Elements of

Geography
The equal-area Mollweide projection
How can you describe Earth now?
Tasks and tools of geography

 Mainarticles: Geosophy and Philosophy of

geography
Exploration

 the act of traveling and searching for resources or

for information about the land or space itself.
Exploration is the act of searching for the purpose of
discovery of information or resources. Exploration occurs in all non-
sessile animal species, including humans. In human history, its most
dramatic rise was during the Age of Discovery when European
explorers sailed and charted much of the rest of the world for a
variety of reasons. Since then, major explorations after the Age of
Discovery have occurred for reasons mostly aimed at information
discovery
Geocode

 Geocode (Geospatial Entity Object Code) – geospatial

coordinate system for specifying the exact location of a
geospatial point at, below, or above the surface of the earth
at a given moment of time.
 Geocoding is the computational process of transforming a
physical address description to a location on the Earth's surface
(spatial representation in numerical coordinates). Reverse
geocoding, on the other hand, converts geographic coordinates to a
description of a location, usually the name of a place or an
addressable location. Geocoding relies on a computer representation
of address points, the street / road network, together with postal and
administrative boundaries.
Geographic Information System

 Geographic information system (GIS) – set of tools that captures, stores, analyzes,
manages, and presents data that are linked to location(s). Combines elements of
cartography, statistical analysis, and database technology.
 A geographic information system (GIS) is a system designed to
capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present spatial or geographic
data. The acronym GIS is sometimes used for geographic information science
(GIScience) to refer to the academic discipline that studies geographic
information systems and is a large domain within the broader academic discipline
of geoinformatics. What goes beyond a GIS is a spatial data infrastructure, a
concept that has no such restrictive boundaries.
 In general, the term describes any information system that
integrates, stores, edits, analyzes, shares, and displays geographic
information. GIS applications are tools that allow users to create
interactive queries (user-created searches), analyze spatial
information, edit data in maps, and present the results of all these
operations. Geographic information science is the science
underlying geographic concepts, applications, and systems.
 GIS can refer to a number of different technologies, processes, and methods. It is
attached to many operations and has many applications related to engineering,
planning, management, transport/logistics, insurance, telecommunications, and
business. For that reason, GIS and location intelligence applications can be the
foundation for many location-enabled services that rely on analysis and
visualization.
 GIS can relate unrelated information by using location as the key index variable.
Locations or extents in the Earth space–time may be recorded as dates/times of
occurrence, and x, y, and z coordinates representing, longitude, latitude, and
elevation, respectively. All Earth-based spatial–temporal location and extent
references should be relatable to one another and ultimately to a "real" physical
location or extent. This key characteristic of GIS has begun to open new avenues
of scientific inquiry.
GLOBE

 Globe – a three-dimensional scale model of a spheroid celestial body such as a

planet, star, or moon.
Terrestrial globe – globe of the Earth.

A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the
celestial sphere. Globes serve similar purposes to maps, but unlike maps, do not
distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A globe of Earth is
called a terrestrial globe. A globe of the celestial sphere is called a celestial globe.
 A globe shows details of its subject. A terrestrial globe shows land masses and
water bodies. It might show nations and prominent cities and the network of
latitude and longitude lines. Some have raised relief to show mountains. A
celestial globe shows stars, and may also show positions of other prominent
astronomical objects. Typically it will also divide the celestial sphere up into
constellations.
MAP

 Map– a visual representation of an area, depicting the

elements of that area such as objects, regions, and themes.
World map by Gerard van Shagen,
Amsterdam, 1689
 A map is a symbolic depiction emphasizing relationships between
elements of some space, such as objects, regions, or themes
 Many maps are static, fixed to paper or some other durable medium,
while others are dynamic or interactive. Although most commonly
used to depict geography, maps may represent any space, real or
imagined, without regard to context or scale, such as in brain
mapping, DNA mapping, or computer network topology mapping.
The space being mapped may be two dimensional, such as the
surface of the earth, three dimensional, such as the interior of the
earth, or even more abstract spaces of any dimension, such as arise
in modeling phenomena having many independent variables.
 Atlas – a collection of maps, typically of the Earth or a region
thereof.
 Cartography – the study and practice of making maps.
 Map projection – any method of representing the surface of a sphere
or other shape on a plane. Necessary for creating maps.
Demographics

 Demographics – the characteristics of a human population

as used in government, marketing or opinion research, or
the demographic profiles used in such research. Distinct
from demography, which is the statistical study of human
populations.
Demography

 is the statistical study of populations, especially human beings. As a

very general science, it can analyze any kind of dynamic living
population, i.e., one that changes over time or space (see population
dynamics). Demography encompasses the study of the size,
structure, and distribution of these populations, and spatial or
temporal changes in them in response to birth, migration, aging, and
death. Based on the demographic research of the earth, earth's
population up to the year 2050 and 2100 can be estimated by
demographers. Demographics are quantifiable characteristics of a
given population.
Spatial analysis – a variety of statistical techniques
used to study entities using their topological, geometric, or
geographic properties.
Spatial analysis or spatial statistics
 Spatial analysis or spatial statistics includes any of the formal
techniques which study entities using their topological, geometric,
or geographic properties. Spatial analysis includes a variety of
techniques, many still in their early development, using different
analytic approaches and applied in fields as diverse as astronomy,
with its studies of the placement of galaxies in the cosmos, to chip
fabrication engineering, with its use of "place and route" algorithms
to build complex wiring structures. In a more restricted sense,
spatial analysis is the technique applied to structures at the human
scale, most notably in the analysis of geographic data.
Survey

 Surveying – the technique and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or

three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them.
These points are usually on the surface of the Earth, and they are often used to
establish land maps and boundaries for ownership or governmental purposes.
 Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and
science of determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional positions
of points and the distances and angles between them. A land
surveying professional is called a land surveyor. These points are
usually on the surface of the Earth, and they are often used to
establish maps and boundaries for ownership, locations, such as
building corners or the surface location of subsurface features, or
other purposes required by government or civil law, such as property
sales.
 Surveyors work with elements of geometry, trigonometry, regression
analysis, physics, engineering, metrology, programming languages,
and the law. They use equipment, such as total stations, robotic total
stations, GPS receivers, retroreflectors, 3D scanners, radios,
handheld tablets, digital levels, subsurface locators, drones, GIS,
and surveying software.
 Surveying has been an element in the development of the
human environment since the beginning of recorded
history. The planning and execution of most forms of
construction require it. It is also used in transport,
communications, mapping, and the definition of legal
boundaries for land ownership. It is an important tool for
research in many other scientific disciplines.