When making up a new place to set a story, writers often focus on the physical setting first. What level of urbanization the place where your characters live is, what the trees are like, how the seasons shift and flow into one another, how close it is to the sea or the mountains, how cold it gets at night, etc. These factors–geography and climate–all feed into the foundation and development of a fictional culture, but they aren’t a culture in and of itself.

There’s nothing at all wrong with starting on the tangibilities of a book’s setting. I like a good map as much as the next fantasy writer. But once you’ve got that settled, you need to look at how they directly impact the traditions, taboos, and values of your fictional culture.

Building a robust and believable culture is vital because it will influence every aspect of your character’s personalities, choices, and journey. The morals they hold, the taboos they rail against, the rules they enforce or break, their favorite foods, and clothes, and sayings–these are all cultural. And unlike geography and climate, which are naturally occurring and can influence a person's habits, preferences, and beliefs, a culture is an artificial construct.

Geography and climate influence a culture, but they are not a culture in and of themselves.