By: Kim Ann Zimmermann and Stephanie Pappas

By the term culture we usually mean the traits and knowledge of a certain group of people, including language, religion, cuisine, social customs, music, and the arts.

The Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition goes a step further, defining culture as common patterns of behavior and interaction, as cognitive and understanding constructs that are learned from socialization.

Thus, culture can be seen as the growth of a group identity, driven by social models unique to the group.

"Culture includes religion, food, what we wear, how we dress, the language we speak, marriage, music, what we believe to be right or wrong, how we sit at the table, how we greet visitors, how we treat people and dear, and a million other things, ”says Cristina De Rossi, an anthropologist at Barnet and Southgate College London.

The word "culture" is derived from a French term, which in turn derives from the Latin term "colere" - which means to care for the land, to cultivate.

The term "Western culture" refers to the culture of European countries, as well as those who have been heavily influenced by European immigration, such as the United States.

Western culture has its roots in the classical period of the Greco-Roman era (IV and V centuries BC) and the rise of Christianity in the XIV century.

Other elements of Western culture include Latin, Celtic, Germanic, and Hellenic ethnic and linguistic groups.

Every number of historical events has helped shape Western culture over the past 2500 years.

The fall of the Roman Empire, often linked to 476, paved the way for the creation of a series of states in Europe, often at war with each other, says Stanford University historian Walter Scheidel.

The Black Death (plague pandemic) of the 1300s reduced Europe's population by a third, rapidly rebuilding European society.

Ohio State University historian John L. Brooke says that as a result of that pandemic, Christianity as a religion became stronger in Europe, with a greater focus on apocalyptic themes.

Survivors in the working class gained more power as elites were forced to pay more, due to significantly reduced labor force.

And the cessation of trade routes between East and West sparked new explorations and, finally, the European incursion into North and South America.

Eastern culture generally refers to the social norms of countries in the Far East (including China, Japan, Vietnam, North and South Korea), and the Indian subcontinent.

Like the western one, the eastern culture was greatly influenced by religion during its early development, but also by the cultivation of rice.

In Eastern culture there is, in general, less difference between secular society and religious philosophy than in the West.

However, it encompasses a wide range of traditions and histories.

For example, Buddhism has its origins in India, but it was largely surpassed by Hinduism after the twelfth century.

Thus, Hinduism became a major driver of culture in India, while Buddhism continued to exert influence in China and Japan.

Pre-existing cultural ideas in these areas also influenced religious beliefs.

For example, Chinese Buddhism is borrowed from the philosophy of Taoism which emphasizes compassion and humility.

The centuries-old interactions in this region - peaceful and aggressive - led to the influence of these cultures on each other.

For example, Japan controlled or occupied Korea in some form between 1876–1945.

During that time, many Koreans were pressured or forced to give up their names to adopt Japanese surnames.

Many of the Spanish-speaking nations are considered part of Latin culture, while the geographical region is very large.

Latin America is typically defined as a large territory stretching across parts of Central America, South America, and Mexico, where the predominant languages ​​are Spanish or Portuguese.

Initially, the term "Latin America" ​​was used by French geographers to distinguish between Anglo-Saxon and Romance (Latin-based) languages.

Latin cultures are very different from each other, and many of them mix indigenous traditions with the Spanish language, and Catholicism brought about by the Spanish and Portuguese colonizers.

Many of these cultures were also influenced by African cultures, due to the enslaved Africans who were brought to America as early as the 1600s. These influences are particularly strong in Brazil and the Caribbean countries.

Latin culture continues to evolve and spread.

An example is Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, a holiday commemorating the dead celebrated on November 1 and 2.

Day of the Dead dates back to before the time when Columbus (Christopher Columbus) landed in North America.

But the actual date was set by the Spanish colonizers who merged it with the Day of All Catholic Saints.

Meanwhile, the term "Middle Eastern culture" includes a wide variety of cultural practices, religious beliefs and daily customs. The region is the birthplace of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and is home to dozens of languages ​​- from Arabic to Hebrew, Turkish to Pashtun. While, in the Middle East there is a great deal of religious diversity, the predominant religion according to the figures is Islam. He has played a major role in the cultural development of the region. Islam has its origins in what is today Saudi Arabia in the early seventh century. But its great expansion began after the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632. Some followers believed that the future leader should be one of Muhammad's friends and confidants. Others believed that leadership should pass through the bloodline of Muhammad.This led to a rift between Shiite Muslims - those who believed in the importance of bloodline, and Sunni Muslims who believed that leadership should not pass through the family.

Today, about 85 percent of the world's Muslims are Sunni. Their rituals and traditions differ somewhat, and divisions between the two groups often provoke conflicts. The culture of the Middle East is greatly influenced by the Ottoman Empire, which ruled the region between the XIV-XX centuries.

Africa has the longest history of human settlements. In fact, modern man originated there, from where he began migrating to other parts of the world about 60,000 years ago. But some researchers believe that the first migration may have taken place much earlier, 120,000 years ago. They come to these conclusions by studying human genomes from different cultures, to trace their DNA to common ancestors. One of the main features of African culture is the large number of ethnic groups in all 54 countries of this continent. For example, Nigeria alone has more than 300 tribes. Africa has imported and exported its culture over the centuries. East African trading ports have been an essential link between East and West since the 7th century.Northwest Africa has strong ties to the Middle East, while sub-Saharan Africa has different historical, physical and social characteristics.

No matter what a culture looks like, one thing is certain: cultures change, so it is difficult to define them in a single way.

/ Taken with abbreviations from "Livescience" / In Albanian from: Bota.al/