Introduction to Geography

Geography Geography is the study of the earth and how people use the earth. There are two main branches of geography: Physical geography Human geography

Physical Geography Physical geography is the study of the earth and how it varies from place to place. The study of physical geography includes the study of an areas: Natural environment. Natural resources. Human resources.

Natural Environment The natural environment of an area is the physical surroundings in which people live. This includes the landforms of the area and the climate of the area. A landform is a feature of the earth’s surface, such as a mountain or river. The climate is the pattern of weather that an area experiences over an extended period of time.

Landform Regions of the U.S.

Climate Regions of the U.S.

Natural Resources Natural resources are materials made by nature that people can use. Natural resources can be renewable and nonrenewable. Renewable resources are those that can be replaced naturally or grown by people. Nonrenewable resources are those that can’t be replaced by natural growth or human action.

Renewable Resources

Nonrenewable Resources

Human Resources 1. Human resources are the people who put the natural resources to work.

Human Geography Human Geography is the study of people and their activities and how they vary from place to place. The study of human geography focuses on people’s culture. Culture is the way people live in a certain area. The main influence on a people’s culture is the natural environment in which they live. 5. We are going to look at four aspects of a people’s culture: language, religion, race/ethnicity and occupation.

Language There are 6,800 to 6,900 distinct languages spoken in the world, although some of them are on the verge of becoming extinct. Even in the same language, there are different dialects which reflect regional differences in pronunciation and syntax. The language spoken by the most people is Mandarin Chinese, followed by English, Hindi, Spanish, Russian and Arabic.

Religion Religion is a value system that incorporates worship and faith in a divine creative force. The world’s largest religions are Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. Another major classified group is the nonreligious group, which is made up of people who don’t adhere to any religion.

World Religions Chart

Race/Ethnicity Race denotes a part of a population that is distinct because of inherited biological characteristics. Ethnicity incorporates racial characteristics along with language, religion and nationality. The world’s populations can be divided into four major races: Caucasian, Mongoloid, Negroid and Australoid. There are over 5,000 ethnic groups in the world.

Occupation Occupation refers to how people make a living. The world’s occupations vary greatly so areas are usually divided up by economy: A subsistence economy is one where people collect enough food to survive. A pastoral economy is where people herd animals for a living. An agrarian economy is one where people farm for a living. A diversified economy is where people make a living in a variety of ways.

The Five Themes of Geography Geography can be divided into five themes: Location Region Place Human-Environment Interaction Movement

Location There are two types of location. Absolute location gives you the exact location of a place using latitude and longitude. Latitude is the distance north or south of the equator and longitude is the distance east or west of the Prime Meridian. Relative location gives you the location of a place in regard to some other place or landmark. Relative location is the one most commonly used by people.

Absolute Location

Region A region is a part of the earth that has one or more common characteristics. A formal region had a common characteristic throughout – this type of region usually deals with landforms or climate. It can also include countries or states. A functional region applies to a certain place and the surrounding area if affects, such as a hemisphere or a city and its suburbs.

Place A place is described by its physical and human characteristics. Physical characteristics are those created by nature. Human characteristics are those created by people.

Human-Environment Interaction 1. Human-Environment Interaction refers to how the people living in an area put the land to use to support their way of life.

Movement Movement involves the movement of goods, people and ideas from place to place. When talking about movement, we will concentrate on trade, transportation and communication.