Geografía is actually so extensive that it can be defined as the sum of the social sciences and the natural sciences. With that in mind, we can say that the functions of Geografía are the study of Earth’s landscapes, people, places, and environments, but this is not all that Geografía means.
Geografía is one of the broadest of all sciences, Geografía covers almost everything that concerns our world. For example, take a look at what our communities are like, how people’s choices affect nature, physical changes on Earth, human development, and much more .
What does Geografía study?
- The places and communities in which we live and work
- Our natural environments and the pressures they face
- The interconnectedness of the world and our communities within it
- How and why the world is changing, globally and insanely
- How our individual and social actions contribute to those changes
- The choices that exist in the administration of our world for the future
- The importance of location in business and decision making
Branches of Geografía
Human Geografía
Many branches of Geografía are found within human Geografía, an important branch of Geografía that studies people and their interaction with the earth and with their organization of space on the earth’s surface.
Economic Geografía:
Economic geographers examine the distribution of production and the distribution of goods, the distribution of wealth, and the spatial structure of economic conditions.
Population Geografía
Population Geografía is often compared to demographics, but population geography is more than just patterns of birth, death, and marriage. Population geographers are concerned with the distribution, migration, and growth of the population in geographic areas.
Geografía of Religions
This branch of Geografía studies the geographical distribution of religious groups, their cultures, and the built environments.
Medical Geografía
Medical geographers study the geographical distribution of disease (including epidemics and pandemics), disease, death, and medical care.
Recreation, Tourism and Sports Geografía
The study of free time activities and their impact on local environments. As tourism is one of the largest industries in the world, it involves large numbers of people who make temporary migrations and is therefore of great interest to geographers.
Military Geography
Professionals in military geography are most often found in the military, but the branch analyzes not only the geographic distribution of military installations and troops, but also uses geographic tools to develop military solutions.
Political Geografía
Political Geografía investigates all aspects of borders, national, state and national development, international organizations, diplomacy, internal subdivisions of countries, voting, and more.
Agricultural and Rural Geografía
Geographers in this branch study agriculture and rural settlements, the distribution of agriculture and geographic movement and access to agricultural products, and the use of land in rural areas.
Transportation Geografía
Transportation geographers investigate transportation networks (both private and public) and the use of those networks to move people and goods.
Urban Geografía
The branch of urban Geografía investigates the location, structure, development and growth of cities, from small villages to huge megalopolises.
Physical Geografía
Physical Geografía is another important branch of geography. It deals with the natural characteristics at or near the surface of the earth.
Biogeografía
Biographers study the geographical distribution of plants and animals on earth on the subject known as biogeography.
Water resources
Geographers working in the water resources branch of geography analyze the distribution and use of water throughout the planet within the hydrological cycle and the systems developed by man for the storage, distribution and use of water.
Climate Geografía
Climate geographers investigate the distribution of long-term weather patterns and activities in Earth’s atmosphere.
Globa change
Geographers investigating global change explore the long-term changes that occur on planet Earth based on human impacts on the environment.
Geomorphology
Geomorphologists study the planet’s landforms, from their development to their disappearance through erosion and other processes.
Geographical Risks
As with many branches of geography, hazards combine work in physical and human geography. Risk geographers investigate extreme events known as hazards or disasters and explore human interaction and response to these unusual natural or technological events.
Mountain Geografía
Mountain geographers observe the development of mountain systems and humans living at higher altitudes and their adaptations to these environments.
Cryosphere Geografía
The Geografía of the cryosphere explores the ice of the earth, especially glaciers and ice sheets. Geographers observe the past distribution of ice on the planet and the ice-causing characteristics of glaciers and ice sheets.
Arid regions
Geographers who study arid regions examine the deserts and dry surfaces of the planet. The researchers explore how humans, animals, and plants live in arid or arid regions and on the use of resources in these regions.
Coastal and Marine Geografía
Within the Geografía coastal and marine, there are geographers investigating coastal environments of the planet and how humans, coastal life and physical characteristics coastal interact.
Soil Geografía
Soil geographers study the upper layer of the lithosphere, soil, land, and their categorization and distribution patterns.
Other important branches of Geografía include:
Regional Geografía
Many geographers focus their time and energy on studying a specific region of the planet. Regional geographers focus on areas as large as a continent or as small as an urban area. Many geographers combine a regional specialty with a specialty in another branch of Geografía.
Applied Geografía
Applied geographers use geographic knowledge, skills, and techniques to solve problems in everyday society. Applied geographers often work outside of the academic environment and work for private companies or government agencies.
Mapping
Geografía has often been said to be anything that can be mapped. While all geographers know how to display their research on maps, the cartography branch focuses on improving and developing mapping technologies. Cartographers work to create useful high-quality maps to display geographic information in the most useful format possible.
You already know what Geografía is.