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Outline
I. Defining Geography
Geog 1 Introduction II. Fundamental Concepts in/of Geography
III. Traditions in Geography

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Geography, Geographer, Geographic, Geographical:

What’s in a Name? What is Geography?
 Geography – refers to the academic discipline and its subject
matter, some of which is shared with other natural and social Geography has been variously defined as the
science discipline.
study of the earth as the home of human
 Geographer – refers to practitioners of geography who have
acquired expertise in the discipline’s knowledge, perspectives and beings, the study of human-environment
techniques, either through academic training or other professional interaction, and the study of spatial processes
experience.
and regional development (Mabogunje, 1996).
 Geographic – differentiates the subject matter of geography from
the academic discipline.

 Geographical  traditions of/in geography

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Hartshorne (1959: 21): Yeates (1968:1):

Geography is concerned with the accurate, orderly and Geography can be regarded as a science concerned with
rational description and interpretation of the variable
characters of the Earth’s surface. the rational development, and testing, of theories that
explain and predict the spatial distribution and
location of various characteristics on the surface of the
Dunford (1981: 85):
earth.
Geography is the study of spatial forms and structures
produced historically and specified by modes of
production.
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Divisions
Haggett (1981: 133):

[Geography is] the study of the Earth’s surface as the space within which Physical Geog/Human Geog
the human population lives.

Haggett (1990): Regional Geog/Topical Geog

Geographers are concerned with three kinds of analysis:

Theoretical Geog/Applied Geog
 Spatial (location): numbers, characteristics, activities and distributions.

 Ecological: the relationship between humans and environment.

 Regional: the combination of the first two themes in areal differentiation.

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Physical/Human Geography Regional/Topical Geography

Regional or special geography Topical or systematic (general)
geography
An inventory analysis of any
individual place Discussion of universal laws
and principles that apply to all
Is concerned with the ways that places
unique combinations of
environmental and human
factors produce territories with
distinctive landscapes and
cultural attributes

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Regional/Topical Geography Theoretical/Applied Geog

Categories in describing a place:
 Description of local physical environment (climate, topography,
soils, and other physical attributes);  Geog 119 (Geog of Movement)  Geog 183
 the stature of the residents; (Transportation Geog)
 employment;
 virtues, vices, learning, and wit;
 customs;  Geog 209 (Spatial Analysis)  Geog 241/242 (Applied
 speech and language; Geog I/II)
 political government;
 religion and church government;
 cities and renowned places;  Geog 101 (Climatology)  Geog 212 (Applied
 history; Climatology)
 famous people and inventors

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In some rather deep sense, we are all geographers,

historians and philosophers (Gould, 1996). Geography’s Fundamental Concepts:
 Where is it? The first question establishes the location of the
subject under investigation.

 Once a place is “located” in the geographer’s sense of the word,

SPACE
the next question is why is it here/there?

 The element of time is another extremely important ingredient

in the geographical mix.
PLACE
 Geography is truly an integrating discipline. The geographer
assembles evidence from many sources in order to explain a
particular pattern or ongoing processes of change

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Geography’s Fundamental Concepts: Geography’s Fundamental Concepts:

 Location – can be nominal, absolute or relative.
 Location
 Distance – can be an absolute physical measure, using units such as kilometers or
 Distance miles, or they can be relative expressed in terms of time, effort or cost.

 Scale  Scale – refers to level of analysis

 Direction  Direction – refers to the angular orientation of a thing, a person or an object

 Accessibility  Accessibility – the opportunity for contact or for interaction from a given point of
location
 Spatial Interaction
 Spatial Interaction – all kinds of movement and flows that involve human activity
 Spatial Diffusion
 Spatial Diffusion
 Distribution
 Distribution - pertains to how things are located and situated in space
(patterns and density)
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Traditions in Geography
1. Spatial Tradition – geometry and movement
2. Area Studies Tradition – “regional geography”
3. Man-Land/Human-Environment Tradition –
environment and society interaction
 Environmental determinism vs Possibilism
4. Earth Sciences Tradition – physical geography

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