Outline of culture

Updated on Dec 25, 2024

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The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to culture:

Culture – set of patterns of human activity within a community or social group and the symbolic structures that give such activity significance. Customs, laws, dress, architectural style, social standards, religious beliefs, and traditions are all examples of cultural elements.

Cultural groups

Community – social unit of any size that shares common values. Communities range in size and scope from neighborhoods to national communities to international communities. They can be physical (face-to-face) or virtual (on-line).

People – plurality of persons considered as a whole, as is the case with an ethnic group or nation. Collectively, for example, the contemporary Frisians and Danes are two related Germanic peoples, while various Middle Eastern ethnic groups are often linguistically categorized as the Semitic people. See the list of contemporary ethnic groups for more examples.

Ethnic group – socially defined category of people who identify with each other based on common ancestral, social, cultural or national experience. Membership of an ethnic group tends to be defined by a shared cultural heritage, ancestry, origin myth, history, homeland, language and/or dialect, symbolic systems such as religion, mythology and ritual, cuisine, dressing style, physical appearance, etc.

Society – group of people involved in persistent interpersonal relationships, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Human societies are characterized by patterns of relationships (social relations) between individuals who share a distinctive culture and institutions; a given society may be described as the sum total of such relationships among its constituent members.

Civilization – any complex society characterized by urban development, social stratification, symbolic communication forms (typically, writing systems), and a perceived separation from and domination over the natural environment.

Elements of culture

The arts – vast subdivision of culture, composed of many creative endeavors and disciplines. The arts encompasses visual arts, literary arts and the performing arts.

Gastronomy – the art and science of good eating, including the study of food and culture.

Food preparation – act of preparing foodstuffs for eating. It encompasses a vast range of methods, tools, and combinations of ingredients to improve the flavour and digestibility of food.

Food and drink

Cuisines – a cuisine is a specific set of cooking traditions and practices, often associated with a specific culture.

Chocolate – raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree.

Wine – alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes.

Literature – the art of written works.

Children's literature – stories, books, and poems for children.

Fiction – any form of narrative which deals, in part or in whole, with events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary and invented by its author(s). See below.

Non-fiction – form of any narrative, account, or other communicative work whose assertions and descriptions are understood to be factual.

Poetry – literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning.

Critical theory – examination and critique of society and culture, drawing from knowledge across the social sciences and humanities.

Performing arts – those forms of art that use the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium.

Circus – performance of a company of clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze artists, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other object-manipulating and stunt-oriented artists, and a ringmaster.

Comedy – any discourse or work generally intended to be humorous or to amuse by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, television, film and stand-up comedy.

Stand-up comedy – performance by a comedian in front of a live audience, usually speaking directly to them.

Dance – art form of movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction, or presented in a spiritual or performance setting.

Film – moving pictures, the art form that records performances visually.

Theatre – collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place.

Music – art form the medium of which is sound and silence.

Music genres

Jazz – musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States, mixing African and European music traditions.

Opera – art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text (called a libretto) and musical score.

Musical instruments – devices created or adapted for the purpose of making musical sounds.

Guitars – the guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with either nylon or steel strings.

Stagecraft – technical aspects of theatrical, film, and video production. It includes, but is not limited to, constructing and rigging scenery, hanging and focusing of lighting, design and procurement of costumes, makeup, procurement of props, stage management, and recording and mixing of sound.

Visual arts – art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature.

Architecture – The art and science of designing and erecting buildings and other physical structures.

Classical architecture – architecture of classical antiquity and later architectural styles influenced by it.

Crafts – recreational activities and hobbies that involve making things with one's hands and skill.

Design – the process for planning the overall look of an object

Drawing – visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium.

Film – moving pictures.

Painting – practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface with a brush or other object.

History of painting

Photography – art, science, and practice of creating pictures by recording radiation on a radiation-sensitive medium, such as a photographic film, or electronic image sensors.

Sculpture – three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials - typically stone such as marble - or metal, glass, or wood.

Entertainment – any activity which provides a diversion or permits people to amuse themselves in their leisure time. Entertainment is generally passive, such as watching opera or a movie.

Fiction – any form of narrative which deals, in part or in whole, with events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary and invented by its author(s).

James Bond – fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming. Since then, the character has grown to icon status, featured in many novels, movies, video games and other media.

Fantasy – genre of fiction using magic and the supernatural as primary elements of plot, theme or setting, often in imaginary worlds, generally avoiding the technical/scientific content typical of Science fiction, but overlapping with it

Middle-earth – fantasy setting by writer J.R.R. Tolkien, home to hobbits, orcs, and many other mystical races and creatures.

Science fiction – a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible (or at least nonsupernatural) content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities. Exploring the consequences of scientific innovations is one purpose of science fiction, making it a "literature of ideas."

Games – structured playing, usually undertaken for enjoyment, involving goals, rules, challenge, and interaction.

Board games

Chess – two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. Each player begins the game with sixteen pieces: One king, one queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, and eight pawns.

Card games

Poker – family of card games that share betting rules and usually (but not always) hand rankings.

Video games – electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device.

Performing arts – those forms of art that use the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium. See above.

Sports – organized, competitive, entertaining, and skillful activity requiring commitment, strategy, and fair play, in which a winner can be defined by objective means. Generally speaking, a sport is a game based in physical athleticism.

Ball games

Baseball – bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond.

Basketball – team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules.

Tennis – sport usually played between two players (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles), using specialized racquets to strike a felt-covered hollow rubber ball over a net into the opponent's court.

Canoeing and kayaking – two closely related forms of watercraft paddling, involving manually propelling and navigating specialized boats called canoes and kayaks using a blade that is joined to a shaft, known as a paddle, in the water.

Combat sports

Fencing – family of combat sports using bladed weapons.

Martial arts – extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development.

Cycling sport – bicycle racing and track cycling.

Motorcycling – riding a motorcycle. A variety of subcultures and lifestyles have been built up around motorcycling and motorcycle racing.

Running – moving rapidly on foot, during which both feet are off the ground at regular intervals.

Humanities – academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences.

Area studies – comprehensive interdisciplinary research and academic study of the people and communities of particular regions. Disciplines applied include history, political science, sociology, cultural studies, languages, geography, literature, and related disciplines.

Sinology – study of China and things related to China, such as its classical language and literature.

Classical studies – branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and all other cultural elements of the ancient Mediterranean world (Bronze Age ca. BC 3000 – Late Antiquity ca. AD 300–600); especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome.

Mass media – diversified media technologies and their content that are intended to reach a large audience by mass communication. Includes radio and television programming; mass publishing of books, magazines, and newspapers; web content; and films and audio recordings.

Tradition – belief or behavior passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. Common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes (like lawyer wigs or military officer spurs), but the idea has also been applied to social norms such as greetings.

Celebration –

Festivals – entertainment events centering on and celebrating a unique aspect of a community, usually staged by that community.

Tourism – travel for recreational, leisure, or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes." Tourism is important, and in some cases, vital for many countries. It was recognized in the Manila Declaration on World Tourism of 1980 as "an activity essential to the life of nations because of its direct effects on the social, cultural, educational, and economic sectors of national societies and on their international relations."

Tourist attraction – place of interest where tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure, adventure and amusement.

Lists of tourist attractions

Types of cultures

Organizational culture – behaviour of humans within an organization and the meaning that people attach to those behaviors. An organization's culture includes its vision, values, norms, systems, countries, symbols, language, assumptions, beliefs, and habits.

Cultures by aspect

Consumer culture – a society based on consumerism

High context culture – a culture with the tendency use high context messages, resulting in catering towards in-groups

Low context culture – culture with a tendency not to cater towards in-groups

Remix culture – a society which allows and encourages derivative works

Participatory culture – a culture in which private persons (the public) do not act as consumers only, but also as contributors or producers (prosumers)

Permission culture – a society in which copyright restrictions are pervasive and enforced to the extent that any and all uses of copyrighted works need to be explicitly leased

Primitive culture – a community that lacks major signs of economic development or modernity

Cultural cross-sections

Children's culture – cultural phenomena pertaining to children

Children's street culture – cumulative culture created by young children

Coffee culture – social atmosphere or series of associated social behaviors that depends heavily upon coffee, particularly as a social lubricant

Culture of capitalism – the lifestyle of the people living within a capitalist society, and the effects of a global or national capitalist economy on a population

Cyberculture –

DIY culture – refers to a wide range of elements in non-mainstream society, such as grassroots political and social activism, independent music, art, and film

Dominant culture – the established language, religion, behavior, values, rituals, and social customs of a society

Drinking culture – the customs and practices of people who drink alcoholic beverages

Folk culture – traditional culture; traditional cultural traits of a community

Low culture –

High culture –

Official culture –

Political culture –

Civic political culture –

Popular culture – totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that permeate the everyday lives of a given society, especially those heavily influenced by mass media.

Print culture –

Safety culture – the way in which safety is managed in the workplace, which often reflects "the attitudes, beliefs, perceptions and values that employees share in relation to safety."

Tea culture –

Trash culture –

Urban culture –

Vernacular culture –

Subcultures

Lifestyle enclave –

Types of cultures

Alternative culture – exists outside or on the fringes of mainstream or popular culture, usually under the domain of one or more cultures.

Counterculture –

Oppositional culture –

Security culture –

Underground culture (disambiguation) –

Specific subcultures

Association football culture –

Cycling subculture – a culture that supports, encourages, and has high bicycle usage

Deaf culture – social beliefs, behaviors, art, literary traditions, history, values and shared institutions of communities that are affected by deafness and which use sign languages as the main means of communication. When used as a cultural label, the word "deaf" is often written with a capital D, and referred to as "big D Deaf" in speech and sign.

Ethical culture –

Gun culture –

Horse culture – a community whose day-to-day life revolves around the herding and breeding of horses

LGBT culture –

Modern juggling culture –

Surf culture –

Video game culture –

Academic disciplines that study culture

Anthropology

Cultural anthropology – branch of anthropology focused on the study of cultural variation.

Archaeology – history studies in the physical aspects or artefacts of cultures.

Culture-historical archaeology

Sociocultural evolution

Biology

Sociobiology

Social neuroscience

Cultural neuroscience

Cultural history – academic discipline that combines the approaches of anthropology and history to look at popular cultural traditions and cultural interpretations of historical experience. It examines the records and narrative descriptions of past knowledge, customs, and arts of a group of people.

Cultural studies – academic discipline that studies the forces from which the whole of humankind construct their daily lives. It seeks to understand the ways in which meaning is generated and disseminated through practices, beliefs, and political, economic, or social structures within a given culture.

Ethnic studies

Popular culture studies – generally considered a combination of communication studies and cultural studies, it analyzes popular culture from a critical theory perspective.

Culturology – social science concerned with the scientific understanding, description, analysis and prediction of cultural activities.

Culture theory – seeks to define the heuristic concept of culture in operational and/or scientific terms.

Human geography – social science that studies the world, its people, communities, and cultures with an emphasis on relations of and across space and place.

Philosophy of culture –

Psychology

Evolutionary psychology

Cultural psychology

Sociology – scientific study of human society. The traditional focuses of sociology have include social stratification, social class, culture, social mobility, religion, secularization, law, and deviance.

Sociology of culture

Sound culture – interdisciplinary field which considers "the material production and consumption of music, sound, noise and silence, and how these have changed throughout history and within different societies, but does this from a much broader perspective than standard disciplines."

Visual culture –

Area studies

Classical studies –

Sinology –

Cultures by ethnicity or ethnic sphere

Western culture –

Anglo America –

Latin American culture –

English-speaking world –

African American culture –

Indosphere –

Sinosphere –

Islamic culture –

Arab culture –

Tibetan culture –

Cultures of continents and major geopolitical regions

(non-continents are italicized)

Culture of Africa

Culture of Antarctica

Culture of Asia

Culture of Europe

Culture of North America

Culture of Oceania

Culture of Australia

Culture of South America

Cultures by political divisions of the World

(arranged by continent or major geopolitical region)

Cultures of Africa

West Africa

Culture of Benin

Culture of Burkina Faso

Culture of Cape Verde

Culture of Ivory Coast

Culture of the Gambia

Culture of Ghana

Culture of Guinea

Culture of Guinea-Bissau

Culture of Liberia

Culture of Mali

Culture of Mauritania

Culture of Niger

Culture of Nigeria

Culture of Senegal

Culture of Sierra Leone

North Africa

Culture of Mauritania

Culture of Morocco

Culture of Sudan

Culture of Tunisia

Culture of Western Sahara

Central Africa

Culture of Angola

Culture of Burundi

Culture of Cameroon

Culture of the Central African Republic

Culture of Chad

Culture of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Culture of Equatorial Guinea

Culture of Gabon

Culture of the Republic of the Congo

Culture of Rwanda

Culture of São Tomé and Príncipe

East Africa

Culture of Comoros

Culture of Madagascar

Culture of Malawi

Culture of Mauritius

Culture of Mozambique

Culture of Rwanda

Culture of Seychelles

Culture of Zambia

Southern Africa

Culture of Lesotho

Culture of Namibia

Culture of South Africa

Culture of Swaziland

Dependencies in Africa

Culture of the British Indian Ocean Territory (UK)

Culture of Mayotte (France)

Culture of Réunion (France)

Culture of Saint Helena (UK)

Culture of the Canary Islands (Spain)

Culture of Ceuta (Spain)

Culture of Madeira (Portugal)

Culture of Melilla (Spain)

Culture of Socotra (Yemen)

Culture of Puntland

Culture of Somaliland

Culture of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

Culture of Antarctica

No political divisions, just some scattered outposts

Cultures of Asia

Central Asia

Culture of Kazakhstan

Culture of Kyrgyzstan

Culture of Tajikistan

Culture of Turkmenistan

Culture of Uzbekistan

East Asia

Culture of China

Culture of Tibet

Special Administrative regions of China

Culture of Hong Kong

Culture of Macau

Culture of Japan

Culture of North Korea

Culture of South Korea

Culture of Mongolia

Culture of Taiwan

North Asia

Culture of Russia

Southeast Asia

Culture of Brunei

Culture of Burma

Culture of Cambodia

Culture of East Timor

Culture of Indonesia

Culture of Laos

Culture of Malaysia

Culture of the Philippines

Culture of Singapore

Culture of Thailand

Culture of Vietnam

South Asia

Culture of Afghanistan

Culture of Bangladesh

Culture of Maldives

West Asia

Culture of Azerbaijan

Culture of Bahrain

Culture of Cyprus

Culture of Northern Cyprus

Culture of Saudi Arabia

Culture of Syria

Culture of Turkey

Culture of the United Arab Emirates

Culture of Yemen

Cultures of the Caucasus

(a region considered to be in both Asia and Europe, or between them)

North Caucasus

Parts of Russia

Culture of Chechnya

Culture of Ingushetia

Culture of Dagestan

Culture of Adyghea

Culture of Kabardino-Balkaria

Culture of Karachay–Cherkessia

Culture of North Ossetia

Culture of Krasnodar Krai

Culture of Stavropol Krai

South Caucasus

Culture of Georgia

Culture of Abkhazia

Culture of South Ossetia

Culture of Armenia

Culture of Azerbaijan

Culture of Nagorno-Karabakh

Cultures of Europe

Culture of Akrotiri and Dhekelia

Culture of Åland

Culture of Albania

Culture of Andorra

Culture of Armenia

Culture of Austria

Culture of Azerbaijan

Culture of Belarus

Culture of Belgium

Culture of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Culture of Bulgaria

Culture of Croatia

Culture of Cyprus

Culture of the Czech Republic

Culture of Denmark

Culture of Estonia

Culture of the Faroe Islands

Culture of the Republic of Ireland

Culture of the Isle of Man

Culture of Italy

Culture of Jersey

Culture of Kazakhstan

Culture of Kosovo

Culture of Latvia

Culture of Liechtenstein

Culture of Lithuania

Culture of Luxembourg

Culture of Macedonia

Culture of Malta

Culture of Moldova

Culture of Transnistria)

Culture of Monaco

Culture of Montenegro

Culture of the Netherlands

Culture of Russia

Culture of San Marino

Culture of Serbia

Culture of Svalbard

Culture of Switzerland

Culture of Turkey

Culture of Ukraine

Culture of the United Kingdom

Culture of England

Culture of Northern Ireland

Culture of Scotland

Culture of Wales

Culture of Vatican City

Culture of the European Union

Cultures of North America

Culture of Canada

Culture of Alberta

Culture of British Columbia

Culture of Manitoba

Culture of New Brunswick

Culture of Newfoundland and Labrador

Culture of Nova Scotia

Culture of Ontario

Culture of Prince Edward Island

Culture of Quebec

Culture of Saskatchewan

Culture of Greenland

Culture of Mexico

Culture of Saint Pierre and Miquelon

Culture of the United States

Culture of Alabama

Culture of Alaska

Culture of Arizona

Culture of Arkansas

Culture of California

Culture of Colorado

Culture of Connecticut

Culture of Delaware

Culture of Florida

Culture of Georgia (U.S. state)

Culture of Hawaii

Culture of Idaho

Culture of Illinois

Culture of Indiana

Culture of Iowa

Culture of Montana

Culture of Kansas

Culture of Kentucky

Culture of Louisiana

Culture of Maine

Culture of Maryland

Culture of Massachusetts

Culture of Michigan

Culture of Minnesota

Culture of Mississippi

Culture of Missouri

Culture of Nebraska

Culture of Nevada

Culture of New Hampshire

Culture of New Jersey

Culture of New Mexico

Culture of New York

Culture of North Carolina

Culture of North Dakota

Culture of Ohio

Culture of Oklahoma

Culture of Oregon

Culture of Pennsylvania

Culture of Rhode Island

Culture of South Carolina

Culture of South Dakota

Culture of Tennessee

Culture of Texas

Culture of Utah

Culture of Vermont

Culture of Virginia

Culture of Washington

Culture of West Virginia

Culture of Wisconsin

Culture of Wyoming

District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.)

Central America

Culture of Belize

Culture of Costa Rica

Culture of El Salvador

Caribbean

Culture of Anguilla

Culture of Antigua and Barbuda

Culture of Aruba

Culture of the Bahamas

Culture of Barbados

Culture of Bermuda

Culture of the British Virgin Islands

Culture of the Cayman Islands

Culture of Cuba

Culture of Dominica

Culture of the Dominican Republic

Culture of Grenada

Culture of Guadeloupe

Culture of Haiti

Culture of Jamaica

Culture of Martinique

Culture of Montserrat

Culture of Navassa Island

Culture of the Netherlands Antilles

Culture of Puerto Rico

Culture of Saint Barthélemy

Culture of Saint Kitts and Nevis

Culture of Saint Lucia

Culture of Saint Martin

Culture of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Culture of Trinidad and Tobago

Culture of Trinidad

Culture of the Turks and Caicos Islands

Culture of the United States Virgin Islands

Cultures of Oceania

Australasia

Culture of Australia

Dependencies/Territories of Australia

Culture of Christmas Island

Culture of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands

Culture of Norfolk Island

Culture of New Zealand

Melanesia

Culture of Fiji

Culture of Indonesia

Culture of New Caledonia (France)

Culture of Papua New Guinea

Culture of the Solomon Islands

Culture of Vanuatu

Micronesia

Culture of the Federated States of Micronesia

Culture of Guam (USA)

Culture of Kiribati

Culture of the Marshall Islands

Culture of Nauru

Culture of the Northern Mariana Islands (USA)

Culture of Palau

Culture of Wake Island (USA)

Polynesia

Culture of American Samoa (USA)

Culture of the Chatham Islands (NZ)

Culture of the Cook Islands (NZ)

Culture of Easter Island (Chile)

Culture of French Polynesia (France)

Culture of Hawaii (USA)

Culture of the Loyalty Islands (France)

Culture of Niue (NZ)

Culture of the Pitcairn Islands (UK)

Culture of Adamstown

Culture of Samoa

Culture of Tokelau (NZ)

Culture of Tonga

Culture of Tuvalu

Culture of Wallis and Futuna (France)

Cultures of South America

Culture of Colombia

Culture of the Falkland Islands

Culture of French Guiana

Culture of Paraguay

Cultures of the South America

Culture of Ascension Island

Culture of Saint Helena

Culture of Tristan da Cunha

By period

Culture during the Cold War

By region

Cultural history of the United States

Cultural history of Taiwan

History of Lithuanian culture

History of Russian culture

By subject

Earth in culture

World War II in contemporary culture

Medieval maritime culture

Historical cultures

Culture of ancient Rome

Culture of ancient Rus

Clovis culture

Mississippian culture

Vinca culture

Human sacrifice in Aztec culture

Politics of culture

The arts and politics – as they respond to contemporaneous events and politics, the arts take on political as well as social dimensions, becoming themselves a focus of controversy and even a force of political as well as social change.

Culture change –

Culture of fear –

Culture of life –

Culture minister –

Official culture –

Political culture –