PENNSVALLEY
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Lesson 9: (Cont.)
Peoples of theWorld – Ethnic Diversity
Let’s explore ethnic or cultural diversity?Diversitymeansmany, or a variety of.We live in aworld
with people from thousands of different ethnic groups. And language is another aspect of ethnic and
cultural diversity.Overall, there are over 6,000 languages spoken on this planet.There aremore than
5,000 native cultures in the world, each with a distinctive language. Papua New Guinea alone has
800 languages spoken among the isolated tribes. There are as many languages, and more ethnic
groups, in Africa.
Huge problems exist on this planet over people of different cultures living together peacefully.
Cultures have been forced to exist together for a number of reasons.One of the largest ethnic groups
with its own culture is the Kurds.They have no country of their own.There are 22million Kurds living
mostly inTurkey, Iraq, and Iran today.Palestiniansareanother largeethnicgroupwith6millionpeople.
ACTIVITY 2:
Identify at least two reasons that explainwhy various cultures around theworld have beenmixedwith
other cultures. For example, because of war, many refugees have been forced to leave their countries
and live in other places.
1.
2.
We all acquire prejudices. Prejudice is prejudging, usually negative, of other peoples’ cultural
differences. The negative thinking is the unhealthy part.While you may prefer your cultural traits, no
one culture is superior to another.
The world is shrinking. People are communicating worldwide by the Internet and cell phones. In
order for people to have successful societies, they must be prepared to better tolerate others’
differences.
ACTIVITY 3:
Select an ethnic group from among those listed, or get approval from your teacher on an ethnic group
not listed
Aborigines
Amish
Aztecs
Basques
Berbers
Kalahari
Bushmen
Cajuns
French
Inuits
Kurds
Laplanders Maoris
Canadians
Palestinians Polynesians Pygmies
Sherpas
Tutsi
Zulu
Conduct research on your selectedminority group using the Internet and library resources. Everyone
must answer the first three items.
1. name of ethnic group
2. location of ethnic group
3. population of ethnic group
From the list below, choose at least five cultural traits on which to report.Write a short informative
paragraph for each of your five chosen traits:
food, clothing, homes, religion, housing, music, beliefs, language, dance, art
Geography Skills
