Cultural and historical regions. Historical and cultural regions of the world 5 largest historical and cultural regions of the world

Culture as a system of values ​​and norms this ethnic group is always attached to a certain place in space, to a territory developed and transformed by the activities of many generations.

Identification of the cultural regions of the world is a complex research task that can be solved in different ways depending on the objectives of the study and the principles (criteria) underlying it. But there is a common thing that brings different approaches together - this is the desire for a holistic vision of the world.

Ethnographic concept of economic and cultural zoning of the world. Ethnography is a science that studies the similarities and differences in the way of life of peoples, skills economic use natural resources.

The ethnic diversity of the peoples of the world is reduced to the allocation of economic and cultural types - historically established complexes of economy and culture, typical of peoples of different origins, but living in similar geographical conditions and those at the same level of socio-economic development. Thus, the same economic and cultural type, according to ethnographers, can be inherent in different peoples.

The process of settlement and development of new landscapes by mankind was accompanied by the formation of various economic and cultural types that arose in the process of the historical interaction of society with the geographical environment.

Rice. 194. Successful hunting is the key to survival in the harsh conditions of the province of Irian Jaya (Indonesia)

Figure 195. Capoeira is a martial art and dance that has developed from the cultures of Africa and Latin America(Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

The industrial revolution deformed and even destroyed the established economic and cultural types, but many of them still exist unchanged.

Thus, the features of material culture as a means of adapting to existing landscapes and spiritual culture are predetermined by the geographical environment.

Historical and cultural regions of the world. The first mention of the historical and cultural regions of the world is associated with the name of Herodotus, who singled out two regions: the Hellenic policies of Europe and the countries of the Near and Middle East, where at that time the dynasty of ancient Persian kings dominated. With the accumulation of knowledge about the surrounding world, Ethiopia and Scythia were added to the historical and cultural areas.

In the 19th century the most famous scientist of the cultural-historical school was the German geographer Friedrich Ratzel, and in the 20th century. - A. Toynbee. The main premise of the cultural-historical school is that each cultural area has its own path of development, so one cannot speak of the “backwardness” of any (non-European) peoples. Geohistorical regions are " characters» history, they play a special role at each stage of history, forming special civilizational worlds. The boundaries and composition of civilizational worlds are not permanent, they change in the course of historical development.

The boundaries of the cultural regions of the world were determined in the early stages of the formation of civilizations. They, in fact, are physical and geographical boundaries, it was in them that the formation of cultural ethnic groups took place. Despite the migrations of peoples, the spread of religions and philosophies, the economic development of territories and colonization, these borders remain stable (Fig. 196).

Rice. 196. Economic and cultural types at the beginning of the XX century. (according to B. V. Andrianov)

The historical and cultural areas in the Old World included:

- The Middle East, or the Levant, is an Islamic cultural region that captures a significant part of Asia and North Africa;
• European area;
• Indian region;
• Chinese (or East Asian) region;
• Indochinese region;
• insular subcultural area of ​​the Pacific;
• Eurasian steppes.

The historical and cultural areas in the New World included:

• Sub-Saharan Africa (Meso-African and South African cultural areas);
• circumpolar region with rudimentary ethnic groups.

In America, the Anglo-Saxon and Latin American cultural regions stand out.

Jean Jacques Elise Reclus

Rice. 198. Civilizational worlds and geohistorical regions

South Asia: 1. North-West - the imperial core and the gateway to the world of nomads. 2. Central zone synthesis - the cradle of "classical" civilization. 3. "Extroverted" peripheries of the South and East.

Indochina and insular Asia: 4. Peninsular Indochina - the common periphery of the "worlds beyond the walls." 5. Insular, or "Malay", Indochina - the super-susceptible outskirts of the Old World. 6. Japan and Korea.

East Asia: 7. Huang He basin - the imperial core and the zone of linkage with the world of nomads. 8. The Yangtze basin is a zone of cultural synthesis and "classical" civilization. 9. Tropical South - "extraverted" periphery.

Central Asia: 10. Tibet. 11. Mongolia. 12. Chinese Turkestan. 13. The inner periphery of Asia - the steppe corridor of Kazakhstan.

Middle East and Caucasus: 14. Central Asia - the eastern crossroads on the threshold of the "worlds beyond the walls." 15. The inner core of the Iranian world is the citadel of the creation of culture. 16. The Caucasus - the western crossroads of peoples on the threshold of the Middle East knot.

Middle East and North Africa: 17a. Holy Crescent: the cradle of world religions. 176. Arabian "underbelly" of the Crescent. 18. Egypt and the Nile axis of preserved crops. 19. Mag-rib - junction and periphery of two worlds.

i>Anterior Asia and the Balkans: 20. Asia Minor - ethno-cultural "crucible" of the Asian bridge to Europe. 21. The Balkans is a mixed legacy of a European bridge to Asia.

Russia: 22. Russia is the peripheral "north" of Eurasia. 23a. Russia in Asia - cultural synthesis in the zone of old colonization. 236. New Russia.

Eastern Europe: 24. Eastern European buffer belt: imperial rivalry on the outskirts of Western Europe.

Western Europe: 25. Mediterranean South - the imprint of antiquity. 26. Center - a zone of cultural synthesis and medieval flourishing. 27. The "Protestant" North is the cradle of bourgeois civilization.

Far East of Eurasia: 28. Colonization frontier zone on the former flank of the nomadic belt: a) Russian; b) Chinese; c) Japanese.

Latin America: 29. America of pre-Columbian civilizations - Euro-Indian cultural alloy: a) Mexican sector; b) Andean. 30. Latin America outside the orbit of autochthonous civilizations - Euro-Negro alloy: a) Caribbean sector; b) Brazilian. 31. "Deviant" Latin America in the temperate zone of late colonization

Anglo-Saxon America: 32. North American crucible: a) "additive" area from Europe looking to the future; b) the area of ​​"additive" from Europe leaving; c) zone of recent frontier. 33. The last frontier of Europe - Australia and New Zealand.

Sub-Saharan Africa: 34. South Africa- the clash of European and African cultures. 35. Africa of tropical forests - local worlds, separated by forest wilds. 36. African "shores", scorched by foreign cultural influence: a, b) Islamized areas; c) the flank of Eurocolonization.

Scattered world of Oceania: 37. Sparsely populated shelters crushed by external influence traditional cultures small nations.

Career. Ethnography

Ethnography (from the Greek Ethnos - tribe, people) is a science that studies the origin of ethnic groups, traditions of material and spiritual culture, historical relationships between ethnic groups. For a long time, ethnography developed as part of geography.

What do ethnographers do? Go on expeditions detailed maps resettlement of ethnic groups, the spread of elements of material culture (languages, certain economic skills), analyze the received materials, predict ethno-political processes.

Where do ethnographers work? At the Institute of Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences, in museums (Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (St. Petersburg), in local history museums), in the analytical centers of government bodies.

Rice. 199. Woman in national dress (Morocco)

In each specific study, it is possible to subdivide the territories on the basis of the most significant elements of culture. Thus, each of the regions can be subjected to a more fractional division based on social organization, material culture, language, religion. When describing smaller cultural communities, some elements of culture turn out to be more significant. So, in Africa, the cultural micro-region of the Bantu tribes can be distinguished on the basis of a characteristic set of tools and production skills - mainly farming, based on the nature of settlements and on a linguistic basis - as a set of closely related languages.

At each subsequent stage of zoning, the studied cultural microregion becomes smaller and narrower. The main task is to study the local characteristics of culture, not to lose the overall picture of the cultural regions of the world.

Main ideas of the section

• The material and spiritual culture of mankind is a complex and comprehensive phenomenon; differences in culture predetermine the characteristics of the cultural and economic life of regions, countries, peoples.
• The main carriers of culture are ethnic groups - stable, established groups of people who oppose themselves to others. Ethnic groups arise in specific geographical conditions - at the junction of two or more landscapes and go through a number of regular phases of development.
• Languages ​​are the most important link of culture. Their formation and distribution is connected with geographical factors. Languages ​​are combined into language families and groups; the most common is the Indo-European language family. Religions are distributed in clearly localized areas and influence socio-political life, psychology, legal consciousness and behavior, the use of resources and susceptibility to innovation.
• The main concepts that explain the cultural regions of the world are the ethnographic concept of economic and cultural types, historical and cultural zoning and the allocation of geohistorical regions.

Review questions

1. What are the main tasks of the geography of culture?
2. What elements of culture can be identified and what is their meaning?
3. Expand the content of the concept of "ethnoi as carriers of culture."
4. Where and why do new ethnic groups arise?
5. What stages of ethnogenesis did L. N. Gumilyov single out?
6. What are the reasons for the emergence of territorial differences in languages?
7. What is the state language?
8. What languages ​​are considered working languages ​​of the UN?
9. What language families do you know?
10. Which language family is the largest in terms of the number of languages ​​it contains and the people who speak them?
11. What examples of isolate languages ​​can you give?
12. What religions are the most ancient? Do they exist now and where do their followers live?
13. What are the main national religions you know? What is their influence on the peculiarities of the economy and culture of peoples, the policy of states?
14. What are the current areas of distribution of traditional beliefs?
15. What religions are predominant in East Asia? What is their influence on the characteristics of the economy and culture of peoples?
16. What world religions do you know? What are the main areas of their distribution? Briefly describe their influence on the economic, cultural and political life.
17. Compare the basic concepts of cultural zoning.
18. What historical and cultural regions of the world do you know? By what scientists and on the basis of what principles they are singled out?

Terms

• Atheism
• Bilingualism
• Geohistorical regions
• Official language
• Zones of drive pushes
• Historical and cultural areas of the world
• Local traditional beliefs (animism, fetishism, totemism)
• World religions (Christianity, Islam, Judaism)
• passionaries
• UN working languages
• Economic and cultural types
• Elements of culture (artifacts, mentifacts, sociofacts)
• Ethnogenesis Ethnic groups
• Language families and groups

Many processes of regional differentiation of Western Europe in the ethno-cultural and political-administrative spheres are the result of the formation in the distant past of local cultural-historical centers, which do not always coincide with the boundaries of the current political-administrative formations: regions, provinces, lands. Let us mention just a few of them (in Great Britain, France, Germany, Spain and Italy), who have played and continue to play a significant role in the regional stratification of Western European societies.

V Great Britain Scotland and Wales should be attributed to the number of such foci. Scotland- cultural and historical province, which has, perhaps, the most pronounced identity. Inhabited by descendants Celts(of the ancient Gaels), it is right up to the beginning

18th century remained an independent state and for a long time resisted the English conquerors. Only in 1707 did Scotland become integral part single British state.

Despite the almost complete loss of their native (Gaelic) language, the Scots (primarily the intelligentsia) retained a sense of national identity, some peculiar features of culture. (Even at the end of the 20th century, among the population of the northwestern part of the Northern Scottish Highlands and adjacent islands, one could meet residents who spoke a Gaelic language very close to Irish - until the 18th century, the Irish and Scots had a common literary language.) They are often called highlanders Unlike lowlanders, living in the lowlands. National organizations Scotland (as well as Northern Ireland) are persistently raising the question of at least the federal structure of Great Britain, as a maximum - of complete secession.

Wales in administrative terms, it is one with England, which is probably associated with its early conquest (as early as 1284!). However, this is one of the oldest historical areas Great Britain, inhabited by the people of the Celtic language group - Welsh, or Welsh, and retaining a certain specificity. Despite the long anglicization, many Welsh have retained their national identity, original culture, traditions and partly their native language. The extinction of the latter is quite intense: there are practically no speakers of Welsh left, and those who can speak mother tongue throughout the UK there are several hundred thousand people (mainly among the rural population - the main custodian of the old traditions).

In France Lorraine, Alsace, Brittany, Corsica, Burgundy, Provence, Languedoc, and others are among the noticeably different cultural and historical centers. And today most Alsatians speak German, a small group of southerners in Provencal, part of the population of the Brittany peninsula in Breton, inhabitants at the foot of the Pyrenees in Basque.

Perhaps the most acutely aware of their identity are the inhabitants of Brittany. Even at the end of the 20th century from time to time there are demonstrations of Breton nationalists, speaking with slogans of the autonomy of Brittany or its complete separation from France. In this regard, we will cite the eloquent thought of V. Hugo “Brittany is an old rebel. Whenever she rebelled for two millennia, she was right ... Whether she fought the revolution or the monarchy, with authorized delegates or dukes and peers ... it was all the same Breton war - the war of the local spirit with the central " .

Lorraine- a historical region of eastern France, on the border with Germany. (Its name comes from the name of Emperor Lothair II, who ascended the throne in 855.) The current "administrative" Lorraine does not represent an organic unity (its Western part in its nature and economy, it is close to Champagne, and the southern (Privoges) has more in common with the neighboring mountainous part of Alsace than with northern Lorraine, etc.).

Alsace Geographically, a more compact and more clearly defined region than Lorraine is the left-bank part of the Upper Rhine lowland and the eastern slope of the Vosges with their foothills. The cultural and ethnic characteristics of the Alsatians are also more pronounced (which is largely due to German influence).

As you know, a major drawback of “pre-Bismarckian” Germany (it was Bismarck who united the country with “blood and iron”) was political disorganization. For several centuries, this country was fragmented into a huge number of possessions of various categories: principalities, counties, duchies, bishoprics, free cities, which were territorially intertwined in the most bizarre patchwork. Many lands of today's Germany have retained their original "face": culture, way of life, economic specifics. Of the current 16 German states: Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saarland, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Schleswig -Holstein (Fig. 13), perhaps the deepest individuality has been preserved by Bavaria. Although there are other opinions (the historical land of Saxony-Anhalt, from 1919 until the end of the Weimar Republic, when the Nazis established their power, generally remained an independent state entity).

Bavaria- a historical land in the south of the country, which gave rise to the kingdom of the same name at the beginning of the 2nd millennium. The cultural specificity of the land was facilitated by the fact that in the south Bavaria “rests” on the Alps, in the northeast - on the Bohemian Forest. Despite the fact that the Bavarian Nuremberg, located at the crossroads leading from Germany to Italy, from the Rhine countries to the countries of the Danube basin, back in the 13th century. became a major trade and craft center (Munich, the capital of the state, a younger city), Bavaria for a long time retained the old-fashioned agricultural way of life. A kind of confirmation of the significant role of Bavaria in the development of the processes of regionalism in Germany can serve as the fact of the proclamation in 1919 of the Bavarian Soviet Republic(with the establishment of the regime of the proletarian dictatorship), and the role of Munich in the "triumphant procession" of the ideas of Nazism.

Very colorful historical areas Spain". The Basque Country, Andalusia, Aragon, Asturias, Valencia, Galicia, Castile, Catalonia, Navarra, Extremadura and others. The outlines of many of them, of course, do not coincide with the boundaries of the current administrative provinces, which also often stimulates the processes of regionalism. At the most critical moments in the life of Spain, individual regions (Catalonia, Aragon, Andalusia, Valencia, etc.) suddenly refused to support the Castilian dynasty, demanding independence.

Territory Basque generally divided between Spain and France. In Spain, the Basques inhabit the areas: Biscay, Gipuzkoa, Alava and part of the province of Navarra with cities: Bilbao, San Sebastiano, Vitoria. In France, the Basques inhabited areas: Labour, Labourdan, Sula, with the main center - Bayoni. The Basques (like the Catalans) stubbornly defend their rights to independence, which is associated with high level national identity. Later than other peoples, they were deprived of independence by Castile, and even in the 19th century. were still fenced off from the rest of Spain by special customs.

Catalonia located in the northeastern part of present-day Spain (on the border with France). However, Catalonia within its current official borders is one thing, the opinion of the Catalans themselves about themselves is another. They consider as Catalonia all the provinces or parts thereof whose population speaks the Catalan language. (It is interesting that in addition to the “administratively formalized” Catalonia, they include the Catalan zone of Aragon, the Catalan zone of the old kingdom of Valencia, the Balearic Islands and even Andorra). Catalans, as you know, have traditions of their own statehood. (Already in modern times, in 1931, the creation of an independent Catalonia was announced in Barcelona, ​​which, along with Spain and Portugal, was to enter the federation of all the republics of the Iberian Peninsula.)

From time to time impulses of regional separatism and “autonomism” also come from Galicia(where many peasants still speak Galician, which is close to Portuguese), Andalusia, Valencia, Aragon and other historical regions of Spain.

Cultural and historical areas are also distinguished by a pronounced individuality. Italy. This is the only G7 country where social contrasts between individual regions have become so rampant that a movement has emerged to separate the “rich North” from the “poor South”. The border between North and South is drawn in different ways: some believe that the South of the country begins beyond Florence; for others, this border passes beyond Rome; for others, it reaches out for Naples. In the official guides, in the "South" column, three areas are listed: Apulia (which includes the entire "heel" of the Italian "boot", including the "spur"), Calabria ("sock") and Basilicata, located between the first two. Very often the region of Campania (the center is Naples), as well as Sicily and Sardinia, are added to these provinces.

Rice. thirteen.

I - Schleswig-Holstein; II - Mecklenburg - Western Pomerania; III - Brandenburg; IV - Saxony-Anhalt (1 - Dessau; 2 - Galle);

V - Saxony; VI - Thuringia; VII - Bavaria (1 - Lower Franconia; 2 - Upper Franconia; 3 - Middle Franconia;

• 4 - Upper Palatinate; 5 - Lower Bavaria; 6 - Upper Bavaria;
• 7 - Swabia); VIII - Baden-Württemberg (1 - Stuttgart; 2 - Karlsruhe; 3 - Tübingen; 4 - Freiburg); IX - Saarland; X - Rhineland-Palatinate (1 - Trier; 2 - Koblenz; 3 - Röngessen-Palatinate); XI - Hesse ( 1 - Kassel; 2 - Gissen; 3 - Darmstadt);

XII - North Rhine-Westphalia (1 - Dusseldorf; 2 - Munster;

3 - Detmold; 4 - Arnsberg; 5 - Cologne); XIII - Lower Saxony (1 - Weser-Ems; 2 - Lüneburg; 3 - Hanover; 4 - Braunschweig); XIV - Hamburg; XV - Berlin; XVI - Bremen

Separatism and autonomism comes from prosperous northern regions: Lombardy, Piedmont, Liguria("industrial triangle"), Tuscany and others. The way of life, prosperity, historical traditions of the inhabitants of these regions differ too much from those of the lagging behind in the development of Sicily and Sardinia (the latter, having plundered and devastated, the Romans at one time turned into a place of exile and expulsion of officials of the Italian kingdom).

• It is worth citing the very valuable, although perhaps somewhat subjective, words of one of the heroes of V. Hugo: “The genius of France combines the brilliant features of the entire European continent, and each French province was one of these European virtues. German directness flourished in Picardy; a broad Naturashvedic tradition manifested itself in Champagne; Dutch ability to work could be found in Burgundy, the active energy of Poland in Languedoc, Spanish pride in Gascony, a sharp Italian mind in Provence, Greek resourcefulness in Normandy, Swiss honesty in Dauphine. Let's not argue or agree with the novelist - it is important that he, as it were, confirms the reality of the differences.
• Hugo V. Ninety-third year. M.: Azbuka-klassika, 2010.
• In Andalusia, in the old days, on the doors of the Church of St. Magdalene in Seville, there was a defiant slogan: “Que se la da a SevillaSer mas de Portugal que de Castilia?” (doesn't it matter if Seville is under Portugal or under Castile?).

QUESTIONS AND TASKS

1. What is an ethnos? What is the difference between the formation of races and ethnic groups?

An ethnos is a historically formed community of people with common language, culture, economy, territory and ethnic identity. Ethnic groups unite all of the above, and the race is the genotype.

2. On what grounds are peoples distinguished?

1) The language they speak; 2) External signs: skin color, clothing, etc.; 3) Lifestyle; 4) Culture; 5) Religion (Christianity, Islam, Buddhism).

3. Name examples of large and small ethnic groups. Show on the map where they live.

Large: Greeks, Spaniards, Italians. Small: Teleuts, Telengits, Chelkans

4. Within each cultural historical region select the largest countries.

Iberian CIR: Portugal, Spain. Balkan KIR: Greece, Turkey

5. Find and organize information about monuments cultural heritage in any cultural and historical region.

Athens Acropolis. It is a 156-meter rocky hill with a gentle top (approx. 300 m long and 170 m wide). This was the main place for finding the king. Also inside there were many temples where prayers were offered. Greek gods and sacrifices were made. At the time of the conquest by the Turks, the Acropolis acted as a mosque for them. Today it is an ancient monument of architectural art.

Workshop

2. Using the text of the textbook and maps of the atlas, make a table with columns reflecting world religions, the main regions of their distribution, the main religious centers.

a) Christianity:

Catholicism (Northern and South America, country Southern Europe and etc.)

Orthodoxy (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Bulgaria, etc.)

Protestantism (countries of Northern and Central Europe, USA, Canada, South Africa, etc.)

b) Islam (Muslim):

Shiism (Iran, Iraq)

Sunnism (Asian countries, North Africa and etc.)

c) Buddhism (Southeast, East Asia)

National religions:

Shinto (Japan);

Confucianism (China);

Hinduism (India);

Judaism (Israel);

Local Religions:

Fetishism

shamanism

Fetishism

(mainly countries in Africa, Oceania, tribes of Asia)

3. Show on the map major countries world, single-ethnic and multinational countries.

Mononational (i.e., the main nationality is over 90%). There are most of them in Europe (Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Austria, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Italy, Portugal), Asia (Saudi Arabia, Japan, Bangladesh, Korea, some small countries), in Latin America (since Indians, mulattos, mestizos are considered parts of a single nation), in Africa (Egypt, Libya, Somalia, Madagascar);

With a sharp predominance of one nation, but with more or less significant minorities (Great Britain, France, Spain, Finland, Romania, China, Mongolia, USA, the Commonwealth of Australia, New Zealand, etc.);

Multinational countries with complex and ethnically diverse composition (India, Russia, Switzerland, Indonesia, Philippines, many countries of West and South Africa).

The most multiethnic area is South Asia and the most multiethnic country is India.

Region - a large individual territorial unit (for example, natural, economic, political, etc.).

Under the concept of "historical region", in the broad sense of the interpretation of this term, one should consider a spatial-geographical, administrative-territorial, geopolitical, socio-economic, ethno-cultural community, connected by the unity of historical destinies over a long time period of development.

When characterizing a historical region, basic, permanent factors are distinguished:

• 1. Geographic and climatic conditions. Natural resource potential;
• 2. Population, its ethnic and social composition;
• 3. Economic and economic development, features of labor resources, etc.;
• 4. State-political and administrative-territorial structure;
• 5. The history of the region and its subregional enclave zones, subregions (krais, regions, as well as districts and individual settlements- cities), community of historical destinies of the population;
• 6. Spiritual, mental and cultural diversity and community, the presence of confessional specificity.

The edge is an administrative-territorial unit in some countries. Originally it was the name of the area on the outskirts of the state.

Historical local history is one of the most important components of liberal arts education. It concretizes the material of school courses in history and social disciplines, provides knowledge on the history of the native land. Knowledge about native land- an essential part of the intellectual potential of a citizen. Through local history material, the teacher introduces his students to the past, present and future of his region. In the history and traditions of the family, in the past of the region and the country, the student is aware of his norms, eternal, enduring human values, honesty, justice, duty, respect for the older generation, national dignity. Through historical local history, an organic unity of interests of the individual, society and the state in the upbringing of a Russian citizen is created. The local history approach allows you to direct students from close, accessible to direct observation of facts and phenomena to deep conclusions and generalizations. historical science, i.e., to organize the process of cognition in the most natural and accessible way.

Regional studies - science is not so young that we can talk about its appearance in relation to the most recent decade. Speaking about the emergence of regional studies in our recent historical past, we can note the following important detail. The main attraction for the humanities at the beginning of the XXI century. in the regional approach became that in the era of the total offensive of globalization on the cultures of all countries and peoples, it made it possible to adequately assess the reaction of various societies to this phenomenon, to isolate those values ​​that original cultures instinctively, despite consciously positive attitude to these processes, tried to defend, and, finally, to understand those strange metamorphoses of the ideas of globalization, which, under the influence regional cultures took shape and forms that did not correspond to the original intentions, but rather based on the principles that have lived in these regions for centuries. So, for example, it happened once with the ideology of the Enlightenment, which turned from the postulation of rights and freedoms into Russia XVIII v. in the decree of Catherine II on the beating of serfs for complaining about the landowner and exiling them to Siberia. For the sake of historical fairness, it is worth noting that globalization is not a phenomenon inherent exclusively in our time. As a tendency for all local cultures to join a certain universal culture, the most common religious and ideological currents of our common civilization, it has always existed, as evidenced by the example of Catherine II. Religious trends spread by missionaries and merchants, fashion, ways of trading and managing, women's jewelry and weapons have always performed exactly the function that today in our minds we associate with the impact of globalization on modern culture. Combat tactics and strategy, types of weapons, war chariots, iron weapons instead of bronze ones, the spread of property and its incorporation into society affected original cultures in the same way that uniform advertising in the media operates today. mass media and the Internet around the world. And also, in fairness, it must be stated that the millennia of the influence of these trends on various cultures have not destroyed their identity. Regional studies, like no other humanities, allows you to look at the laws of interaction between the universal and the regional, which force global religions and global ideas to take precisely those or other local, original, regional forms, the only possible ones in this particular society. In this sense, regional studies, in our understanding, is not scientific direction, which comprehensively studies regional cultures, dumping geography, climate, economics, literature, language and other components into one basket, and also tries to find in the chaos of all best achievements literary criticism and art criticism are a certain common denominator of this culture. Regional studies seem to be a scientific direction that is looking for those regional constants and dominants that exist and function regardless of climatic, religious, linguistic and other factors and exert their powerful influence on these derivatives of regional culture, subordinating them to itself, modifying them so and so much as to adapt them to adequate life in the conditions of the region. One sees not so much the problem of the influence of language, ethnic or religious factors on regional culture, but, on the contrary, the influence of the characteristics of the region on the ethnic group and its character, religion and its originality, language and its features. Suffice it to recall that Latin America adopted a religion according to the Roman-Latin model, and whether it is possible to see the Catholic tradition in Brazilian carnivals is a big question, even if we do not touch on the everyday nature of the religiosity of the Brazilians.

Looking at the present from a historical perspective, one can state the huge advantage of regional studies in comparison even with the so-called civilizational approach to the study of cultures. Civilizations, no matter how much they were given the life span of N.Ya. Danilevsky, A.D. Toynbee, O. Spengler or L.N. Gumilyov, everyone is mortal. The region, in a bizarre way, always retains its originality: before the birth of a civilization, during its life and after its disappearance. An example of the nomadic civilizations of the Zagros of the period of Sumer and Babylon, the time of the formation Persian power and its death and, finally, the creation of the state of Iran demonstrates to researchers that the change of ethnic and religious components does not destroy the main dominants of the region - an active society, strong democratic traditions and a creative attitude to issues of state power and religion.

In order to study the region as a factor that forms culture, it is necessary to go beyond the culture of language, ethnic culture and religious culture. Many researchers, for example, linguists, introducing the term "linguistic picture of the world", one way or another try to abstract from ethnic and religious aspects, focusing their attention on the individual's perception of a given culture of time, space, etc. Whether pre-Mongolian Russia was culturally identical to post-Mongolian one is still of interest to researchers today, but an elementary analysis of the texts will show us that the spatio-temporal perception of reality in both cultures was the same. At the same time, this perception was significantly different from the Western European one. An example is the most commonly used form of the beginning of fairy tales. We used a spatial reference (“in a certain kingdom, in a certain state”), they used a temporary one (once upon a time). The difference continues to the present day. So, the famous French film with Jean Reno, where the knights of the Middle Ages fall into the present, clearly shows that changes in the realities that bored the viewer are possible only when traveling in time, in our own films “Window in the Bedroom”, “Ivan Vasilyevich Changes Profession”, etc. d. it is obvious that such changes are possible only when traveling in space, and when moving in time, the realities remain the same: “Tell me, Fed, can you find a store here that sells jewelry? - Let's do it!

In fact, much of what has been achieved in the study of so-called national cultures or national character traits may well be useful for research work in regional studies. We studied the national character, as a rule, within the framework of the region, completely abstracting from the fact that a mixed ethnic group originally existed on its territory, even when it was a question of a state-forming ethnic group. Moreover, the study of the national character of various state associations (Rus of any period, Byzantium, Germany, etc.) confronts us with the problem that they never had a mono-ethnic composition, and such important elements of regional cultures as business culture, ethical and legal thinking and etc., for all ethnic groups were practically common, if we keep in mind the peculiarities of these cultures in relation to their neighbors.

In our opinion, one could begin to quite fruitfully explore the culture of the region, for example, in such aspects as:

• 1) spatial and temporal perception (emphasis on the past or future, perception of the spatial position of one's culture, priority attention to the past, present or future time, attitude towards neighbors and obligations to them);
• 2) ethical and legal vision of the individual, society (priorities of the public or personal, the state and its institutions, truth and law, common sense and logic);
• 3) the obligations of the culture of the region before history and providence (the role in history, as, for example, among the Germans, who always, as between Scylla and Charybdis, split between the desire to fit into the civilization of the first Roman Empire, and then cultural Europe, and the desire to be cultural traders for Eastern European countries and peoples).

Of great importance is the optimal distance between individuals in the process of their communication, characteristic of the population of the region. It is also important to fix what the representative of the region sees as positive activity in public and private life, and what is positive contemplation. The regions are also very different in that in some cultures there is a priority of the form, as, for example, among the Italians, while in others the main attention is paid to the content, as in the Russians. The regions perceive the cosmogonic and providential aspect of life differently (roughly speaking, who is the puppeteer and who is the puppet, and where are the boundaries of their own activity as a participant in the world-historical show).

Conclusion: As we saw in the answer, local history and regional studies are important components of modern liberal arts education. Well, let's sum it up again: local history helps to instill love for the motherland and science, to learn how to extract truth and new knowledge. And regional studies have a huge advantage in studying the culture of a particular people.

Bibliography:

• 1. R.G. Tikidzhyan: "HISTORY AND CULTURE OF THE PEOPLES OF THE DON KRAI AND THE COSSACKS" / 2013
• 1. Evgraf Savelyev: "HISTORY OF THE DON AND THE DON COSSACKS" / 1918.

HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL AREAS (historical and ethnographic regions) - territories whose population, due to the common historical destinies, socio-economic development and mutual influence, have similar cultural and everyday (ethnographic) features. They manifest themselves in material culture - types traditional dwelling, vehicles, food and utensils, clothes, shoes, jewelry, etc., as well as in traditional spiritual culture (calendar rituals and customs, beliefs, folklore, etc.).

Unlike ethnic groups that have ethnic self-consciousness, historical and cultural areas may not be perceived by people and are distinguished in the course of special ethnographic studies. Economic and cultural types and historical and cultural areas are two typologically different systems that are closely intertwined, but, as a rule, do not coincide with each other. Historical and cultural areas as economic and cultural types are historical categories that arise, develop and disappear in the process of development of competitive ethnic groups and their groupings in a certain territory. For historical and cultural zoning, it is important to characterize not only the way of life and material culture, but also specific forms of spiritual culture associated with stereotypes of thinking, religious ideas and folk art. The areas of individual elements of culture and their complexes often do not coincide with ethnic and linguistic areas; the types of culture formed in one territory develop and change from epoch to epoch.

Historical and cultural areas always include peoples settled in adjacent territories and really connected with each other, although they often differ in the level and direction of socio-economic development, in language and race. It is necessary to distinguish between the historical and cultural regions of different peoples - the largest "provinces" that cover entire parts of the world or large groups neighboring countries, and smaller areas, which in turn are divided into sub-regions and local historical and cultural regions.

One of the largest historical and cultural "provinces" is Western Europe, within which such historical and cultural regions as Central European, South European (Mediterranean), Western European (Atlantic), North European can be distinguished.

V foreign Asia Western (Southwestern) Asia, including Turkey, Israel, all the Arab countries of the Eastern Mediterranean and Arabia, Iran and Afghanistan, can be considered independent historical and cultural provinces; Central Asia (Mongolia, Xinjiang and Tibet); South Asia (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka); Southeast Asia, subdivided into mainland (Indochinese) and insular (Indonesian-Philippines) parts, finally, East Asia ( most of China, Korea and Japan). In Africa, the countries of the Maghreb (Egypt, Lebanon, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco), located north of the Sahara, constitute one historical and cultural province; all other countries can be considered as another province, including such areas as East, Central, West and South Africa, as well as the island of Madagascar, whose ethnic history is connected with Indonesia. In America, the North American, Central American and South American provinces are distinguished; the latter two are often combined under the name of Latin America. The historical and cultural province of the first order is Australia and Oceania (with further subdivision into the Australian, Tasmanian, Melanesian, Micronesian and Polynesian regions proper).

Within the former USSR, four main historical and cultural provinces of the first order are clearly distinguished: European part, Caucasus (subdivided into North Caucasus and Transcaucasia), Central Asia and Kazakhstan, Siberia (with the allocation of a separate large region of the Far East).

In turn, these large provinces are divided into sub-regions and local historical and cultural regions. In Siberia, for example, such characteristic regions as the Yamal-Taimyr, West Siberian, Altai-Sayan, East Siberian, Kamchatka-Chukotka and Amur-Sakhalin regions are distinguished.

The Yamalo-Taimyr region includes almost all the Nenets from the lower reaches of the Yenisei in the east to the Timan tundra in the west, the Nganasans and the northern groups of the Khanty and Mansi, who borrowed reindeer breeding from the Nenets. All these peoples belong to the tundra reindeer herders. This type of economy is associated with such features as a reindeer sled, a portable tent covered with skins, deaf fur clothing, etc. The similarity is also manifested in many cultural and everyday details. So, for example, everywhere, within the Yamalo-Taimyr region, a special type of draft reindeer husbandry is widespread, which is characterized by massive sledges with obliquely located hooves, a fan-shaped reindeer team, reindeer control with the help of reins, the presence of a shepherd dog, etc. All peoples have many peculiar details. This area can also be traced in the design of the chum, in the features of the cut and ornamentation of clothing.

See: Classification of ethnic groups, Ethnic territory, Ethnic factors of geopolitics.

Tavadov G.T. Ethnology. Modern dictionary-reference book. M., 2011, p. 138-140.