Environment and Culture

Climate has direct effect on people living in various places. It influences how we live and what we do. For instance, it influences what we wear, the type of houses we live in. For instance, the Eskimos live in the coldest parts of the world and wear multiple layers of clothing. On the other hand, the tropics is hot and the people who live there wear light clothes.

The topography of a place also influences a people's way of life. In areas where there is plenty of water, there is an opportunity for navigation and fishing. Mountainous areas restrict movement, association and external influences may be slow. Raw materials is part of the environment and determines the food supply,the materials for clothing and shelter and the invention of new culture.

During the Ice Age, Reindeer skin provided clothing in Europe. In West Africa, iron was used extensively to produce tools. There are also indirect effects of the environment on culture and such effects are visible on the social, political,economoc and religious life of the people. An example is the pastoral normada who move their cattle from place to place for grazing, hence they have no permanent living base and they also have a very loose political System.

The environment determines what man cannot do, but cannot compel him to any course of activity (this is known as environmental possibilism). An example of this can be seen among the Eskimos. The North American Eskimos did not domesticate animals, but the Siberian Eskimos were able to domesticate Reindeers. Also, the Alaska Eskimos lived in houses made oh hides and skin but the Central Eskimos lived in warm ice houses known as igloos.