Introduction to Geography

Introduction to Geography

Thinking Geographically

How do geographers describe Where things are?
Why is each point on earth unique?
Why are different places similar

What is geography….?
Eratosthenes- An ancient Greek scholar coined the word from two Greek words, geo meaning Earth and graphy meaning to write

Geography is the scientific study of the location of people and activities across the Earth, and the reasons for their distribution

Branches of Geography
Geography is divided broadly into two branches

1. Human Geography
2. Physical geography

Human Geography
Human geography studies where and why human activities are located as they are.

Examples?
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Physical Geography
Physical geography studies where and why natural forces occur as they do

Examples

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Geographers ask four simple questions:

Where,
why,
how,
what?

The ‘Where’ of geography
this relates to the location of phenomenon in space. This involves the use of:

1. Map
2. GIS
3. Remote Sensing

Map
A map is a two-dimensional or flat-scale model of the earths surface, or a portion of it. Cartography is the science of map making .

Two important uses of Map

1. A tool for storing reference materials
2. A tool for communicating geographic information

Contemporary tools
Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems are the two contemporary tools used by geographers to explain the why and where of phenomena

Remote Sensing
The acquisition of data about earth’s surface from a satellite orbiting earth or from other long-distance method

Geographic Information System(GIS)
A computer-based system designed to collect, store, integrate, manipulate, analyze & display data in a spatially referenced environment.

The ‘Why’ of geography??
Why each point on the earth surface is unique?
Why different places are similar?

Two basic concepts help geographers to explain why each point on earth is unique:
Place and Region

Place:
Unique location of a feature
Regions:
Areas of unique characteristics

Place : Unique location of a feature
Geographers identify the location of something in four ways by;

1. Place-name
2. Site
3. Situation
4. location

Place-name
Geographers call the name given to a portion of Earth’s surface its TOPONYM

Site
Site is the physical characteristics of a place

Climate:
is the average weather condition of a place observed over a long period of time (30years)
Water sources
Soil
Vegetation

Situation
It is the location of a place relative to other places

Location
There are two general types of locational information:

1. Relative location
2. Absolute location.

Relative location defines a place in relationship to other places
Absolute location is also known as mathematical location.The use of coordinate systems.The most common coordinate systems on maps are Latitudes and Longitudes

Region
A region is an area of Earth defined by one or more distinctive characteristics
Properties of Regions

Area
Boundaries
Location
Homogeneity

Types of Regions
There are three types of regions namely;

1. Formal
2. Functional
3. Vernacular

Formal Region
Formal region is also called a uniform region or a homogeneous region.

Functional Region
Functional region also called a nodal region.It is an area organized around a node or focal point.

Vernacular Region
Also referred to as perceptual region, a place that people believe exists as part of their cultural identity.

Space
Geographers try to understand why people and activities are distributed across space as they are.

Three main properties of distribution across Earth

1. Density
2. Concentration
3. Pattern

Density
The frequency with which something occurs in space.

Types of density

1. Arithmetic density is the total number of objects in an area.
2. Physiological density: is the number of persons per unit area suitable for agriculture

Concentration
The extent of a feature’s spread over space

1. Clustered objects in an area are close together
2. Dispersed objects are far apart

Patterns
The ways in which features are organized. Some features are organized geometrically, others are distributed irregularly geographic

Five Themes of Geography

1. Location
2. Region
3. Place
4. Human-environment relation
5. Movement

The nature of Geography
Continental Drift occurs when the continents change position in relation to each other.
Alfred Wegener (1880-1930), a German meteorologist and geologist, was the first person to propose the theory of continental drift.

200 million years ago the continents were originally joined together, forming a large super continent called Pangaea, meaning "All-earth". The southern part of this supercontinent was Gondwana of which Africa formed the core

Evidence of continental drift

1. Glossopteris, a fern, was found on the continents of South America, Africa, India, and Australia
2. Rock sequences in South America, Africa, India, Antarctica, and Australia show remarkable similarities
3. The rift valley in Africa, for example, demarcates the zones where plate movement occurs.