Category Geography

The inside of a home reflects the lifestyle and customs of the people who live there. These two examples of a family home in the present day, one from a modern developed country, the other from an African farming people; show how traditions shape people’s daily lives.

A JAPANESE HOME

Japan is one of the richest and most technologically advanced countries in the world today. The influence of the West is very strong, but the Japanese are nevertheless proud of their traditional cultures and religion.

Japanese homes are a mixture of the old and the new. They are equipped with modern technology such as microwave ovens, televisions and computers, but many people also like to keep up some ways of life that have been around for centuries.

When you enter a Japanese home, it is customary to take off your shoes and put on slippers. Shoes are stored in a cupboard or rack in the entrance hall or genkan. Some rooms have woven rush mats, called tatami, on the floor. Tatami mats are made from fresh grasses: they are green when new. On entering a tatami mat room, you take off your slippers, to help keep the mats clean.

Summers in Japan can be hot, so some rooms have sliding doors made of wood and paper, called shoji, which allow fresh air to move around the house. The dining room usually has a low table with no chairs. Everyone sits on a cushion called a zabuton. In winter people use a table called a kotatsu which has a heater underneath and a quilt to keep the warmth in.

In a Japanese bathroom, known as the o-furo, the whole room is used as a bathing place: there is a drain in the floor. You sit on the stool and soap and rinse yourself, before stepping into the deep, square bath.

Even modern Japanese homes will have a Buddhist altar. On it are placed photographs of family ancestors.

A MAASAI HOME

In East Africa, many Maasai prefer to live in small, traditional settlements on the grassland plains close to their cattle or their fields. Maasai women build their own homes. First, they draw the shape of the house, a rectangle, on the ground. They make a frame by weaving together branches and twigs. Then they pack grass and dung over the outside to keep the building dry.

There is just one room inside a Maasai house. Up to six people sleep together in one large bed made of large branches and covered with hide. The woman of the house and her young children sleep in another bed in a more private area. A fire burns in the hearth in the centre of the house. It is used for cooking, warmth and light. There are no windows – just an opening to let light in and smoke out.

Cattle come second only to children in importance to the Maasai. They drink the animal’s milk but only eat its meat on special occasions. The women store the milk in a calabash, a long container made from a hollowed-out gourd, a kind of fruit.

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There is an enormous variety in the style of houses built in different parts of the world. Local conditions play an important part in the design of houses. In regularly-flooded areas, houses are built on stilts. Strong foundations are necessary where earthquakes are common. Houses in mountainous lands often have steep roofs, so that heavy layers of snow can slide off.

 It is the custom in Islamic countries to keep family and visitors apart, and also for men and women to live separately, so each storey in the house has its own special purpose. The top floor is kept for visitors, for example. It has windows to catch cooling breezes.

The Bedouin people are nomads who live in the deserts of Arabia and Africa, herding cattle, sheep and goats. They do not have permanent houses but carry tents with them as they travel around. The tents are made of woollen cloth stretched across wooden poles and held in place with ropes. Some Bedouins now work in towns and cities instead of following the nomadic life but, like the Mongolians, many still choose to live in traditional tents in the desert rather than in the towns.

Mudbrick is a traditional building material that has been used for centuries. Early builders noticed that mud bakes hard in hot sun. So they shaped the bricks from wet mud and then left them to dry.

The round houses in the Cote d’Ivoire in West Africa are made from baked mud with thatched roofs of dried reeds. Many early houses and huts were round like tents, but as time went by people began to build rectangular houses which were easier to fit along streets in villages and towns. Many mudbrick buildings in the Middle East are thousands of years old. They often have flat, rather than steeply sloping, roofs -unnecessary in these very dry regions.

In the centre of large cities there is very little room for big houses with gardens. Many people live in apartment blocks which tower into the sky. Around the outskirts of a city there will be suburbs where the houses can be more spacious. People prefer to live in the suburbs and commute (travel to work) to the city.

People live on or near the water for other reasons than overcrowding. The Bajau people from the Philippines travel around the islands of Southeast Asia catching and selling fish. They sometimes live in their boats, which are called lipas, or in wooden houses on stilts in the water.

Another type of traditional house is the Inuit igloo. Nowadays, Inuit people, from Canada’s Arctic north and Greenland, live in modern houses on settlements, but when they go on hunting or fishing trip they may still build an igloo for shelter.

An igloo is a dome-shaped house made of snow. First, blocks of snow are cut out and laid one on top of the other to form the dome. Each layer leans inwards slightly so that the blocks eventually meet at the top. When the dome has been completed, a lamp is lit inside to melt the snow on the inside walls. Then the lamp is removed and the cold wind freezes the melted snow into a solid, smooth sheet of ice which keeps the walls firm and wind tight. Finally, skins and rugs are draped over the walls and ceiling to make the igloo warmer inside.

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There are many different religions in the world. Seven of the most important are: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism. These religions have now spread far beyond the places where they began and there are followers of them all over the world.

A religion is a collection of beliefs that help people understand the world and the events that take place in it. Most religious people believe in one God, or several gods. In religions such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam, people worship one god. In others, such as Hinduism and the Japanese religion Shinto, people worship many gods.

People have worshipped gods since ancient times. They have always believed that the world was created by some unseen being or beings. Many of the ancient beliefs centered around natural elements such as the sun and rain which were so necessary for life. People felt that they needed to worship sun and rain gods and make them offerings so that their crops would grow.

Religions of the world today are different from one another, but also similar in many ways. People follow set rituals and celebrate special holy days. They go to a place of worship such as a church, a synagogue, a mosque or a temple to pray, and most religions have priests who conduct religious worship and preach to the people.

JUDAISM

Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people. They believe in one God who created Heaven and Earth. God has a covenant (an agreement) with everyone who leads a good life. Their holy book is the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament of the Christian Bible). The most important part is the Torah, which contains God’s laws. The Bible, along with many Jewish festivals, commemorates events in the history of Israel, from where the Jews originally came.

Traditionally, Jews are not allowed to work on Saturday, the Sabbath. The word Sabbath comes from the Hebrew sabat, meaning “rest”. Saturday is the main day of worship, when Jews go to the synagogue for a service conducted by a rabbi.

SIKHISM

Most Sikhs live in the Punjab, India. Their holy city is Amritsar. Sikhs follow the teachings of ten leaders called gurus (guru is the Punjabi word for “holy man”). They all lived between 1469 and 1708. The first guru and founder of Sikhism was Guru Nanak who was born a Hindu. Guru Nanak believed that ceremonies and rituals divided people of different religions and that it was how people behaved and what they believed in that mattered. The gurus who came after him were all chosen to carry on his work.

Sikhs believe in one God who created the Universe. Their place of worship is called a gurdwara, which means “God’s house”. There are no priests in Sikhism. Readers, called granthi, conduct services and read from the Guru Granth Sahib in the gurdwara, but any member of the congregation can speak at a service. Sikhs live all over the world today and their day of worship follows the traditions of the country they live in.

HINDUISM

Hinduism is one of the oldest religions in the world. It began more than 4000 years ago in India.

Hindus believe in a set of ideas called the dharma, the truth. All living things have souls that are reborn many times, in both animal and human form. The actions (karma) of people in this life will decide their fate in the next.

Hindus believe that Shiva is found in frightening places, but he is sometimes seen as a loving god, too. Two of his other titles are “Lord of Dance” and “Lord of the Beasts”. His wife Parvati is the goddess of happy marriage.

The Hindu religion has many gods who are all different appearances of the supreme spirit, Brahman. The three most important gods are Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver and Shiva the Destroyer.

A Hindu place of worship is called a mandir, although it is often referred to as a temple. There are mandirs all over the world, wherever groups of Hindus have settled. Many are elaborately decorated with carvings and sculptures. Each mandir has its own priests who carry out ceremonies and look after the sacred images of the gods.

To Hindus, the River Ganges, which flows through northern India and Bangladesh, is a holy river. They believe that bathing in the river will wash away their earthly sins. Millions of Hindus make pilgrimages to the holy city of Varanasi, (also known as Benares).Varanasi is one of the oldest cities in India. It has special steps called ghats along the river bank from which people can bathe in the Ganges. They take a little of the water back home with them as a blessing.

BUDDHISM

Buddhists do not worship a god but follow the teachings of an Indian prince, Siddhartha Gautama (c. 563-483 BC). Siddhartha lived a life of luxury in his father’s palace but he saw suffering around him and wanted to find an answer to it. He left his home and spent six years studying and talking to holy men. One day he sat under a fig tree and resolved to stay there until he had found the answer. After 49 days he had reached a state of wisdom in which he could understand human suffering and see how people could live in peace and harmony together. He had achieved nirvana, or enlightenment (the name Buddha means “the enlightened one”). He spent the rest of his life travelling and teaching people how to live happier and better lives.

Buddha taught four “noble” truths. First: life is full of suffering. Second: this suffering is caused by greed. Third: suffering would end if we stopped desiring material things. Fourth: there is a path to a state of peace.

The golden stupa at Yangon in Burma. A stupa is a sacred structure containing holy texts and relics. Stupas in India are said to contain parts of Buddha’s body.

At first there were no statues of Buddha. But Hindus had statues of their gods and so those of Buddha became popular. (Buddhists today keep small statues in their homes for inspiration.) The Amida Buddha in Ushiku City, Japan, is the world’s tallest statue. It is 120 metres high and contains rooms for meditation and learning. Buddha is also shown sitting or reclining, as with famous statue at Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka.

Today there are about 400 million Buddhists in the world, many of whom live in the Far East. Some Buddhists dedicate their lives to becoming monks and nuns so that they can give other people the dharma, Buddha’s teachings. Buddhist monks and nuns live simple lives in monasteries. They carry out ceremonies in the temples and monasteries, where people come to meditate and pay their respects to Buddha. Buddha’s teachings were written down about 300 years after his death and these are the sacred texts that Buddhists study.

Buddhism has two main branches: the Theravada and the Mahayana. They have different festivals, but all Buddhists celebrate Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and death, the three most important dates in their year.

CHRISTIANITY

Christians believe in one God who sent his son Jesus Christ to Earth to save people from sin by sacrificing his own life. The name Christ is from a Greek word meaning “the anointed one”. The Christian holy book, the Bible, contains both the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, which describes the life and work of Jesus and his disciples.

Jesus was born 2000 years ago in Judaea, then part of the Roman Empire. He spent his life teaching people about love and forgiveness. He had many followers, but he made enemies among the Jewish priests.

The priests persuaded the Roman governor to condemn Jesus to death by crucifixion. But his followers, especially St. Paul, preached the message of Christianity throughout the Roman Empire. The Romans condemned Christianity for many years, but it eventually became the official religion of the empire under the Emperor Constantine (c. AD 274-337).

After the fall of the Roman Empire, Christianity continued to spread in new empires that grew up in Europe. More people became converted to Christianity.

Over the centuries, missionaries travelled around the world in order to convert others to Christianity. Today, there are more than one billion Christians worldwide.

Christians take part in two sacraments, actions that affirm a relationship with God. The first is Mass or Holy Communion: sharing bread and wine that has been blessed. People are welcomed into the faith by baptism, the second sacrament, a sign of washing away sin. Children and babies have water sprinkled on their heads.

There are three main branches of Christianity—Roman Catholic, Protestant and Eastern Orthodox. All three follow the same basic principles, but there are some differences. In the Roman Catholic Church, the Pope (from the Latin papa, a word for father) has supreme authority. Orthodox followers believe that their bishops are supreme. Protestants believe that the Bible is the only authority. Christian festivals take place throughout the year, but the two most important are Christmas, which celebrates the birth of Jesus, and Easter, which celebrates the Christian belief that Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven.

ISLAM

Islam means “submitting to the will of God”. The followers of Islam are called Muslims. The founder of Islam was the Prophet Muhammad, who was born in Makkah, Arabia, in AD 570. He was making a pilgrimage to Mount Hira, near Makkah, when the angel Gabriel came to him and told him that there is only one God, who is called Allah and that he, Muhammad, should become the prophet of Allah and teach God’s will.

Prophet Muhammad began to preach but at first people refused to believe what he told them. Pilgrimages to Makkah brought money into the city and people did not want this to change. In AD 622, Prophet Muhammad and his followers were forced to flee from Makkah to the town of Yathrib, later re-named Medina, “the City of the Prophet”. This flight, called the hijra, marked the start of the Islamic calendar.

Prophet Muhammad continued to preach in Medina. He said that Allah had told him that people should live peacefully together, rather than fighting between tribes. The words of Allah, which Prophet Muhammad passed on to the people, were written down in a holy book called the Qur’an (Koran), which all Muslims must follow.

To Muslims, Islam is a way of life, supported by five rules or “pillars”. Firstly, there is no God except Allah; Prophet Muhammad is His messenger. Secondly, a prayer to Allah is to be made five times a day. Thirdly, alms should be given to the poor at least once a year. Fourthly, Muslims should fast between dawn and dusk, especially during the month of Ramadan. Finally, Muslims should make a pilgrimage once in their lives to Makkah.

Muslims worship in mosques and they are called to prayer five times a day, at times set down in the Qur’an.

            A Muslim religious leader is called an Imam. During prayers in the mosque, worshippers stand in straight rows behind the Imam. The men and boys stand together while the women and girls stand separately from them. Everyone watches the Imam and follows what he does.

Friday is an important day for Muslims. They gather in the mosque to listen to a talk by the Imam at an event called salat-ul-jumu’ah. This occasion also gives Muslims a chance to get to know each other, particularly in places where there is not a large Muslim community.

There are two main religious festivals in Islam. The first is Eid Al-Fitir, the festival of successfully fasting in the month of Ramadan. Ramadan is a period of fasting and prayer which lasts for a month and marks the time when Prophet Muhammad was visited by the angel Gabriel. All Muslims over the age of 12 should fast between dawn and dusk during Ramadan. As soon as the new moon appears at the end of Ramadan, everybody celebrates with Eid Al-Fitir, which lasts for three days. People dress up in their best clothes and give each other presents. Prayers are said in the mosques.

The second festival is Eid Al-Adha, the Festival of Sacrifices, which is celebrated at the end of the hajj or pilgrimage. All Muslims are expected to make a pilgrimage to Makkah at least once in their lives if they are well enough and can afford the journey. The events of the hajj take a few days but pilgrims may stay in Arabia for two or three weeks and visit Prophet Muhammad’s mosque in Medina and other sacred places. About two million people from all over the world make the pilgrimage each year. Muslims mark the end of the hajj with prayers and thanks in the mosque.

The Islamic calendar is based on the cycles of the moon, so Muslim festivals fall on different days each year.

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There may be up to 6000 different languages spoken in the world today – no-one is quite sure how many. Of these, 90 per cent are spoken by very few people and are in danger of becoming extinct. More than a third of the world’s population speak one of five languages – Chinese, English, Hindi, Spanish and Russian. People first developed languages to communicate with one another. Languages spread and changed as people moved to new lands, often as a result of invasion and conquest.

Languages fall into a number of different families. Most European languages and many of those of southwest Asia and India belong to a single group, known as the Indo-European language family. More than 80 languages in all, they developed from a single original language, probably spoken by farming peoples who lived in Eastern Europe about 6000 years ago. As these people spread out over a wider area, their language gradually changed as communities lost contact with each other.

The four most common first languages are: Chinese – more than 1 billion speakers; English – 450 million speakers; Hindi – 400 million speakers; and Spanish – 350 million speakers.

More than 800 languages are spoken in Papua New Guinea.

The main language of India is Hindi but there are hundreds of others. More than 20 million people in Gujarat and another state, Maharashtra, speak Gujarati. It is descended from the ancient Indo-European language.

The most common Chinese language is Mandarin, which is spoken by 70 per cent of the population. Mandarin was the language of the government officials who were appointed in China until 1911. However, China has many different peoples who still speak their own languages.

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As languages became more established and civilizations developed, people needed to write things down. The earliest known writing was invented about 5500 years ago by the Sumerians, who lived in Mesopotamia (now Iraq). Later, they used a reed stylus with a wedge-shaped tip to write symbols in soft clay. This style of writing is known as cuneiform, from the Greek word for “wedge-shaped”.

Other ancient peoples developed picture writing which was slow to use because there were so many different symbols. The ancient Egyptians used a form of picture writing known as hieroglyphs and later added a simplified form called hieratic script which was quicker to use. The Maya, who built up a civilization in Central America between AD 300 and 900, carved picture symbols in stone.

Alphabets use single letters to represent the different sounds in a word. Writing with letters is far quicker than using hundreds of different symbols. The first people to use an alphabet were the Canaanites, who lived about 3000 years ago on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Their writing had only 18 letters. Hebrew, Arabic, Hindi and Phoenician alphabets all developed from it. The ancient Greeks took up the Phoenician alphabet but added vowels. The Romans developed their alphabet from a later Greek version. All Western European languages still use the Roman alphabet today. The Cyrillic alphabet also developed from the Greek alphabet. It is used in Russia and some Eastern European countries today.

The oldest Chinese writing we know about is on oracle bones. Priests scratched questions on animal bones and then held the bones in a fire so that they cracked. The places where the cracks crossed the pictograms were thought to give the answers from the gods. Modern Chinese writing has developed from the earliest pictograms, which illustrate how the characters have changed over the centuries.

The Chinese and Japanese still write with symbols called characters. The characters are painted with deft strokes, using a brush and ink. Chinese characters are descended from an ancient form of picture writing. They symbolize whole words or parts of words.

There are many different alphabets in use today. The Roman alphabet is probably the most widely used. The Arabic alphabet, which has 28 letters, is written from right to left. The Devangari alphabet, used for northern Indian languages, has 46 letters.

All the words mean “book”. Hindi, Greek, Russian and Arabic all have their own alphabets which are quite different from the Roman version. Other languages use the Roman alphabet but have accents over letters to show that they are pronounced in a special way.

The realization that words could be put together using a set of letters or symbols was a remarkable achievement which has allowed people to record history and to write down poetry, stories and plays.

Many languages have changed and developed because of outside influences. English as we know it today, for example, has many words adapted from other cultures. It has some Latin words from the days when England was part of the Roman Empire. It has a large number of words derived from French, the language of England’s ruling classes following the Norman invasion of 1066.

Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese and Romanian languages all have many similar words. This is because they are descended from Latin, the language of the Roman Empire, of which Spain, Italy, France, Portugal and Romania were once part.

People who are deaf have to understand a language without being able to hear it. Many of them do this by reading the shapes of words on the speaker’s lips. This is known as lip-reading. Another way is to use the special sign language for the deaf. Sign language differs from one country to another, but the names of the countries are “signed” in the same way.

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The earliest humans evolved, it is thought, in Africa. After thousands of years, they began to move to other parts of the world. By about 30,000 years ago, they had spread to every continent of the world except Antarctica.

As people settled in different parts of the world, different ethnic groups emerged. These are large communities of people who have physical characteristics, languages, religions and other traits in common. People developed languages so that they could communicate with each other. Different cultures, including art and religion, soon followed.

People have moved around throughout history, because of the opportunities offered by the discovery of new lands, or for better economic prospects. War or natural disasters such as flooding or drought have also led to mass-migrations of people. When groups of people settle in a new country, they often bring their own religions and cultures with them. Some nations, such as the United States, are now considered multicultural.

In a very few parts of the world, people still live as they have done for thousands of years, although nearly all are affected in some way by the modern world. Natives still hunt and fish in the Amazon rainforest just as their ancestors did. Their lifestyle is threatened by destruction of the forests.

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