Geography Basics
I.
II.
What is Geography?
Core Geographic Concepts
Geography
• Geography:
– The study of how and why things differ from place
to place on earth.
– The study of how observable spatial patterns
evolved over time.
– Began in Ancient Greece, focused on both
physical and human characteristics of places.
– Modern geography began in 17th century; was
fully established by 19th century.
Human Geography
• Human Geography:
– Focuses on people: where they are, what they are
like, how they interact over space, and what kinds
of imprints they leave on the natural landscape.
– Draws from the other social sciences: economics,
political science, sociology, history.
– Helps us understand the world and appreciate the
circumstances affecting people, both in our
country and beyond.
– Can help make us better informed citizens by
enabling us to understand important issues facing
people today.
Important Geographic Concepts
• Geography is mainly concerned with the
concepts of space and place.
– Space: territorial extent.
• Absolute space: measurable extent with definable
boundaries.
• Relative space: perceptual, variable; reflects activities
and interrelationships between them.
– Place: the attributes and values we individually
associate with a location.
• Ex: hometown, neighborhood, high school.
• Has size, location, physical structure and cultural
content.
• Develops and changes over time.
Sense of Place
• Sense of place:
– The attachments we have to specific locations
and their complex of attributes (our feelings
toward them).
– Individual and unique to each of us, though
people may share similar regard for specific
places.
– Our sense of place shapes the lives and outlooks
of people who inhabit them.
– Reinforced by a place’s distinctiveness and
diminished or lost by a place’s placelessness.
Location, Distance
• Location – where a place is
– Absolute: identified by coordinates.
– Relative: location in relation to a reference point.
• Direction
– Absolute – based on cardinal points
– Relative (relational) – uses cardinal points from point
of reference, ex. “Out West” or “Down South”
• Distance – combines location/direction
– Absolute – spatial separation between two points on
earth, measured by an acceptable unit. Ex. “10 miles
away”
– Relative – changes absolute distance into a more
meaningful unit. Ex. “15 minutes away”
Landscape
• Natural Landscape:
– Physical characteristics of a place.
– Examples: climate, resources.
– Can play a major role in human activity:
• Trade flows, population distribution, settlement patterns.
• Cultural Landscape:
– Visible evidence of human activity, i.e.
characteristics created by man.
The Natural & Cultural landscape are
interconnected. We must understand both to
study human activity.
Discussion:
How do places change over time?
Interrelations between places
• Spatial interaction:
– We can study the way in which places interact
with each other:
• Friction of distance: a measure of slowing or restricting
the effect of distance on spatial interaction.
– The greater the distance, the greater the “friction”
– Can be overcome through greater accessibility
• Accessibility: How easy/difficult is it to overcome
barriers for interaction, such as time, space, and the
landscape?
• Connectivity: All the ways, visible or not, in which
places are connected:
– Physical
– Cultural
– Technological
Discussion: What role has globalization
played in accessibility and/or
connectivity?
Spatial Diffusion
• Ideas, people or items disperse (spread)
from a center of origin (node) to more distant
points in which it is connected.
• The rate & extent of diffusion are affected by
distance, technology, population density,
means of communication, etc.