7 Dec 2011

An Introduction of Geography

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.[9] The difference between these approaches led to a third field, environmental geography, which combines physical and human geography and looks at the interactions between the environment and humans.[

Many famous geographers and non-geographers have attempted to define the discipline in a few short words. The concept of geography has also changed throughout the ages, making a definition for such a dynamic and all-encompassing subject difficult. With the help of Gregg Wassmansdorf, here are some ideas about geography from throughout the ages:
"The purpose of geography is to provide 'a view of the whole' earth by mapping the location of places." - Ptolemy, 150 CE
"Synoptic discipline synthesizing findings of other sciences through the concept of Raum (area or space)." - Immanuel Kant, c. 1780
"Synthesizing discipline to connect the general with the special through measurement, mapping, and a regional emphasis." - Alexander von Humboldt, 1845
"Man in society and local variations in environment." - Halford Mackinder, 1887
"How environment apparently controls human behavior." - Ellen Semple, c. 1911
"Study of human ecology; adjustment of man to natural surroundings." - Harland Barrows, 1923
"The science concerned with the formulation of the laws governing the spatial distribution of certain features on the surface of the earth." - Fred Schaefer, 1953
"To provide accurate, orderly, and rational description and interpretation of the variable character of the earth surface." - Richard Hartshorne, 1959
"Geography is both science and art" - H.C. Darby, 1962
"To understand the earth as the world of man" - J.O.M. Broek, 1965
"Geography is fundamentally the regional or chorological science of the surface of the earth." - Robert E. Dickinson, 1969
"Study of variations in phenomena from place to place." - Holt-Jensen, 1980
"...concerned with the locational or spatial variation in both physical and human phenomena at the earth's surface" - Martin Kenzer, 1989
"Geography is the study of earth as the home of people" - Yi-Fu Tuan, 1991

These are the basic information about Geography.


Branches of geography

The field of geography is a vast and wondrous academic field with thousands of researchers working in dozens of interesting sub-disciplines or branches of geography. There is a branch of geography for just about any subject on earth. In an effort to acquaint the reader with the diversity of the branches of geography, I summarize many below.

Human Geography

Many branches of geography are found within human geography, a major branch of geography that studies people and their interaction with the earth and with their organization of space on the earth's surface. Economic Geography
Economic geographers examine the distribution of production and distribution of goods, the distribution of wealth, and the spatial structure of economic conditions.
Population Geography
Population geography is often equated with demography but population geography is more than just patters of birth, death, and marriage. Population geographers are concerned with the distribution, migration, and growth of population in geographic areas.
Geography of Religions
This branch of geography studies the geographic distribution of religious groups, their cultures, and built environments.
Medical Geography
Medical geographers study the geographic distribution of disease (including epidemics and pandemics), illness, death and health care.
Recreation, Tourism, and Sport Geography
The study of leisure-time activities and their impact on local environments. As tourism is one of the world's largest industries, it involves a great number of people making very temporary migrations and is thus of great interest to geographers.
Military Geography
Practitioners of military geography are most often found within the military but the branch looks not only at the geographic distribution of military facilities and troops but also utilizes geographic tools to develop military solutions.
Political Geography
Political geography investigates all aspects of boundaries, country, state, and nation development, international organizations, diplomacy, internal country subdivisions, voting, and more.
Agricultural and Rural Geography
Geographers in this branch study agriculture and rural settlement, the distribution of agriculture and the geographic movement and access to agricultural products, and land use in rural areas.
Transportation Geography
Transportation geographers research transportation networks (both private and public) and the use of those networks for moving people and goods.
Urban Geography
The branch of urban geography investigates the location, structure, development, and growth of cities -- from tiny village to huge megalopolis.

Physical Geography

Physical geography is another major branch of geography. It is concerned with the natural features on or near the surface of the earth.
Biogeography
Biographers study the geographic distribution of plants and animals on the earth in the subject known as biogeography.
Water Resources
Geographers working in the water resources branch of geography look at the distribution and use of water across the planet within the hydrologic cycle and of human-developed systems for water storage, distribution, and use.
Climate
Climate geographers investigate the distribution of long-term weather patterns and activities of the earth's atmosphere.
Global Change
Geographers researching global change explore the long term changes occurring to the plant earth based on human impacts on the environment.
Geomorphology
Geomorphologists study the landforms of the planet, from their development to their disappearance through erosion and other processes.
Hazards Geography
As with many branches of geography, hazards combines work in physical and human geography. Hazard geographers research extreme events known as hazards or disaster and explore the human interaction and response to these unusual natural or technological events.
Mountain Geography
Mountain geographers look at the development of mountain systems and at the humans who live in higher altitudes and their adaptations to these environments.
Cryosphere Geography
Cryosphere geography explores the ice of the earth, especially glaciers and ice sheets. Geographers look at the past distribution of ice on the planet and ice-cause features from glaciers and ice sheets.
Arid Regions
Geographers studying arid regions examine the deserts and dry surfaces of the planet. The explore how humans, animals, and plants make their home in dry or arid regions and the use of resources in these regions.
Coastal and Marine Geography
Within coastal and marine geography, there are geographers researching the coastal environments of the planet and how humans, coastal life, and coastal physical features interact.
Soils Geography
Soil geographers study the upper layer of the lithosphere, the soil, of the earth and its categorization and patterns of distribution.
Regional Geography
Many geographers focus their time and energy on studying a specific region on the planet. Regional geographers focus on areas as large as a continent or as small as an urban area. Many geographers combine a regional specialty with a specialty in another branch of geography.
Applied Geography
Applied geographers use geographic knowledge, skills, and techniques to solve problems in everyday society. Applied geographers are often employed outside of academic environment and work for private firms or governmental agencies.
Cartography
It has often been said that geography is anything that can be mapped. While all geographers know how to display their research on maps, the branch of cartography focuses on improving and developing technologies in map-making. Cartographers work to create useful high-quality maps to show geographic information in the most useful format possible.



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