Discover How Communities Around the World Are Connected

You live in a community, and your community is connected to many other communities. These connections are called links. Communities share goods, services, ideas, and culture with each other every day. You can explore People and Places to understand how people and their locations shape these connections.

No single community can make or grow everything it needs. That is why communities work together and depend on each other. This is called interdependence.

Goods are items that communities make or grow, like food or clothing. When communities exchange goods, that is called trade. For example, Saskatchewan grows wheat on large prairie farmlands and sends it to other communities across Canada and the world.

Services are helpful actions that people do for others. A doctor helping sick people in a nearby village is one example of a service that connects communities. You can learn more about how communities share by visiting Sharing Between Cultures.

When Canada sends goods to another country, that is called exporting. When Canada brings goods in from another country, that is called importing. Many foods you eat, like bananas and rice, are imported from other places.

Transportation moves people and goods between communities. Roads, trains, ships, and planes are all types of transportation. Without transportation, communities could not share what they make or grow.

Communication tools like phones, the internet, and the post office help people in different communities stay in touch. The internet lets you send messages and learn about other communities instantly. You can explore how maps help you find these communities in World Maps and Locations.

Culture includes the food, language, celebrations, and values of a group of people. Traditions are special customs passed down through generations, like Indigenous powwows or French Canadian festivals.

Canada is a multicultural country, which means it is home to people from many different cultural backgrounds. When people move to Canada, they bring their cultures with them, creating global connections. Indigenous communities in Canada share their art, stories, ceremonies, and traditional knowledge with others. You can learn more about this in Diversity Within Communities and Ways People Express Culture.

Natural resources are things found in nature that people use, like water, trees, and fish. Different communities have different natural resources, so they share and trade them with each other.

Communities that have rivers and lakes share clean water with communities that need it. Buying local products gives money to local workers and businesses so your whole community stays strong. You can discover more about how communities work together in Working Together.

Community: A community is a group of people who live and work together in the same place, sharing resources and supporting one another.

Goods: Goods are items that communities make or grow and share with others, like food or clothing.

Trade: Trade means giving something you have to get something you need from someone else. Communities trade goods and services with each other.

Transportation: Transportation moves people and goods from one community to another. Roads, trains, ships, and planes are all types of transportation.

Services: Services are helpful actions that people do for others, like a doctor treating patients or a teacher helping students.

Culture: Culture includes the food, language, celebrations, and values shared by a group of people.

Traditions: Traditions are special customs passed down through generations, like Indigenous powwows or French Canadian festivals.

Interdependence: Interdependence means communities need and rely on each other to get what they need to survive, because no single community can produce everything.

Natural Resources: Natural resources are things found in nature that people use, like water, trees, and fish.

Import: To import means to bring goods into your country that were made or grown somewhere else.

Export: To export means to send goods out of your country to another country.

Multicultural: Multicultural means a place is home to people from many different cultural backgrounds and traditions, like Canada.

Communication: Communication is how communities share stories, languages, and ideas with each other using tools like phones and the internet.

Global Citizen: A global citizen is someone who cares about people and communities all around the world.

You can look at the labels on food in your kitchen to find out where it came from. This shows you how your community is connected to others through importing goods.

You can also think about festivals and celebrations in your community that share food, music, and traditions from many cultures. These are real examples of how culture links communities together. Explore World Contributions to discover what different communities around the world have shared with each other.

You have already learned about Asking About Community and Finding Answers, which help you ask good questions about how communities work. You also explored Different Points of View and How Communities Change, which show you how communities grow and see the world differently.

All of these topics prepare you to understand how communities are linked. Next, you will explore Understanding Other Places and International Cooperation to see how communities around the world work together on a bigger scale. You will also build toward Communities and Their Environments and Community Development.

You have explored many connected ideas on your learning journey. Sharing Between Cultures shows you how communities exchange traditions and ideas, which is a key part of how communities stay linked. Diversity Within Communities helps you understand that communities are made up of many different people, which makes connections richer.

Ways People Express Culture connects to how communities share who they are through art, food, and celebrations. People and Places helps you see how where people live shapes the links they form. How Communities Change shows you that links between communities grow and change over time.

Looking ahead, Understanding Other Places and World Maps and Locations will help you locate the communities you are learning about. Working Together and World Contributions show you how communities cooperate and what they give to each other. Finally, International Cooperation, Community Development, and Communities and Their Environments are the exciting next steps in your learning journey.