Geography...
• Provides the substance through which children can learn about people and places, the natural environment, and the capacity of the earth to support life.
• Is divided into five fundamental themes (National Council for Geographic Education, 1984): location, place, human-environment interaction, movement and regions.
• Is divided into five fundamental themes (National Council for Geographic Education, 1984): location, place, human-environment interaction, movement and regions.
The Earth
Seven continents - Africa, Asia, Antarctica, Australia, Europe, North America and South America.
Four major oceans - the Atlantic, Arctic, Indian and Pacific.
Four major oceans - the Atlantic, Arctic, Indian and Pacific.
Time Zones
More Helpful Information
The science of geography is likely the oldest of all sciences. Geography is the answer to the question that the earliest humans asked, "What's over there?" Exploration and the discovery of new places, new cultures, and new ideas have always been basic components of geography.
Thus, geography is often called the "mother of all sciences" as studying other people and other places led to other scientific fields such as biology, anthropology, geology, mathematics, astronomy, chemistry, among others.
Many famous geographers and non-geographers have attempted to define the discipline in a few short words. The concept of geography has also changed throughout the ages, making a definition for such a dynamic and all-encompassing subject difficult. With the help of Gregg Wassmansdorf, here are some ideas about geography from throughout the ages:
· "The purpose of geography is to provide 'a view of the whole' earth by mapping the location of places." - Ptolemy, 150 CE
· "Synoptic discipline synthesizing findings of other sciences through the concept of Raum (area or space)." - Immanuel Kant, c. 1780
· "Synthesizing discipline to connect the general with the special through measurement, mapping, and a regional emphasis." - Alexander von Humboldt, 1845
· "Man in society and local variations in environment." - Halford Mackinder, 1887
· "How environment apparently controls human behavior." - Ellen Semple, c. 191
· "Study of human ecology; adjustment of man to natural surroundings." - Harland Barrows, 1923
· "The science concerned with the formulation of the laws governing the spatial distribution of certain features on the surface of the earth." - Fred Schaefer, 1953
· "To provide accurate, orderly, and rational description and interpretation of the variable character of the earth surface." - Richard Hartshorne, 1959
· "Geography is both science and art" - H.C. Darby, 1962
· "To understand the earth as the world of man" - J.O.M. Broek, 1965
· "Geography is fundamentally the regional or chorological science of the surface of the earth." - Robert E. Dickinson, 1969
· "Study of variations in phenomena from place to place." - Holt-Jensen, 1980
· "...concerned with the locational or spatial variation in both physical and human phenomena at the earth's surface" - Martin Kenzer, 1989
· "Geography is the study of earth as the home of people" - Yi-Fu Tuan, 1991
· "Geography is the study of the patterns and processes of human (built) and environmental (natural) landscapes, where landscapes comprise real (objective) and perceived (subjective) space." - Gregg Wassmansdorf, 1995
Divisions of Geography
Today, geography is commonly divided into two major branches - 1) cultural geography (also called human geography) and 2) physical geography.
The field of geography is a vast and wondrous academic field with thousands of researchers working in dozens of interesting sub-disciplines or branches of geography. There is a branch of geography for just about any subject on earth. In an effort to acquaint the reader with the diversity of the branches of geography, I summarize many below.
Human Geography
Many branches of geography are found within human geography, a major branch of geography that studies people and their interaction with the earth and with their organization of space on the earth's surface.
Economic Geography
Economic geographers examine the distribution of production and distribution of goods, the distribution of wealth, and the spatial structure of economic conditions.
Population Geography
Population geography is often equated with demography but population geography is more than just patters of birth, death, and marriage. Population geographers are concerned with the distribution, migration, and growth of population in geographic areas.
Geography of Religions
This branch of geography studies the geographic distribution of religious groups, their cultures, and built environments.
Medical Geography
Medical geographers study the geographic distribution of disease (including epidemics and pandemics), illness, death and health care.
Recreation, Tourism, and Sport Geography
The study of leisure-time activities and their impact on local environments. As tourism is one of the world's largest industries, it involves a great number of people making very temporary migrations and is thus of great interest to geographers.
Military Geography
Practitioners of military geography are most often found within the military but the branch looks not only at the geographic distribution of military facilities and troops but also utilizes geographic tools to develop military solutions.
Political Geography
Political geography investigates all aspects of boundaries, country, state, and nation development, international organizations, diplomacy, internal country subdivisions, voting, and more.
Agricultural and Rural Geography
Geographers in this branch study agriculture and rural settlement, the distribution of agriculture and the geographic movement and access to agricultural products, and land use in rural areas.
Transportation Geography
Transportation geographers research transportation networks (both private and public) and the use of those networks for moving people and goods.
Urban Geography
The branch of urban geography investigates the location, structure, development, and growth of cities -- from tiny village to huge megalopolis.
Physical Geography
Physical geography is another major branch of geography. It is concerned with the natural features on or near the surface of the earth.
Biogeography
Biographers study the geographic distribution of plants and animals on the earth in the subject known as biogeography.
Water Resources
Geographers working in the water resources branch of geography look at the distribution and use of water across the planet within the hydrologic cycle and of human-developed systems for water storage, distribution, and use.
Climate
Climate geographers investigate the distribution of long-term weather patterns and activities of the earth's atmosphere.
Global Change
Geographers researching global change explore the long term changes occurring to the plant earth based on human impacts on the environment.
Geomorphology
Geomorphologists study the landforms of the planet, from their development to their disappearance through erosion and other processes.
Hazards Geography
As with many branches of geography, hazards combines work in physical and human geography. Hazard geographers research extreme events known as hazards or disaster and explore the human interaction and response to these unusual natural or technological events.
Mountain Geography
Mountain geographers look at the development of mountain systems and at the humans who live in higher altitudes and their adaptations to these environments.
Cryosphere Geography
Cryosphere geography explores the ice of the earth, especially glaciers and ice sheets. Geographers look at the past distribution of ice on the planet and ice-cause features from glaciers and ice sheets.
Arid Regions
Geographers studying arid regions examine the deserts and dry surfaces of the planet. The explore how humans, animals, and plants make their home in dry or arid regions and the use of resources in these regions.
Coastal and Marine Geography
Within coastal and marine geography, there are geographers researching the coastal environments of the planet and how humans, coastal life, and coastal physical features interact.
Soils Geography
Soil geographers study the upper layer of the lithosphere, the soil, of the earth and its categorization and patterns of distribution.
Cultural geography is the branch of geography dealing with human culture and its impact on the earth. Cultural geographers study languages, religion, foods, building styles, urban areas, agriculture, transportation systems, politics, economies, population and demographics, and more.
Physical geography is the branch of geography dealing with the natural features of the earth, the home of humans. Physical geography looks at the water, air, animals, and land of the planet earth (i.e. everything that is part of the four spheres - the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere.) Physical geography is closely related to geography's sister science - geology - but physical geography focuses more on the landscapes at the surface of the earth and not what is inside our planet.
Other key areas of geography include regional geography (which involves the in-depth study and knowledge of a particular region and its cultural as well as its physical characteristics) and geographic technologies like GIS (geographic information systems) and GPS (global positioning system).
An important system for dividing the subject of geography is known as the Four Traditions of Geography.
History of Geography
The history of geography as a scientific discipline can be traced back to the Greek scholar Eratosthenes. It was further developed in the modern era by Alexander von Humboldt and from there, you can trace the history of geography in the United States.
Link: http://geography.about.com/od/studygeography/a/geog101.htm
Thus, geography is often called the "mother of all sciences" as studying other people and other places led to other scientific fields such as biology, anthropology, geology, mathematics, astronomy, chemistry, among others.
Many famous geographers and non-geographers have attempted to define the discipline in a few short words. The concept of geography has also changed throughout the ages, making a definition for such a dynamic and all-encompassing subject difficult. With the help of Gregg Wassmansdorf, here are some ideas about geography from throughout the ages:
· "The purpose of geography is to provide 'a view of the whole' earth by mapping the location of places." - Ptolemy, 150 CE
· "Synoptic discipline synthesizing findings of other sciences through the concept of Raum (area or space)." - Immanuel Kant, c. 1780
· "Synthesizing discipline to connect the general with the special through measurement, mapping, and a regional emphasis." - Alexander von Humboldt, 1845
· "Man in society and local variations in environment." - Halford Mackinder, 1887
· "How environment apparently controls human behavior." - Ellen Semple, c. 191
· "Study of human ecology; adjustment of man to natural surroundings." - Harland Barrows, 1923
· "The science concerned with the formulation of the laws governing the spatial distribution of certain features on the surface of the earth." - Fred Schaefer, 1953
· "To provide accurate, orderly, and rational description and interpretation of the variable character of the earth surface." - Richard Hartshorne, 1959
· "Geography is both science and art" - H.C. Darby, 1962
· "To understand the earth as the world of man" - J.O.M. Broek, 1965
· "Geography is fundamentally the regional or chorological science of the surface of the earth." - Robert E. Dickinson, 1969
· "Study of variations in phenomena from place to place." - Holt-Jensen, 1980
· "...concerned with the locational or spatial variation in both physical and human phenomena at the earth's surface" - Martin Kenzer, 1989
· "Geography is the study of earth as the home of people" - Yi-Fu Tuan, 1991
· "Geography is the study of the patterns and processes of human (built) and environmental (natural) landscapes, where landscapes comprise real (objective) and perceived (subjective) space." - Gregg Wassmansdorf, 1995
Divisions of Geography
Today, geography is commonly divided into two major branches - 1) cultural geography (also called human geography) and 2) physical geography.
The field of geography is a vast and wondrous academic field with thousands of researchers working in dozens of interesting sub-disciplines or branches of geography. There is a branch of geography for just about any subject on earth. In an effort to acquaint the reader with the diversity of the branches of geography, I summarize many below.
Human Geography
Many branches of geography are found within human geography, a major branch of geography that studies people and their interaction with the earth and with their organization of space on the earth's surface.
Economic Geography
Economic geographers examine the distribution of production and distribution of goods, the distribution of wealth, and the spatial structure of economic conditions.
Population Geography
Population geography is often equated with demography but population geography is more than just patters of birth, death, and marriage. Population geographers are concerned with the distribution, migration, and growth of population in geographic areas.
Geography of Religions
This branch of geography studies the geographic distribution of religious groups, their cultures, and built environments.
Medical Geography
Medical geographers study the geographic distribution of disease (including epidemics and pandemics), illness, death and health care.
Recreation, Tourism, and Sport Geography
The study of leisure-time activities and their impact on local environments. As tourism is one of the world's largest industries, it involves a great number of people making very temporary migrations and is thus of great interest to geographers.
Military Geography
Practitioners of military geography are most often found within the military but the branch looks not only at the geographic distribution of military facilities and troops but also utilizes geographic tools to develop military solutions.
Political Geography
Political geography investigates all aspects of boundaries, country, state, and nation development, international organizations, diplomacy, internal country subdivisions, voting, and more.
Agricultural and Rural Geography
Geographers in this branch study agriculture and rural settlement, the distribution of agriculture and the geographic movement and access to agricultural products, and land use in rural areas.
Transportation Geography
Transportation geographers research transportation networks (both private and public) and the use of those networks for moving people and goods.
Urban Geography
The branch of urban geography investigates the location, structure, development, and growth of cities -- from tiny village to huge megalopolis.
Physical Geography
Physical geography is another major branch of geography. It is concerned with the natural features on or near the surface of the earth.
Biogeography
Biographers study the geographic distribution of plants and animals on the earth in the subject known as biogeography.
Water Resources
Geographers working in the water resources branch of geography look at the distribution and use of water across the planet within the hydrologic cycle and of human-developed systems for water storage, distribution, and use.
Climate
Climate geographers investigate the distribution of long-term weather patterns and activities of the earth's atmosphere.
Global Change
Geographers researching global change explore the long term changes occurring to the plant earth based on human impacts on the environment.
Geomorphology
Geomorphologists study the landforms of the planet, from their development to their disappearance through erosion and other processes.
Hazards Geography
As with many branches of geography, hazards combines work in physical and human geography. Hazard geographers research extreme events known as hazards or disaster and explore the human interaction and response to these unusual natural or technological events.
Mountain Geography
Mountain geographers look at the development of mountain systems and at the humans who live in higher altitudes and their adaptations to these environments.
Cryosphere Geography
Cryosphere geography explores the ice of the earth, especially glaciers and ice sheets. Geographers look at the past distribution of ice on the planet and ice-cause features from glaciers and ice sheets.
Arid Regions
Geographers studying arid regions examine the deserts and dry surfaces of the planet. The explore how humans, animals, and plants make their home in dry or arid regions and the use of resources in these regions.
Coastal and Marine Geography
Within coastal and marine geography, there are geographers researching the coastal environments of the planet and how humans, coastal life, and coastal physical features interact.
Soils Geography
Soil geographers study the upper layer of the lithosphere, the soil, of the earth and its categorization and patterns of distribution.
Cultural geography is the branch of geography dealing with human culture and its impact on the earth. Cultural geographers study languages, religion, foods, building styles, urban areas, agriculture, transportation systems, politics, economies, population and demographics, and more.
Physical geography is the branch of geography dealing with the natural features of the earth, the home of humans. Physical geography looks at the water, air, animals, and land of the planet earth (i.e. everything that is part of the four spheres - the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere.) Physical geography is closely related to geography's sister science - geology - but physical geography focuses more on the landscapes at the surface of the earth and not what is inside our planet.
Other key areas of geography include regional geography (which involves the in-depth study and knowledge of a particular region and its cultural as well as its physical characteristics) and geographic technologies like GIS (geographic information systems) and GPS (global positioning system).
An important system for dividing the subject of geography is known as the Four Traditions of Geography.
History of Geography
The history of geography as a scientific discipline can be traced back to the Greek scholar Eratosthenes. It was further developed in the modern era by Alexander von Humboldt and from there, you can trace the history of geography in the United States.
Link: http://geography.about.com/od/studygeography/a/geog101.htm
Even More Helpful Information
Here you will find a listing of essential facts about the planet earth, the home to all of humanity:Human Population of the Earth: 7,039,191,305 (estimated as of Sept. 14, 2012)
World Population Growth: 1.092% - 2009 estimate (this means at the current rate of growth, the earth's population will double in about 64 years)
The world population has grown tremendously over the past two thousand years. In 1999, the world population passed the six billion mark.Latest official current world population estimate, for mid-year 2011, is estimated at 7,021,836,029.
The chart below shows past world population data back to the year one and future world population projections through the year 2083.
World Population Growth
Year Population
1 200 million
1000 275 million
1500 450 million
1650 500 million
1750 700 million
1804 1 billion
1850 1.2 billion
1900 1.6 billion
1927 2 billion
1950 2.55 billion
1955 2.8 billion
1960 3 billion
1965 3.3 billion
1970 3.7 billion
1975 4 billion
1980 4.5 billion
1985 4.85 billion
1990 5.3 billion
1995 5.7 billion
1999 6 billion
2006 6.5 billion
2009 6.8 billion
2011 7 billion
2025 8 billion
2043 9 billion
2083 10 billion
Countries of the World: 196
Earth's Circumference at the Equator: 24,901.55 miles (40,075.16 km)
Earth's Circumference Between the North and South Poles: 24,859.82 miles (40,008 km)
Earth's Diameter at the Equator: 7,926.28 miles (12,756.1 km)
Earth's Diameter at the Poles: 7,899.80 miles (12,713.5 km)
Average Distance from the Earth to the Sun: 93,020,000 miles (149,669,180 km)
Average Distance from the Earth to the Moon: 238,857 miles (384,403.1 km)
Highest Elevation on Earth - Mt. Everest, Asia: 29,035 feet (8850 m)
Tallest Mountain on Earth from Base to Peak - Mauna Kea, Hawaii: 33,480 feet (rising to 13,796 feet above sea level) (10204 m; 4205 m)
Point Farthest From the Center of the Earth - The peak of the volcano Chimborazo in Ecuador at 20,561 feet (6267 m) is farthest from the center of the earth due to its location near the equator and the oblateness of the Earth.
Lowest Elevation on Land - Dead Sea: 1369 feet below sea level (417.27 m)
Deepest Point in the Ocean - Challenger Deep, Mariana Trench, Western Pacific Ocean: 35,840 feet (10924 m)
Highest Temperature Recorded: 134°F (56.7°C) - Greenland Ranch in Death Valley, California, July 10, 1913
Lowest Temperature Recorded: -128.5°F (-89.2°C) - Vostok, Antarctica, July 21, 1983
Water vs. Land: 70.8% Water, 29.2% Land
Age of the Earth: 4.5 to 4.6 billion years
Atmosphere Content: 77% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and traces of argon, carbon dioxide and water
Rotation on Axis: 23 hours and 56 minutes and 04.09053 seconds. But, it takes an additional four minutes for the earth to revolve to the same position as the day before relative to the sun (i.e. 24 hours).
Revolution around Sun: 365.2425 days
Chemical Composition of the Earth: 34.6% Iron, 29.5% Oxygen, 15.2% Silicon, 12.7% Magnesium, 2.4% Nickel, 1.9% Sulfur, and 0.05% Titanium
Link: http://geography.about.com/od/historyofgeography/History_of_Geography.htm
World Population Growth: 1.092% - 2009 estimate (this means at the current rate of growth, the earth's population will double in about 64 years)
The world population has grown tremendously over the past two thousand years. In 1999, the world population passed the six billion mark.Latest official current world population estimate, for mid-year 2011, is estimated at 7,021,836,029.
The chart below shows past world population data back to the year one and future world population projections through the year 2083.
World Population Growth
Year Population
1 200 million
1000 275 million
1500 450 million
1650 500 million
1750 700 million
1804 1 billion
1850 1.2 billion
1900 1.6 billion
1927 2 billion
1950 2.55 billion
1955 2.8 billion
1960 3 billion
1965 3.3 billion
1970 3.7 billion
1975 4 billion
1980 4.5 billion
1985 4.85 billion
1990 5.3 billion
1995 5.7 billion
1999 6 billion
2006 6.5 billion
2009 6.8 billion
2011 7 billion
2025 8 billion
2043 9 billion
2083 10 billion
Countries of the World: 196
Earth's Circumference at the Equator: 24,901.55 miles (40,075.16 km)
Earth's Circumference Between the North and South Poles: 24,859.82 miles (40,008 km)
Earth's Diameter at the Equator: 7,926.28 miles (12,756.1 km)
Earth's Diameter at the Poles: 7,899.80 miles (12,713.5 km)
Average Distance from the Earth to the Sun: 93,020,000 miles (149,669,180 km)
Average Distance from the Earth to the Moon: 238,857 miles (384,403.1 km)
Highest Elevation on Earth - Mt. Everest, Asia: 29,035 feet (8850 m)
Tallest Mountain on Earth from Base to Peak - Mauna Kea, Hawaii: 33,480 feet (rising to 13,796 feet above sea level) (10204 m; 4205 m)
Point Farthest From the Center of the Earth - The peak of the volcano Chimborazo in Ecuador at 20,561 feet (6267 m) is farthest from the center of the earth due to its location near the equator and the oblateness of the Earth.
Lowest Elevation on Land - Dead Sea: 1369 feet below sea level (417.27 m)
Deepest Point in the Ocean - Challenger Deep, Mariana Trench, Western Pacific Ocean: 35,840 feet (10924 m)
Highest Temperature Recorded: 134°F (56.7°C) - Greenland Ranch in Death Valley, California, July 10, 1913
Lowest Temperature Recorded: -128.5°F (-89.2°C) - Vostok, Antarctica, July 21, 1983
Water vs. Land: 70.8% Water, 29.2% Land
Age of the Earth: 4.5 to 4.6 billion years
Atmosphere Content: 77% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and traces of argon, carbon dioxide and water
Rotation on Axis: 23 hours and 56 minutes and 04.09053 seconds. But, it takes an additional four minutes for the earth to revolve to the same position as the day before relative to the sun (i.e. 24 hours).
Revolution around Sun: 365.2425 days
Chemical Composition of the Earth: 34.6% Iron, 29.5% Oxygen, 15.2% Silicon, 12.7% Magnesium, 2.4% Nickel, 1.9% Sulfur, and 0.05% Titanium
Link: http://geography.about.com/od/historyofgeography/History_of_Geography.htm