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Geography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Geographical" redirects here. For other uses, see Geography (disambiguation).

Physical map of the Earth with political borders as of 2004

Geography (from Greek , geographia, literally "earth description"[1]) is a

field of science devoted to the study of the lands, the features, the inhabitants, and
the phenomena of Earth.[2] The first person to use the word "" was
Eratosthenes (276194 BC).[3] Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that
seeks an understanding of the Earth and its human and natural complexitiesnot
merely where objects are, but how they have changed and come to be. It is often
defined in terms of the two branches of human geography and physical geography.
[4][5] The four historical traditions in geographical research are: spatial analyses of
natural and the human phenomena, area studies of places and regions, studies of
human-land relationships, and the Earth sciences.[6] Geography has been called
"the world discipline" and "the bridge between the human and the physical
sciences".

Contents

1 Introduction

2 Branches

2.1 Physical geography

2.2 Human geography

2.3 Integrated geography

2.4 Geomatics

2.5 Regional geography

2.6 Related fields

3 Techniques
 3.1 Cartography

3.2 Geographic information systems

3.3 Remote sensing

3.4 Quantitative methods

3.5 Qualitative methods

4 History

5 Notable geographers

6 Institutions and societies

7 Publications

8 Notes and references

Introduction

Geography is a systematic study of the Earth and its features. Traditionally,

geography has been associated with cartography and place names. Although many
geographers are trained in toponymy and cartology, this is not their main
preoccupation. Geographers study the space and the temporal database
distribution of phenomena, processes, and features as well as the interaction of
humans and their environment.[7] Because space and place affect a variety of
topics, such as economics, health, climate, plants and animals, geography is highly
interdisciplinary. The interdisciplinary nature of the geographical approach depends
on an attentiveness to the relationship between physical and human phenomena
and its spatial patterns.[8]

Names of places...are not geography...know by heart a whole gazetteer full of

them would not, in itself, constitute anyone a geographer. Geography has higher
aims than this: it seeks to classify phenomena (alike of the natural and of the
political world, in so far as it treats of the latter), to compare, to generalize, to
ascend from effects to causes, and, in doing so, to trace out the laws of nature and
to mark their influences upon man. This is 'a description of the world'that is
Geography. In a word Geography is a Sciencea thing not of mere names but of
argument and reason, of cause and effect.[9]

William Hughes, 1863

 Just as all phenomena exist in time and thus have a history, they also exist in
space and have a geography.[10]

United States National Research Council, 1997

Geography as a discipline can be split broadly into two main subsidiary fields:
human geography and physical geography. The former largely focuses on the built
environment and how humans create, view, manage, and influence space. The
latter examines the natural environment, and how organisms, climate, soil, water,
and landforms produce and interact.[11] The difference between these approaches
led to a third field, environmental geography, which combines physical and human
geography and concerns the interactions between the environment and humans.[7]

Branches

Physical geography

Main article: Physical geography

Physical geography (or physiography) focuses on geography as an Earth science. It

aims to understand the physical problems and the issues of lithosphere,
hydrosphere, atmosphere, pedosphere, and global flora and fauna patterns
(biosphere).

Physical geography can be divided into many broad categories, including:

Biogeography

Climatology & meteorology

Coastal geography

Environmental management
 Geodesy

Geomorphology

Glaciology

Hydrology & hydrography

Landscape ecology

Oceanography

Pedology

Palaeogeography

Quaternary science

Human geography

Main article: Human geography

Human geography is a branch of geography that focuses on the study of patterns

and processes that shape the human society. It encompasses the human, political,
cultural, social, and economic aspects.

Human geography can be divided into many broad categories, such as:
 Cultural geography

Development geography

Economic geography

Health geography

Historical & Time geog.

Political geog. & Geopolitics

Pop. geog. or Demography

Religion geography

Social geography

Transportation geography

Tourism geography

Urban geography

Various approaches to the study of human geography have also arisen through time
and include:
 Behavioral geography

Feminist geography

Culture theory

Geosophy

Integrated geography