ccoouunnttrriieess aanndd tthheeiirr ccuullttuurreess ccoouunnttrriieess aanndd tthheeiirr ccuullttuurreess d d vvoolluummee 11 Afghanistan to Czech Republic Melvin Ember and Carol R. Ember, Editors E B D I T O R I A L O A R D EDITORS IN CHIEF MELVIN EMBER,President, Human Relations Area Files CAROL R. EMBER,Executive Director, Human Relations Area Files ADVISORY BOARD H. RUSSELL BERNARD,University of Florida E. PAUL DURRENBERGER,Pennsylvania State University STEVAN HARRELL,University of Washington PAUL HOCKINGS,University of Illinois, Chicago CONRAD P. KOTTAK,University of Michigan LOUISE D. LENNIHAN,City University of New York SUSAN M. PARMAN,California State University, Fullerton PAULA L. W. SABLOFF,University of Pennsylvania NORMAN E. WHITTEN, JR.,University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Countries and Their Cultureswas prepared under the auspices and with the support of the Human Relations Area Files, Inc. (HRAF) at Yale University. The foremost international research organization in the field of cultural anthropology, HRAF is a not-for-profit consortium of 19 Sponsoring Member institutions and more than 400 active and inactive Associate Member institutions in nearly 40 countries. The mission of HRAF is to provide information that facilitates the cross-cultural study of human behavior, society, and culture. The HRAF Collection of Ethnography, which has been building since 1949, contains nearly one million pages of information, indexed according to more than 700 subject categories, on the cultures of the world. An increasing portion of the Collection of Ethnography, which now covers more than 365 cultures, is accessible via the World Wide Web to member institutions. The HRAF Collection of Archaeology, the first installment of which appeared in 1999, is also accessible on the Web to those member institutions opting to receive it. ii Countries and Their Cultures Copyright © 2001 Macmillan Reference USA, an imprint of Gale Group All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Publisher. Macmillan Reference USA Macmillan Reference USA 1633 Broadway 27500 Drake Rd. New York, NY 10019 Farmington Hills, MI 48331-3535 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Countries and their cultures / Melvin Ember and Carol R. Ember, editors. p.cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-02-864950-8 (set : hc.) 1. Ethnology-Encyclopedias. I. Ember, Melvin. II. Ember, Carol R. GN307 .C68 2001 306’.03-dc21 2001030188 Volume 1: 0-02-864947-8 Volume 2: 0-02-864948-6 Volume 3: 0-02-864949-4 Volume 4: 0-02-864946-X Printed in the United States of America Printing number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Front cover photos (clockwise from top): Aymara man with llamas © Gian Berto Vanni/Corbis; Japanese kindergarten students © Don Stevenson/Mira; Hooded men at Oaxaca Festival © Liba Taylor/Corbis; Kava Ceremony, Fiji © Charles & Josette Lenars/Corbis; Wedding service in a Russian Orthodox church © Dean Conger/Corbis; Egyptian ranger battalion demonstration © Corbis; Boy eating lobster at Friendship Regatta festivities © Dean Conger/Corbis; Akha villagers perform a Chi Ji Tsi ritual © Michael Freeman/Corbis. Background:Desert Rose block print by Arlinka Blair © Jonathan Blair/Corbis. iv C O N T E N T S Editorial and Production Staff . . . vi Preface . . . vii Alphabetical List of Articles . . . xi Directory of Contributors . . . xv Countries and Their Cultures . . . 1 Photo Credits . . . 2491 Index . . . 2501 v E P S D I T O R I A L A N D R O D U C T I O N TA F F MONICA M. HUBBARD,Senior Editor ELIZABETH PILETTE, NANCY K. SHERIDAN,Data Capture Assistants SHAWN BEALL, CINDY CLENDENON, KRISTEN HART, KIM HUNT, RACHEL KAIN, MATTHEW MAY, MARK MIKULA, LYNNE MADAY, AMY SUCHOWSKI,Indexing Specialists KATE MILLSON, BRAD MORGAN, ANNA NESBITT, REBECCA PARKS, POLLY RAPP,Contributing Editors EVI SEOUD,Assistant Manager, Composition KELLY A. QUIN,Editor, Imaging and Multimedia Content RITA WIMBERLEY,Senior Buyer PAM REED,Imaging Coordinator PAMELA A.E. GALBREATH,Senior Art Director CHRISTINE O’BRYAN,Graphics Specialist LISA CHOVNICK,Cover Designer MARGARET CHAMBERLAIN,Permissions Specialist BEVERLY JENDROWSKI,Data Capture Specialist MACMILLAN REFERENCE USA ELLY DICKASON,Publisher vi P R E F A C E When the Soviet Union broke apart, most of the cally unified, before the colonial power imposed world was stunned. Many thought of the Soviet control over the whole area. The major new com- Union as a very powerful country, and until the monality was that the various cultures had to deal breakup most gave very little thought to the many with a new overarching political authority, the different and geographically separate cultures that colonial authority. Often, the eventual achievement comprised the Soviet Union. Anthropologists were of independence was not sufficient to create much not as surprised by the breakup because they knew in the way of a national culture. Only time will tell that the Soviet Union contained a large number of whether these new political entities will endure and culturally diverse groups of people, such as whether national cultures will develop. Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, and Kazakhs, In a country with many cultures, the emer- among many others. Most of the countries that gence of a common culture can occur gradually became independent after the breakup of the Soviet and peacefully as people interact over time or when Union—Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Uzbekistan, immigrants voluntarily assimilate to a dominant etc.—were populated largely by people speaking a culture. More often than not, cultural dominance particular language and sharing a particular cul- emerges in the context of one group having supe- ture. In retrospect, if more people had known that rior power over the others. Africans brought as there wasn’t much of a shared culture in what we slaves to what is now the United States did not formerly called the Soviet Union, perhaps the choose to come, nor did Native Americans choose breakup would not have been so surprising. This is to have their lands taken away or their children not to say that the breakup was caused solely by sent away to boarding school to learn the ways of cultural differences. The fact of the matter is that the dominant culture. But even without force, social scientists are still far from understanding sheer differences in numbers can have profound what accounts for why a country splits apart, and effects. There is little doubt that where a particular why the break-up may be violent or peaceful. We ethnic group vastly outnumbers others in the do know, however, that if we want to understand country, the culture of that ethnic group is likely to what happens to a country, it is important to pay become dominant. Examples are the Han of China attention to how the different cultures in the coun- and the Russians of Russia. try get along and how much of a national culture Multiculturalism is quite characteristic of most has developed. of today’s countries, but countries vary greatly in The focus of Countries and Their Cultures is on the degree to which ethnic groups co-exist peace- the cultures of the countries around the world, fully and in the degree to which diversity of culture what is and what is not commonly shared cultur- is tolerated and even sometimes celebrated. ally by the people who live in a country. As the Germany for a long time (until the 1930s) was tol- reader will see, some countries have a distinctive erant of Jews, but then it changed and extermi- national culture. That is, most of the people in the nated them in the 1940s. Why ethnic conflict country share a distinctive set of attitudes, beliefs, emerges at some times and in some places is only values, and practices. Other countries hardly have beginning to be understood. a shared culture, and maybe not even a dominant Cultural anthropology and the other social sci- one. Many of these culturally diverse countries like ences can help us understand. Cultural anthropol- Nigeria and Kenya had their political unity imposed ogy got started as a discipline when people began upon them by colonialism. There were hundreds of to realize, with imperialism and colonialism, that different cultures, many of them not even politi- the ways of life of people around the world varied vii PREFACE enormously. In the beginning of the twentieth cen- more than 200 contributors-social scientists tury, there were still many cultures that depended (anthropologists largely, but also sociologists, his- on hunting, gathering, and fishing, with no agri- torians, geographers, and political scientists) as culture or industry. Villages in many places were well as others who usually have firsthand experi- hardly linked to their neighbors, much less to ence in the countries they write about and know state-type polities in the outside world. The world’s the language or lingua franca of that country. cultural diversity was greater and more frag- Thus they are able to provide integrated, holistic mented than it is today. Now the world is a multi- descriptions of the countries, not just facts. Our plicity of nation-states, multicultural (multiethnic) aim was to leave the reader with a real sense of polities that formed as little or larger empires, or as what it is like to live in a particular country. products of colonialism. In an earlier reference Our list of countries consists largely of politi- work, the 10-volume Encyclopedia of World Cultures cally independent entities. However, we have (produced under the auspices of the Human included some geographically separate entities that Relations Area Files [HRAF] and published by G.K. are politically part of other countries. Examples are Hall/Macmillan), the focus was on the cultures Anguilla and Bermuda, which are dependent terri- typically studied by anthropologists. A different tories of the United Kingdom; French Guiana and language, not shared by neighbors, is often a key Guadaloupe, which are French overseas depart- defining feature of a group of people who share (or ments; and Hong Kong, which is a special admin- who shared) a culture. Thus, countries and their istrative region of China. Our advisors also usual multiplicity of cultures were not the focus of suggested we add entries for major divisions of the that encyclopedia. United Kingdom: England, Northern Ireland, In this reference work, we focus on the cultures Scotland, and Wales. of countries. We have asked our authors to describe Articles all follow the same format to provide what is culturally universal in the country they are maximum comparability. Countries with small writing about and what varies by ethnic group, populations have shorter entries; those with large region, and class. Information on widely-shared populations or complex ethnic composition are behavior and values, as well as on cultural varia- longer in length to accommodate the complexity. tion within the country, is now recognized as important to understanding politics, civil rights, business opportunities, and many other aspects of USING COUNTRIES AND THEIR CULTURES life in a country. Our focus on culture makes Countries and Their Culturesunique. No other single This reference work is meant to be used by a vari- reference work comes close to matching the range ety of people for a variety of purposes. It can be of cultural information offered in these volumes. used both to gain a general understanding of a Another unique feature of Countries and Their country and its culture(s), and to find a specific Cultures is the discussions of “do’s” and “don’ts” piece of information by looking it up under the rel- for a culture, including what to make “small talk” evant subheading. It can also be used to learn about about and what notto talk about. For example, vis- a particular region of the world and the social, eco- itors to the United States may be familiar with nomic, and political forces that have shaped the much of American culture, but if they divulge the cultures of the countries in that region. We provide real state of their health and feelings to the first a substantial bibliography at the end of each coun- American who asks “How are you?,” they have try entry. much to learn about “small talk” in the United Beyond being a basic reference resource, States. Countries and Their Culturesalso serves readers with A third unique feature of Countries and Their more focused needs. For researchers interested in Cultures is the discussion of ethnic relations in a comparing countries and their cultures, this work country, including material on whether one partic- provides information that can guide the selection of ular ethnic group became dominant or whether a particular countries for further study. For those national culture developed out of a community of interested in international studies, the bibliogra- disparate cultures. In some cases, particularly in phies in each entry can lead one quickly to the rel- newly developing nations, there is relatively little evant social science literature as well as providing a shared culture, and so there may be little “national” state-of-the-art assessment of knowledge about culture. the world’s countries and their cultures. For cur- We are able to provide the information con- riculum developers and teachers seeking to interna- tained in these volumes through the efforts of tionalize the curriculum, this work is a basic viii PREFACE reference and educational resource as well as a authors have followed a standardized outline, con- directory to other materials. For government offi- structed by the editors with the help of the board cials, it is a repository of information not likely to of advisors, so that each summary provides infor- be available in any other single publication; in mation on a core list of topics. The authors, how- some cases the information provided here is not ever, had some leeway in deciding how much available at all elsewhere. For students, from high attention was to be given each topic and whether school through graduate school, it provides back- additional information should be included. ground and bibliographic information for term papers and class projects. And for travelers, it pro- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vides an introduction to the ways of life in any country they may be visiting. There are many people to thank for their contribu- tions. Elly Dickason at Macmillan Reference played an important role in the initial conception of the FORMAT OF THE VOLUMES project. The Board of Advisors reviewed the list of countries, made valuable suggestions about the The work comprises four volumes, with the coun- outline of the entries, and suggested potential try entries ordered alphabetically. A total of 225 authors. We want to thank Kirsten Jensen for her countries are described. In addition to the cultural help in choosing photographs. For managing the summaries, there are country maps, photographs, project at Macmillan, we are indebted to Monica and an index. Hubbard. We are particularly grateful for her good The descriptive summaries of the countries and humor and efficiency. Most of all we thank the their cultures provide the heart of the work. Each contributors for describing the countries and their summary provides a mix of demographic, histori- cultures so well. cal, social, economic, political, and religious infor- mation on the country. The emphasis is cultural; MELVIN EMBER, PRESIDENT that is, the summaries focus on the ways of life of CAROL R. EMBER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR the people, and the main forces affecting them. The HUMAN RELATIONS AREA FILES AT YALE UNIVERSITY ix