Geography – The science that describes the surface of the earth and its associated physical, biological,

economic, political and demographic characteristics, especially in terms of large areas and the complex
of interrelationships among them.

Types of Geography

1. Topical Geography is the study of a single phenomenon on the earth’s surface.

2. Regional Geography is the investigation and correlation of all significant phenomena as they are
found in any particular area.
3. Physical Geography is the study of the whole natural equipment of a region in terms of its
resource potentialities and human occupancy and use.
4. Human or Social Geography is the study of areal differentiation of distinctive societies or culture
groups of mankind.
5. Economic Geography emphasizes the relationships between men’s efforts to earn a living on the
earth’s surface.
6. Political Geography is the study of internal and external relationships of political units
(countries, states, counties, etc.) according to their structure and function as occupiers of space.
7. Historical Geography is the study of change in areal differentiation through time.
8. Zoogeography is concerned with the distribution of animals and their adaptations to, or their
restriction by, environment.

Branches of human geography

1. Economic Geography is concerned with the economic activities of man in specific localities
and as related to the other phenomena with which they are associated.
2. Political Geography considers the significance of geography behind political problems,
activities and situations.
3. Social geography converges with sociology and anthropology.
Relationship of Geography with other Disciplines

Branches of Physical Geography

1. Geomorphology is the interpretative description of the landforms or relief features of the

Earth’s surface.
2. Climatology deals with the average or general weather conditions (climate) of broad areas.
3. Meteorology is the science of the atmosphere and the origin or prediction of weather.
4. Pedageography or soil geography is concerned with the distribution of soils; the characteristic
association of soils with vegetation, drainage, relief, rocks, and climate and the significance of
soils in the economy and culture of the region.

Phytogeography or plant geography is related to Botany, the science that deals with plants, their life,
structure and growth.

Zoogeography is related to Zoology which is the science to study the animal life of an area. It is also
related to Paleontology which is the study of fossils ns Ecology that deals with the interrelationship of
organism and their environment.

Tools of Geography

1. Maps
2. Globes
3. Charts
4. Graphs
5. Tables

Types of Maps and their Interpretation

Map - Is a depiction of an area in graphic form.

- It is a scaled drawing of a portion of the Earth’s surface.

- It basic attribute is its capability to show distance, direction size and shape in their
horizontal spatial relationships.

Cartography the art of making maps or charts.

Informations that can be illustrated through maps

1. Land and waterforms

2. Climate
3. Regions
4. Natural resources and ecosystem
5. Population distribution
6. Land use
7. Transportation routes

Map Projections

Map projection is a system whereby the rounded surface of the Earth is transformed in order to display
it on a flat surface. The projections consist of an orderly arrangement of the geographic grid (meridians
and parallels) transposed from the globe to the map.

1. Mercator Projection (Cylindrical Projection) - Presents the right shape of the continents, islands
and oceans. However, North America seems larger than Africa which is not true. This is due to
 the fact that on Mercator maps, lands far from the Equator appear larger than they are. This
type of projection show true directions which made them especially useful to navigators.
2. Equal-area Projection – It shows the true area which represents the same amount of the earth’s
surface. This projection is useful for displaying an entire hemisphere. It also represents areas in
their proper proportions.
3. Interrupted Projection – This map projection is like a peeled orange that is flattened out. It
shows the continents or oceans with very little distortion in shape or size. The purpose of
interruption is to portray certain areas (usually continents) more accurately, at the expense of
some portions in the map (usually oceans), that are not important to the map’s theme.

Kinds of maps

1. Physical map – emphasizes the natural features of the Earth such as continents, oceans, rivers,
seas, islands, and lakes.
2. Political map – it illustrates man-made features such as nations ad their boundaries, cities,
capitals, canals, and dams.
3. Special-Purpose map – Summarizes and presents information of a specific kind.
4. Topographic or Contour map – It shows the roughness of the Earth’s surface, called contour
lines.

Cartogram – is an extreme variation of the special-purpose map, designed to send a strong specific
message to the map reader.

How to read maps

Basic Elements of Maps

1. Map Scales – gives relationship between length measured on the map itself and the
corresponding distance on the ground.
3 different ways to represent a map scale:
- A statement of relationship of the maps to the Earth
- Graphic Scale or a Bar Scale (is a straight line on a bar marked with shorter lines
representing number of miles.
- Representative Fraction or RF (shown by numbers)
2. Map Legends – are symbols used to tell a story using points, lines, dots and colors. It is a key
that unlocks the meaning of symbols. A symbol explains what a map is telling about the world.
Different kinds of symbols:
- Area symbols (showing an area in one color)
- Line symbols (show features such as roads, railways, rivers and boundaries).
- Point symbols (show features such as towns and cities)
3. Grid – is a pattern of numbered lines that run from side to side and up and down a map.
Meridians of Longitudes – largest grid in vertical lines that covers a World Map.
Parallels of Latitudes – horizontal lines

Remote Sensing – is the measurement or acquisition of information by a recording device that is not in
physical contact with the object of study (aerial photographs).

Landsat Images – are photographs of the Earth taken from space. A Landsat is a series of unmanned
satellites that orbit the Earth at an altitude of 570 miles (915 km) and are capable of imaging all parts of
the Earth except the Polar Regions, every nine days.
 Mercator Projection

Equal-area Projection

Interrupted Map Projection

Making a Map Physical Map
Topographic or Contour Map
Cartogram Landsat Images
The Globe and Its Features
Globe- is the best map of the earth; it provides the only true model of the size and shape of the earth.

Lines of Latitude - Lines that go east and west around the globe.
Equator (0°) - the best known parallel of latitude; equally distant from North and South Poles.

Hemisphere- half of the sphere, as divided by the equator

Lines of Longitude
Longitude- lines in the map found in the north-south direction. The beginning of the line is placed at Greenwich (Great Britain), near the city of London. The Line through Greenwich at 0
degrees longitude is called Prime Meridian.
Meridian- used for the lines that show longitude.

The Arctic and the Antarctic Circles

Arctic Circle- latitude 66 1/2° in the Northern Hemisphere
Antarctic Circle - Latitude 66 1/2° in the Southern Hemisphere
Middle Latitudes – lines of latitudes between the two tropics
High latitudes- beyond latitude 66 ½ ° North and South of the Equator

The International Dateline

- Is an imaginary line that runs from pole to pole mostly through the Pacific Ocean but bends to the east to include Siberia with Russia, and bends to the west to include the Aleutian
Islands with Alaska. It bends to the East once more to keep all the Fiji Islands on one side of the line.
- A traveller going to the west across the IDL will skip a day in his trip but going east across its will repeat the same day.

Time zones
The simplest time zones would be best on dividing the globe into equal segments of 15° and changing its time by one hour from one zone segment to the next.
Travelers crossing the IDL from east to west lose a day. Travelers crossing over the date line from west to east would gain a day.

Hemispheres- half of the globe

Continents and Oceans

World Ocean- great mass of water that covers most of the earth
Four major oceans:
- Pacific Ocean (largest)
- Atlantic Ocean
- Indian Ocean
- Arctic Ocean
Seven Continents:
- Asia
- Africa
- North America
- South America
- Antarctica
- Europe
- Australia

Tables, Graphs and Charts

Tables – are visual displays of numeral or non-numeral data arranged in vertical columns so that the data may be emphasized, compared, or constrasted.
Graphs – is a kind of picture that makes thefacts from the tables easier to inderstand.

Kinds of graphs
- Line graph
- Pictograph
- Circle graph (pie chart, circle chart or pie diagram)

Water Forms
1. Ocean – largest bodies of water on earth
2. Seas – is a large body of water almost completely sorrounded by land.
Mediterranean Sea- lies between Africa and Eurasia; one of the chief waterways in the world.
Carribean Sea, Arabian Sea, Sea of Japan – re also improtant water routes for shipping goods.
Caspian Sea nad Red Sea – largest inland bodies of water
3. Gulfs and Bays
Bay – is a part of a lake or ocean which creates semi-circular indentation along the shore.
Gulf – is a large bay
4. Lake – is a body of water completely encircled by land.
5. Rivers – small streams, or water running downhill, which join forces with other streams.
6. Strait and Canal
Strait – the narrow body of water that connects two large bodies of water
Canal – is a man-made strait.