Why do we study Geography?

• How does it relate to World History events?

• What can we learn about a place given its geographic data?

• What is a demography?

What is Geography?

• Geography is the study of the spatial aspects of human existence. . . . Geography has much more to do with asking questions and solving problems than it does with rote memorization of isolated facts.

• [Geography] is an integrative discipline that brings together the physical and human dimensions of the world in the study of people, places, and environments. Its subject matter is the Earth's surface and the processes that shape it, the relationships between people and environments, and the connections between people and places.

1. Location: • Where a place is. Every

point on earth has a specific or absolute location that can be precisely determined by using the imaginary geographic grid of parallels (lines of latitude) and meridians (lines of longitude). The geographic coordinates (Latitude, Longitude) pinpoint the absolute location of every point on the planet.

While absolute location tells exactly where a place is, there is another aspect of location that is often very important, and this is relative location or how one place is related to other places. Relative location deals with the interaction that occurs between and among places. It refers to the many ways that places are connected to, or isolated from, other places.

2. Place: • "Place" refers to the

personality or special characteristics of a particular site. Every place is unique in this respect. Characteristics derive from the natural environment and from the people who live there. Human characteristics of a place include architectural styles, patterns of livelihood, land use patterns, and communication and transportation networks that all leave their imprint on the landscape.

3. Society and Environment:• Geographers study

human/environment interactions to look at all the effects--positive and negative--of human occupation on the land, atmosphere, and biosphere. Some these interactions are local in extent, some regional, others may be global.

4. Movement:• People, resources,

products, other life forms, information and ideas move from location to location. This is the way we interact with other peoples and places; and, by moving things around the Earth, we also affect our environment.

5. Regions:• A basic unit of geographic

study is the region., an area on the Earth's surface that is defined by certain unifying characteristics. These unifying characteristics may be physical, human, or cultural. Geographers are interested not simply in delineating regions but in how regions develop and how they change.

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