What Is The Meaning Of Geography

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.

What Are The Three Types Of Scale

Three Types of Scale:

• Fractional or Ratio Scale: A fractional scale map shows the fraction of an object or land feature on the map.
• Linear Scale: A linear scale shows the distance between two or more prominent landmarks.
• Verbal Scale: This type of scale use simple words to describe a prominent surface feature.

The Relationship Of Physical Geography To Human Geography

In an Introduction to Geography classes a fellow instructor likes to stress the point that physical and human geography are completely separate disciplines and that there can be NO mixing between the two. In fact, he makes a big deal that they must write this down and put stars by it in their notes as this important point will most certainly be on the test. He then stops and lets them think about this statement as they dutifully write it down.

Now you might be thinking that this contention that physical and human geography are completely separate and can never be mixed seems nonsensicaland you would be correct. Eventually, a few of the students start to grin and perhaps a bold one might challenge the instructor .

The instructor then gets to point out to the students the fallacy of such a contention and makes the point that physical and human geography, like the sides of a coin, are absolutely inseparable. We know that physical systems can have enormous impacts on human systems . We also know that human impacts on the environment have been great, as humans have always modified the surface of the planet to scratch out a living or to build great civilizations .

Here is the fundamental contention that justifies this whole course:

Required Reading

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What Is Scale And Its Types

Introduction: There are 4 types of scales, based on the extent to which scale values have the arithmetic properties of true numbers. The arithmetic proper- ties are order, equal intervals, and a true zero point. From the least to the most mathematical, the scale types are nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio.

Keeping Up With The Journal Literature

Want an easy way to keep up with the journal literature for all facets of Geography? And you use a mobile device? You can install the BrowZine app and create a custom Bookshelf of your favorite journal titles. Then you will get the Table of Contents of your favorite journals automatically delivered to you when they become available. Once you have the ToC’s you can download and read the articles you want.

You can get the app from the App Store or Google Play.

Don’t own or use a mobile device? You can still use BrowZine! It’s now available in a web version. You can get to it here. The web version works the same way as the app version. Find the journals you like, create a custom Bookshelf, get ToCs and read the articles you want.

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The Breadth Of Geography

As you can see from the definitions, geography is challenging to define because it is such a broad and all-encompassing field. It is far more than the study of maps and the physical features of the land because people are influenced and influence the land as well. The field can be divided into two primary areas of study: human geography and physical geography.

Human geography is the study of people in relation to the spaces they inhabit. These spaces can be cities, nations, continents, and regions, or they can be spaces that are defined more by the physical features of the land that contain different groups of people. Some of the areas studied within human geography include cultures, languages, religions, beliefs, political systems, styles of artistic expression, and economic distinctions. These phenomena are analyzed with statistics and demographics in relation to the physical environments in which people live.

Physical geography is the branch of the science that is probably more familiar to most of us, for it covers the field of earth science that many of us were introduced to in school. Some of the elements studied in physical geography are climate zones, storms, deserts, mountains, glaciers, soil, rivers and streams, the atmosphere, seasons, ecosystems, the hydrosphere, and much, much more.

This article was edited and expanded by Allen Grove.

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. Read More…

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A Short Definition For Human Geography

The study of the interrelationships between people, place, and environment, and how these vary spatially and temporally across and between locations. Whereas physical geography concentrates on spatial and environmental processes that shape the natural world and tends to draw on the natural and physical sciences for its scientific underpinnings and methods of investigation, human geography concentrates on the spatial organization and processes shaping the lives and activities of people, and their interactions with places and nature. Human geography is more allied with the social sciences and humanities, sharing their philosophical approaches and methods .

With respect to methods, human geography uses the full sweep of quantitative and qualitative methods from across the social sciences and humanities, mindful of using them to provide a thorough geographic analysis. It also places emphasis on fieldwork and mapping , and has made a number of contributions to developing new methods and techniques, notably in the areas of spatial analysis, spatial statistics, and GIScience.

Castree, N., Kitchin, R., & Rogers, A. . “Human geography.” In A Dictionary of Human Geography. : Oxford University Press. Retrieved 14 Mar. 2017

What Is Studied In Geography

Therefore, Geography is the science that deals with the description of the Earths surface. Geography is a multi disciplinary fields that studies spatial patterns and phenomenon.

Geography is much more than cartography, the study of maps or simply knowing the capitals of every country. The field of geography not only investigates what is where on the Earth, but also why its there and not somewhere else, sometimes referred to as location in space.

Geography studies this whether the cause is natural or human. It also studies the consequences of those differences.

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Why Standard Units Are Important

We need standard unit for measurement to make our judgement more reliable and accurate. For proper dealing, measurement should be same for everybody. Thus there should be uniformity in measurement. For the sake of uniformity we need a common set of units of measurement, which are called standard units.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionaryrate This Definition:

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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.

From The Century Dictionary

• noun The science of the description of the earth’s surface in its present condition, and of the distribution upon it of its various products and animals, especially of mankind, etc. See phrases below.
• noun A book containing a description of the earth or of a portion of it particularly, a school-book for teaching the science of geography.
• noun The main features of a locality as regards its geographical position and general character the knowledge derived from geographical research.

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A Move Toward Regional Science

In the 1950s the regional science movement arose, led by Walter Isard to provide a more quantitative and analytical base to geographical questions, in contrast to the more qualitative tendencies of traditional geography programs. Regional Science comprises the body of knowledge in which the spatial dimension plays a fundamental role, such as regional economics, resource management, location theory, urban and regional planning, transportation and communication, human geography, population distribution and environmental quality.

Five Themes Of Geography

The Five Geography Themes began as a framework for making geography accessible to children from kindergarten to high school. They describe a simple, effective method for parents and educators to teach children about geography and how it relates to nature, civilization, and other topics. More: Five Themes of Geography Explained

Though the National Geographical Standards replaced these themes in 1994, they remain a simple and effective way to teach children about geography.

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Examples Of Geographic In A Sentence

geographic Forbesgeographic USA TODAYgeographic orlandosentinel.comgeographic ABC Newsgeographic Scientific Americangeographic Los Angeles Timesgeographic sun-sentinel.comgeographic NBC News

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word ‘geographic.’ Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

What Are The Advantages Of Si Units Class 11

It is a rational system, in which only one unit is used for one physical quantity. It is a coherent system, which means all the derived units can be easily obtained form basic and supplementary units. It is a metric system which means that multiples and submiltiples can be expressed as powers of 10.

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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.

What Are The Advantages Of Measurement

9 Benefits of Process Measurement

• factual evidence of customer-service levels.
• better understanding of cross-functional performance.
• enhanced alignment of operations with strategy.
• evidence-based determination of process improvement priorities.
• detection of performance trends.
• better understanding of the capability range of a process.

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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.

What Is The Meaning Of Geography

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The term “geography” comes to us from the ancient Greeks, who needed a word to describe the writings and maps that were helping them make sense of the world in which they lived.

Geography was not just a subject that made colonialism possible, however. It also helped people understand the planet on which they lived. Not surprisingly, geography became an important focus of study in schools and universities.Geography also became an important part of other academic disciplines, such as chemistry, economics, and philosophy. In fact, every academic subject has some geographic connection. Chemists study where certain chemical elements, such as gold or silver, can be found. Economists examine which nations trade with other nations, and what resources are exchanged. Philosophers analyze the responsibility people have to take care of the Earth.Emergence of Modern GeographySome people have trouble understanding the complete scope of the discipline of geography because, unlike most other disciplines, geography is not defined by one particular topic. Instead, geography is concerned with “many” different topicspeople, culture, politics, settlements, plants, landforms, and much more.What distinguishes geography is that it approaches the study of diverse topics in a particular way .

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Early Definitions Of Geography

Geography, a study of Earth, its lands, and its people, started in ancient Greece, with the study’s name defined by the scholar and scientist Eratosthenes, who calculated a relatively close approximation of the circumference of Earth. Thus, this academic field started with mapping the land. Greco-Roman astronomer, geographer, and mathematician Ptolemy, living in Alexandria, Egypt, in 150 defined its purpose as providing “‘a view of the whole’ earth by mapping the location of places.”

Later, Islamic scholars developed the grid system to make maps more accurately and discovered more of the planet’s lands. Then, another major development in geography included the use in China of the magnetic compass for navigation, the earliest known recording of which is 1040. European explorers started using it in the century to follow.

Philosopher Immanuel Kant in the mid-1800s summed up the difference between history and geography as history as being when something happened and geography being where certain conditions and features are located. He thought of it more descriptive than a hard, empirical science. Halford Mackinder, a political geographer, included people in his definition of the discipline in 1887, as “man in society and local variations in environment.” At the time members of Britain’s Royal Geographic Society wanted to ensure that it was studied in schools as an academic discipline, and Mackinder’s work aided that aim.

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.

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Glossary Of Geography Terms

This glossary of geography terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in geography and related fields, which describe and identify spatial dimension, geographic locations, topographical features, natural resources, and the collection, analysis, and visualization of geographic data. For related terms, see glossary of geology and glossary of environmental science.

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

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From The American Heritage Dictionary Of The English Language 5th Edition

• noun The study of the earth and its features and of the distribution of life on the earth, including human life and the effects of human activity.
• noun The physical characteristics, especially the surface features, of an area.
• noun A book on geography.
• noun An ordered arrangement of constituent elements.