What is geography?

“Geography is the study of places and the relationships between people and their
environments. Geographers explore both the physical properties of Earth's surface and the human
societies spread across it.” “earth writing” or “earth description.” However, what is now understood as
geography was elaborated before then, in the Arab world and elsewhere. Ptolemy, author of one of the
discipline’s first books, Guide to Geography (2nd century CE), defined geography as “a representation in
pictures of the whole known world together with the phenomena which are contained therein.” This
expresses what many still consider geography’s essence—a description of the world using maps (and
now also pictures, as in the kind of “popular geographies” exemplified by National Geographic
Magazine)—but, as more was learned about the world, less could be mapped, and words were added to
the pictures.

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

of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of
the Earth and planets.[2] The first person to use the word γεωγραφία was Eratosthenes (276–194
BC).[3] Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding of Earth and its human
and natural complexities—not merely where objects are, but also how they have changed and come to
be.
Geography is often defined in terms of two branches: human geography and physical
geography.[4][5] Human geography deals with the study of people and their communities, cultures,
economies, and interactions with the environment by studying their relations with and across space and
place.[6] Physical geography deals with the study of processes and patterns in the natural environment
like the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and geosphere.
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.[7] Geography has been called "the world discipline"[8] and "the bridge between the human and
the physical sciences".[9]”

History of geography

“Egypt”
The known world of Ancient Egypt saw the Nile as the centre, and the world as based upon "the" river.
Various oases were known to the east and west, and were considered locations of various gods
(e.g. Siwa, for Amon)12 . To the South lay the Kushitic region, known as far as the 4th cataract. Punt was
a region south along the shores of the Red Sea. Various Asiatic peoples were known as Retenu, Kanaan,
Que, Harranu, or Khatti (Hittites). At various times especially in the Late Bronze Age Egyptians had
diplomatic and trade relationships with Babylonia and Elam. The Mediterranean was called "the Great
Green" and was believed to be part of a world encircling ocean. Europe was unknown although may
have become part of the Egyptian world view in Phoenician times. To the west of Asia lay the realms
of Keftiu, possibly Crete, and Mycenae (thought to be part of a chain of islands, that joined Cyprus,
Crete, Southern Italy, Sicily and later perhaps Sardinia, Corsica and the Balarics to Africa.[2]
 “BABYLON”
The oldest known world maps date back to ancient Babylon from the 9th century BC.[3] The best
known Babylonian world map, however, is the Imago Mundi of 600 BC.[4] The map as reconstructed
by Eckhard Unger shows Babylon on the Euphrates, surrounded by a circular landmass
showing Assyria, Urartu[5] and several cities, in turn surrounded by a "bitter river" (Oceanus), with seven
islands arranged around it so as to form a seven-pointed star. The accompanying text mentions seven
outer regions beyond the encircling ocean. The descriptions of five of them have survived.[6]
In contrast to the Imago Mundi, an earlier Babylonian world map dating back to the 9th century BC
depicted Babylon as being further north from the center of the world, though it is not certain what that
center was supposed to represent.[3]

“Greco-roman world”
The ancient Greeks saw the poet Homer as the founder of geography. His works the Iliad and
the Odyssey are works of literature, but both contain a great deal of geographical information. Homer
describes a circular world ringed by a single massive ocean. The works show that the Greeks by the 8th
century BC had considerable knowledge of the geography of the eastern Mediterranean. The poems
contain a large number of place names and descriptions, but for many of these it is uncertain what real
location, if any, is actually being referred to.
Thales of Miletus is one of the first known philosophers known to have wondered about the shape of
the world. He proposed that the world was based on water, and that all things grew out of it. He also
laid down many of the astronomical and mathematical rules that would allow geography to be studied
scientifically. His successor Anaximander is the first person known to have attempted to create a scale
map of the known world and to have introduced the gnomon to Ancient Greece.

Branches of geography
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 floraand fauna patterns
(biosphere).

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.

Integrated geography
Main article: Integrated geography
Integrated geography is concerned with the description of the spatial interactions between humans
and the natural world. It requires an understanding of the traditional aspects of physical and human
geography, as well as the ways that human societies conceptualize the environment. Integrated
geography has emerged as a bridge between human and physical geography, as a result of the
increasing specialisation of the two sub-fields. Furthermore, as the human relationship with the
environment has changed as a result of globalization and technological change, a new approach
was needed to understand the changing and dynamic relationship. Examples of areas of research in
environmental geography include: emergency management, environmental
management, sustainability, and political ecology.

Geomatics
Geomatics is concerned with the application of computers to the traditional spatial techniques used
in cartography and topography. Geomatics emerged from the quantitative revolution in geography in
the mid-1950s. Today, geomatics methods include spatial analysis, geographic information systems
(GIS), remote sensing, and global positioning systems (GPS). Geomatics has led to a revitalization
of some geography departments, especially in Northern America where the subject had a declining
status during the 1950s.

Regional geography
Regional geography is concerned with the description of the unique characteristics of a particular
region such as its natural or human elements. The main aim is to understand, or define the
uniqueness, or character of a particular region that consists of natural as well as human elements.
Attention is paid also to regionalization, which covers the proper techniques of
space delimitation into regions.

Related fields
 Urban planning, regional planning, and spatial planning: Use the science of geography to assist
in determining how to develop (or not develop) the land to meet particular criteria, such as
safety, beauty, economic opportunities, the preservation of the built or natural heritage, and so
on. The planning of towns, cities, and rural areas may be seen as applied geography.
 Regional science: In the 1950s, the regional science movement led by Walter Isard arose to
provide a more quantitative and analytical base to geographical questions, in contrast to the
descriptive 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, transport and communication, human geography, population distribution, landscape
ecology, and environmental quality.
 Interplanetary Sciences: While the discipline of geography is normally concerned with the Earth,
the term can also be informally used to describe the study of other worlds, such as the planets of
the Solar Systemand even beyond. The study of systems larger than the Earth itself usually
forms part of Astronomy or Cosmology. The study of other planets is usually called planetary
science. Alternative terms such as areology(the study of Mars) have been proposed but are not
widely used.
Famous personalities of GeoGraphy
Eratosthenes

The first spot has to go to the man who coined the term geography, Eratosthenes. He
created one of the earliest maps of the known world between 276-195 BC, but his greatest
contribution was the concept of latitude and longitude. Eratosthenes came up with the
word geography from the roots “geo” (the earth) and “graphein” (to write). He was also the
first man ever to be able to calculate the size of the earth (with a minimal 2% error), the
earth’s axial tilt, and possibly even its distance from the sun. Even without these other
remarkable accomplishments, Eratosthenes would still be notable as the man who coined
geography.
Al Idrisi

The second is the 12th century geographer and cartographer Abu Abd Allah Muhammad al-
Idrisi al-Qurtubi al-Hasani al-Sabti, also called Al Idrisi, or Dreses. He’s just as famous for
being a cartographer as he is for a geographer. A pre-Renaissance Renaissance man, Al
Idrisi didn’t just create the map of Eurasia and north Africa found in the Tabula Rogeriana,
he also wrote an extremely detailed account of all of the geographical features, ethnic
groups, socioeconomic factors, and other features of every area he drew. His information
was gleaned from interviews with visitors to the areas he wrote about, as well as his own
travels- in a time period when few people traveled more than five or ten miles from their
homes, he had visited Spain, Portugal, France, Anatolia, and England by age sixteen, and
traveled even more extensively later in life. The Tabula Rogeriana is his most famous work
of geography and cartography, and was created for King Roger II of Sicily.

Alexander von Humboldt

Next is Alexander von Humboldt. He was an explorer and naturalist during the 18th-
19th centuries, and his work laid the foundation for the science of biogeography. He was the
first person to develop the idea that weather patterns, geology, and biology all played a
part in determining which plants were capable of thriving in which areas. He painstakingly
collected geographical and biological data over a period of years, and carefully traced the
relationships he found between them. The end result was the Kosmos, a multi-volume
work that covered the aspects of geography and natural science that he devoted his life to.

Immanuel Kant

Fourth is Immanuel Kant. Though Kant is known more for being an 18th century
philosopher than a geographer, his work is a large part of the reason why geography is
treated as a legitimate science today. He believed that geography classified things
according to place, while history classified things according to time. As a result, according
to Kant, geography had an important place in virtually every facet of knowledge. By
establishing the academic importance of geography, he lent more legitimacy to geography
as an intellectual discipline.

Carl Ritter

Next, one of the most important figures in modern geography is Carl Ritter. Working during
the 19th century, Ritter treated the various geographical features of the world like organs in
the human body- he believed that each one interacted with the others to create a cohesive
whole, and that, just like a person’s organs determined their health, the geographic features
of a place affected the history of its inhabitants. He wrote the 19-volume Geography in
Relation to Nature and the History of Mankind (Die Erdkunde im Verhältniss zur Natur und
zur Geschichte des Menschen), and, along with Kant, was instrumental in establishing
geography as a field of study.
Arnaldo Faustini

Arnaldo Faustini is the man for whom the Faustini moon crater is named. He was a
geographer, writer, and cartographer born in 1872 that lived until 1944 He specialized in
the poles, and wrote nineteen different books on subjects having to do with the poles alone,
as well as countless other articles on them. He knew several polar explorers of the time,
helped them translate accounts of their journeys into other languages, and drew maps of
the areas they explored. Faustini’s fascination with the poles formed the foundation for
several polar explorations, and his work is still on display in the Polar Museum in Fermo,
Italy.

Most of the best geographers were also cartographers, and vice versa. Both map making
and geography are labors of love that are just as much art as science. While many
cartographers were artists and writers, many geographers were philosophers and
explorers. All famous geographers exhibited a curiosity about the world and people around
them, and developed new ways of interpreting the things they saw. These people helped
shape our understanding of how the natural world influences the course of human history,
from things like the areas where people tended to settle, to the establishment of trade and
cultural exchange routes, to the development of different cultures worldwide.