CULTURES OF EUROPE

SS6G11 The student will describe the cultural

characteristics of Europe

ELEMENTS

OExplain the diversity of European culture as seen in a comparison of German, English, Russian, French, and Italian.

ODescribe the major religions in Europe; include Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

OExplain how the literacy rate affects the standard of living in Europe

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

O How does the diversity of languages in Europe (German, English, Russian, French, Italian) reflect its unique cultural characteristics?

O How do the people of Europe overcome the barriers created by the diversity of cultures?

O What are the characteristics of the three major religions in Europe (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)?

O What is the relationship between literacy rate and standard of living?

European

Languages

o Europe has many diverse languages, most belonging to the Indo-European family

o Three main types of languages used in Europeo Germanico Romanceo Slavic

LANGUAGES IN EUROPE

O GermanicO The most commonly used language in the worldO Examples are German and EnglishO Used in countries like England, Germany, Austria, Romania and

SwitzerlandO Romance

O Language that is based on the ancient RomansO Examples are French and ItalianO Used in countries like France, Italy, and Belgium

O SlavicO One of the oldest languages in EuropeO Uses a Cyrillic alphabetO Examples are RussianO Used in Eastern European countries like Russia, Ukraine and Belarus

OThere are three major religious groups in Europe

OAll three religions are based around monotheismOMeans that there is only one

God

RELIGIONS OF EUROPE

JUDAISM

o Began about 1800 years agoo Beliefs are routed in Abraham and Moses as prophets and all Jews are awaiting the Messiaho The sacred book is called the Torah

oThe Old Testament in the Bible

oSome of the sacred places are the Jerusalem temple, Hebron, Palestine and the burial place of AbrahamoMany Jews in Europe live in France, the UK, Russia and Eastern Europe

ISLAMo Started by the prophet Muhammad in the 7th Centuryo Beliefs based on Abraham and Moses as the original prophets and that Muhammad is the last propheto Allah is the messiah and one true Godo The teachings are based in the Quran (Koran)o The sacred places include Mecca and Medina and Jerusalemo Fastest growing religion in EuropeoMany live in France, Germany, the UK and Eastern Europe

CHRISTIANITYo Began with the birth of Christ in the 1st centuryo Beliefs based on Abraham and Moses as prophetso The messiah is Jesus, the son of Godo The teachings are based in the BibleoSacred places include the Holy Land in Israelo Most popular religion in EuropeoCatholics live in France, Spain and Italy, while Protestants live in Germany and the UK

Practicing Islam and Judaism

EUROPE AND THE STANDARD OF LIVING

O The continent of Europe has a very high literacy rateO Percentage of adults who can read and writeO Most of the countries have 90% percent or higher

literacy ratesO France, Norway, Germany have the highest

O Standard of living in Europe is also highO Measure of a country’s quality of lifeO Most western European countries have high

standards of living, while Eastern European countries like Russia have unemployment and economic issues