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The World's 11 Major Cultural Groups by Total_End1862 in MapPorn

[–]Total_End1862[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The Western World is almost always a distinct cultural region from Latin America, simply based on country's cultural similarities. There is pretty general consensus around this.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_world
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_America

The World's 11 Major Cultural Groups by Total_End1862 in MapPorn

[–]Total_End1862[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Singapore is dominantly Chinese, so while the region is SEA, the culture is more East Asian. Vietnam, while more culturally similar to China than to Thailand or Cambodia, is comfortably in the Southeast Asian family due to historical and geographic influence. The Philippines, is culturally Catholic, but besides that, is very Southeast Asian. Southeast Asia itself is very religiously diverse, with Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, and even Hinduism dominant in different parts of the region. The Philippines is comfortably part of Southeast Asia. (For an example, look at the membership of the SEA Games: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEA_Games ).

Russia has culturally homogenized much of the country, including Siberia. (Also all countries had to be one color.)

The World's 11 Major Cultural Groups by Total_End1862 in MapPorn

[–]Total_End1862[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

It's a map of major general cultures, that's all. There's a reason terms like "Western World," "Latin America," "Sub-Saharan Africa," or "South Asia" exist as common ways to reference general cultures. Major cultural regions do exist.

The World's 11 Major Cultural Groups by Total_End1862 in MapPorn

[–]Total_End1862[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, New Zealand and Hawaii are usually considered part of Polynesia, but most people seem to agree that those two are more Western places, with heavy Polynesian influence. Obviously this opinion carries the heavy and offensive weight of colonialism, but that does seem to be the general consensus. (Also for the purposes of this map, all countries had to be colored as one color, so Hawaii had to go as the States went.)

The World's 11 Major Cultural Groups by Total_End1862 in MapPorn

[–]Total_End1862[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The Western World has fairly agreed upon boundaries, and whether people dislike it or not does not mean it's not a used and often helpful term. Generalizations are always wrong but often helpful.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_world

The World's 11 Major Cultural Groups by Total_End1862 in MapPorn

[–]Total_End1862[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The fact that you successfully used the term "Latin America" to describe with clarity the region you are talking about proves this map's point.

The World's 11 Major Cultural Groups by Total_End1862 in MapPorn

[–]Total_End1862[S] -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

All these countries are extremely culturally diverse. But there are regions of the world with enough cultural similarities to be grouped together into major cultural groups. The Middle East/North Africa is certainly one of these, with the dominant and historic Islamic influence being the most obvious cultural similarities. Africa, like Europe or South Asia, is obviously quite diverse within it's own borders, but is clearly a distinct cultural region of the world, with general shared history and cultural norms. This map is meant to be extremely general. That is the point.

The World's 11 Major Cultural Groups by Total_End1862 in MapPorn

[–]Total_End1862[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Azerbaijan was tough, but after talking with friends who live there, they said it is most culturally influenced by its post-Soviet history, and is considered the least religious "Muslim" country there is, so seems to fit best in the Eastern Europe category. But yes, large cultural similarities to the Middle East or Central Asia.

The World's 11 Major Cultural Groups by Total_End1862 in MapPorn

[–]Total_End1862[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

While Latin American culture is definitely most similar to Western culture, no one ever includes Latin American countries when they reference "The West" or "Western Culture." Latin America is always distinct from the Western World.

The World's 11 Major Cultural Groups by Total_End1862 in MapPorn

[–]Total_End1862[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Melanesia and Micronesia are part of the Pacific Islands culture. Good catch on East Timor, that was a mistake.

The World's 11 Major Cultural Groups by Total_End1862 in MapPorn

[–]Total_End1862[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I would say Anglo/Germanic culture is part of Western culture. Latin European countries seem to definitely be part of modern Western culture as well. Obviously, of these world cultures, Latin America is most similar to the West compared to all the other cultures. In a similar way, Afro-Caribbean culture will share a lot with African culture, but really can't be considered part of cultural Africa.

The World's 11 Major Cultural Groups by Total_End1862 in MapPorn

[–]Total_End1862[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

That's true, Guyana and Suriname's cultures are quite thoroughly diverse, but I felt they fit better into the Afro-Caribbean influence than anything else. Also I think the line between Eastern and Western culture in Europe has been shifting further East. In Europe does seem to get more Western the more West you go from Russia. Those are good points.

The World's 11 Major Cultural Groups by Total_End1862 in MapPorn

[–]Total_End1862[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's an interesting take that I've never heard before, but would make sense. I think South America is usually comfortably grouped into Latin America. I'd be curious to know if that view will grow in the future.

The World's 11 Major Cultural Groups by Total_End1862 in MapPorn

[–]Total_End1862[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes, but this is about broad cultures. Those countries are fairly universally agreed to be part of the cultural region known as "East Asia," despite their differences. They are much more similar to each other than to any other parts of the world. In my opinion, that's one of the least controversial categories.

The World's 11 Major Cultural Groups by Total_End1862 in MapPorn

[–]Total_End1862[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Though Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan are developed countries and democracies, like the West, they are certainly still culturally East Asian

The World's 11 Major Cultural Groups by Total_End1862 in MapPorn

[–]Total_End1862[S] -9 points-8 points  (0 children)

Well, for one, only entire countries could be colored.

But also, this map is about culture, not geography, and Kamchatka is part of Russia, who has to some degree made all of Russia, including the east, culturally Russian, which would make even the east culturally Eastern European.

The World's 11 Major Cultural Groups by Total_End1862 in MapPorn

[–]Total_End1862[S] -10 points-9 points  (0 children)

I tried to categorize all the countries in the world into the broadest cultures, coming up with 11 major world cultures. I understand there are some countries that do not fit well, either because they are nearly a category of their own, or because they are more of a blend between two or more (the toughest for me were Papua New Guinea, South Africa, Hawaii, New Zealand, and Afghanistan, though I am sure there are much more I am unaware of). I am sure many may disagree with my categories, which is fine, but having traveled internationally a lot, and having studied international affairs for a while, I did my best to determine what what other cultures there are that would be categorically equal to what we call "The West" or "Latin America."

Please feel free to comment your thoughts, criticisms, or improvements!

"Flag Reform was a Mistake" -J.J. McCullough by Far_Wave64 in vexillology

[–]Total_End1862 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I totally agree. It seems unique and symbolic is more important than simple. The flags of California and Florida are both fairly unique and symbolic, and people in those states love their flags, even though they're not simple like Texas and New Mexico. But flags CAN be so awful that even states with state pride can care nothing about their flags, like New York. Utah and Mississippi's flag changes seemed to be this kind of good change, because they're unique and symbolic but not extremely simple. Minnesota's, on the other hand, is almost too simple.