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{{Short description|Study of lands and inhabitants of Earth}}
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{{Other uses|Geography (disambiguation)|Geo (disambiguation)}}
{{Distinguish|Geology}}
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'''Geography''' (from [[Ancient Greek]] {{lang|grc|γεωγραφία}} {{Transliteration|grc|geōgraphía}}; combining {{Transliteration|grc|gê}} 'Earth' and {{Transliteration|grc|gráphō}} 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of [[Earth]].<ref name='intro1'>{{cite book |last1=Dahlman |first1=Carl |last2=Renwick |first2=William |title=Introduction to Geography: People, Places & Environment |date=2014 |publisher=Pearson |isbn=978-0137504510 |edition=6th }}</ref><ref name="Springer2017">{{cite journal |last1=Springer |first1=Simon |title=Earth Writing |journal=GeoHumanities |date=2017 |volume=3 |issue=1 |page=1 |doi=10.1080/2373566X.2016.1272431 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/2373566X.2016.1272431 |access-date=13 February 2025|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding of Earth and [[world|its human and natural complexities]]—not merely where objects are, but also how they have changed and come to be. While geography is specific to Earth, many [[concept]]s can be applied more broadly to other [[Astronomical object|celestial bodies]] in the field of [[planetary science]].<ref name=Burt>{{cite book |last1=Burt |first1=Tim |title=Key Concepts in Geography: Scale, Resolution, Analysis, and Synthesis in Physical Geography |date=2009 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-4051-9146-3 |pages=85–96 |edition=2nd}}</ref> Geography has been called "a bridge between [[natural science]] and [[social science]] disciplines."<ref name="Sala1" />
Origins of many of the concepts in geography can be traced to Greek [[Eratosthenes]] of Cyrene, who may have coined the term "geographia" ({{circa|276 BC|195/194 BC}}).<ref name="Roller">{{cite book |last1=Roller |first1=Duane W. |title=Eratosthenes' Geography |date=2010 |publisher=Princeton University Press |___location=New Jersey |isbn=9780691142678 |url=https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691142678/eratosthenes-geography |access-date=29 January 2024}}</ref> The first recorded use of the word [[Geography (Ptolemy)|γεωγραφία]] was as the title of a book by Greek scholar [[Claudius Ptolemy]] (100 – 170 AD).<ref name='intro1'/> This work created the so-called "Ptolemaic tradition" of geography, which included "Ptolemaic cartographic theory."<ref name="Brentjes2009">{{cite book |last1=Brentjes |first1=Sonja |title=International Encyclopedia of Human Geography |date=2009 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-08-044911-1 |pages=414–427 |chapter-url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B978008044910400002X |access-date=29 January 2024 |chapter=Cartography in Islamic Societies}}</ref> However, the concepts of geography (such as [[cartography]]) date back to the earliest attempts to understand the world spatially, with the earliest example of an attempted world map dating to the 9th century BCE in ancient [[Babylon]].<ref name="Kurt-2009">{{Cite book|title=Geography and Ethnography: Perceptions of the World in Pre-Modern Societies|author=Kurt A. Raaflaub & Richard J. A. Talbert|publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]]|year=2009|isbn=978-1-4051-9146-3|page=147}}</ref> The [[history of geography]] as a discipline spans cultures and millennia, being independently developed by multiple groups, and cross-pollinated by trade between these groups. The core concepts of geography consistent between all approaches are a focus on space, place, time, and scale.<ref name="Thrift1" /><ref name="Kent1" /><ref name="Tuan1" /><ref name="Tuan2" /><ref name="Castree1" /><ref name="Gregory1" /> Today, geography is an extremely broad discipline with multiple approaches and modalities. There have been multiple attempts to organize the discipline, including the four traditions of geography, and into branches.<ref name="Traditions1" /><ref name="Sala1" /><ref name="Tambassi" /> Techniques employed can generally be broken down into [[quantitative geography|quantitative]]<ref name="Fotheringham1" /> and [[Qualitative geography|qualitative]]<ref name="RyanBurns1" /> approaches, with many studies taking [[mixed-methods research|mixed-methods]] approaches.<ref name="Diriwächter1">Diriwächter, R. & Valsiner, J. (January 2006) [http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/72 Qualitative Developmental Research Methods in Their Historical and Epistemological Contexts]. FQS. Vol 7, No. 1, Art. 8</ref> Common techniques include [[cartography]], [[remote sensing]], [[interview]]s, and [[surveying]].
==
[[File:17th Century map of Pembrokeshire.jpg|thumb|Maps, like this 17th Century depiction of [[Pembrokeshire]], are a central element in the study of geography.]]
Geography is a systematic study of the Earth (other celestial bodies are specified, such as "geography of Mars", or given another name, such as [[Geography of Mars|areography]] in the case of Mars, or [[selenography]] in the case of the Moon, or [[planetography]] for the general case), its features, and phenomena that take place on it.<ref name="Areography1">{{cite web |title=Areography |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/areography |website=Merriam-Webster |access-date=27 July 2022}}</ref><ref name="Areoography2">{{cite journal |title=Areography |last1=Lowell |first1=Percival |journal=Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society |date=April 1902 |volume=41 |issue=170 |pages=225–234 |jstor=983554 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/983554 |access-date=27 July 2022}}</ref><ref name="WilliamSheeham2014">{{cite book |last1=Sheehan |first1=William |title=Camille Flammarion's the Planet Mars |chapter=Geography of Mars, or Areography |series=Astrophysics and Space Science Library |date=19 September 2014 |volume=409 |pages=435–441 |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-09641-4_7|isbn=978-3-319-09640-7 }}</ref> For something to fall into the ___domain of geography, it generally needs some sort of spatial component that can be placed on a [[map]], such as [[Geographic coordinate system|coordinates]], place names, or [[address]]es. This has led to geography being associated with [[cartography]] and place names. Although many geographers are trained in [[toponymy]] and cartology, this is not their main preoccupation. [[Geographers]] study the Earth's spatial and temporal distribution of phenomena, processes, and features as well as the interaction of humans and their [[Natural environment|environment]].<ref name="Hayes1">{{Cite web |last=Hayes-Bohanan |first=James |date=29 September 2009 |title=What is Environmental Geography, Anyway? |url=http://webhost.bridgew.edu/jhayesboh/environmentalgeography.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061026054331/http://webhost.bridgew.edu/jhayesboh/environmentalgeography.htm |archive-date=26 October 2006 |access-date=10 November 2016 |website=webhost.bridgew.edu |publisher=[[Bridgewater State University]] }}</ref> Because space and place affect a variety of topics, such as economics, health, [[climate]], plants, and animals, geography is highly interdisciplinary. The interdisciplinary nature of the geographical approach depends on an attentiveness to the relationship between physical and human phenomena and their spatial patterns.<ref name="Baker">{{Cite book |last=Baker |first=J.N.L |title=The History of Geography |date=1963 |publisher=Basil Blackwell |isbn=978-0-85328-022-4 |___location=Oxford |page=66}}</ref><ref name="Hornby11">{{Cite book |last1=Hornby |first1=William F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DLpzQgAACAAJ |title=An introduction to Settlement Geography |last2=Jones |first2=Melvyn |date=29 June 1991 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-28263-5 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161225074059/https://books.google.com/books/about/An_Introduction_to_Settlement_Geography.html?id=DLpzQgAACAAJ |archive-date=25 December 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>
While narrowing down geography to a few key concepts is extremely challenging, and subject to tremendous debate within the discipline, several sources have approached the topic.<ref name="KeyConcepts2014">{{cite book |editor1-last=Clifford |editor1-first=Nicholas J. |editor2-last=Holloway |editor2-first=Sarah L. |editor3-last=Rice |editor3-first=Stephen P. |editor4-last=Valentine |editor4-first=Gill |title=Key Concepts in Geography |date=2014 |publisher=Sage |isbn=978-1-4129-3022-2 |edition=2nd |url=https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/key-concepts-in-geography/book230446 |access-date=2 December 2023}}</ref> The 1st edition of the book "Key Concepts in Geography" broke down this into chapters focusing on "Space," "Place," "Time," "Scale," and "Landscape."<ref name="KeyConcepts2003">{{cite book |editor1-last=Holloway |editor1-first=Sarah L. |editor2-last=Rice |editor2-first=Stephen P. |editor3-last=Valentine |editor3-first=Gill |title=Key Concepts in Geography |date=2003 |publisher=Sage |isbn=978-0761973898 |edition=1st}}</ref> The 2nd edition of the book expanded on these key concepts by adding "Environmental systems," "Social Systems," "Nature," "[[Globalization]]," "Development," and "Risk," demonstrating how challenging narrowing the field can be.<ref name="KeyConcepts2014" /> Another approach used extensively in teaching geography are the [[Five themes of geography]] established by "Guidelines for Geographic Education: Elementary and Secondary Schools," published jointly by the [[National Council for Geographic Education]] and the [[Association of American Geographers]] in 1984.<ref name="Guidelines1984">{{cite book |title=Guidelines for Geographic Education: Elementary and Secondary Schools |date=1984 |publisher=The Council |isbn=9780892911851}}</ref><ref name="Natoli1994">{{cite journal |last1=Natoli |first1=Salvatore J. |title=''Guidelines for Geographic Education'' and the Fundamental Themes in Geography |journal=[[Journal of Geography]] |date=1 January 1994 |volume=93 |issue=1 |pages=2–6 |doi=10.1080/00221349408979676 |bibcode=1994JGeog..93....2N |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00221349408979676 |issn=0022-1341|url-access=subscription }}</ref> These themes are Location, place, relationships within places (often summarized as Human-Environment Interaction), movement, and regions.<ref name="Natoli1994" /><ref name="Brown2015">{{cite journal |last1=Buchanan |first1=Lisa Brown |last2=Tschida |first2=Christina M. |title=Exploring the five themes of geography using technology |journal=The Ohio Social Studies Review |date=2015 |volume=52 |issue=1 |pages=29–39 |url=https://ossr.scholasticahq.com/api/v1/attachments/2781/download}}</ref> The five themes of geography have shaped how American education approaches the topic in the years since.<ref name="Natoli1994" /><ref name="Brown2015" />
===Space===
{{Main|Space}}
[[File:3D coordinate system.svg|thumb|right|A right-handed three-dimensional [[Cartesian coordinate system]] used to indicate positions in space<!--(See diagram description for needed correction.)-->]]
{{blockquote|text=Just as all phenomena exist in time and thus have a history, they also exist in space and have a geography.<ref name=GeographyPerspective1>{{Cite book |last=<!-- Staff writer(s); no by-line. --> |chapter=Chapter 3: Geography's Perspectives|url=http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=4913&page=28 |title=Rediscovering Geography: New Relevance for Science and Society |date=1997 |publisher=The National Academies Press |isbn=978-0-309-05199-6 |___location=Washington, DC |page=28 |doi=10.17226/4913 |access-date=2014-05-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140507035328/http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=4913&page=28 |archive-date=2014-05-07 |url-status=live}}</ref>|sign=[[United States National Research Council]], 1997}}
For something to exist in the realm of geography, it must be able to be described spatially.<ref name="GeographyPerspective1" /><ref name=Matthews1>{{cite book |last1=Matthews |first1=John |last2=Herbert |first2=David |title=Geography: A very short introduction |date=2008 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-921128-9 }}</ref> Thus, space is the most fundamental concept at the foundation of geography.<ref name=Thrift1>{{cite book |last1=Thrift |first1=Nigel |title=Key Concepts in Geography: Space, The Fundamental Stuff of Geography |date=2009 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-4051-9146-3 |pages=85–96 |edition=2nd}}</ref><ref name=Kent1>{{cite book |last1=Kent |first1=Martin |title=Key Concepts in Geography: Space, Making Room for Space in Physical Geography |date=2009 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-4051-9146-3 |pages=97–119 |edition=2nd}}</ref> The concept is so basic, that geographers often have difficulty defining exactly what it is. [[Absolute space and time|Absolute space]] is the exact site, or spatial coordinates, of objects, persons, places, or phenomena under investigation.<ref name=Thrift1/> We exist in space.<ref name=Tuan1>{{cite book |last1=Tuan |first1=Yi-Fu |title=Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience |date=1977 |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |isbn=0-8166-3877-2 }}</ref> Absolute space leads to the view of the world as a photograph, with everything frozen in place when the coordinates were recorded. Today, geographers are trained to recognize the world as a dynamic space where all processes interact and take place, rather than a static image on a map.<ref name=Thrift1/><ref name=Chen1>{{cite journal |last1=Chen |first1=Xiang |last2=Clark |first2=Jill |title=Interactive three-dimensional geovisualization of space-time access to food |journal=Applied Geography |date=2013 |volume=43 |pages=81–86 |doi=10.1016/j.apgeog.2013.05.012 |bibcode=2013AppGe..43...81C |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0143622813001367 |access-date=7 December 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
===Place===
[[File:Yi-Fu Tuan-Festival international de géographie 2012 (1).jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Yi-Fu Tuan, geographer who foregrounded the importance of language in the making of place.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tuan |first=Yi-Fu |year=1991 |title=Language and the Making of Place: A Narrative-Descriptive Approach |journal=Annals of the Association of American Geographers |volume=81 |issue=4 |pages=684–696 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-8306.1991.tb01715.x}}</ref>]]
{{Main|Location| Place identity| Sense of place}}
Place is one of the most complex and important terms in geography.<ref name=Tuan1/><ref name=Tuan2>{{cite journal |last1=Tuan |first1=Yi-Fu |title=A View of Geography |journal=Geographical Review |date=1991 |volume=81 |issue=1 |pages=99–107 |doi=10.2307/215179 |jstor=215179 |bibcode=1991GeoRv..81...99T |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/215179 |access-date=5 January 2023|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name=Castree1>{{cite book |last1=Castree |first1=Noel |title=Key Concepts in Geography: Place, Connections and Boundaries in an Interdependent World |date=2009 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-4051-9146-3 |pages=85–96 |edition=2nd}}</ref><ref name=Gregory1>{{cite book |last1=Gregory |first1=Ken |title=Key Concepts in Geography: Place, The Management of Sustainable Physical Environments |date=2009 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-4051-9146-3 |pages=173–199 |edition=2nd}}</ref> In human geography, place is the synthesis of the coordinates on the Earth's surface, the activity and use that occurs, has occurred, and will occur at the coordinates, and the meaning ascribed to the space by human individuals and groups.<ref name="Matthews1" /><ref name=Castree1/> This can be extraordinarily complex, as different spaces may have different uses at different times and mean different things to different people. In physical geography, a place includes all of the physical phenomena that occur in space, including the [[lithosphere]], [[atmosphere]], [[hydrosphere]], and [[biosphere]].<ref name=Gregory1/> Places do not exist in a vacuum and instead have complex spatial relationships with each other, and place is concerned how a ___location is situated in relation to all other locations.<ref name="Tobler1">{{cite journal |last1=Tobler |first1=Waldo |title=A Computer Movie Simulating Urban Growth in the Detroit Region |journal=Economic Geography |date=1970 |volume=46 |pages=234–240 |doi=10.2307/143141 |jstor=143141 |s2cid=34085823 |url=http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/eaa5/eefedd4fa34b7de7448c0c8e0822e9fdf956.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190308014451/http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/eaa5/eefedd4fa34b7de7448c0c8e0822e9fdf956.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 March 2019 |access-date=22 July 2022}}</ref><ref name="Tobler2">{{cite journal |last1=Tobler |first1=Waldo |title=On the First Law of Geography: A Reply |journal=Annals of the Association of American Geographers |date=2004 |volume=94 |issue=2 |pages=304–310 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-8306.2004.09402009.x |bibcode=2004AAAG...94..304T |s2cid=33201684 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-8306.2004.09402009.x |access-date=22 July 2022 |archive-date=21 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220621022730/http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-8306.2004.09402009.x |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> As a discipline then, the term place in geography includes all spatial phenomena occurring at a ___location, the diverse uses and meanings humans ascribe to that ___location, and how that ___location impacts and is impacted by all other locations on Earth.<ref name=Castree1/><ref name=Gregory1/> In one of [[Yi-Fu Tuan]]'s papers, he explains that in his view, geography is the study of Earth as a home for humanity, and thus place and the complex meaning behind the term is central to the discipline of geography.<ref name="Tuan2" />
===Time===
[[File:Sample of time geographical description.png|thumb|upright=1.35|alt=A space-time cube is a three-axis graph where one axis represents the time dimension and the other axes represent two spatial dimensions|Examples of the [[visual language]] of time geography: space-time cube, path, prism, bundle, and other concepts.]]
{{Main|Time geography| Historical geography}}
Time is usually thought to be within the ___domain of [[history]], however, it is of significant concern in the discipline of geography.<ref name=Thrift2>{{cite book |last1=Thrift |first1=Nigel |title=An Introduction to Time-Geography |date=1977 |publisher=Geo Abstracts, University of East Anglia |isbn=0-90224667-4}}</ref><ref name=Thornes1>{{cite book |last1=Thornes |first1=John |title=Key Concepts in Geography: Time, Change and Stability in Environmental Systems |date=2009 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-4051-9146-3 |pages=119–139|edition=2nd}}</ref><ref name=Taylor2>{{cite book |last1=Taylor |first1=Peter |title=Key Concepts in Geography: Time, From Hegemonic Change to Everyday life |date=2009 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-4051-9146-3 |pages=140–152|edition=2nd}}</ref> In physics, space and time are not separated, and are combined into the concept of [[spacetime]].<ref name="Galison">{{cite journal|last1=Galison |first1=Peter Louis|title=Minkowski's space–time: From visual thinking to the absolute world |journal=Historical Studies in the Physical Sciences |date=1979 |volume=10 |pages=85–121 |doi=10.2307/27757388 |jstor=27757388 }}</ref>
Geography is subject to the laws of physics, and in studying things that occur in space, time must be considered. Time in geography is more than just the historical record of events that occurred at various discrete coordinates; but also includes modeling the dynamic movement of people, organisms, and things through space.<ref name=Tuan1/> Time facilitates movement through space, ultimately allowing things to flow through a system.<ref name=Thrift2/> The amount of time an individual, or group of people, spends in a place will often shape their attachment and perspective to that place.<ref name=Tuan1/> Time constrains the possible paths that can be taken through space, given a starting point, possible routes, and rate of travel.<ref name=Miller1>{{cite book |last1=Miller |first1=Harvey |title=International Encyclopedia of Geography |chapter=Time Geography and Space–Time Prism |date=2017 |pages=1–19 |doi=10.1002/9781118786352.wbieg0431 |isbn=978-0470659632 |url=https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118786352.wbieg0431 |access-date=1 September 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Visualizing time over space is challenging in terms of cartography, and includes Space-Prism, advanced 3D geovisualizations, and [[Animated mapping|animated maps]].<ref name="Tobler1" /><ref name=Miller1/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Monmonier |first1=Mark |title=Strategies For The Visualization Of Geographic Time-Series Data |journal=Cartographica |date=1990 |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=30–45 |doi=10.3138/U558-H737-6577-8U31 |url=https://utpjournals.press/doi/10.3138/U558-H737-6577-8U31 |access-date=1 September 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name=Chen1/>
===Scale===
[[File:Map scale - 8km, 5mi.png|thumb|A graphical or bar scale. A map would also usually give its scale numerically ("1:50,000", for instance, means that one cm on the map represents 50,000 cm of real space, which is 500 meters).]]
{{Main|Scale (geography)|Scale (ratio)|Scale (map)}}
Scale in the context of a map is the ratio between a distance measured on the map and the corresponding distance as measured on the ground.<ref name=Burt/><ref name=Herod>{{cite book |last1=Herod |first1=Andrew |title=Key Concepts in Geography: Scale, the local and the global |date=2009 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-4051-9146-3 |pages=85–96 |edition=2nd}}</ref> This concept is fundamental to the discipline of geography, not just cartography, in that phenomena being investigated appear different depending on the scale used.<ref name=Arbia1>{{cite journal |last1=Arbia |first1=Giuseppe |last2=Benedetti |first2=R. |last3=Espa |first3=G. |title="Effects of MAUP on image classification" |journal=Journal of Geographical Systems |date=1996 |volume=3 |pages=123–141}}</ref><ref name="SmithLaws">{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Peter |title=The laws of geography |journal=Teaching Geography |date=2005 |volume=30 |issue=3 |page=150 |jstor=23756334 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23756334 }}</ref> Scale is the frame that geographers use to measure space, and ultimately to understand a place.<ref name=Herod/>
===Laws
{{Main|Quantitative geography#Laws of geography}}
During the quantitative revolution, geography shifted to an empirical law-making ([[nomothetic]]) approach.<ref name="DeLyser1">{{cite book |last1=DeLyser |first1=Dydia |last2=Herbert |first2=Steve |last3=Aitken |first3=Stuart |last4=Crang |first4=Mike |last5=McDowell |first5=Linda |title=The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Geography |date=November 2009 |publisher=SAGE Publications |isbn=9781412919913 |edition=1st |url=https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/the-sage-handbook-of-qualitative-geography/book228796#preview |access-date=27 April 2023}}</ref><ref name="Yano1">{{cite journal |last1=Yano |first1=Keiji |title=GIS and quantitative geography |journal=GeoJournal |date=2001 |volume=52 |issue=3 |pages=173–180 |doi=10.1023/A:1014252827646|s2cid=126943446 }}</ref> Several '''laws of geography''' have been proposed since then, most notably by [[Waldo Tobler]] and can be viewed as a product of the quantitative revolution.<ref name="Walker1">{{cite journal |last1=Walker |first1=Robert Toovey |title=Geography, Von Thünen, and Tobler's first law: Tracing the evolution of a concept |journal=Geographical Review |date=28 April 2021 |volume=112 |issue=4 |pages=591–607 |doi=10.1080/00167428.2021.1906670|s2cid=233620037 }}</ref> In general, some dispute the entire concept of laws in geography and the social sciences.<ref name="Tobler1"/><ref name="Tobler3">{{cite journal |last1=Tobler |first1=Waldo |title=On the First Law of Geography: A Reply |journal=Annals of the Association of American Geographers |date=2004 |volume=94 |issue=2 |pages=304–310 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-8306.2004.09402009.x |bibcode=2004AAAG...94..304T |s2cid=33201684 |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-8306.2004.09402009.x |access-date=10 March 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="Goodchild1">{{cite journal |last1=Goodchild |first1=Michael |title=The Validity and Usefulness of Laws in Geographic Information Science and Geography |journal=Annals of the Association of American Geographers |date=2004 |volume=94 |issue=2 |pages=300–303 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-8306.2004.09402008.x|bibcode=2004AAAG...94..300G |s2cid=17912938 }}</ref> These criticisms have been addressed by Tobler and others, such as [[Michael Frank Goodchild]].<ref name="Tobler3"/><ref name="Goodchild1"/> However, this is an ongoing source of debate in geography and is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon. Several laws have been proposed, and Tobler's first law of geography is the most generally accepted in geography. Some have argued that geographic laws do not need to be numbered. The existence of a first invites a second, and many have proposed themselves as that. It has also been proposed that Tobler's first law of geography should be moved to the second and replaced with another.<ref name="Goodchild1"/> A few of the proposed laws of geography are below:
* [[Tobler's first law of geography]]: "Everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant."<ref name="Tobler1"/><ref name="Tobler3"/><ref name="Goodchild1"/>
* [[Tobler's second law of geography]]: "The phenomenon external to a geographic area of interest affects what goes on inside."<ref name="Tobler3"/><ref name='Tobler4'>{{cite journal |last1=Tobler |first1=Waldo |title=Linear pycnophylactic reallocation comment on a paper by D. Martin |journal=International Journal of Geographical Information Science |date=1999 |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=85–90 |doi=10.1080/136588199241472|bibcode=1999IJGIS..13...85T }}</ref>
* [[Arbia's law of geography]]: "Everything is related to everything else, but things observed at a coarse spatial resolution are more related than things observed at a finer resolution."<ref name=Arbia1/><ref name="Tobler3"/><ref name="SmithLaws" /><ref name=Hecht1>{{cite book |last1=Hecht |first1=Brent |last2=Moxley |first2=Emily |title=Spatial Information Theory |chapter=Terabytes of Tobler: Evaluating the First Law in a Massive, Domain-Neutral Representation of World Knowledge |series=Lecture Notes in Computer Science |date=2009 |volume=5756 |page=88 |publisher=Springer|doi=10.1007/978-3-642-03832-7_6 |bibcode=2009LNCS.5756...88H |isbn=978-3-642-03831-0 }}</ref><ref name="Otto1">{{citation |last1=Otto |first1=Philipp |last2=Dogan |first2=Osman |last3=Taspınar |first3=Suleyman |title=A Dynamic Spatiotemporal Stochastic Volatility Model with an Application to Environmental Risks |journal=Econometrics and Statistics |date=2023 |doi=10.1016/j.ecosta.2023.11.002 |arxiv=2211.03178 |s2cid=253384426 }}</ref>
* [[Spatial heterogeneity#Law of geography|Spatial heterogeneity]]: Geographic variables exhibit uncontrolled variance.<ref name="Goodchild1" /><ref name="Zou2022">{{cite journal |last1=Zou |first1=Muquan |last2=Wang |first2=Lizhen |last3=Wu |first3=Ping |last4=Tran |first4=Vanha |title=Mining Type-β Co-Location Patterns on Closeness Centrality in Spatial Data Sets |journal=ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. |date=23 July 2022 |volume=11 |issue=8 |page=418 |doi=10.3390/ijgi11080418 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2022IJGI...11..418Z }}</ref><ref name="Zhang2023">{{cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Yu |last2=Sheng |first2=Wu |last3=Zhao |first3=Zhiyuan |last4=Yang |first4=Xiping |last5=Fang |first5=Zhixiang |title=An urban crowd flow model integrating geographic characteristics |journal=Scientific Reports |date=30 January 2023 |volume=13 |issue=1 |page=1695 |doi=10.1038/s41598-023-29000-5|pmid=36717687 |pmc=9886992 |bibcode=2023NatSR..13.1695Z }}</ref>
* The uncertainty principle: "That the geographic world is infinitely complex and that any representation must therefore contain elements of uncertainty, that many definitions used in acquiring geographic data contain elements of vagueness, and that it is impossible to measure ___location on the Earth's surface exactly."<ref name="Goodchild1"/>
Additionally, several variations or amendments to these laws exist within the literature, although not as well supported. For example, one paper proposed an amended version of Tobler's first law of geography, referred to in the text as the ''Tobler–von Thünen law'',<ref name="Walker1" /> which states: "Everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things, as a consequence of accessibility."<ref name="Walker1" />
==Sub-disciplines==
Geography is a branch of inquiry that focuses on spatial information on Earth. It is an extremely broad topic and can be broken down multiple ways.<ref name="Tambassi" /> There have been several approaches to doing this spanning at least several centuries, including "four traditions of geography" and into distinct branches.<ref name="cave1" /><ref name="Traditions1">{{cite journal |last1=Pattison |first1=William |title=The Four Traditions of Geography |journal=Journal of Geography |date=1964 |volume=63 |issue=5 |pages=211–216 |doi=10.1080/00221346408985265 |bibcode=1964JGeog..63..211P |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/00221346408985265 |access-date=27 August 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The Four traditions of geography are often used to divide the different historical approach theories geographers have taken to the discipline.<ref name="Traditions1" /> In contrast, geography's branches describe contemporary applied geographical approaches.<ref name="Sala1" />
===Four traditions===
{{Main|Four traditions of geography}}
Geography is an extremely broad field. Because of this, many view the various definitions of geography proposed over the decades as inadequate. To address this, [[William D. Pattison]] proposed the concept of the "Four traditions of Geography" in 1964.<ref name="Traditions1" /><ref name="Traditions2">{{cite journal |last1=Robinson |first1=J. Lewis |title=A New Look at the Four Traditions of Geography |journal=Journal of Geography |date=1976 |volume=75 |issue=9 |pages=520–530 |doi=10.1080/00221347608980845 |bibcode=1976JGeog..75..520R |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00221347608980845 |access-date=27 August 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="Traditions3">{{cite journal |last1=Murphy |first1=Alexander |title=Geography's Crosscutting Themes: Golden Anniversary Reflections on "The Four Traditions of Geography" |journal=Journal of Geography |date=27 June 2014 |volume=113 |issue=5 |pages=181–188 |doi=10.1080/00221341.2014.918639 |bibcode=2014JGeog.113..181M |s2cid=143168559 |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/00221341.2014.918639 |access-date=27 August 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref> These traditions are the [[Spatial analysis|Spatial]] or Locational Tradition, the Man-Land or Human-Environment Interaction Tradition (sometimes referred to as [[Integrated geography]]), the [[Area Studies]] or [[Regional geography|Regional]] Tradition, and the [[Earth Science]] Tradition.<ref name="Traditions1"/><ref name="Traditions2"/><ref name="Traditions3"/> These concepts are broad sets of geography philosophies bound together within the discipline. They are one of many ways geographers organize the major sets of thoughts and philosophies within the discipline.<ref name="Traditions1"/><ref name="Traditions2"/><ref name="Traditions3"/>
===Branches===
{{Main|Outline of geography}}
[[File:CIA World Physical Map (2023).pdf|thumb|upright=1.75|Map of Earth showing both physical features and [[Border#Classification|political boundaries]] from the 2023 CIA World Factbook]]
In another approach to the abovementioned four traditions, geography is organized into applied branches.<ref name="Sala2" /><ref name="Dada1">{{cite journal |last1=Dada |first1=Anup |title=The Process of Geomorphology Related to Sub Branches of Physical Geography |journal=Black Sea Journal of Scientific Research |date=December 2022 |volume=59 |issue=3 |pages=1–2 |url=https://www.sc-media.org/articles/the-process-of-geomorphology-related-to-sub-branches-of-physical-geography-97375.html|access-date=9 May 2023}}</ref> The UNESCO [[Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems]] organizes geography into the three categories of [[human geography]], [[physical geography]], and [[technical geography]].<ref name="Sala1" /><ref name="Ormeling1" /><ref name="Sala2" /><ref name=Tambassi>{{cite book |last1=Tambassi |first1=Timothy |title=The Philosophy of Geo-Ontologies |date=2021 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-030-78144-6 |edition=2nd}}</ref> Some publications limit the number of branches to physical and human, describing them as the principal branches.<ref name="Matthews1" /> Human geography largely focuses on the [[built environment]] and how humans create, view, manage, and influence space.<ref name="Hough1">{{Cite book |last1=Hough |first1=Carole |title=The Oxford Handbook of Names and Naming |last2=Izdebska |first2=Daria |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-965643-1 |editor-last=Gammeltoft |editor-first=Peder |___location=Oxford, United Kingdom |chapter=Names and Geography}}</ref> Human geographers study people and their communities, cultures, economies, and environmental interactions by studying their relations with and across space and place.<ref name="Matthews1" /> Physical geography examines the natural environment and how [[organism]]s, climate, [[soil]], water, and [[landform]]s produce and interact, studying spatial patterns in the natural environment, [[atmosphere]], [[hydrosphere]], [[biosphere]], and [[geosphere]].<ref name="Matthews1" /><ref name="Cotterill">{{Cite web |last=Cotterill |first=Peter D. |date=1997 |title=What is geography? |url=http://www.aag.org/Careers/What_is_geog.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061006152742/http://www.aag.org/Careers/What_is_geog.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date=6 October 2006 |access-date=9 October 2006 |website=AAG Career Guide: Jobs in Geography and related Geographical Sciences |publisher=American Association of Geographers }}</ref> The difference between these approaches led to the development of [[integrated geography]], which combines physical and human geography and concerns the interactions between the environment and humans.<ref name="Hayes1" /> Technical geography involves studying and developing the tools and techniques used by geographers, such as remote sensing, cartography, and geographic information system.<ref name="Haidu1">{{cite journal |last1=Haidu |first1=Ionel |title=What is Technical Geography |journal=Geographia Technica |date=2016 |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=1–5 |doi=10.21163/GT_2016.111.01 |url=https://technicalgeography.org/pdf/1_2016/01_haidu.pdf |access-date=22 July 2022 |archive-date=19 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220119112718/http://www.technicalgeography.org/pdf/1_2016/01_haidu.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Technical geography]] is interested in studying and applying techniques and methods to store, process, analyze, visualize, and use spatial data.<ref name="Dada1"/> It is the newest of the branches, the most controversial, and often other terms are used in the literature to describe the emerging category. These branches use similar geographic philosophies, concepts, and tools and often overlap significantly. Geographers rarely focus on just one of these topics, often using one as their primary focus and then incorporating data and methods from the other branches. Often, geographers are asked to describe what they do by individuals outside the discipline<ref name="Tuan2" /> and are likely to identify closely with a specific branch, or sub-branch when describing themselves to lay people.
==== Physical ====
{{Main|Physical geography}}
Physical geography (or physiography) focuses on geography as an [[Earth science]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/1b.html
|title=1(b). Elements of Geography|website=www.physicalgeography.net}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Physical Geography
|first1=Michael |last1=Pidwirny |first2=Scott |last2=Jones
|url=http://www.physicalgeography.net|year=1999–2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Physical Geography: Great Systems and Global Environments
|first1=William M. |last1=Marsh |first2=Martin M.|last2=Kaufman
|publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2013
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uF3aJSC20yMC&q=physical+geography+system
|isbn=978-0521764285 }}</ref> It aims to understand the physical problems and the issues of [[lithosphere]], [[hydrosphere]], [[Earth's atmosphere|atmosphere]], [[pedosphere]], and global [[flora]] and [[fauna]] patterns ([[biosphere]]). Physical geography is the study of earth's seasons, [[climate]], [[atmosphere]], [[soil]], streams, landforms, and oceans.<ref name="Lockyer1">{{Cite journal |last=Lockyer |first=Norman |date=1900 |title=Physiography and Physical Geography |journal=Nature |volume=63 |issue=1626 |pages=207–208 |bibcode=1900Natur..63..207R |doi=10.1038/063207a0 |issn=0028-0836 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Physical geographers will often work in identifying and monitoring the use of natural resources.
<gallery mode="packed" caption="Physical geography can be divided into many broad categories, including:">
File:Línea de Wallace.jpg|[[Biogeography]]
File:Cyclone Catarina from the ISS on March 26 2004.JPG|[[Climatology]] and [[meteorology]]
File:90 mile beach.jpg|[[Coastal geography]]
File:Gavin Plant.JPG|[[Environmental management]]
File:Delicate Arch LaSalle.jpg|[[Geomorphology]]
File:Receding glacier-en.svg|[[Glaciology]]
File:Meander.svg|[[Hydrology]] and [[hydrography]]
File:Khajuraho-landscape.jpg|[[Landscape ecology]]
File:World11.jpg|[[Oceanography]]
File:Pangea interpretacion.png|alt=a view of the supercontinent of pangea breaking up|[[Palaeogeography]]
File:Soil profile.jpg|[[Pedology]]
File:Milankovitch Variations sv.png|[[Quaternary science]]
</gallery>
==== Human ====
{{Main|Human geography}}
Human geography (or anthropogeography) is a branch of geography that focuses on studying patterns and processes that shape human society.<ref name="HGDICT">{{Cite encyclopedia |year=2000 |title=Human Geography |encyclopedia=The Dictionary of Human Geography |publisher=Blackwell |___location=Oxford |last=Johnston |first=Ron |editor-last=Johnston |editor-first=Ron |pages=353–360 |editor2-last=Gregory |editor2-first=Derek |editor3-last=Pratt |editor3-first=Geraldine |display-editors=3 |editor4-last=Watts |editor4-first=Michael}}</ref> It encompasses the human, political, [[culture|cultural]], social, and economic aspects. In industry, human geographers often work in city planning, public health, or business analysis.
<gallery mode="packed" caption="Human geography can be divided into many broad categories, such as:">
File:
File:Qichwa conchucos 01.jpg|[[Cultural geography]]
File:Pepsi in India.jpg|[[Development geography]]
File:Christaller model 1.jpg|[[Economic geography]]
File:Star of life.svg|[[Health geography]]
File:British Empire 1897.jpg|[[Historical geography]]
File:Internet map 1024 - transparent, inverted.png |[[Internet geography]]
File:UN General Assembly.jpg|[[Political geography]] and [[Geopolitics]]
File:Pyramide Comores.PNG|[[Population geography]] or [[Demography]]
File:ReligionSymbol.svg|[[Religion geography]]
File:US-hoosier-family.jpg|[[Social geography]]
File:Gare du Nord USFRT (Paris Metro).png|[[Transportation geography]]
File:Tourists-2.jpg|[[Tourism geography]]
File:Empire State Building - Flickr id 22550357694.jpg|[[Urban geography]]
</gallery>
Various approaches to the study of human geography have also arisen through time and include [[behavioral geography]], [[culture theory]], [[feminist geography]], and [[geosophy]].
==== Technical ====
{{Main|Technical geography}}
Technical geography concerns studying and developing tools, techniques, and statistical methods employed to collect, analyze, use, and understand spatial data.<ref name="Haidu1"/><ref name=Sala1>{{cite book |last1=Sala |first1=Maria |title=Geography Volume I |date=2009 |publisher=[[Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems|EOLSS]] UNESCO |___location=Oxford, United Kingdom |isbn=978-1-84826-960-6 }}</ref><ref name=Sala2>{{cite book |last1=Sala |first1=Maria |title=Geography – Vol. I: Geography |date=2009 |publisher=[[Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems|EOLSS]] UNESCO |url=https://www.eolss.net/sample-chapters/c01/E6-14.pdf |access-date=30 December 2022}}</ref><ref name ="Ormeling1">{{cite book |last1=Ormeling |first1=Ferjan |title=Geography – Vol. II: Technical Geography Core concepts in the mapping sciences |year=2009 |publisher=[[Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems|EOLSS]] UNESCO |isbn=978-1-84826-960-6 |pages=482 |url=https://www.eolss.net/sample-chapters/c01/e6-14-04.pdf}}</ref> Technical geography is the most recently recognized, and controversial, of the branches. Its use dates back to 1749, when a book published by [[Edward Cave]] organized the discipline into a section containing content such as cartographic techniques and globes.<ref name="cave1">{{cite book |last1=Cave |first1=Edward |title=Geography reformed: a new system of general geography, according to an accurate analysis of the science in four parts. The whole illustrated with notes. |date=1749 |publisher=Edward Cave |___location=London |edition=2nd}}</ref> There are several other terms, often used interchangeably with technical geography to subdivide the discipline, including "techniques of geographic analysis,"<ref>{{cite book |last1=Getis |first1=Arthur |last2=Bjelland |first2=Mark |last3=Getis |first3=Victoria |title=Introduction to Geography |date=2018 |publisher=McGraw Hill |isbn=978-1-259-57000-1 |edition=15th}}</ref> "Geographic Information Technology,"<ref name='intro1'/> "Geography method's and techniques,"<ref>{{cite book |title=Fundamentals of Physical Geography as a Discipline |date=2006 |publisher=National Council of Educational Research and Training |___location=New Delhi |isbn=81-7450-518-0 |pages=1–12 }}</ref> "[[Geographic Information Science]],"<ref name=Ron1>{{cite book |last1=Lake |first1=Ron |last2=Burggraf |first2=David |last3=Trninic |first3=Milan |last4=Rae |first4=Laurie |title=Geography Mark-Up Language: Foundation for the Geo-Web |date=2004 |publisher=John Wiley and Sons Inc. |isbn=0-470-87154-7}}</ref> "[[geoinformatics]]," "[[geomatics]]," and "information geography". There are subtle differences to each concept and term; however, technical geography is one of the broadest, is consistent with the naming convention of the other two branches, has been in use since the 1700s, and has been used by the [[UNESCO]] [[Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems]] to divide geography into themes.<ref name=Sala1/><ref name=Sala2/><ref name="cave1" /> As academic fields increasingly specialize in their nature, technical geography has emerged as a branch of geography specializing in geographic methods and thought.<ref name="Haidu1"/> The emergence of technical geography has brought new relevance to the broad discipline of geography by serving as a set of unique methods for managing the interdisciplinary nature of the phenomena under investigation. While human and physical geographers use the techniques employed by technical geographers, technical geography is more concerned with the fundamental spatial concepts and technologies than the nature of the data.<ref name="Haidu1"/><ref name="Dada1"/> It is therefore closely associated with the spatial tradition of geography while being applied to the other two major branches. A technical geographer might work as a GIS analyst, a GIS developer working to make new software tools, or create general reference maps incorporating human and natural features.<ref name="Kretzschmar1">{{cite book |last1=Kretzschmar Jr. |first1=William A. |editor1-last=Schlüter |editor1-first=Julia |editor2-last=Krug |editor2-first=Manfred |title=Research Methods in Language Variation and Change: Computer mapping of language data |date= 24 October 2013 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781107469846 |page=53}}</ref>
<gallery mode="packed" caption="Technical geography can be divided into many broad categories, such as:">
File:Stourhead Pantheon.jpg|[[Geodesign]]
File:Meridian convergence and spehrical excess.png|[[Geodesy]]
File:Worldwind.png|[[Geoinformatics]]
File:Fig 4.4.png|[[Geographic information science]]
File:Survey instruments-2.png|[[Geomatics]]
File:gislayers.jpg|[[Geovisualization]]
File:Euclidean Voronoi diagram.svg|[[Statistical geography]]
File:Example_krig.png|[[Spatial analysis]]
File:Sample of time geographical description.png|[[Time geography]]
</gallery>
== Methods ==
{{more citations needed section|date=August 2022}}
[[File:Cook chart of New Zealand.jpg|thumb|[[James Cook]]'s 1770 chart of New Zealand]]
All geographic research and analysis start with asking the question "where," followed by "why there." Geographers start with the fundamental assumption set forth in [[Tobler's first law of geography]], that "everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things."<ref name="Tobler1"/><ref name="Tobler2"/>
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 system]]s (GIS).
In their study, geographers use four interrelated approaches:
* Analytical – Asks ''why'' we find features and populations in a specific geographic area.
* Descriptive – Simply specifies the locations of features and populations.
* Regional – Examines systematic relationships between categories for a specific region or ___location on the planet.
* Systematic – Groups geographical knowledge into categories that can be explored globally.
=== Quantitative methods ===
{{Main|Quantitative revolution|Quantitative geography}}
Quantitative methods in geography became particularly influential in the discipline during the quantitative revolution of the 1950s and 60s.<ref name="Fotheringham1">{{cite book |last1=Fotheringham |first1=A. Stewart |last2=Brunsdon |first2=Chris |last3=Charlton |first3=Martin |title=Quantitative Geography: Perspectives on Spatial Data Analysis |date=2000 |publisher=Sage Publications Ltd |isbn=978-0-7619-5948-9}}</ref> These methods revitalized the discipline in many ways, allowing scientific testing of hypotheses and proposing scientific geographic theories and laws.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Gregory|first1=Derek|last2=Johnston|first2=Ron|last3=Pratt|first3=Geraldine|last4=Watts|first4=Michael J.|last5=Whatmore|first5=Sarah|title=The Dictionary of Human Geography|date=2009|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|___location=US & UK|pages=611–612|edition=5th}}</ref> The quantitative revolution heavily influenced and revitalized technical geography, and lead to the development of the subfield of quantitative geography.<ref name="Haidu1" /><ref name="Fotheringham1"/>
==== Quantitative cartography ====
{{Main|Cartography}}
Cartography is the art, science, and technology of making maps.<ref name ="Kainz1">{{cite journal |last1=Kainz |first1=Wolfgang |title=Cartography and the others – aspects of a complicated relationship |journal=Geo-spatial Information Science |date=21 October 2019 |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=52–60 |doi=10.1080/10095020.2020.1718000 |s2cid=214162170 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Cartographers study the Earth's surface representation 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.<ref name="Jenks1">{{cite journal |last1=Jenks |first1=George |title=An Improved Curriculum for Cartographic Training at the College and University Level |journal=Annals of the Association of American Geographers |date=December 1953 |volume=43 |issue=2 |pages=317–331 |doi=10.2307/2560899|jstor=2560899 }}</ref> 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 [[behaviorism|behavioural 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 [[Figure of the Earth|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.
==== Geographic information systems ====
{{Main|Geographic information system}}
<!-- the section's use of a singular verb for a seemingly plural noun is intentional. The name of the academic subject is "Geographic information systems". If you didn't care about parallel construction, you could precede the following with THE SUBJECT OF -->
Geographic information systems (GIS) deal with storing information about the Earth for automatic retrieval by a computer in an accurate manner appropriate to the information's purpose.<ref name="Demers1">{{cite book |last1=DeMers |first1=Michael |title=Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems |date=2009 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons, inc. |isbn=978-0-470-12906-7 |edition=4th}}</ref> 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 [[List of GIS software|GIS software]]. The science of using GIS software and GIS techniques to represent, analyse, and predict the spatial relationships is called ''[[geographic information science]]'' (GISc).<ref name="Monmonier1">{{cite book |last1=Monmonier |first1=Mark |title=Technological Transition in Cartography |date=1985 |publisher=Univ of Wisconsin Pr |isbn=978-0299100704 }}</ref>
==== Remote sensing ====
{{Main|Remote sensing}}
[[File:Death-valley-sar.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Synthetic aperture radar]] image of [[Death Valley]] colored using [[polarimetry]]]]
Remote sensing is the art, science, and technology of obtaining information about Earth's features from measurements made at a distance.<ref name="Jensen1">{{cite book |last1=Jensen |first1=John |title=Introductory digital image processing: a remote sensing perspective |date=2016 |publisher=Pearson Education, Inc |___location=Glenview, IL |isbn=978-0-13-405816-0 |pages=623}}</ref> Remotely sensed data can be either passive, such as traditional [[photography]], or active, such as [[LiDAR]].<ref name="Jensen1"/> A variety of platforms can be used for remote sensing, including [[satellite imagery]], [[aerial photography]] (including consumer drones), and data obtained from hand-held sensors.<ref name="Jensen1"/> Products from remote sensing include [[Digital elevation model]] and cartographic base maps. 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 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 independently or in conjunction with other digital data layers (e.g., in a geographic information system). Remote sensing aids in land use, land cover (LULC) mapping, by helping to determine both what is naturally occurring on a piece of land and what human activities are taking place on it.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Chuanrong |last2=Li |first2=Xinba |title=Land Use and Land Cover Mapping in the Era of Big Data |journal=Land |date=September 2022 |volume=11 |issue=10 |page=1692 |doi=10.3390/land11101692 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2022Land...11.1692Z }}</ref>
====Geostatistics====
{{Main|Geostatistics}}
[[Geostatistics]] deal with [[Numerical data|quantitative data]] analysis, specifically the application of a statistical methodology to the exploration of geographic phenomena.<ref>Krige, Danie G. (1951). "A statistical approach to some basic mine valuation problems on the Witwatersrand". J. of the Chem., Metal. and Mining Soc. of South Africa 52 (6): 119–139</ref> 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 statistics|non-parametric statistical tests]], and a variety of other subjects. Applications of geostatistics rely heavily on [[geographic information system]]s, particularly for the [[interpolation]] (estimate) of unmeasured points. Geographers are making notable contributions to the method of quantitative techniques.
=== Qualitative methods ===
{{Main|Qualitative geography}}
Qualitative methods in geography are descriptive rather than numerical or statistical in nature.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Vibha |first1=Pathak |last2=Bijayini |first2=Jena |last3=Sanjay |first3=Kaira |title=Qualitative research |journal=Perspect Clin Res |date=2013 |volume=4 |issue=3 |page=192 |doi=10.4103/2229-3485.115389 |pmid=24010063 |pmc=3757586 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="RyanBurns1">{{cite journal |last1=Burns |first1=Ryan |last2=Skupin |first2=Andre´ |title=Towards Qualitative Geovisual Analytics: A Case Study Involving Places, People, and Mediated Experience |journal=Cartographica: The International Journal for Geographic Information and Geovisualization |date=2013 |volume=48 |issue=3 |pages=157–176 |doi=10.3138/carto.48.3.1691 |s2cid=3269642 |url=https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/full/10.3138/carto.48.3.1691 |access-date=17 December 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="DeLyser1"/> They add context to concepts, and explore human concepts like beliefs and perspective that are difficult or impossible to quantify.<ref name="RyanBurns1"/> Human geography is much more likely to employ qualitative methods than physical geography. Increasingly, technical geographers are attempting to employ GIS methods to qualitative datasets.<ref name="RyanBurns1"/><ref name="Suchan1">{{cite journal |last1=Suchan |first1=Trudy |last2=Brewer |first2=Cynthia |title=Qualitative Methods for Research on Mapmaking and Map Use |journal=The Professional Geographer |date=2000 |volume=52 |issue=1 |pages=145–154 |doi=10.1111/0033-0124.00212 |bibcode=2000ProfG..52..145S |s2cid=129100721 |url=https://doi.org/10.1111/0033-0124.00212 |access-date=26 August 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
====Qualitative cartography====
[[File:Indo-Aryan language map.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|A compound chorochromatic map of [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan (Indic) languages]]]]
Qualitative cartography employs many of the same software and techniques as quantitative cartography.<ref name="Suchan1"/> It may be employed to inform on map practices, or to visualize perspectives and ideas that are not strictly quantitative in nature.<ref name="Suchan1"/><ref name="RyanBurns1"/> An example of a form of qualitative cartography is a [[Chorochromatic map]] of nominal data, such as land cover or dominant language group in an area.<ref name="Brewer1994">{{cite book |last1=Brewer |first1=Cynthia |editor1-last=MacEachren |editor1-first=A.M. |editor2-last=Taylor |editor2-first=D.R. Fraser |title=Visualization in Modern Cartography |date=1994 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=1483287920 |pages=123–134 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3cP-BAAAQBAJ&q=cynthia+brewer |access-date=24 December 2023 |chapter=Color use guidelines for mapping and visualization}}</ref> Another example is a [[deep map]], or maps that combine geography and storytelling to produce a product with greater information than a two-dimensional image of places, names, and topography.<ref name="Bodenhamer1">Bodenhamer, David J.; John Corrigan; Trevor M. Harris. 2015. ''[https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1zxxzr2 Deep Maps and Spatial Narratives]''. Indiana University Press. DOI: 10.2307/j.ctt1zxxzr2</ref><ref name = "Butts1">{{Cite journal |last1=Butts |first1=Shannon |last2=Jones |first2=Madison |date=20 May 2021 |title=Deep mapping for environmental communication design |url=https://doi.org/10.1145/3437000.3437001 |journal=Communication Design Quarterly |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=4–19 |doi=10.1145/3437000.3437001|s2cid=234794773 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> This approach offers more inclusive strategies than more traditional cartographic approaches for connecting the complex layers that makeup places.<ref name="Butts1" />
====Ethnography====
{{Main|Ethnography}}
Ethnographical research techniques are used by human geographers.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cook |first1=Ian |last2=Crang |first2=Phil |title=Doing Ethnographies |date=1995}}</ref> 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.
====Geopoetics====
{{Main|Geopoetics}}
Geopoetics is an interdisciplinary approach that combines geography and [[poetry]] to explore the interconnectedness between humans, space, place, and the environment.<ref name="Magrane1">{{cite journal |last1=Magrane |first1=Eric |title=Situating Geopoetics |journal=GeoHumanities |date=2015 |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=86–102 |doi=10.1080/2373566X.2015.1071674 |s2cid=219396902 |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/2373566X.2015.1071674 |access-date=21 August 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="Russo1">{{cite book |last1=Magrane |first1=Eric |last2=Russo |first2=Linda |last3=de Leeuw |first3=Sarah |last4=Santos Perez |first4=Craig |title=Geopoetics in Practice |date=2019 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |___location=London |doi=10.4324/9780429032202 |isbn=9780367145385 |s2cid=203499214 |edition=1 |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9780429032202/geopoetics-practice-eric-magrane-linda-russo-sarah-de-leeuw-craig-santos-perez |access-date=21 August 2022}}</ref> Geopoetics is employed as a [[mixed methods]] tool to explain the implications of geographic research.<ref name="Magrane2">{{cite journal |last1=Magrane |first1=Eric |last2=Johnson |first2=Maria |title=An art–science approach to bycatch in the Gulf of California shrimp trawling fishery |journal=Cultural Geographies |date=2017 |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=487–495 |doi=10.1177/1474474016684129 |bibcode=2017CuGeo..24..487M |s2cid=149158790 |url=https://doi.org/10.1177/1474474016684129 |access-date=21 August 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref> It is often employed to address and communicate the implications of complex topics, such as the [[anthropocene]].<ref name="Dialogs1">{{cite journal |last1=Magrane |first1=Eric |title=Climate geopoetics (the earth is a composted poem) |journal=Dialogues in Human Geography |date=2021 |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=8–22 |doi=10.1177/2043820620908390 |s2cid=213112503 |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2043820620908390 |access-date=22 August 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="Dialogs2">{{cite journal |last1=Nassar |first1=Aya |title=Geopoetics: Storytelling against mastery |journal=Dialogues in Human Geography |date=2021 |volume=1 |pages=27–30 |doi=10.1177/2043820620986397 |s2cid=232162263 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Dialogs3">{{cite journal |last1=Engelmann |first1=Sasha |title=Geopoetics: On organising, mourning, and the incalculable |journal=Dialogues in Human Geography |date=2021 |volume=11 |pages=31–35 |doi=10.1177/2043820620986398 |s2cid=232162320 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Dialogs4">{{cite journal |last1=Acker |first1=Maleea |title=Gesturing toward the common and the desperation: Climate geopoetics' potential |journal=Dialogues in Human Geography |date=2021 |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=23–26 |doi=10.1177/2043820620986396 |s2cid=232162312 |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2043820620986396 |access-date=22 August 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="Dialogs5">{{cite journal |last1=Cresswell |first1=Tim |title=Beyond geopoetics: For hybrid texts |journal=Dialogues in Human Geography |date=2021 |volume=11 |pages=36–39 |doi=10.1177/2043820620986399 |s2cid=232162314 |doi-access=free |hdl=20.500.11820/b64b3dd4-c959-4a8e-877f-85d3058ce4b1 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
====Interviews====
{{Main|Interview (research)}}
Geographers employ interviews to gather data and acquire valuable understandings from individuals or groups regarding their encounters, outlooks, and opinions concerning spatial phenomena.<ref name="Dixon1">{{cite book |last1=Dixon |first1=C. |last2=Leach |first2=B. |title=Questionnaires and Interviews in Geographical Research |date=1977 |publisher=Geo Abstracts |isbn=0-902246-97-6 |url=https://alexsingleton.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/18-questionnaires-and-interviews.pdf |archive-date=30 April 2023 |access-date=20 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230430154555/https://alexsingleton.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/18-questionnaires-and-interviews.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Dixon2">{{cite book |last1=Dixon |first1=Chris |last2=Leach |first2=Bridget |title=Survey Research in Underdeveloped Countries |date=1984 |publisher=Geo Books |isbn=0-86094-135-3 |url=https://alexsingleton.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/39-survey-research-in-underdeveloped-countries.pdf |archive-date=11 September 2023 |access-date=20 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230911211543/https://alexsingleton.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/39-survey-research-in-underdeveloped-countries.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Interviews can be carried out through various mediums, including face-to-face interactions, phone conversations, online platforms, or written exchanges.<ref name="DeLyser1" /> Geographers typically adopt a structured or semi-structured approach during interviews involving specific questions or discussion points when utilized for research purposes.<ref name="Dixon1" /> These questions are designed to extract focused information about the research topic while being flexible enough to allow participants to express their experiences and viewpoints, such as through open-ended questions.<ref name="Dixon1" />
== Origin and history ==
{{Main|History of geography}}
The concept of geography is present in all cultures, and therefore the history of the discipline is a series of competing narratives, with concepts emerging at various points across space and time.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Heffernan |first1=Mike |title=Key Concepts in Geography: Histories of Geography |date=2009 |publisher=Sage |isbn=978-1-4129-3022-2 |pages=3–20 |edition=2nd}}</ref> The oldest known [[world map]]s date back to [[ancient Babylon]] from the 9th century BC.<ref name="Raaflaub1">{{Cite book |last1=Raaflaub |first1=Kurt A. |title=Geography and Ethnography: Perceptions of the World in Pre-Modern Societies |last2=Talbert |first2=Richard J.A. |date=2009 |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |isbn=978-1-4051-9146-3}}</ref> The best known [[Babylonia]]n world map, however, is the ''[[Babylonian Map of the World|Imago Mundi]]'' of 600 BC.<ref name="Siebold1">{{Cite web |last=Siebold |first=Jim |date=1998 |title=Babylonian clay tablet, 600 B.C. |url=http://www.henry-davis.com/MAPS/Ancient%20Web%20Pages/103.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161109193653/http://www.henry-davis.com/MAPS/Ancient%20Web%20Pages/103.html |archive-date=9 November 2016 |access-date=10 November 2016 |website=henry-davis.com |publisher=Henry Davis Consulting Inc.}}</ref> The map as reconstructed by [[Eckhard Unger]] shows [[Babylon]] on the [[Euphrates]], surrounded by a circular landmass showing [[Assyria]], [[Urartu]], and several cities, in turn surrounded by a "bitter river" ([[Oceanus]]), with seven islands arranged around it so as to form a seven-pointed star.<ref name="Delano1">{{Cite journal |last=Delano Smith |first=Catherine |year=1996 |title=Imago Mundi's Logo the Babylonian Map of the World |journal=Imago Mundi |volume=48 |pages=209–211 |doi=10.1080/03085699608592846 |jstor=1151277}}</ref> The accompanying text mentions seven outer regions beyond the encircling ocean. The descriptions of five of them have survived.<ref name="Finkel1">{{Cite book |last=Finkel |first=Irving |title=A join to the map of the world: A notable discovery |date=1995 |publisher=British Museum Magazine |isbn=978-0-7141-2073-7}}</ref> In contrast to the ''Imago Mundi'', an earlier Babylonian [[world map]] dating back to the 9th century BC depicted Babylon as being further north from the center of the world, though it is not certain what that center was supposed to represent.<ref name="Raaflaub1"/>
[[File:Eratosthenes_profile.png|thumb|Etching of an ancient seal identified as Eratosthenes. [[Philipp Daniel Lippert]], ''Dactyliothec'', 1767.]]
The ideas of [[Anaximander]] (c. 610–545 BC): considered by later Greek writers to be the true founder of geography, come to us through fragments quoted by his successors.<ref name="Kish1">{{Cite book |last=Kish |first=George |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_6qF4vjZvhYC |title=A Source Book in Geography |date=1978 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-82270-2 |access-date=17 May 2020 |archive-date=24 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160424065455/https://books.google.com/books?id=_6qF4vjZvhYC |url-status=live }}</ref> Anaximander is credited with the invention of the [[gnomon]], the simple, yet efficient Greek instrument that allowed the early measurement of [[latitude]].<ref name="Kish1"/> [[Thales of Miletus|Thales]] is also credited with the prediction of eclipses. The foundations of geography can be traced to ancient cultures, such as the ancient, medieval, and early modern [[History of China|Chinese]]. The [[ancient Greece|Greeks]], who were the first to explore geography as both art and science, achieved this through [[History of cartography|Cartography]], [[Greek philosophy|Philosophy]], and [[Ancient Greek literature|Literature]], or through [[History of mathematics|Mathematics]]. There is some debate about who was the first person to assert that the [[Spherical Earth|Earth is spherical]] in shape, with the credit going either to [[Parmenides]] or [[Pythagoras]]. [[Anaxagoras]] was able to demonstrate that the profile of the Earth was circular by explaining [[eclipse]]s. However, he still believed that the Earth was a flat disk, as did many of his contemporaries. One of the first estimates of the radius of the Earth was made by [[Eratosthenes]].<ref name="Tassoul1">{{Cite book |last1=Tassoul |first1=Jean-Louis |url=https://archive.org/details/concisehistoryof00tass |title=A Concise History of Solar and Stellar Physics |last2=Tassoul |first2=Monique |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-691-11711-9 |___location=London |url-access=registration}}</ref>
The first rigorous system of [[Geographic coordinate system|latitude and longitude]] lines is credited to [[Hipparchus]]. He employed a [[sexagesimal]] system that was derived from [[Babylonian mathematics]]. The meridians were subdivided into 360°, with each degree further subdivided into 60 ([[minute of arc|minutes]]). To measure the longitude at different locations on Earth, he suggested using eclipses to determine the relative difference in time.<ref name="Smith1">{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Sir William |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AvcGAAAAQAAJ |title=Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology: Earinus-Nyx |date=1846 |publisher=Taylor and Walton |volume=2nd |___location=London |access-date=15 May 2020 |archive-date=16 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416171118/https://books.google.com/books?id=AvcGAAAAQAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> The extensive mapping by the [[Roman Empire|Romans]] as they explored new lands would later provide a high level of information for [[Ptolemy]] to construct detailed [[atlas]]es. He extended the work of [[Hipparchus]], using a grid system on his maps and adopting a length of 56.5 miles for a degree.<ref name="Sullivan1">{{Cite web |last=Sullivan |first=Dan |date=2000 |title=Mapmaking and its History |url=http://www.math.rutgers.edu/~cherlin/History/Papers2000/sullivan.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304054812/http://www.math.rutgers.edu/~cherlin/History/Papers2000/sullivan.html |archive-date=4 March 2016 |access-date=10 November 2016 |website=rutgers.edu |publisher=[[Rutgers University]]}}</ref>
From the 3rd century onwards, [[History of China|Chinese]] methods of geographical study and writing of geographical literature became much more comprehensive than what was found in Europe at the time (until the 13th century).<ref name="Needham1">{{Cite book |last=Needham |first=Joseph |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jfQ9E0u4pLAC |title=Mathematics and the Sciences of the Heavens and the Earth |series=Science and Civilization in China |publisher=Caves Books, Ltd. |year=1959 |isbn=978-0-521-05801-8 |volume=3 |___location=Taipei |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160925055940/https://books.google.com/books/about/Science_and_Civilisation_in_China_Volume.html?id=jfQ9E0u4pLAC |archive-date=25 September 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> Chinese geographers such as [[Liu An]], [[Pei Xiu]], [[Jia Dan]], [[Shen Kuo]], [[Fan Chengda]], [[Zhou Daguan]], and [[Xu Xiake]] wrote important treatises, yet by the 17th century advanced ideas and methods of Western-style geography were adopted in China.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}
[[File:PtolemyWorldMap.jpg|thumb|The [[Ptolemy world map]], reconstituted from [[Ptolemy]]'s ''Geographia'', written {{circa|150}}]]
During the [[Middle Ages]], the [[Decline of the Roman Empire|fall of the Roman empire]] led to a shift in the evolution of geography from Europe to the [[Muslim world|Islamic world]].<ref name="Needham1"/> [[Geography in medieval Islam|Muslim geographers]] such as [[Muhammad al-Idrisi]] produced detailed world maps (such as [[Tabula Rogeriana]]), while other geographers such as [[Yaqut al-Hamawi]], [[Abu Rayhan Biruni]], [[Ibn Battuta]], and [[Ibn Khaldun]] provided detailed accounts of their journeys and the geography of the regions they visited. Turkish geographer [[Mahmud al-Kashgari]] drew a world map on a linguistic basis, and later so did [[Piri Reis]] ([[Piri Reis map]]). Further, Islamic scholars translated and [[interpreting|interpreted]] the earlier works of the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] and the [[ancient Greece|Greeks]] and established the [[House of Wisdom]] in [[Baghdad]] for this purpose.<ref name="Nawwab1">{{Cite web |last1=Nawwab |first1=Ismail I. |last2=Hoye |first2=Paul F. |last3=Speers |first3=Peter C. |date=5 September 2018 |title=Islam and Islamic History and The Middle East |url=https://www.islamicity.org/5898/islam-and-islamic-history-and-the-middle-east/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160617153237/http://www.islamicity.com/education/ihame/default.asp?Destination=%2Feducation%2Fihame%2F20.asp |archive-date=17 June 2016 |access-date=10 November 2016 |website=islamicity.com }}</ref> [[Ahmed ibn Sahl al-Balkhi|Abū Zayd al-Balkhī]], originally from [[Balkh]], founded the "Balkhī school" of terrestrial mapping in [[Baghdad]].<ref name="Edson1">{{Cite journal |last1=Edson |first1=Evelyn |last2=Savage-Smith |first2=Emilie |author-link2=Emilie Savage-Smith |date=2007 |title=Medieval Views of the Cosmos |journal=International Journal of the Classical Tradition |volume=13 |issue=3 |pages=61–63 |jstor=30222166}}</ref> Suhrāb, a late tenth century Muslim geographer accompanied a book of geographical coordinates, with instructions for making a rectangular world map with [[equirectangular projection]] or cylindrical equidistant projection.<ref name="Tibbetts1">{{Cite book |last=Tibbetts |first=Gerald R. |url=https://press.uchicago.edu/books/HOC/HOC_V2_B1/Volume2_Book1.html |title=The history of cartography |date=1997 |publisher=Brill |isbn=0-226-31633-5 |editor-last=Harley |editor-first=John Brian |editor-link=John Brian Harley |volume=2 |___location=Chicago |chapter=The Beginnings of a Cartographic Tradition |editor-last2=Woodward |editor-first2=David |editor-link2=David Woodward (cartographer) |access-date=15 May 2020 |archive-date=12 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200512094904/https://press.uchicago.edu/books/HOC/HOC_V2_B1/Volume2_Book1.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[Abu Rayhan Biruni]] (976–1048) first described a polar equi-[[azimuthal equidistant projection]] of the [[celestial sphere]].<ref name="King1">{{Cite book |last=King |first=David A. |url=http://qisar.fssr.uns.ac.id/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Qisar-Roshdi-Rashed-Encyclopedia-of-the-History-of-Arabic-Science.pdf |title=Astronomy and Islamic society: Qibla, genomics and timekeeping |series=Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic Science |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-203-71184-2 |editor-last=Rashed |editor-first=Roshdi |volume=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161111191313/http://qisar.fssr.uns.ac.id/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Qisar-Roshdi-Rashed-Encyclopedia-of-the-History-of-Arabic-Science.pdf |archive-date=11 November 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> He was regarded as the most skilled when it came to mapping cities and measuring the distances between them, which he did for many cities in the Middle East and the [[Indian subcontinent]]. He often combined astronomical readings and mathematical equations to develop methods of pin-pointing locations by recording degrees of [[latitude]] and [[longitude]]. He also developed similar techniques when it came to measuring the heights of mountains, depths of the [[valley]]s, and expanse of the [[horizon]]. He also discussed [[human geography]] and the [[planetary habitability]] of the Earth. He also calculated the [[latitude]] of Kath, [[Khwarezm]], using the maximum altitude of the Sun, and solved a complex [[Geodesy|geodesic]] equation to accurately compute the [[Earth's circumference]], which was close to modern values of the Earth's circumference.<ref name="Aber1">{{Cite web |last=Aber |first=James Sandusky |date=2003 |title=Abu Rayhan al-Biruni |url=http://academic.emporia.edu/aberjame/histgeol/biruni/biruni.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811024630/http://academic.emporia.edu/aberjame/histgeol/biruni/biruni.htm |archive-date=11 August 2011 |access-date=10 November 2016 |website=academic.emporia.edu |publisher=[[Emporia State University]] }}</ref> His estimate of 6,339.9 km for the [[Earth radius]] was only 16.8 km less than the modern value of 6,356.7 km. In contrast to his predecessors, who measured the Earth's circumference by sighting the Sun simultaneously from two different locations, [[al-Biruni]] developed a new method of using [[trigonometry|trigonometric]] calculations based on the angle between a [[plain]] and mountain top, which yielded more accurate measurements of the Earth's circumference, and made it possible for it to be measured by a single person from a single ___location.<ref name="Goodman1">{{Cite book |last=Goodman |first=Lenn Evan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VJ6x-pcqMicC |title=Avicenna |publisher=Routledge |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-415-01929-3 |___location=Great Britain |quote=It was Biruni, not Avicenna, who found a way for a single man, at a single moment, to measure the earth's circumference, by trigonometric calculations based on angles measured from a mountaintop and the plain beneath it – thus improving on Eratosthenes' method of sighting the sun simultaneously from two different sites, applied in the ninth century by astronomers of the Khalif al-Ma'mun. |access-date=3 May 2020 |archive-date=16 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416171106/https://books.google.com/books?id=VJ6x-pcqMicC |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Geographia Generalis 1733 Figure 30.jpg|thumb| Map of southern Atlantic Ocean from 1733 edition of the ''[[Geographia Generalis]]'']]
The European [[Age of Discovery]] during the 16th and the 17th centuries, where many new lands were discovered and accounts by European explorers such as [[Christopher Columbus]], [[Marco Polo]], and [[James Cook]] revived a desire for both accurate geographic detail and more solid theoretical foundations in Europe. In 1650, the first edition of the ''[[Geographia Generalis]]'' was published by [[Bernhardus Varenius]], which was later edited and republished by others including [[Isaac Newton]].<ref name="Baker1955">{{cite journal |last1=Baker |first1=J. N. L. |title=The Geography of Bernhard Varenius |journal=Transactions and Papers (Institute of British Geographers) |date=1955 |volume=21 |issue=21 |pages=51–60 |doi=10.2307/621272|jstor=621272 }}</ref><ref name="Warntz1989">{{cite journal |last1=Warntz |first1=William |title=Newton, the Newtonians, and the Geographia Generalis Varenii |journal=Annals of the Association of American Geographers |date=1989 |volume=79 |issue=2 |pages=165–191 |doi=10.2307/621272 |jstor=621272 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2563251 |access-date=9 June 2024|url-access=subscription }}</ref> This textbook sought to integrate new scientific discoveries and principles into classical geography and approach the discipline like the other sciences emerging, and is seen by some as the division between ancient and modern geography in the West.<ref name="Baker1955" /><ref name="Warntz1989" />
The ''Geographia Generalis'' contained both theoretical background and practical applications related to ship navigation.<ref name="Warntz1989" /> The remaining problem facing both explorers and geographers was finding the latitude and longitude of a geographic ___location. While the problem of latitude was solved long ago, but that of longitude remained; agreeing on what zero meridians should be was only part of the problem. It was left to [[John Harrison]] to solve it by inventing the chronometer [[Harrison Number Four|H-4]] in 1760, and later in 1884 for the [[International Meridian Conference]] to adopt by convention the [[Greenwich meridian]] as zero meridians.<ref name="Aber1" />
The 18th and 19th centuries were the times when geography became recognized as a discrete [[List of academic disciplines|academic discipline]], and became part of a typical university curriculum in Europe (especially Paris and [[Berlin]]). The development of many geographic societies also occurred during the 19th century, with the foundations of the [[Société de Géographie]] in 1821, the [[Royal Geographical Society]] in 1830, [[Russian Geographical Society]] in 1845, [[American Geographical Society]] in 1851, the [[Royal Danish Geographical Society]] in 1876 and the [[National Geographic Society]] in 1888.<ref name="t118">{{cite book | last1=Livingstone | first1=David N. | last2=Withers | first2=Charles W. J. | title=Geographies of Nineteenth-Century Science | publisher=University of Chicago Press | publication-place=Chicago; London | date=2011-07-15 | isbn=978-0-226-48726-7 | page=29}}</ref> The influence of [[Immanuel Kant]], [[Alexander von Humboldt]], [[Carl Ritter]], and [[Paul Vidal de la Blache]] can be seen as a major turning point in geography from philosophy to an academic subject.<ref name="Societe1">{{Cite web |last=Société de Géographie |date=2016 |title=Société de Géographie, Paris, France |trans-title=Who are we ? – Society of Geography |url=http://www.socgeo.org/la-societe/qui-sommes-nous |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161106113117/http://www.socgeo.org/la-societe/qui-sommes-nous/ |archive-date=6 November 2016 |access-date=10 November 2016 |website=socgeo.com |publisher=Société de Géographie |language=fr }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=About Us |url=https://www.rgs.org/about/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018192946/http://www.rgs.org/AboutUs/About%2Bus.htm |archive-date=18 October 2016 |access-date=10 November 2016 |website=rgs.org |publisher=[[Royal Geographical Society]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Русское Географическое Общество (основано в 1845 г.) |trans-title=Russian Geographical Society |url=https://www.rgo.ru/ru |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120524183911/http://www.rgo.org.ru/ |archive-date=24 May 2012 |access-date=10 November 2016 |website=rgo.ru |publisher=[[Russian Geographical Society]] |language=ru}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=History |url=http://americangeo.org/history/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161017130118/http://americangeo.org/history/ |archive-date=17 October 2016 |access-date=10 November 2016 |website=amergeog.org |publisher=The American Geographical Society}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=National Geographic Society |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/p/io/unesco/members/48805.htm |access-date=10 November 2016 |website=state.gov |publisher=U.S. Department of State |archive-date=23 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191223031540/https://2009-2017.state.gov/p/io/unesco/members/48805.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Geographers such as [[Richard Hartshorne]] and [[Joseph Kerski]] have regarded both Humboldt and Ritter as the founders of modern geography, as Humboldt and Ritter were the first to establish geography as an independent scientific discipline.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hartshorne |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Hartshorne |date=1939 |title=The pre-classical period of modern geography |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00045603909357282 |journal=Annals of the Association of American Geographers |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=35–48 |doi=10.1080/00045603909357282 |via=Taylor & Francis|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kerski |first=Joseph J. |author-link=Joseph Kerski |title=Interpreting Our World: 100 Discoveries That Revolutionized Geography |publisher=ABC-Clio |year=2016 |isbn=9781610699204 |pages=284}}</ref>
[[File:Waldo Tobler 2007.jpg|thumb|upright|Waldo Tobler in front of the Newberry Library. Chicago, November 2007]]
Over the past two centuries, the advancements in technology with computers have led to the development of [[geomatics]] and new practices such as participant observation and geostatistics being incorporated into geography's portfolio of tools. In the West during the 20th century, the discipline of geography went through four major phases: [[environmental determinism]], [[regional geography]], the [[quantitative revolution]], and [[critical geography]]. The strong interdisciplinary links between geography and the sciences of geology and [[botany]], as well as economics, sociology, and [[demographics]], have also grown greatly, especially as a result of [[earth system science]] that seeks to understand the world in a holistic view. New concepts and philosophies have emerged from the rapid advancement of computers, quantitative methods, and interdisciplinary approaches. The 1962 book ''[[Theoretical Geography]]'' by [[William Bunge]], which argued for a [[nomothetic]] approach to geography and that from a purely spatial perspective there was no real difference between human and physical geography, has been described by [[Kevin R. Cox]] as "perhaps the seminal text of the spatial-quantitative revolution."<ref name="Goodchild2008">{{cite book |last1=Goodchild |first1=Michael F |editor1-last=Hubbard |editor1-first=Phil |editor2-last=Kitchin |editor2-first=Rob |editor3-last=Valentine |editor3-first=Gill |title=Key Texts in Human Geography |date=2008 |publisher=SAGE Publications Ltd |isbn=978-1412922616 |pages=9–16 |url=https://sk.sagepub.com/dict/edvol/key-texts-in-human-geography/toc |access-date=18 March 2025 |chapter=2 Theoretical Geography (1962): William Bunge}}</ref><ref name="Cox2001">{{cite journal |last1=Cox |first1=Kevin R. |title=Bunge, W. 1962: Theoretical geography: Commentary 1 |journal=Progress in Human Geography |date=2001 |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=71–73 |doi=10.1191/030913201673714256 |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1191/030913201673714256 |access-date=18 March 2025 |series=Classics in human geography revisited|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In 1970, [[Waldo Tobler]] proposed the [[Tobler's first law of geography|first law of geography]], "everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things."<ref name="Tobler1"/><ref name="Tobler2"/> This law summarizes the first assumption geographers make about the world.
== Related fields ==
===Geology===
{{Main|Geology}}
[[File:Cycle of rocks 2.png|thumb|The [[rock cycle]] shows the relationship between [[igneous]], [[sedimentary]], and [[metamorphic]] [[rock (geology)|rock]]s.]]
The discipline of geography, especially physical geography, and geology have significant overlap. In the past, the two have often shared academic departments at universities, a point that has led to conflict over resources.<ref name="Smith2">{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Neil |title="Academic War Over the Field of Geography": The Elimination of Geography at Harvard, 1947-1951 |journal=Annals of the Association of American Geographers |date=1987 |volume=77 |issue=2 |pages=155–172 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-8306.1987.tb00151.x |jstor=2562763 |s2cid=145064363 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2562763 |access-date=18 May 2023}}</ref> Both disciplines do seek to understand the [[rocks]] on the Earth's surface and the processes that change them over time. Geology employs many of the tools and techniques of technical geographers, such as GIS and remote sensing to aid in [[geological mapping]].<ref name="Compton1">{{Cite book |isbn=978-0-471-82902-7 |author= Compton, Robert R. |year= 1985 |publisher= Wiley |___location= New York |title= Geology in the field}}</ref> However, geology includes research that goes beyond the spatial component, such as the chemical analysis of rocks and [[biogeochemistry]].<ref name="Gorham 1">{{Cite journal |last=Gorham |first=Eville |date=1 January 1991 |title=Biogeochemistry: its origins and development |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00002942 |journal=Biogeochemistry |language=en |volume=13 |issue=3 |pages=199–239 |doi=10.1007/BF00002942 |bibcode=1991Biogc..13..199G |s2cid=128563314 |issn=1573-515X|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
===History===
{{Main|History}}
The discipline of History has significant overlap with geography, especially human geography.<ref name="Bryce1">{{cite journal |last1=Bryce |first1=James |title=The Importance of Geography in Education |journal=The Geographical Journal |date=1902 |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=29–32 |doi=10.2307/1775737|jstor=1775737 }}</ref><ref name="Darby1">{{Cite book|title=The Relations of History and Geography: Studies in England, France, and the United States|last=Darby|first=Henry Clifford|author-link=Clifford Darby|publisher=University of Exeter Press|year=2002|isbn=978-0859896993|___location=Exeter|page=14}}</ref> Like geology, history and geography have shared university departments. Geography provides the spatial context within which historical events unfold.<ref name="Bryce1"/> The physical geographic features of a region, such as its landforms, climate, and resources, shape human settlements, trade routes, and economic activities, which in turn influence the course of historical events.<ref name="Bryce1"/> Thus, a historian must have a strong foundation in geography.<ref name="Bryce1"/><ref name="Darby1"/> Historians employ the techniques of technical geographers to create [[historical atlas]]es and maps.
===
[[File:Apollo15DunaTisza.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Photograph from the [[Apollo 15]] command module ''Endeavour'' of the [[rille]]s in the vicinity of the crater [[Aristarchus (crater)|Aristarchus]] on the [[Moon]].]]
{{Main|Planetary science}}
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 [[planet]]s of the [[Solar System]] and even beyond.<ref name="Kereszturi2012">{{cite journal |last1=Kereszturi |first1=Akos |last2=Hyder |first2=David |title=Planetary Science in Higher Education: Ideas and Experiences |journal=Journal of Geography in Higher Education |date=2012 |volume=36 |issue=4 |pages=10.1080/03098265.2012.654466 |doi=10.1080/03098265.2012.654466 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03098265.2012.654466 |access-date=30 April 2025|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The study of systems larger than the Earth itself usually forms part of [[Astronomy]] or [[Cosmology]], while the study of other planets is usually called [[planetary science]]. Alternative terms such as [[areography (geography of Mars)]] have been employed to describe the study of other celestial objects.<ref name="Areography1" /><ref name="Areoography2" /><ref name="WilliamSheeham2014" /> Ultimately, geography may be considered a subdiscipline within planetary science, and planetary science link geography with fields like astronomy and physics.<ref name="Kereszturi2012" />
== See also ==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* {{annotated link|Earth analog}}
* {{annotated link|Geologic time scale}}
* {{annotated link|Geophysics}}
* {{annotated link|History of Earth}}
* {{annotated link|Terrestrial planet}}
* {{annotated link|Theoretical planetology}}
{{div col end}}
== References ==
{{reflist}}
== External links ==
{{sister project links|collapsible=true|commons=y|b=Subject:Geography|v=y|s=y|species=no|voy=no|d=Q1071|wikt=y}}
* [https://www.britannica.com/science/geography Geography] at the ''[[Encyclopaedia Britannica]]'' website
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{{Social sciences}}
{{Glossaries of science and engineering}}
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