The Five
Themes of
Geography
gives us a way to look
at the world spatially.
Location
• Absolute location allows us to pinpoint
the exact location of any point on the
surface of the earth using latitude and
longitude or a grid system
Location
• Relative location refers to the way a
place is perceived and how that place
relates to other places.
– Can be measured in terms of time-• “twenty minutes away”
– Important for decision-making.
Alaska is closer to Russia than it is to the
“lower 48,” but that is not how we perceive it.
Relative location of Detroit--Why there?
English descriptive notation
(absolute location)
Decisions about where to move
are based on relative location.
Absolute Location
Relative Location
Our perceptions are based on relative location.
Apply the concept of relative
location to the following situations:
• A college student deciding where to live
in the coming year
• Deciding where to locate a new grocery
store
• Deciding where to locate an automobile
manufacturing plant
• Deciding where to place a new
elementary school
Place
• Physical characteristics of place:
– Topography
Place
• Physical characteristics of place:
– Climate
Place
• Physical characteristics of place:
– Vegetation
Place
• Human characteristics of place:
– Agriculture
Place
• Human characteristics of place:
– Architecture
Place
• Human characteristics of place:
– Religion
Place
• Human characteristics of place:
– Economics
livelihoods
Levels of development
Region
• The region is the basic unit of geographic study
• Criteria for defining regions depends on the geographer’s purpose.
• One place can be part of several different regions.
Texas, US, and World culture regions
Region
• Formal regions are based on some
common feature.
The Corn Belt
Where Islam dominates
Political entities
Region
• Functional regions (also called
nodal regions) are created by
movement.
Austin metropolitan area
Amazon River Basin
Eanes attendance area
Region
• Perceptual regions exist in people’s
minds.
Human-Environment
Interaction
• Humans adapt to their physical environment.
clothing styles
Building materials
Human-Environment
Interaction
Humans modify their environment.
Open-pit mine
Terracing for rice farming
Human-Environment
Interaction
Human interaction with the environment can
have important consequences.
Movement
• Physical processes, people, goods, and ideas move across the
earth’s surface.
• The geographer is concerned with the effects of this movement.
What is important to understand
about the Five Themes?
• They give us a “geographic lens”
through which to view the world.
• Every unit of study this year will focus in
some way on these themes.