What's natural and cultural

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malcolm.mcinerney@thebartonsc.sa.edu.au

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Adelaide, Australia: S: 34º 55' E: 138º 36'

What is natural and what is cultural?

Natural features are:

In geography, a physical feature is something which has been made by nature. For example a natural vegetation, rivers, beaches, lakes, terrain (valleys/hills), coastline etc.

It is important to remember that a feature can only be classified as being physical if it is not created by humans. This means that features such as agricultural crops and man-made dams, are considered to be cultural features.

Cultural features are:
Cultural features are those which have been made by humans. The most obvious examples are settlements (towns and cities), transportation systems (road, rail, sea and air) and industry (mining and agriculture etc). Since cultural features have often been constructed by humans using resources from the physical environment, it is not always easy to distinguish between the two. A park, for example, is classified as a cultural feature. Despite often comprising natural vegetation and wild animals, a park is constructed (or set aside) by humans for the purpose of recreation.