WHAT IS THE OBJECT OF STUDY OF GEOGRAPHY? - GEOGRAPHY - 2024

What is the object of study of geography? To answer this question, it would be necessary to first define this science, which is dedicated to studying and describing the shape of the earth, as well as the arrangement and distribution of the elements that exist on the earth's surface.

UNESCO, in 1950, after a consensus achieved the definition of geography as the "science that locates, describes, explains and compares all the geographical phenomena that occur on Earth and the influence they cause on human life."

Etymologically, the term comes from the Greek words Geo (land) and graphe (description). From the previous concepts, it is summarized that geography studies the interrelation between human beings and the environment and what are the consequences of said interaction.

Object of study: What does geography study?

The object of study of geography is to understand the environment and the relationship of human beings with their physical environment.

The geographical features that are analyzed within this study include climate, water, soils, landforms and plant formations, combined with the study of elements such as cultural diversity, population entities, communication networks and alterations. produced by man within his physical environment (Aguilera, 2009).

To develop its object of study, geography uses other sciences and disciplines, which is why it is stated that geography is not an isolated science. On the contrary, it is linked to sciences such as geology, history, astronomy, studies of nature, political economy, among others.

According to this principle, geography is divided into two main aspects: physical geography and human geography. Each of them is subdivided into other branches according to its object of study (Hernández, 2012).

Physical geography

It is the one in charge of studying the characteristics and physical elements of the relief in a given space or territory. Within this branch, the following stand out:

• Climatology: studies the climatic situations in a region, analyzing them and classifying them by zones.
• Geomorphology: studies the shapes on the Earth's surface, the processes that originate them and the alterations that they undergo naturally.
• Hydrography: studies the spaces of continental and maritime waters in a territory.
• Coastal geography: studies and analyzes the characteristics of the coasts of rivers, lakes, streams, lagoons and seas.
• Biogeography: as its name implies, it refers to the study of living beings within a specific territory.

Human geography

It is dedicated to the study of human relations with the geographical territory, the characteristics of the population and the consequences of said interaction. In turn, it is divided into:

• Geography of the population: studies the distribution of the population as the relationship in physical and social aspects.
• Economic geography: studies the economic and productive activities of each region, making the well-known division into three sectors: primary, secondary and tertiary, essential for humans to meet their needs.
• Political geography: studies the political organization and its forms within a given society or territory and relies on geopolitics and political science.

Origin of geography

The first geographical studies focused on the knowledge of the lands discovered by explorers and travelers, elaboration of new maps, identifying the course of rivers and the explanation of natural phenomena such as volcanism, droughts, floods and eclipses.

However, Aristotle's assertions in the fourth century BC about the roundness of the Earth, based on the position of the stars, gravity and eclipses, can be considered as the first geographical vestige. Later, Eratosthenes would try to calculate the circumference of our planet.

The first geography books were those written by Strabo, a Greek historian and philosopher who wrote more than fifteen volumes describing in detail the territories of the Roman Empire.

The Geographical Guide of Ptolemy is an important work of geography in antiquity because he collected all the information from the Greeks and designed various world maps (Hernández, 2012).

For many centuries, geography was dedicated to the accumulation of geographic information. It was not until the 19th century when modern concepts of geography were introduced as a study of the interaction of man with the environment. The promoters of these concepts were Alejandro de Humboldt and Carl Ritte.

Humboldt is known for his works of exploration and analysis of natural factors as a whole and not as separate events, contributing historical data to his geographical studies. Ritte for his part focused on the specific study of areas such as economic, historical and cultural phenomena (De Jeen, 1923).

It was not until the middle of the 20th century that new trends and methodologies emerged in which quantitative methods were adopted in demography and spatial location, of which the protagonists were Heinrich von Thünen and Walter Christaller.

This allowed, years later, to divide geographic studies into different currents of thought: those that rely on qualitative data and those that defend quantitative and physical analyzes (Aguilera, 2009).

Importance of Geography

Geography allows to have knowledge about the surface of the earth, the description of its physical and natural form. In the same way, it covers the understanding of countries, their territorial spaces and borders with other countries, defining their landscapes, climate, fauna and economic activities (Hernández, 2012).

From school, general geography studies are included with the intention of teaching the phenomena and natural phenomena that occur in a given space, their causes and consequences in the short, medium and long term.

At the same time, this discipline covers other fields of study such as ecology, history, economics, sociology, psychology and many others, with the aim of offering a complete study of all related aspects in the different branches of geography.

Studying the man-nature relationship allows us to understand how our actions influence the territorial space we occupy, which in turn provides the necessary tools for people to redirect their actions towards the environment, other living beings and the natural elements that it's made of. From this statement, the main objective of geography today is clear (Hernández, 2012).

On the other hand, the application of informatics in different study disciplines has played an important role in the evolution of Geography as a science, since technological advances in mapping have allowed the development of an automated geography system throughout of the world.

With the tools provided by computing within geography, the solution of all environmental problems that affect on a global scale, as well as the sustainability of the planet and the efficient management of natural resources, has been raised today as a priority.

References

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3. Pedagogical Folder (2014) Object of study of Geography. Recovered from Cienciageografica.carpetapedagogica.com.
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