Geography

Royal Geographic Society explains geography as the study of Earth’s landscape, people, places and environment. It is quite simply about the world in which we live. Geography is unique in its nature.  It bridges the gap between the social sciences and the physical sciences.  Social science studies the human society and social relationships. It studies the dynamics of culture, societies and economies where as physical science studies the physical properties, phenomena ad environment.  Physical science in general is categorized in four broad categories; astronomy, physics, chemistry and earth sciences. 

In general, Geography informs us about the following things:

Geography informs us about

-The places and communities in which we live and work

-Our natural environments and the pressures they face

-The interconnectedness of the world and our communities within it

-How and why the world is changing, globally and locally

-How our individual and societal actions contribute to those changes

-The choices that exist in managing our world for the future

-The importance of location in business and decision-making

Origin of the Subject

Geography has always been a subject of intense interest from the primitive time. The oldest world map was believed to be made during 9^th century in ancient Babylon.  Greeks were the first to explore geography both in its science and art form. Anaximander, a pre Socratic Greek philosopher is considered to be the true founder of Geography. Anaximander invented an instrument called gnomon, a latitude measurement instrument. This instrument was believed to be very simple and very efficient. Another pre Socratic Greek philosopher Thales is also significantly contributed to the evolution of Geography. He is also credited with the prediction of eclipses.

There was a long lasting among the early people as to the size and shape of the earth’s surface. Some believed the surface to be circular and some believed to be flat. Anaxagoras firmly believed that the surface of the earth was flat. It was Eratosthenes of Cyrene, a Greek mathematician, geographer, poet, astronomer and music theorist who first made the estimate of the radius of the earth. Hipparchus, another Greek astronomer and geographer and mathematician is credited with the invention of the first rigorous system of latitude and longitude lines. From 3rd century onwards, and during the middle age, Geography had gone through a path of rapid evolution with great contributions from the scientists from China, Europe and the Islamic World.

Geography - meaning and definitions

The word Geography has been derived from the Greek word ‘geographia’ meaning earth description. The first known use of the word is during 15^th century. The root words for the word Geography is ‘ge’ for earth and ‘grapho’ for ‘to write’. The literal translation of this would be to describe or write about the earth. As mentioned in the preface geography as a discipline covers broadly human geography and physical geography. Following are some definitions for better understanding of the subject:

 As per Professor Graves,

“a discipline in which its practitioners privilege issues of place and space as they seek understanding of, and provide explanations regarding, the world in which we live.” 

As per Dobson,

“Geography is to space what history is to time.” Dobson conveys geography as knowledge of places, an understanding of people in a spatial sense, and how these places and people function; how humanity and culture flows based off scientific disciplines gathered into an analysis machine.'

Massey’s introduction to Geography Matters provides a definition of geography in terms of a human geography in three separate relationships.

"The first relationship is that of the social and the spatial, the second is that of the social and the natural, and the third is that of the relationship between different elements such as economy, politics, and social structure. According to Massey, geography is defined in a social and the spatial sense, which is to say that geography, after a long evolution of sorts, is now often thought of as a region, area, or locality, associated with facts and social studies. Things such as economics and social values now play a part in the study of areas. Massey also defines geography in a sense of social and natural, stating that the natural world and the social world, two spheres which can be referenced as natural Mother Nature and progressive mankind, are in conflict. Society is trying to control nature, and often acts as if it is in charge of nature, while its very actions upon nature are in fact supporting nature’s control upon society. As Massey writes, “From acid rain to potential climatic disaster through devastation of the world’s major forests, ‘nature’ is hitting back.” The third definition of geography which Massey describes indulges the reader with the facts that aspects of social sciences such as sociology, politics, and economics, “tend to focus on specific parts of society,” while geography is concerned with, “how those different elements come together in particular spaces to form the complex mosaic which is society.”

Hettner

Geography studies the differences of phenomena usually related in different parts of the earth’s surface.

Geography as a discipline

The essence of studying Geography is hidden in our existence. We are under the influence of nature and activity of the earth and the universe in every moment of our life. Geography explains these phenomena in a frame of cause and effect relationship.   Geography doesn’t only help in the interpretation of these phenomena but also foresee the phenomena in the future. Geography as an academic discipline got reorganization during 18^th century. Many of the European universities included Geography as an independent discipline in the university curriculum. The names and works of Alexander von Humboldt and Karl Ritter is said to be the beginning of Geography as a discipline in modern times. With the advancement of technology and research method, the subject has been widely explored and accepted as a discipline word over during the post war era.  Edward Ullman and William Garrison of the United States and Peter Haggett of Great Britain are the leading exponents. 

Geography is also known as a discipline of synthesis. Geography is closely connected to many other branches of social and physical sciences as shown in the above picture. It has strong interface with both natural and physical sciences. The scope of the subject is extremely wide in modern times. It is also believed that each and every historical event of the world can be interpreted historically.

Branches of Geography

As a systematic approach Geography has four main branches. These are:

·         Physical Geography

·         Human Geography

·         Integrated Geography or Environmental Geography

·         Geomatics

·         Regional Geography

Physical Geography

Physical Geography, also known as physiography is related to Earth Science.  It is a branch of natural science. It aims to understanding the physical lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, pedosphere and biosphere. 

Physical Geography is also divided in to four broad categories.

Geomorphology: This field of study is associated with the study of landforms, their forms and related process.

Climatology: It studies the structure of atmosphere and elements of weather and climates and climatic types and region. 

Hydrology:  Hydrology is the study of the water over the surface of the earth. It includes Oceans, Lakes, rivers and other water bodies and its effect on different life forms.

Soil geography: Soil geography is studying about soil formation, soil status, soil fertility and distribution and use.

Human Geography

This is an important branch of Geography. It is the study of the people of the earth, communities and landscapes. It deals with the study people and their interaction with the earth and inherent patter and processes that shape human society.  Human geography has been classified in to five categories:

Social/Cultural Geography It studies the study of society and its spatial dynamics as well as the cultural elements contributed by the society.

Population and Settlement Geography   Population geography studies every aspect of population. Its growth, distribution,, density sex ratio, migration, occupational structure etc. Settlement Geography covers the study of Settlement in rural and urban areas.

Economic Geography Economic geography studies the economic activities of the people of the all strata of the society. It also covers agriculture, industry and all other establishment associated with the economy.

Historical Geography It studies geography from a historical perspective. It covers the historical processes through which the space gets organized. It studies the process of evolution of a region from past to the present.

Integrated Geography/ Environmental Geography

It is the branch of geography that deals with the spatial aspects of relationship between humans and the natural world.  The subject needs a fair understanding of the tradition dimensions of the physical and the human geography. It also observes the ways human society conceptualizes the environment. It is also considered as a bridge between the human and physical geography.

Geomatics

The term Geomatics is coined by Pollock and Wright in 1969. Their intention is to combine the terms geodesy and geoinformatics. Geomatics involves the tools and techniques used in land surveying, cartography, geographic information, remote sensing, global navigation satellite systems, photogrammetry and other related forms of earth mapping.  

Regional Geography

It studies regions on earth. Regional geography covers the study of the region of all sizes on the earth. While studying regions, Regional geography pays careful attentions to the areas of natural elements, regionalization and human elements. It is still being taught in some of the universities in Northern and Latin America, Europe and Asia as a major subject.

  

Career in Geography

Geography as a subject includes diverse areas of study in it eventually opening diverse career options for students. With the technological development and evolution of the concepts of Remote Sensing and geographical Information System (GIS) numerous career opportunities are now available in the market both in the Government and Private sector. However, it must be said that these careers are exciting as well challenging. Remote Sensing is a science that gathers information about an object without coming to the direct contact with the object. GIS is a digital system of representing and analysing data and information about the features and event taking place on the surface of the earth.

Some of the areas with bright career options available for a geography student are mentioned below:

• ·         Cartography
• ·         Geographic Information System
• ·         Remote Sensing Specialist
• ·         Photogrammetrists
• ·         Surveyors
• ·         Surveying technicians
• ·         Environmental Geography
• ·         Climatology
• ·         Economic Geography
• ·         Population Geography
• ·         Urban and Regional Planning
• ·         Research
• ·         Teaching
• ·         Consultant
• ·         Seismological Department
• ·         Social Science Geographer
• ·         Geomorphology
• ·         Forestry and conservation science

Other Options in Geography

Apart from the above mentioned careers there are number of other options available for a geography student to start a dynamic career with.  These are:

Location Analyst:  Location Analysts create maps to show the pros and cons of various sites

Real Estate Development:  A Geography student with the help of the techniques like GIS mapping could make a way for a specialized career in the real estate area.

Tourism: Tourism sector is another great area of opportunity for a geography student. People associated with Tourism needs special knowledge culture and natural features of an area. A geography student can exploit this area to build an excellent career.