Why is geography important in understanding politics?
The political environment that defines the quality of our lives is deeply affected by the geographical make-up of a nation and its neighboring entities. The seemingly unreasonable actions of many warring nations are often dictated by certain geographical limitations or issues that create a difference of opinions, such as sharing of common water resources. Presence or absence of geographical boundaries is responsible for making many nations either vulnerable or immune to siege by neighboring nations.

The resulting, peaceful or troubled history of a nation due to such geographical reasons in turn, dictates the overall orientation of its political policies, i.e. whether they are liberal or conservative in their approach or if their international political approach is that of befriending other nations or being extremely wary of making a commitment. Some of the most crucial political policies such as the expenditure on defence resources and budgetary allocation for protection against damaging weather patterns are indirectly influenced by the geographical patterns associated with a region.

Why is geography important in shaping society?
Geographic borders often create natural boundaries within a nation itself which eventually leads to demarcating various sections of society. As a result, the economic and social habits of every social group limited by its geographical boundaries are separate from the neighboring one. Societies that have thrived in kind and progressive geographical terrains have conventionally flourished and those that have inhibited geographically-challenging domains have developed a more aggressive method of sustenance since their access to natural resources is limited. Further, customs such as traditional clothing are often defined by the kind of weather patterns that are found in a region.

Geographical patterns also dictate the food habits and the general appearance of many communities. The degree of government funding allocated to the society’s economic development is often limited by the kind of spending that is needed to sustain basic needs such as water and basic food resources. This is why nations with more yielding, fertile lands and helpful climatic patterns have been able to sustain their economic progress while those in tougher, arid regions have had to compromise on socio-economic spending just to sustain basic means of livelihood.

Understanding Importance of Culture — often quoted as ethnic backgrounds or traditions of a community, culture helps in rendering a sense of individualism to people. Even within a nation, a community can struggle to define itself or establish a unique presence. In such cases, the presence of cultural values often presented in the form of customary mannerisms or time-honored practices helps a community to carve a niche for itself.

Why is culture important from a unifying perspective?
In contemporary times, when nuclear families are becoming the norm and regional migrations are common, the presence of cultural values help to unite people separated by distances or difference in mindsets. People belonging to a community enriched with cultural aspects such as celebration of common festivals share a common bond that helps to unite them in an unspoken but effective manner. Following a community’s traditions means that the community members share various aspects like cooking recipes, sense of dressing and the manner of communicating which help in creating a sense of commonness and hence, unity.

People who migrate away from their homeland are able to sustain a sense of being connected with their family and their community if they continue to practice the traditions which have seeped into their lives as cultural values. Culture is often defined as an invisible, social-control mechanism wherein people start interpreting the cultural values that have passed on to them as the benchmarks for how they should function. In this manner, healthy cultural values often act as social-regulatory tools, helping to shape a better, more organized and united community.

Why is culture important from a global perspective?
An often underestimated contribution of culture lies in its ability to create a regional and socialist harmony. This is because the fast-paced, contemporary world wherein people from different corners of the globe are increasingly intermingling with each other. Every individual brings forth the customs and cultural aspects of a certain region. When people begin to understand different cultural aspects, they develop some degree of understanding of faraway nations and communities, helping them become better informed, more tolerant and smarter world citizens.