From The Nature Of Geography:
The ultimate purpose of geography, the study of areal differentiation of the world, is most clearly expressed in regional geography; only by constantly maintaining its relation to regional geography can systematic geography hold to the purpose of geography and not disappear into other sciences. ;On the other hand, regional geography in itself is sterile; without the continuous fertilization of generic concepts and principles from systematic geography, it could not advance to higher degrees of accuracy and certainty in interpretation or its findings.
Geography As A Three Key Issues
Rubenstein defines geography as addressing three key issues:
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Chapter : Introduction To The World
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Connecting With Space And Place
Geography is the study of places and the relationships between people and their environments. Geographers explore both the physical properties of Earths surface and the human societies spread across it. They also examine how human culture interacts with the natural environment and the way that locations and places can have an impact on people. Geography seeks to understand where things are found, why they are there, and how they develop and change over time.;
The Four Traditions Of Geography
There are some other ways to conceptualize the field of geography. Parkinson suggested that geography has four traditions: The Earth Science Tradition, Culture-Environment Tradition, Locational Tradition, and Area Analysis Tradition. Geographic techniques support these traditions. The chart below shows how selected subdisciplines fit within these four traditions.
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The Definition In Practice
This definition of geography works well for several reasons. First, it emphasizes that geography is a methodology. It stresses the geographic way of organizing and analyzing information pertaining to the location, distribution, pattern, and interactions of the varied physical and human features of Earth’s surface. All geographic inquiry should begin with the question, “Where?” Geographers and all other scientists ask “Why?” And, of course, most major Earth-bound events, features, and conditions can and often do have some impact on our lives, thereby begging the question, “Why care?”
An example on the global scale, petroleum resources in the Middle East certainly have contributed to a host of conflicts, and “petro-politics” surely will be a major issue for decades to come. Oil production, distribution, consumption, and trade all impact the lives of several billion people daily.
The definition I describe is clear and concise. It places no limitation on what geographers study; it clearly identifies the discipline’s unique methodologythe spatial dimension of features, including where they are, in what patterns they occur, what important relationships exist, and so forth.
*Charles F. Gritzner, “What Is Where, Why There, and Why Care?,” Journal of Geography, 101, no. 1 , pp. 3840.
What Is Where Why Is It There And Why Do We Care
In 2002, geographerCharles Gritzner asserted that geography seeks to answer three types of questions:
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Discussion And Study Questions
What Is The Best Definition Of Geographers
Geography is the study of places and the relationships between people and their environments. Geographers explore both the physical properties of Earths surface and the human societies spread across it. Geography seeks to understand where things are found, why they are there, and how they develop and change over time.
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What Does Geography Study
What do we do when we study geography? We explore and learn about two main issues: places and people. There are two branches of geography, called physical geography and human geography:
- physical geography;examines the nature and environment and with it, natural hazards and their effects for example what happens when a volcano erupts or where and why does flooding;occur
- human geography;studies the effects of our activities on the planet and what living in our environments on the lives and activities of the people means, such as why people move from villages into towns or even migrate from country to country or what it happens when we exploit the earths resources or why we experience the effects of global warming
What Is The Definition Of Place In Geography
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These physical and human characteristics can include landforms, waterways, people, climate, languages, communication, and transportation. For example, a well-known place is Antarctica and the South Pole.
Secondly, why is place important in geography? An understanding of place is fundamental to the concept of livability, including transportation-related aspects of livability. People live in places, move within and between places, and depend on the movement of goods to and from places. The individual characteristics of places are vital in determining quality of life.
Similarly, you may ask, how do you define a place?
Definition of place
What is a place in human geography?
One of the oldest tenants of geography is the concept of place. Location is the position of a particular point on the surface of the Earth. Locale is the physical setting for relationships between people, such as the South of France or the Smoky Mountains.
Types of location and places
- Locality.
The five themes of Geography are Location, Place, Human-Environment Interaction, Movement, and Region.
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Chambers 20th Century Dictionaryrate This Definition:
Geography
je-ogra-fi, n. the science which describes the surface of the earth and its inhabitants: a book containing a description of the earth.n.Geographer.adjs.Geographic, –al, relating to geography.adv.Geographically.Geographical distribution .Descriptive geography, that part of geography which consists in a statement of facts; Historical geography, that part of geography which investigates the changes which have occurred in the governmental control of territory; Physical geography ; Political geography, geography that gives an account of the different communities of mankind.
The Earth And Graticule Location
When identifying a region or location on the earth, the first step is to understand its relative and absolute locations. Relative location is the location on the earths surface with reference to other places, taking into consideration features such as transportation access or terrain. Relative location helps one compare the advantages of one location with those of another. Absolute location, on the other hand, refers to an exact point on the earths surface without regard to how that point is related to any other place. Absolute location is vital to the cartographic process and to human activities that require an agreed-upon method of identifying a place or point.
Just as you were taught in geometry that there are 360 degrees in a circle or a sphere, the earth also has 360 degrees, and they are measured using a grid pattern called the graticule. Lines of latitude and longitude allow any absolute location on the earth to have an identifiable address of degrees north or south and east or west, which allows geographers to accurately locate, measure, and study spatial activity.
Figure 1.3 Basic Lines of Longitude and Latitude
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Defining Geography For Education
Odds are that if I ask you and the person in the next office to describe the field of geography, I will get pretty different answers. And if I were to ask other members of your familyyour mother, your brother, your spouseI would get an even broader range of answers. And if I were to ask the people next to you on your morning commute, the answers would be more diverse still.
This diversity is, of course, an inherent property of human psychology. We all carry around our own personal understanding of words and concepts that result from our own particular set of experiences.
In most cases, the fact that there is such a broad range of definitions for the field of geography isnt a problem, but there is one place where it is a serious issuein conversations about geography education.
In more than a decade of talking to people about how to improve geography education, I have learned that it is important to be explicit about the definition of geography that I am using.
While there are, of course, as many definitions of geography as there are people, there are three clusters that are important for discussions about geography education. I call these clusters of definitions geographers geography,the popular perception of geography, and school geography.
The Necessity For Geographic Literacy
The world is getting smaller, more crowded, and more integrated as the population expands, resources diminish, and globalization brings us all closer together. The US is a “hyper-power” with unprecedented influence around the globe. For the citizens of such a country that is also a democracy comes a duty to be geographically literateto understand how this planet works in terms of its physical and human geographies. Geographically illiterate citizens will at best be ignorant of what their government is doing globally, and at worst support their government in making bad decisions that are detrimental to national, regional, and global stability and well being.
Globalization means that America will interact with its global neighbors through combinations of cooperation, competition, and occasional conflicts. Thus it is essential that American citizens be geographically literate so that they may hopefully cooperate most of the time, compete some of the time, and occasionally engage in conflict. Viewed this way, geographic illiteracy might be seen as a threat to national security. Of course this is true for citizens of other nations as well, however national rankings of geography literacy show that our neighbors abroad understand the importance of geographic knowledge and do not suffer our illiteracy.
Required Reading
Why Geography MattersMore than Ever
Registered students can access a PDF of the reading in Lesson 01 in Canvas.
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The Branches Of Geography
Geography can be regarded as an interdisciplinary science. The subject encompasses an interdisciplinary perspective that allows the observation and analysis of anything distributed in Earth space and the development of solutions to problems based on such analysis. The discipline of geography can be divided into several branches of study. The primary classification of geography divides the approach to the subject into the two broad categories of physical geography and human geography.
Glossary Of Geography Terms And Definitions
Incomprehensible terms in geography make reading and understanding really boring. This ScienceStruck article lists the comprehensive compilation of geography definitions, geographical terms, and terminology.
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Incomprehensible terms in geography make reading and understanding really boring. This ScienceStruck article lists the comprehensive compilation of geography definitions, geographical terms, and terminology.
All of us, at some point of time, have studied geography. But remembering all the geography terms is next to impossible. Geographical terms such as acid rain, barometer, atmosphere, climate, and weather are used in our day-to-day lives for purposes such as academic projects or making travel plans. Many a time, these geography terms are misunderstood. For example, weather is misused for climate and atmosphere is mistakenly used for environment.
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Geography Is What Geographers Do
Everything that is happens in a space and time. Therefore, everything has ahistory and everything has a geography. There is no Pope in geography that sayswhat can and cannot be studied in geography, and since few people know what contemporary academic geography is, academic geographers are oftenfree to be interdisciplinary and study what they want. Thereforealmost anything can be and is studied within geography. If you visit theannual meetingof the Association of American Geographers, you cansee presentations on a very wide variety of topicsby a very heterogeneous collection of researchers.
What Is Geography And Examples
The definition of geography is the study of the Earth. An example of geography is the study of where the states are located. An example of geography is the climate and natural resources of the land. The scientific study of the Earths surface and its various climates, countries, peoples, and natural resources.
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A Brief History Of Geography As A Field Of Study
The Greeks are the first known culture to actively explore geography as a science and philosophy, with major contributors including Thales of Miletus, Herodotus, Eratosthenes, Hipparchus, Aristotle, Dicaearchus of Messana, Strabo, and Ptolemy. Mapping by the Romans as they explored new lands added new techniques.
During the Middle Ages, Arabs such as Idrisi, Ibn Battuta, and Ibn Khaldun built on and maintained the Greek and Roman learnings. Following the journeys of Marco Polo, interest in geography spread throughout Europe.
During the Renaissance and into the 16th and 17th centuries the great voyages of exploration revived a desire for solid theoretical foundations and accurate detail. The Geographia Generalis by Bernhardus Varenius and Gerardus Mercators world map are prime examples.
Geography As A Career
Geography is a fairly small profession and a large percentage of peoplewho identify themselves professionally as geographers work inuniversities as professors/researchers, or as teachers in secondary education.
However, there are quite a number of other career opportunities for geographersin the public and private sector, usually working in some way with GeographicInformation Systems :
- Geographic information systems and services providers
- Surveyers for contracting and engineering firms
- Energy and natural resource management companies
- National Geospatial Intelligence Agency
- State departments of transportation and health
- Urban and regional planning departments
The Association of American Geographersis the primary professional organization for geographers in the United States and theirwebsite provides more information on geography careers.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook has information onthe future of careers in geography.
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What Does The Word Geography Mean
The word “geography” was invented by the ancient Greek scholar Eratosthenes and literally means “writing about the earth.” The word can be divided into two parts – ge and graphy. Ge means the Earth and graphy refers to writing.
Of course, geography today means much more than writing about the Earth but it’s a difficult discipline to define. Many geographers have done their best to define geography but a typical dictionary definition today reads, “The science of the Earth’s physical features, resources, climate, population, etc.”
Human Physical And Gis
Whileactivities that can be considered geography are performedin a variety of different professions, many people that call themselves geographers work in theacademy . Within universitygeography departments there are three broad areas of study:
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Urban And Regional Planning
Urban planning and regional planning use the science of geography to assist in determining how to develop the land to meet particular criteria, such as safety, beauty, economic opportunities, the preservation of the built or natural heritage, etcetera.
The planning of towns, cities and rural areas may be seen as applied geography although it also draws heavily upon the arts, the sciences and lessons of history. Some of the issues facing planning are considered briefly under the headings of rural exodus, urban exodus and Smart Growth.