Language is also a visible marker that provides a way of tracing the history of a culture. Beliefs include religion, customs, values, attitudes, ideals, and world views. A person's point of view on issues is influenced by cultural beliefs, which in turn influence decisions about resources, land use, settlement patterns, and a host of other geographically important concerns. The complicated and often difficult relations of Hindus and Muslims in India demonstrate how the spatial organization of a country can be shaped by the geography of religion. The Mormon culture region of the western United States shows how institutions are embodied in a distinctive place, demarcating it and influencing practically every aspect of daily life.
Technology includes the tools and skills a group of people use to satisfy their needs and wants.
Levels of technology range from the simplest tools used by hunters and gatherers to the most complex machines and information systems used in modern industrial societies. The Amish of south-central Pennsylvania have created a distinctive landscape that is simultaneously an expression of technology, institutions, beliefs, and language. Whatever characteristic of culture is considered, it is clear that the mosaics of Earth's cultural landscapes are not static. The processes of cultural change accelerate with improvements in transportation and communication. Each culture in the world has borrowed attributes from other cultures whether knowingly or not, willingly or not.