Geography

A map of the Earth

Geography is the study of the Earth and its features, its inhabitants, and its phenomena. The word geography comes from the Greek words gê ("Earth") and graphein ("to write, draw"). It means "to write and draw about the Earth". The word was first used by a scientist called Eratosthenes (276-194 B.C.).

Its features are things like continents, seas, rivers and mountains. Its inhabitants are all the people and animals that live on it. Its phenomena are the things that happen like tides, winds, and earthquakes.

A person who is an expert in geography is a geographer. A geographer tries to understand the world and the things that are in it, how they started and how they have changed.

Geography is divided into two main parts called physical geography and human geography. Physical geography studies the natural environment and human geography studies the human environment. The human environmental studies would include things such as the population in a country, how a country's economy is doing, and more.

Geographers need to know a lot about maps because maps are very important for understanding geography. Geographers use maps a lot, and often make them. Making maps is called cartography, and similarly, people who make maps are cartographers.

Natural environment

A tropical cyclone off Brazil

Geographers studying the natural environment may look at:

• Climate
• Landform
• Continents
• Oceans
• Soil
• Rocks
• Rivers
• Mountains
• Endogenetic process
• Exogenetic process

Human environment

A crowd of people around a band.

Geographers studying the Human environment may look at:

• Population
• Countries of the world
• Land use
• Agriculture
• City
• Industry
• Energy
• Pollution
• Air pollution

Other pages

• Geopolitics

Relevant websites

• A geography trivia website
• Geography Trainer 1.3 - Educational game aimed at school children
• www.geoknow.net - Geography resources at your fingertips!
• PopulationData.net
• PopulationMondiale.com
• Using Literature To Teach Geography in High Schools. ERIC Digest.
• Teaching Geography at School and Home. ERIC Digest.
• The National Geography Content Standards. ERIC Digest.