⚽ Lesson 30: Sports Geography

Sports spread through schools, empires, media, weather, money, migration, and local culture. A sport becomes popular where people can play it, watch it, and pass it on.

Association football, called soccer in some countries, is the world's most global sport. It spread through Europe, Latin America, Africa, and beyond because it is simple to play and needs little equipment.

Cricket is popular in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, England, Australia, South Africa, and the Caribbean. Its map follows the history of the British Empire, but countries made the sport their own.

Hockey, skiing, skating, and biathlon are strongest in colder countries and mountain regions. Canada, Nordic countries, the Alps, Russia, and parts of the northern United States have climates and facilities that support winter sports.

Basketball grew from North America into a global sport. Baseball is huge in the United States, Japan, South Korea, Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Venezuela. Rugby is important in New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, the UK, Ireland, France, and Pacific islands.

Sports can become part of national identity. Brazil and football, Canada and hockey, New Zealand and rugby, India and cricket, Kenya and distance running. Geography shapes sport, and sport shapes culture.