Chapter 1
Looking at the Earth
The Five Themes of Geography

Geography: the study
of the distribution
and interaction of
physical and human
features on the earth
Why Study Geography
The Five Themes of Geography
Location
 Place
 Region
 Movement
 Human-Environment
Interaction

5 Themes
Location
Where is it?

Absolute Location
•Exact place on earth where
a geographic feature is
found
•Hemispheres: North, South,
East, West
•Equator
•Prime Meridian
Absolute Location
Latitude Lines
•Run parallel to equator
•North latitude or South
latitude
 Longitude Lines
•Run perpendicular to
equator
•Mark East or West

Longitude/Latitude
Location

Relative Location
•Describes how a
place is related to
its surrounding
environment
Place
What is it like?
Includes physical
features and cultural
characteristics
 Description of a place
may change over time

Region
How are places similar or different?

Formal Regions
•Defined by limited
number of related
characteristics
U.S.A and Canada,
Latin America, South
Asia
Region

Functional Regions
•Organized around set of
interactions and
connections between
places
City and its suburbs
Region
How are places similar or different?
Perceptual Regions
•People perceive the
characteristics of
region in the same way
-American Midwest
Human-Environment
Interaction
How do people relate to physical world?
Learn to use what
environment offers
them
 Change environment to
meet their needs

Human-Environment Interaction
Learn to live with
certain aspects of
environment
 People respond to same
environment in
different ways

Movement
How do people, goods and
ideas move from one
location to the other?
 Linear Distance
•How far across the earth
something travels
Movement
Time Distance
•Amount of time it takes
to travel
 Psychological Distance
•Way people view
distance

The Geographer’s Tools
Maps, globes, and data
 3 kinds of maps
•General reference map
•Thematic map
•Navigation map

Countries of the World