Appalachians
• Lake Huron
• Nantucket
• Kansas
• Iowa
• Ohio
• Missouri
• Dakota
• Etc., etc., etc. . . .
Religion is a system of beliefs that provide answers to ultimate questions that cannot be objectively verified.
• What is the nature of God?
• What does God expect of me?
• What kinds of behavior are pleasing or displeasing to God?
• What is the nature of good and evil?
• How should I behave toward people who do not share my beliefs?
• How should I relate to evil‐doers?
• What is the purpose and meaning of life?
• What happens to me when I die?
• Is there a heaven and hell? If so, what can I do to increase my odds of spending eternity in the preferable place.
How does religion relate toPolitical Geography
• Zone of contact and tension/confrontation
• Official state religions
• Tolerance, treatment and status of religious minorities.minorities.
• Tensions concerning sources of authority
• Status of religious law (crime and punishment)
• Laws affecting food and drink (and, therefore, agriculture)
• Blue laws
• Laws affecting everyday behavior
Countries that have an official State religion
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Blue laws
• A law designed to enforce religious standards, particularly Christian observance of Sunday as a day of worship and rest.
• Coined in 1755 in reference to such laws in Connecticut.
• Now mainly used in some areas to prohibit Sunday shopping or to limit shopping hours on the Sabbath or theshopping, or to limit shopping hours on the Sabbath, or the sale of particular products – especially alcoholic beverages.
States with blue laws as of 11/10
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Wet/dry counties of Arkansasas of 2010
Wet – allows sale of liquorDry – forbids sale of alcoholic
Moist – a dry county with one or more wet cities
Geography of Sharia
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Source: Right Coast Conservative Blog
President Obama and his national security team, including Secretary of State Clinton, watch a live broadcast of the raid on the bin Laden compound
from the White House Situation Room.
Where’s Hillary?She was edited out of this photo that appeared in an Ultra‐
Orthodox Hasidic newspaper, Der Tzitung, because the editorial board considers intentional inclusion of photographs of women
to be sexually suggestive.
Selected towns in Southern Minnesota(cartography by Phil Gersmehl)
Theme town ‐ a settlement (usually a small‐ to medium‐sized town) that has adopted a certain motif so as to evoke a different time and place for the purpose of attracting tourists.
• Most have a well‐established ethnic identity
• Often a response to a downturn in the town’s traditionalOften a response to a downturn in the town s traditional economic base
• Characterized by affected facades and folk architecture, ethnic dress; ethnic food; ethnic music; ethnic signs and language; ethnic festivals; ethnic gift items; ethnic . . .
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Holland, Michigan
Lindsborg, KansasThe “Little Sweden” of the United States
New Glarus, Wisconsin
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Solvang, CaliforniaThe “Little Denmark” of the United States
Scenes from Solvang, CA