Geography

Geography, science that deals with the distribution and arrangement of all elements of the earth's surface. The word geography was adopted in the 200s bc by the Greek scholar Eratosthenes and means “earth description.” Geographic study encompasses the environment of the earth's surface and the relationship of humans to this environment, which includes both physical and cultural geographic features. Physical geographic features include the climate, land and water, and plant and animal life. Cultural geographic features include artificial entities, such as nations, settlements, lines of communication, transportation, buildings, and other modifications of the physical geographic environment. Geographers use economics, history, biology, geology, and mathematics in their studies.

Geography may be divided into two fundamental branches: systematic and regional geography. Systematic geography is concerned with individual physical and cultural elements of the earth. Regional geography is concerned with various areas of the earth, particularly the unique combinations of physical and cultural features that characterize each region and distinguish one region from another. Because the division is based only on a difference in approach to geographic studies, the two branches are interdependent and are usually applied together. Each branch is divided into several fields that specialize in particular aspects of geography.