The Importance of Geography

    
I can’t better this statement from the Geographical Association (Apr 2007).
So here it is.

“We all live our lives geographically. Planet Earth is our home. It is
awesome, diverse, inspiring and ever changing. Studying geography
invites us to participate more fully in the excitement, enjoyment and
challenge of this dynamic world. It draws on personal experience, to help
us better understand the places we live in, why they matter and how they
are connected to a globalised world. Geography draws from across the
physical, cultural, economic and political spheres to illuminate key issues
for the present and the future, explored at all scales from the personal to
  the local and the global. Through geography we learn to appreciate the
diversity of landscapes, peoples and cultures. Geography is therefore a
vital subject resource for 21st century global citizens, enabling us to face
questions of what it means to live sustainably in an interdependent world.
Geography helps us investigate and to think critically and creatively about
the complexities of places, and different views and feelings relating to
places. Geography is studied through enquiry, this requires the
formulation of effective questions. Fieldwork and outdoor education are
essential to geography. The subject helps develop significant elements of
the skills framework, with a strong emphasis on utilising maps and visual
images as well as new technologies including Geographical Information.
These transferable geographical skills help to equip us for lifelong learning
as responsible global citizens.”

Geography (from Greek γεωγραφία - geographia, lit. "earth describe-

write"[1]) is the science that deals with the study of the Earth and its lands,
features, inhabitants, and phenomena.[2] A literal translation would be "to
describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word
"geography" was Eratosthenes (276-194 B.C.). Four historical traditions in
geographical research are the spatial analysis of natural and human
phenomena (geography as a study of distribution), area studies (places and
regions), study of man-land relationship, and research in earth sciences.[3]
Nonetheless, modern geography is an all-encompassing discipline that
foremost seeks to understand the Earth and all of its human and natural
complexities—not merely where objects are, but how they have changed
and come to be. Geography has been called 'the world discipline'. [4] As "the

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 bridge between the human and physical sciences," geography is divided into
two main branches—human geography and physical geography.[5][6]

Traditionally, geographers have been viewed the same way as

cartographers and people who study place names and numbers. Although
many geographers are trained in toponymy and cartology, this is not their
main preoccupation. Geographers study the spatial and temporal distribution
of phenomena, processes and features as well as the interaction of humans
and their environment.[7] As space and place affect a variety of topics such
as economics, health, climate, plants and animals, geography is highly
interdisciplinary.

“ ...mere names of places...are not geography...know by heart a

whole gazetteer full of them would not, in itself, constitute anyone
a geographer. Geography has higher aims than this: it seeks to
classify phenomena (alike of the natural and of the political world,
in so far as it treats of the latter), to compare, to generalize, to
ascend from effects to causes, and, in doing so, to trace out the
great laws of nature and to mark their influences upon man. This
is 'a description of the world'—that is Geography. In a word
Geography is a Science—a thing not of mere names but of
argument and reason, of cause and effect.[8] ”

  — William Hughes, 1863

Geography as a discipline can be split broadly into two main subsidiary

fields: human geography and physical geography. The former focuses
largely on the built environment and how space is created, viewed and
managed by humans as well as the influence humans have on the space
they occupy. The latter examines the natural environment and how the
climate, vegetation & life, soil, water, and landforms are produced and
interact.[9] As a result of the two subfields using different approaches a third
field has emerged, which is environmental geography. Environmental
geography combines physical and human geography and looks at the
interactions between the environment and humans.[7]

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Branches

Physical geography

Physical geography (or physiography) focuses on geography as an Earth

science. It aims to understand the physical (lithosphere, hydrosphere,
atmosphere, pedosphere,) and global (flora) and (fauna) patterns
(biosphere). Physical geography can be divided into the following broad

Human geography

Human geography is a branch of geography that focuses on the study of

patterns and processes that shape human interaction with various
environments. It encompasses human, political, cultural, social, and
economic aspects. While the major focus of human geography is not the
physical landscape of the Earth (see physical geography), it is hardly
possible to discuss human geography without referring to the physical
landscape on which human activities are being played out, and
environmental geography is emerging as a link between the two. Human
geography can be divided into many broad categories, such as:

Various approaches to the study of human geography have also arisen

through time and include:

 Behavioral geography
 Feminist geography
 Culture theory
 Geosophy

Environmental geography

Environmental geography is the branch of geography that describes the

spatial aspects of 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 in which human societies conceptualize the
environment.

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Environmental 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 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 a branch of geography that has emerged since the quantitative

revolution in geography in the mid 1950s. Geomatics involves the use of
traditional spatial techniques used in cartography and topography and their
application to computers. Geomatics has become a widespread field with
many other disciplines using techniques such as GIS and remote sensing.
Geomatics has also led to a revitalization of some geography departments
especially in Northern America where the subject had a declining status
during the 1950s.

Geomatics encompasses a large area of fields involved with spatial

analysis, such as Cartography, Geographic information systems (GIS),
Remote sensing, and Global positioning systems (GPS).

Regional geography

Regional geography is a branch of geography that studies the regions of all

sizes across the Earth. It has a prevailing descriptive character. The main
aim is to understand or define the uniqueness or character of a particular
region which consists of natural as well as human elements. Attention is
paid also to regionalization which covers the proper techniques of space
delimitation into regions.

Regional geography is also considered as a certain approach to study in

geographical sciences (similar to quantitative or critical geographies, for
more information see History of geography).

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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 System and 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.

Techniques

As spatial interrelationships are key to this synoptic science, maps are a key
tool. Classical cartography has been joined by a more modern approach to
geographical analysis, computer-based geographic information systems
(GIS).

In their study, geographers use four interrelated approaches:

 Systematic - Groups geographical knowledge into categories that

can be explored globally.

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  Regional - Examines systematic relationships between categories
for a specific region or location on the planet.
 Descriptive - Simply specifies the locations of features and
populations.
 Analytical - Asks why we find features and populations in a specific
geographic area.

Cartography

Cartography studies the representation of the Earth's surface with abstract

symbols (map making). Although other subdisciplines of geography rely on
maps for presenting their analyses, the actual making of maps is abstract
enough to be regarded separately. Cartography has grown from a collection
of drafting techniques into an actual science.

Cartographers must learn cognitive psychology and ergonomics to

understand which symbols convey information about the Earth most
effectively, and behavioral psychology to induce the readers of their maps to
act on the information. They must learn geodesy and fairly advanced
mathematics to understand how the shape of the Earth affects the distortion
of map symbols projected onto a flat surface for viewing. It can be said,
without much controversy, that cartography is the seed from which the larger
field of geography grew. Most geographers will cite a childhood fascination
with maps as an early sign they would end up in the field.

Geographic information systems

Geographic information systems (GIS) deal with the storage of information

about the Earth for automatic retrieval by a computer, in an accurate manner
appropriate to the information's purpose. In addition to all of the other
subdisciplines of geography, GIS specialists must understand computer
science and database systems. GIS has revolutionized the field of
cartography; nearly all mapmaking is now done with the assistance of some
form of GIS software. GIS also refers to the science of using GIS software
and GIS techniques to represent, analyze and predict spatial relationships.
In this context, GIS stands for Geographic Information Science.

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Remote sensing

Remote sensing is the science of obtaining information about Earth features

from measurements made at a distance. Remotely sensed data comes in
many forms such as satellite imagery, aerial photography and data obtained
from hand-held sensors. Geographers increasingly use remotely sensed
data to obtain information about the Earth's land surface, ocean and
atmosphere because it: a) supplies objective information at a variety of
spatial scales (local to global), b) provides a synoptic view of the area of
interest, c) allows access to distant and/or inaccessible sites, d) provides
spectral information outside the visible portion of the electromagnetic
spectrum, and e) facilitates studies of how features/areas change over time.
Remotely sensed data may be analyzed either independently of, or in
conjunction with, other digital data layers (e.g., in a Geographic Information
System).

Quantitative methods

Geostatistics deal with quantitative data analysis, specifically the application

of statistical methodology to the exploration of geographic phenomena.
Geostatistics is used extensively in a variety of fields including: hydrology,
geology, petroleum exploration, weather analysis, urban planning, logistics,
and epidemiology. The mathematical basis for geostatistics derives from
cluster analysis, linear discriminant analysis and non-parametric statistical
tests, and a variety of other subjects. Applications of geostatistics rely
heavily on geographic information systems, particularly for the interpolation
(estimate) of unmeasured points. Geographers are making notable
contributions to the method of quantitative techniques.

Qualitative methods

Geographic qualitative methods, or ethnographical; research techniques,

are used by human geographers. In cultural geography there is a tradition of
employing qualitative research techniques also used in anthropology and
sociology. Participant observation and in-depth interviews provide human
geographers with qualitative data.