GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE: CHARACTERISTICS, ELEMENTS AND EXAMPLES - GEOGRAPHY - 2025

A geographical landscape is the visible and natural area of ​​any territory. It is made up of the terrain together with all its forms, its natural characteristics and its attributes. A good landscape tends to blend in harmoniously with any man-made structure that is present in its expanse.

The word "landscape" began to be used in the field of geography during the 19th century, when Russian geographers noticed that any terrain referred to as landscape had specific natural characteristics. Originally, it was only used to refer to natural terrain, excluding man-made structures.

characteristics

Created from natural movements

Although a geographical landscape can be influenced by elements created by human beings, the aesthetic beauty they present is generated entirely by nature.

Mountain formations, rivers, lakes, and plants shape the structure of a geographic landscape beyond human creations.

Little human intervention

Geographic landscapes do not feature a large number of man-made structures in their composition. Usually, geographic landscapes have no more than one or two structures built by humans.

This can be seen in the traditional landscapes of painting, where commonly a single house is present in them.

Historical value

Many landscapes have a historical value that represents the geographic region in which they are found. While this is not the case for all landscapes, it is a defining characteristic of many of them.

In some cases, a region can be recognized almost entirely by the presence of a landscape with high historical value.

Elements of the geographic landscape

Geographical formations

The geographical or geological formation of a region is the underground composition that, although not directly part of the landscape, shapes the valleys, mountains and the geographical composition of the surface. This concept defines the relief that a landscape has, which is a fundamental element of its composition.

The shapes that it generates on its surface are known as relief shapes. These forms are the characteristics of the terrain that give visual harmony to its structure. They are the fundamental elements of topography.

All types of land relief are considered part of a landscape and its topography, regardless of its size or the geographical category to which it belongs. Small hills and slopes are also considered within this definition.

Water bodies

Aquatic bodies are all the accumulations of water that are visible on the surface of the planet. Includes oceans, seas, and lakes.

Bodies of water do not necessarily have to be "contained" or static; therefore, rivers, streams, and canals running through the landscape are also included.

Most bodies of water are generated naturally, but sometimes they can be created by man, as is the case with dams.

A water reserve can be part of a landscape even though it has been created by humans, and acts as a quasi-natural element that gives harmony to the landscape itself.

Vegetation

Vegetation is any grouping of any species of plants and all the territory that they occupy on a certain extension of land.

The term vegetation does not refer to a specific type of plant, but rather encompasses all the biological forms of plants that may be present in a geographic landscape.

The type of vegetation found in a landscape is identified by the type of plant that predominates in it. That is, if a large number of oaks can be seen in the landscape, this will be the tree that gives identity to the type of vegetation present.

Elements of human intervention

The elements of human intervention are all those elements created by man that affect the visual harmony of a landscape in a positive way.

Mountain houses are often fundamental elements in many landscapes and their presence is an important factor in defining the human geography in a natural landscape.

These elements do not necessarily have to be structures. Ground movements caused by humans can be included in a geographic landscape.

Climate and temperature

These elements are part of the aesthetic composition of a geographical landscape. If the climate is cold, the vegetation of the landscape usually indicates this element.

Similarly, the presence or absence of snow in a landscape is affected by the type of climate and the temperature in the environment.

Examples

There are several types of geographic landscapes in the world. For example, desert landscapes tend to occur in hot climates; They have dunes of various sizes and little vegetation.

The tundras are an example of cold climate landscapes, with usually small vegetation accompanied by tall coniferous trees.

A mountain can also fall into the category of geographic landscape. They are usually extremely high landforms and with a slope much greater than that of a hill. Mountain ranges are a series of mountains located contiguously and connected to each other by high ground.

Another type of landscapes are the coasts, which have different lithography depending on the region of the planet in which they are located.

The land area of ​​the coast can be connected to the sea by an elevation of land, or the coast can simply be connected at ground level, forming a beach.

However, the term landscape was usually used to refer to mountain paintings that were used to create by 19th century artists, and whose popularity continued until the middle of the 20th century.

In fact, the term "landscape" in English is landscape, which comes from the Dutch word lanschap, used to refer to these paintings.

References

1. Geographic Landscape, The Free Dictionary by Farlex, (nd). Taken from thefreedictionary.com
2. Landscape Characteristics 101, National Park Service of the United States, (nd). Taken from nps.gov
3. Why are landscapes and features important ?, New Zealand Environment Guide, (nd). Taken from environmentguide.org.nz
4. Landscape, National Gographic Society, (nd). Taken from nationalgoegraphic.org
5. About Landscape Geography, University of Turku, (nd). Taken from utu.fi