HUMAN AND
PHYSICAL
GEOGRAPHY
TABLE OF CONTENTS
01 | Geography
02 | Physical and Human Geography
03 | Subfields of Physical Geography
04 | Subfields in Human Geography
GEOGRAPHY
GEOGRAPHY
- Geography is the study of location and spatial
variation in natural and human phenomena on
Earth.
- The study of the earth and its features and of the
distribution of life on the earth, including human
life and the effects of human activity
- Geography is the science that studies the lands,
features, inhabitants and phenomena of Earth. A
literal translation would be “to describe or write
about the Earth”. The first person to use the word
“geography was Eratosthenes (276-194 BC)
PHYSICAL AND
HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
PHYSICAL
GEOGRAPHY
Physical geography focuses on geography as an Earth science. It aims to understand the physical
problems and issues of: lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and global flora and fauna patterns.
SUBFIELDS OF
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
BIOGEOGRAPHY
Biogeography is a study of the distribution of species (biology), organisms, and ecosystems in space
and through geological time.
METEOROLOGY
Meteorology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the atmosphere.
GEOMORPHOLOGY
Geomorphology is the scientific study of landforms and the processes that shape them.
PEDOLOGY
Pedology is the study of soils in their natural environment.
COASTAL
GEOGRAPHY
Coastal geography is the study of the dynamic interface between the ocean and the land,
incorporating both the physical geography and the human geography of the coast.
HYDROLOGY
Hydrology is the study of the movement, distribution, and quality of water on Earth and other
planets, including the hydrologic cycle, water resources.
HYDROGRAPHY
Hydrography is the measurement of the depths, the tides and currents of a body of water and
establishment of the sea, river or lake bed topography and morphology.
GLACIOLOGY
Glaciology is the study of glaciers, or more generally ice and natural phenomena that involve ice.
OCEANOGRAPHY
Oceanography, also called oceanology, or marine science, is the branch of Earth science that studies
the ocean. It covers a wide range of topics, including marine organisms and ecosystem dynamics;
ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynamics; plate tectonics and the geology of the sea
floor.
ENVIRONMENTAL
RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT
Environmental resource management is a purposeful activity with the goal to maintain and improve
the state of an environmental resource affected by human activities.
LANDSCAPE
ECOLOGY
Landscape ecology is the science of studying and improving relationships between ecological
processes in the environment and particular ecosystems. This is done within a variety of landscape
scales, development spatial patterns, and organizational levels of research and policy.
GEODESY
Geodesy is a branch of earth sciences, is the scientific discipline that deals with the measurement
and representation of the Earth, including its gravitational field, in a three-dimensional time-varying
space.
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY
Palaeogeography is the study of what the geography was in times past.
HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
- Human geography is a branch of geography that
focuses on the study of patterns and processes
that shape human interaction with various
environments. It encompasses human, political,
cultural, social, and economic aspects.
- In other words, it can be said that, the study of the
characteristics and phenomena of the earth’s
surface that relate directly to or are due to human
activities are known as Human Geography or
anthropogeography.
SUBFIELDS OF HUMAN
GEOGRAPHY
- Social Geography which deals with the growth and
distribution of population, settlement types and their
distribution and human cultural features such as religion,
language etc.
- Political Geography which is connected with political units,
their territorial areas, boundaries and capitals, with the
elements of national power and with international politics
which are considered from geographical point of view.
- Economic Geography is the study of the exploitation of
natural resources, the production of commodities, the
location and distribution of manufacturing industries and
international trade and communications.
- Influenced by:
- Geology can affect resources availability, cost of
transportation, and land use decisions
- Climate can influence natural resource availability
- Social and political institutions that are unique to a
region also have an impact on economic decisions
Questions ?
1. How does human activity contribute to environmental
degradation and impact physical geography processes?
2. How do geopolitical factors influence the distribution and
utilization of natural resources?
Thank you!
