Geography as a Discipline

The term Geography was first coined by Eratosthenes around 276-194 BC. Geography is described as a description of the earth. Geography as an independent subject study about the physical environment of the earth, human activities, and their interactive relationships.  Geography helps us to understand the diversity and the causes and factors that have created it. Geography tells us about the rivers, mountains, plateaus and plains, deserts, sea, lakes and various cultural facts. Geography not only tells us about the phenomenon over the earth’s surface, but also studies the associations with the other factors which cause these variations. 

Geography as a discipline is worried about three arrangements of inquiries:

Distributional and Locational aspect

• A few inquiries are identified with the recognizable proof of the examples of regular and social climate as found over the outer layer of the earth. These are the questions about what?
• • • A few inquiries are identified with the appropriation of the normal and human/social elements over the outer layer of the earth. These are the questions about where? 
      
      Scientific discipline
    • It is identified with the clarification or causal connections between highlights and cycles and peculiarities. This part of geology is identified with the inquiry, why?

Need to study geography

• We live on the lithosphere of earth
• Our surroundings affect us in many ways
• To sustain ourselves on this planet, we depend on resources
• To study the diversity of the population
• To understand the physical changes of earth which have taken place over time
• To know about all the phenomena which vary over space

Geography as an Integrating Discipline

• Geography is a discipline of synthesis and attempts spatial synthesis
• Its approach is holistic in nature and recognises the fact that the world is a system of interdependencies
• Topography as an incorporating discipline has an interface with various regular and sociologies
• It endeavours to fathom the relationship of peculiarities as related in areas of the real world
• Every one of the parts of actual geology has an interface with innate sciences.
• All the social science disciplines, viz. Social science, political theory, financial matters, and demography concentrate on various parts of social reality
• The branches of geography, viz. Social, political, monetary and populace and repayments are firmly connected with these disciplines as every last one of them has spatial qualities

Major approaches to studying Geography

• Systematic Geography approach:
  • It was presented by Alexander Von Humboldt, a German geographer (1769-1859)
  • Here, a phenomenon is studied world over as a whole, and then the identification of typologies or spatial patterns is done
• Regional Geography approach:
  • It was developed by another German geographer, Karl Ritter (1779-1859)
  • Here the world is divided into regions at different hierarchical levels and then all the geographical phenomena in a particular region are studied. These regions may be natural, political or designated regions

Role of geography in daily life 

• Geography helps us to understand the physical environment that affects our daily life
• When we study the geography of past times, it helps us to understand the important roles in the evolution of people, their ideas and environment
• It helps us to learn the location of different places of the country and the world
• Geography not only helps us to learn about various places on earth, but also helps us to understand the cultural and physical characteristics of the people and that place
• It also helps us to know about the resources that are available for us on earth and how we can manage them for sustainable use 
• Geography also helps us to investigate the causes which are responsible for various natural phenomena
• It also helps us in understanding the climate and population of a particular place
• It helps us in knowing about the means of transportation and communication

Conclusion 

Geography helps us to understand the diversity and the causes and factors that have created it. Geography tells us about the rivers, mountains, plateaus and plains, deserts, sea, lakes and various cultural facts.