Modern geography has been divided conventionally into two main traditions: systematic and regional geography.
Systematic geography: It is concerned with the formulation of general laws and principles and is divided into two branches:
Physical geography and human geography
Regional geography: It is concerned with the combination of physical and human -made features that characterize different region of the earth’s surface and that distinguish one form another.
(Note: In France and Germany regional concept of geography has maintained a rather stronger position, in part because of the different approach to the region in these countries)
Now we shall describe briefly about physical geography and human geography.
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY: This branches of systematic geography is concerned with the physical environment, physical geography, encompasses a number of subjects areas with close links to other environmental discipline, notably geomorphology (study of evolution and configuration land reforms), climatology(study of the long-term behavior of the atmosphere in specific areas), biogeography(study of the distributions of living and fossil species of plants and animals across the Earth’s surface as consequences of ecological and evolutionary processes), pedology(science that is concerned with the nature and arrangement of horizons in soil profiles; the physical constitution and chemical composition of soils; the occurrence of soils in relation to one another and to other elements of the environment such as climate, natural vegetation, topography, and rocks; and the modes of origin of soils. Pedology so defined does not include soil technology, which is concerned with uses of soils), hydrology (scientific study of the properties, distribution, and effects of water on the earth’s surface, in the soil and underlying rocks, and in the atmosphere).
(NOTE: let’s not be confused with various terminologies such as zoogeography, meteorology, paleontology, ecology, oceanography etc because they all are related physical geography)
HUMAN GEOGRAPHY: Human geography is a branch of geography that focuses on the study of patterns and processes that shape human interaction with the environment, with particular reference to the causes and consequences of the spatial distribution of human activity on the Earth’s surface. Geography is concentrated on the question “where”. Human geography, however, focuses on answering the “why” of “where”.
Human geography involves the study of people and their activities and structures, whether economic, social, cultural, or political. It also encompasses the ways in which people interact with the natural environment. At its simplest this involves the description, analysis, and mapping of where, for example, industries or towns are located, but human geographers’ concerns are generally far more complex than this. In particular, they seek to understand how and why human structures and activities have developed in particular ways in particular places. Like physical geography, human geography is divided into a number of specialized areas of research-economic, political, social, cultural, urban, and historical.
Focusing on scope of human geography, it encompasses human, political, cultural, social, and economic aspects of the social sciences. Human geography is methodologically diverse using both qualitative methods and quantitative methods, including case studies, survey research, statistical analysis, and model building among others.
Geographers have mentioned various discipline of human geography regarding the modern way of life and extreme demand with rapid development of technology and dependency of human society on electrical and mechanical devices. Some of them are listed below:
Economic geography or developmental geography: the social science that deals with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services and with the theory and management of economies or economic systems.
2. Cultural geography: Cultural geography is a relatively new sub-field within human geography. A very simple and broad definition of Cultural Geography is the study of geographical aspects of human culture. Its area of study is broad which include various specific terminologies such as
→Globalization as the process, in which connections around the world increase and cultures become more alike. Globalization is an example of cultural convergence different cultures blending together
v Westernization or the fast interference of foreign cultural features such as dress up, festivals, living demands and other aspects of human dimension
v Theories of Cultural hegemony or cultural assimilation via cultural imperialism.
v Cultural aerial differentiation as a study of differences in way of life encompassing ideas, attitudes, languages, practices, institutions, and structures of power and whole range of cultural practices in geographical areas .
3. Environmental geography: Environmental geography is the branch of geography that describes the spatial aspects of interactions between humans and the natural world. It requires an understanding of the dynamics of geology, meteorology, hydrology, biogeography, and geomorphology, as well as the ways in which human societies conceptualize the environment.
4. Feminist geography: A geography which questions the patriarchal and hierarchical assumptions on which geography is based, and emphasizes the oppression of women and the gender inequality between men and women, especially as expressed in gendered space .It comprises the study the ways in which environmental perception and the representation of space vary with gender, and claim that the very language of geography is gendered and sexist..
5. Historical geography: It is the study of the human, physical, fictional, theoretical, and “real” geographies of the past. Historical geography studies a wide variety of issues and topics. A common theme is the study of the geographies of the past and how a place or region changes through time. Many historical geographers study geographical patterns through time, including how people have interacted with their environment, and created the cultural landscape.
6. Language geography: studies the geographic distribution of language or its constituent elements. There are two principal fields of study within the geography of language: the “geography of languages”, which deals with the distribution through history and space of languages, and “linguistic geography”, which deals with regional linguistic variations within languages.
7. Religion geography: It is the study of the distribution of religions and how they got where they are, how they were created.
8. Marketing geography: It is the study of where to put stores and retail chains to maximize exposure to the target audience.
9. Political geography: The geography of states, federations, and sub state units. It is closely related to geopolitics, which is seen as the strategic, military and governmental application of political geographies.
In political geography we study how and why states are organized into regional grouping both formally and informally, the relationship between states and former colonies, the relationship between a government and its people, the functions and demarcation of boundaries.
10. Population geography; It is the study of the ways in which spatial variations in the distribution, composition, migration, and growth of populations are related to the nature of places. Population geography involves demography in a geographical perspective. It focuses on the characteristics of population distributions that change in a spatial context. Examples can be shown through population density maps. A few types of
Maps that show the spatial layout of population are chloropleth, isoline, and dot maps. Demography studies:
v Study of people in their spatial distribution and density
v Increase or decrease in population numbers
v The movements and mobility of populations
v Occupational Structure
v Grouping of people in settlements
v The way from the geographical character of places e.g. settlement patterns
v The way in which places in turn react to population phenomena e.g. immigration and so on.
Note: The thinning of the ozone layer, the disposal of nuclear waste, homelessness, drug abuse, sea level rise and global warming, loss of biodiversity, the break-up of the Soviet Union, the break-up of the family. These are all critical problems facing the world today and none of them can be understood properly without an understanding of geography or geology
http://visitskc.wordpress.com/2009/02/18/geography/
