GEOGRAPHY AND ITS

BRANCHES

Dr. Zahid Farooq

Assistant Professor, Zoology
 GEOGRAPHY
 Geography is a systematic study of the Universe and its
features.
 Geography, the study of the diverse environments, places,
and spaces of Earth’ s surface and their interactions.

A science that deals with the description,

distribution, and interaction of the diverse
physical, biological, and social features of the
earth's surface.
BRANCHES OF GEOGRAPHY

 Geography is divided into two main branches:

 Human geography and

 Physical geography

 There are additional branches in geography such as

 Regional geography,

 Cartography, and

 Integrated geography
 HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
 This is a main branch in geography and it mainly covers
studies of the human race.
 This normally involves their backgrounds, how they interact
and the perceptions that they have for various ideologies
affecting them.
 In addition to this, the discipline also studies the way in
which the groups of people that inhabit the Earth organize
themselves in the particular regions that they inhabit.
 As a matter of fact, many other branches of geography
normally fall under human geography. Modern applications
of human geography can include mapping human migration,
showing the movement of food resources and how they impact
communities, and the impacts climate change can have on
humans living in vulnerable areas.
 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

 Physical geography is a major branch of the science of

geography, and it mainly deals with the study of the
natural characteristics of the Earth.
 It covers both the ones that are on the Earth’s surface as
well as those near it.
 Physical geography allows us to chart landmasses, but
physical geography is also being used to see what lies
beneath the Earth’s ice caps and oceans.
 Researchers are using satellite technology to see the
landmass that exists under Antarctica; additionally,
there is work that continues to be done to explore and
map the physical makeup of the land underneath our
oceans.
 INTEGRATED GEOGRAPHY

 Integrated geography can also be known as environmental

geography, or human-environment geography. Integrated
geography takes human and physical geographic issues and
molds them together. This area of geography is useful for
connecting humans and the impacts we have on our natural
environment.
 GIS and remote sensing technologies can be used to show
where humans have physically altered an environmental
landscape. We can pinpoint where Iraqi wetlands have dried
up due to overuse of the water resources there, and where
conservation efforts have succeeded in renewing some of
these wetlands more recently.
 Integrated geography can be used to explore humanity’s
relation to the Earth as well as the Earth’s relationship to
people.
REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY
 Rather than look at geography on a global scale, regional
geography breaks the science down into more specific areas.
Regional geography looks at cultural and natural aspects of
geography that are unique to a particular place.
 Regional geography could include parceling out locations by
looking at different watersheds, or just looking at coastal
areas, and so on.
The most common example of regional geography is by
country. We take the borders that have been drawn out and
look within those borders. Often the human geography
contained within those countries is much more varied and
diverse than we expect.
 Natural borders such as rivers, mountain passes, or other
large bodies of water often impact where borders are drawn.
An understanding of political and cultural factors in
regional geography can help paint a clearer picture, too.
 GEOMATICS
 Geomatics is most closely related to GIS (Geographic
Information Systems) and other geospatial sciences.
Geomatic engineers work to collect, distribute, store,
analyze, process, and present data that they have
gathered with regards to geographic information.
Geomatics uses different technologies to assist with
the above goals.
 Jobs that work with geomatics can include urban
planners, land surveys, space exploration, agriculture,
and geomarketing.
 CARTOGRAPHY
 Geographers who study cartography are usually more
involved in the mapping of things. In general, every
geographer must have the essential knowledge that is
required in displaying data on maps. Cartography
focuses on ways in which the entire mapping procedure
can be technologically advanced by creating maps that
are generally of higher quality.
 On a conclusive note, geography is a very wide subject
and this is why it is comprised of numerous sub-
disciplines within it. There are other branches within
this science that have not been discussed, and some of
the notable ones include:
 geographic education, historical geography, GIS
(Geographic Information Systems), remote sensing, and
quantitative methods.
 SUB-BRANCHES OF HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
 Human geography focuses on the role that human play
in the world.
 Human geography focuses on understand processes
about human populations, settlements, economics,
transportation, recreation and tourism, religion,
politics, social and cultural traditions, human
migration, agriculture, and urbanization.
ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY
 Geographers under this branch normally study the
manner in which products are usually produced and
consequently distributed in their respective niche
markets. In addition to this, they also study the way
in which wealth is distributed in various regions over
the planet.
 In general, the structures which control and influence
the conditions of the economy
Historical Geography
 Historical geography looks at how a place and the people that
live there have changed over time.
Population Geography
 In most cases, scholars usually equate population geography
to demography even though this is usually not the case.
 This is mainly owing to the reason that population geography
is deeper than the study of the patterns of a group of people
with regards to birth, marriage & death as is the case with
demography.
 Geographers who are involved in this discipline normally
study the population of regions in much more detail. This
means that they normally look at the manner in which the
population of a given area is distributed, how the people
there migrate, and the rate as well as pattern of the
population growth.
 Medical Geography
 In this branch, geographers normally study the
patterns in which particular diseases spread. This
means that pandemics & epidemics are usually
studied here as well as common illnesses, general
health care and death as well.
 Military Geography
 Geographers who practice this discipline normally
conduct their research and studies within the military
organization. They mainly study the manner in which
military facilities are distributed as well as the best
ways in which the troops can be able to utilize the
facilities that they have at their disposal. In addition to
this, the branch also covers the techniques that can be
implemented in developing solutions to the common
problems that military units commonly face.
 Political Geography
 This is a very interesting branch of geography that is
involved in the investigation of every aspect of
politics. This is with regards to the boundaries of a
country, the states it has and the development
strategies that it has in place. In addition, there are
other details which are also covered such as: Voting,
sub-divisions, diplomacy and international
organizations.
 Transportation Geography
 Geographers who are involved in this branch of
geography are usually involved in the research of
the available networks for transportation. This
includes both the public ones as well as private
ones. Once the networks have been studied, ways
in which to maximize their use in the movement
of people and products can be explored.

 Settlement Geography
 Settlement geography, which includes urban geography,
is the study over time and space of areas where humans
have or currently reside.
Urban Geography
 With the development of urban cities worldwide, the
branch of urban geography came into play since it
enables researchers to study these trends much more
effectively. In addition to this, these geographers are
able to investigate potential locations that are suitable
fore development for the least of villages to sprout into
the desired huge cities.
SUB-BRANCHES OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

 Physical geography is one of the two primary branches

of geography. Listed here are sub-branches or sub-
fields of physical geography. These sub-fields of
physical geography study processes and patterns in
the natural environment ranging from the oceans to
physical land to the atmosphere.
Biogeography
 Animals and plants on Earth are usually distributed in
specific patterns and biogeography is the discipline that
is involved in this study.
 Biogeography studies the distribution of biological
species and the geographic patterns that are a result.
This field can be further broken down into biogeography
related to islands, paleobiogeography, phylogeography,
zoogeography, and phytogeography.
Climatology
 Geographers in this branch of geography are usually
concerned in the investigation of the weather patterns
of the Earth and the way in which they affect the
climate as a result. Moreover, activities that are
taking place within the atmosphere of the Earth are
also studied in this discipline.
 Climatologists study the climate as it is made up by
weather conditions throughout history. This area of
study can involve local climate science as well as
global, or macro, climate changes.
 Climatologists can choose to study specific periods of
time in history to focus their research or choose a
location to further develop their research.
Coastal Geography
 Coastal geography focuses on areas where water meets
land. Coastal weathering, or the impact of the ocean on
these coastal environments, involves very unique
processes. This field involves the study of wave action,
sediment movement, erosion, as well as how humans
have altered coastlines.
Environmental Geography
 Environmental geography focuses on studying the
interactions and impacts between humans and the
natural world. Environmental geography links aspects
of human geography with physical geography.
Geomorphology
 Geomorphology is the study of Earth’s landforms,
terrain, and the processes that guide these changes.
The landforms on Earth usually develop in interesting
ways, stemming from tectonic movement and climatic
influences. There are numerous processes that normally
lead to the eventual vanishing of these landforms.
 Geographers who are involved in this field study the
entire process from start to finish. For instance, erosion
is a major part of this field, as it has been discovered to
be a major factor that influences the disappearance of
landforms.
Glaciology
 Glaciology is a field of geography that studies ice
sheets and glaciers on Earth’s surface.
 Glaciers are studied by how they impact a landscape
as they move or melt, as well as how ice sheets and
their makeup impact climate studies.
 Glacial geology and snow hydrology are two subsets of
glaciology.
Hydrology
 The study of hydraulics concerns the amount of quality
of water and its movement across the Earth’s surfaces.
The most basic understanding of hydrology comes down
to what we know as the water cycle, or the hydrological
cycle. Hydrology can be split into researchers who
study rivers,lakes and glaciers (although glaciology as
a field goes much more in-depth).
Landscape Ecology
 Landscape ecology blends ecology and geography to
show ecological processes. Researchers in this field
could use physical geographic evidence showing the
flow of energy, material, and people to indicate changes
in ecological landscapes.
Lithology
 Lithology is the study of the physical composition of
rocks. Using visual methods including core samples
and microscopes, lithologists can determine the color,
texture, grain, and composition of rock samples.
Lithology allows researchers to map and correlate
rock types between different locations.
Meteorology
 Meteorology studies the atmosphere of the Earth as it
relates to weather processes and predicting future
weather patterns. Meteorology concerns observable
weather events.
Oceanography
 The study of the world’s oceans and seas is known as
oceanography. Oceanographers study marine biology
and organisms, currents, waves, and the movement of
water, as well as the physical makeup of sea floors.
Oceanographers seek to blend these complex areas of
study into the field for a comprehensive view of the
world’s oceans.
Orology
 Orology is the study of mountains and their formation.
Sub-branches of this field of study include the human
impacts on mountainous landscapes as well as
elevation-based mountain studies. Climate studies
regarding mountains, such as the rain shadow effect,
are part of this field.
Palaeogeography
 Palaeogeography studies material that has been
preserved in the soil record, or stratigraphic record, of
Earth’s crust. This allows scientists to discover when
certain species are thought to have lived. Additionally,
scientists can determine the past position of Earth’s
continents based on palaeographic finds.
Quaternary Science
 This is a specific field of study that concerns the
Quaternary period, or the last 2.6 million years of
Earth’s history. Scientists use data recovered from this
period to reconstruct estimations of past environmental
conditions to show past climatic and environmental
conditions that may have existed.
Soil Geography
 Soil geography is often seen as a sub-field of
geomorphology. Soil geography studies the
distribution of soil across a section of terrain. This
field deals with the makeup of soil as well as soil
classification and how soil relates to geomorphology,
climate, biological life, and mineral content.
Water Resources Geography
 This is a branch of geography that normally deals
with the study of how water resources are generally
managed in a particular region. Geographers who are
involved in this discipline normally look at the
manner in which water is collected, distributed and,
lastly, used in various places across the planet.