When do we become adults?

When we reach the age set by law.
When we complete a rite passed down through generations.
When our families or communities welcome us as adults.

Around the world, there are many ways to come of age.

The law, the communities we grow up in, our families and our own sense of growing up can mark different milestones. This atlas explores what becoming an adult means across cultures.

Tainan, TaiwanZuò Shíliù SuìAge 16
Krobo communities, GhanaDipo
NiueFirst haircut ceremony
Five ways in

Choose your way through the atlas

Selected stories

Different paths toward adulthood