Geography

2 Pages 582 Words

I. What is Geography?
Geography is the study of the earth, including human-environment interaction, places,
people, and the natural environment. The study of the interaction between all physical and human phenomena at certain places and how interactions among places form patterns and organize space, contribute to the geographical method.
The Core Areas of Geography are physical geography, human geography, cultural geography, and cartography, or geographic information systems.
II. The Five Fundamental Themes of Geography
1. Location: Position on the Earth's Surface
Absolute and relative location are two ways of describing the position of places on earth’s surface. In many situations it is important to identify absolute locations as precise points on the earth’s surface.
2. Place: Physical and Human Characteristics
All places on the earth have distinct physical and human characteristics that give them the meaning and distinguish them from other places. The physical characteristics derive from the geological, hydrological, atmospheric, and biological processes that produce landforms, water bodies, climate, soils, natural vegetation, and animal life. Human ideas and actions also shape the character of places. Places differ in their population size and density, as well as in their settlement patterns, architecture, kinds of economic and recreational activities, transportation, and communication networks. Places can be distinguished from each other by the ideologies and philosophical or religious beliefs of people who live there, by their languages, and by their forms of economic, social, and political organization. Taken together, the physical and human characteristics of places provide keys to identifying and interpreting both and complex interrelations between people and their environments, and between different groups of people.
3. Relationships within Places: Humans and Environment
All places on earth have advan...