THE DISCIPLINE

OF
GEOGRAPHY
What is Geography?
It is a study of the world, its people and the
landscapes they create. Geography comes from two
Greek words; GEO means “earth” and GRAPHOS
means “mapping or chatting”
The Development of Geography
 Cartography - is the study and practice of
making maps.

The Cueva de El Castillo in Spain and

The Lascaux Cave in France

“Here Be Dragons”
 Ancient Greek Philosophers – they
were the one of the first people to
have developed the study of
geography.
 Sattelite imaging -
are images of Earth or other planets
collected by imaging
satellites operated by governments
and businesses around the world.
Dr. John Snow’s cholera map

He concluded that the reason for

the spread of cholera wasn’t the
air, but rather a contaminated
water.
Important Personalities in Geography

 Anaximander (610-546 BCE)

was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher,
biologist, and astronomer. Anaximander
provided a round map divided into three
continents by an ocean.
 Strabo (64-20 BCE)
was a Greek geographer,
philosopher, and historian. Strabo
Treatise Geography

 Edrisi
An Arab geographer and descendant
of Prophet Mahammed,
who collected all known
geographical
information in his time.
Classical Works in Geography

Carl Ritter (1779-1859)

A German geographer. Ritter’s contribution
to the study of geography was hit use of the
comparative method in understanding
and classifying the
different formations occuring.
 Alexander von Humbodt (1769-1859)
a Prussian geographer and explorer, is
considered to have laid in
foundations in biography.

 William Morris Davis (1850-1934)

an American geographer,
geologist and meteorlogist,
is hailed as the Father
of American Geography
Fields of Geography

 Physical Geography
Physical geography is the branch of
natural science which deals with the study
of processes and patterns in the natural
environment such as
the atmosphere, hydrosphere , biosphere,
and geosphere.
 Human Geogrphy
is the branch of geography that
deals with the study of people, their
communities, cultures, economies,
how they influence or affect the earth's
environment and interactions with the
environment by studying their relations
with and across space and place.
 Integrated Geography
is a discipline which study how
humans activities impact the environment
through the analysis of the shifts in
landforms and cycles of the natural
resources.

 Geomatics
is a discipline which focuses ton the
scientific management of geographic data.
 Regional Geography
is a discipline which focuses on a
particular region on the surface of Earth.

 Geopolitics
to understand how international
relatins, trade, and economics are affected
by political actors location, topography of
trade routes and natural resources.
 Biogeography
to study why and how certain
organisms thrive in particular locations or
why similar environments produce similar
organisms.

 Cultural Anthropology
the branch of anthropology concerned
with the study of human societies and
cultures and their development.
Key Concepts in Geography

 Spatial pattern - is a placement, or

arrangement of objects on Earth.

 Spatial Interaction – is a dynamic flow

process from one location to another.

 Geographic process - the physical and

human forces that work in combination to
form and transform the world.
Current Applications of Geography

 Regional Science
explores the spatial dimension of
varying areas, wheter urban or rural.

 Planetary Science
classifically defined as “the study of
planets, moon and planetary system.