NextPrevious

Cultural Geography

Cultures Around the World

Why does a first-born son get everything?

Primogeniture is the system of inheritance in which all inheritable land and property is passed on to the first-born son. A common worldwide tradition, primogeniture enabled a family’s possessions and status to remain intact as they were passed from generation to generation. This practice of the entire inheritances benefiting only the first-born son resulted in subsequent sons needing to find alternative livelihoods.



Close

This is a web preview of the "The Handy Geography Answer Book" app. Many features only work on your mobile device. If you like what you see, we hope you will consider buying. Get the App