Contrasting Cultures: Spain and Pakistan
Contrasting Cultures: Spain and Pakistan
This paper goes through the cultural differences of two countries, Spain and Pakistan based on four “culture-driving” factors: food, Religion, Clothing and Language. Culture may differ from country to country, family to family or even individual to individual. Mostly a country has its culture ,according to which the citizens of that country behave respectively. “A nation’s culture resides in the heart and in the soul of its people” (Mahatma Gandhi)
Pakistan, which is officially known as Islamic Republic of Pakistan, follows the Islamic law or Shari’aa. It’s obvious that the main religion of Pakistan is Islam. About 96% of the population are Muslims ,out of which 80% are Sunnis and 20% Shia’’s, 2% are Hindus, less than 1% are Christians and the others are Jews, Sikhs, Ismailis etc (Worldtradepress, 2010). As the majority of Pakistanis are Muslims, and is a huge factor in driving the culture of Pakistan, all the citizens engage in the Islamic holidays and festivals for example Eid-ul-Adha, Eid-ul-Fitr and respect the Muslims who are fasting in the Holy Month of Ramadan by not drinking or eating in public. Where Pakistan has a dominant religion as Islam, Spain’s dominant religion is Roman Catholicism which comprises of 94% of the population and the remaining 6% are Muslims, Hindus and Jews (kiwiessential.co.uk, n.d.) The Catholic Church in Toledo implements instructions on the society, but as the rest of the Europe, Spain has now become a secular country so it literally does not have an official religion. Islam and Arab roots of Spain have been present for about 400 years, however in the modern Spain there are only Muslims which are either converts or immigrants from Morocco. Religion does not have great influence on culture in Spain when compared to Pakistan, even though there are dominant religions and minor religions in both countries.
The factor which makes a person known is the language they speak. Both countries
This paper goes through the cultural differences of two countries, Spain and Pakistan based on four “culture-driving” factors: food, Religion, Clothing and Language. Culture may differ from country to country, family to family or even individual to individual. Mostly a country has its culture ,according to which the citizens of that country behave respectively. “A nation’s culture resides in the heart and in the soul of its people” (Mahatma Gandhi)
Pakistan, which is officially known as Islamic Republic of Pakistan, follows the Islamic law or Shari’aa. It’s obvious that the main religion of Pakistan is Islam. About 96% of the population are Muslims ,out of which 80% are Sunnis and 20% Shia’’s, 2% are Hindus, less than 1% are Christians and the others are Jews, Sikhs, Ismailis etc (Worldtradepress, 2010). As the majority of Pakistanis are Muslims, and is a huge factor in driving the culture of Pakistan, all the citizens engage in the Islamic holidays and festivals for example Eid-ul-Adha, Eid-ul-Fitr and respect the Muslims who are fasting in the Holy Month of Ramadan by not drinking or eating in public. Where Pakistan has a dominant religion as Islam, Spain’s dominant religion is Roman Catholicism which comprises of 94% of the population and the remaining 6% are Muslims, Hindus and Jews (kiwiessential.co.uk, n.d.) The Catholic Church in Toledo implements instructions on the society, but as the rest of the Europe, Spain has now become a secular country so it literally does not have an official religion. Islam and Arab roots of Spain have been present for about 400 years, however in the modern Spain there are only Muslims which are either converts or immigrants from Morocco. Religion does not have great influence on culture in Spain when compared to Pakistan, even though there are dominant religions and minor religions in both countries.
The factor which makes a person known is the language they speak. Both countries
References: * World Trade Press, 2010, Spain Society and Culture Complete Report, World Trade Press publishing, California, USA, accessed 6/11/2012, University of Wollongong Library