How do different cultures define family?

The answer

The concept of family varies enormously across cultures. Western nuclear family models (two parents and their children) are actually a historical anomaly; extended and multigenerational families have been the norm throughout most of human history and remain so in much of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. In the Mosuo people of China, one of the last matrilineal societies, children are raised by the mother's family and may never know their biological father. Among the Minangkabau of Indonesia, the world's largest matrilineal society, property and family names pass through the female line. In many Pacific Island cultures, informal adoption between families is so common that children may be raised by relatives rather than biological parents. The Nayar people of India traditionally practiced a form of group marriage. These diverse family structures all successfully fulfill the universal needs of child-rearing, resource sharing, and social support.