There are many definitions and many misconceptions.

Geography is not:

• the memorization of place names
• the making of maps

 
Students often try to grasp at a definition using a familiar stem, "geography is the study of ..." and insert words like landscapes, mountains, climates, rivers, and people among others. While a definition of geography no doubt includes such subject matter, it is essential to understand geography's unique way of studying the world.

There are two major perspectives of geography - the spatial and the ecological perspectives. These are complemented by the historical and economic perspectives.

Geography is concerned with where and why things are located as they are. It is concerned with the patterns of phenomena and the processes that created them. Therefore there is no specific subject matter which it studies, but rather its subject matter is Earth, described and explained using the spatial perspective. History is somewhat similar because its subject matter is Earth in the historical perspective.

Geography is often described as two parts which make up a whole:

• Regional Geography
• Topical, or Systematic, Geography

 
Regional geography focuses on areas of Earth space that have some degree of homogeneity. Regions may be basically physical, human or some combination of both and may vary in size from continents to small ecosystems.

Topical geography considers systematic studies of climate, landforms, economics, and culture among others. Geographers may specialize and call themselves, for example, urban geographers, climatologists, political geographers, biogeographers, and historical geographers. One thing in common to all of them is their focus on the spatial perspective in their studies. They see their subject matter in terms of locational characteristics and seek answers to certain patterns of place or the interactions between places.

 
(geography, 1 min)

Eratosthenes, a 3rd century B.C. chief librarian at the Library of Alexandria, is credited as the first person to use the word "geography." However, he most likely was not the first person to use the basic perspective of geography, the spatial perspective.

Early humans must have developed "mental maps" to guide them in their search for the basic necessities of life, food and water. Landscape features, animal habitats, and protective shelter that allowed successful survival in the harsh environments were remembered. Actual recording of geographic elements appears early in human history in form of rudimentary maps pressed into clay tablets. As civilization developed, it was important to record location for boundaries, trade, and taxation.

In Eratosthenes' day, people already were explorating land and water areas of the Middle East and trading across both the Mediterranean Sea and vast expanses of desert. Knowledge of how to get to some place and ultimately to return home was crucial to the sailor or trader. While travelers were concerned with practical matters of location, scholars involved themselves in loftier goals of measurement of Earth's size, calculation of distances, and creation of a geometric system for accurately defining location. Eratosthenes is given credit for making the first accurate determination of the size of Earth.

1. Location
    
   • Relative Location

     Relative locations are described by landmarks, time, direction or distance from one place to another and may associate a particular place with another.

     For example: Crescent High School is in Crescent, about 40 miles north of Oklahoma City in central Oklahoma.

   • Absolute Location

     An absolute location is a latitude and longitude (global location) or a street address (local location).

     For example: (1) Crescent High School is located at 106 North Magnolia, Crescent, OK 73028. (2) Crescent High School is located at 35^o 34' N and −97^o 59' W.

2. Place
    
   • Human Characteristics - derived from the ideas and actions of people that result in changes to the environment, such as buildings, roads, clothing, and food habits.

     For example: Crescent Public Schools consist of a complex of 12 buildings, covering an area of two city blocks. About 500 students attend Crescent Public Schools and many of them eat breakfast and lunch in the school cafeteria.

   • Physical Characteristics - include mountains, rivers, soil, beaches, wildlife, soil.

     For example: Crescent is located on the central "plains" of Oklahoma. The school sets at an elevation of 1160 feet above sea level. Although the land slopes toward the Cimarron River five miles to the south, there is less than a six foot change in elevation from one side of town to the other.

    
3. Human-Environmental Interactions
    
   • Humans adapt to the environment - People adapt to the environment by wearing clothing that is suitable for summer and winter; rain and shine.
      
   • Humans modify the environment - People modify our environment by heating and coolings buildings for comfort.
      
   • Humans depend on the environment - People depend on a river for water and transportation.
    
4. Movement
    
   • People - People interact with each other through movement. Humans occupy places unevenly on Earth because of the environment but also because we are social beings.
      
   • Goods - People interact with each other through travel, trade, information flow, and political events.
      
   • Ideas - Not only do humans move but also ideas move; fashions move; fads move.
    

   (regions, 2 min)

5. Regions
    
   • Formal - those regions defined by governmental or administrative boundaries (United States, Tulsa, Brazil). These regional boundaries are not open to dispute, therefore physical regions fall under this category (The Rockies, the Great Lakes States).
      
   • Functional - those regions defined by a function (OG&E, United Airlines Service area or a newspaper service area). If the function ceases to exists, the region no longer exists.
      
   • Vernacular (perceptual) - those regions loosely defined by people's perception (The South, The Middle East).