The term ‘Geography’ was coined by the Greek scholar Eratosthenes in the third century BCE. It represents a scientific field dedicated to exploring the lands, features, and phenomena of Earth.
Introduction to Geography:
- The word “Geography” originates from the Greek language, where “Geo” means Earth and “graphos” means description, collectively referring to the description of the Earth.
- Geography involves the integrated study of nature and human interactions, leaving its mark on aspects like food, clothing, shelter, and occupation. Human adaptation and modification form the foundation of our relationship with nature.
- Geographical phenomena are not static; they are highly dynamic, evolving due to interactive processes.
Various geographers have provided their definitions:
- Richard Hartshorne defines Geography as being concerned with describing and explaining the differentiation of the Earth’s surface.
- Alfred Hettner states that Geography studies the differences in phenomena occurring in different parts of the Earth’s surface.
- Strabo views Geography as an independent subject to impart knowledge about the world, celestial bodies, land, ocean, animals, plants, fruits, and everything observed in the Earth’s regions.
- Ptolemy describes Geography as the marvelous science of glimpsing the Earth in heaven.
Geography as an Integrating Discipline
Geography serves as a unifying discipline, employing spatial synthesis and adopting a holistic approach. Recognizing the world’s interdependence, geography seeks to comprehend the associations among phenomena within the framework of reality sections. As every scientific discipline deals with elements that vary over space, geography aids in grasping reality entirely from a spatial perspective.
Geography as a Relation to Human and Environment
In the early 20th century, geography evolved as an exploration of the relationship between humans and the environment. Two contrasting concepts emerged during this period:
Concept of Determinism: This notion posits that the physical environment exerts a massive and controlling influence on humans, leaving them no choice but to adhere to nature’s dictates. Friedrich Ratzel and Ellsworth Huntington supported this ideology.
Concept of Possibilism: In reaction to determinism, possibilism explains the human-environment relationship differently, viewing humans as active agents capable of shaping their surroundings. Vedal de La Blanche and Lucien Febvre endorsed this ideology.
Concept of Neo-Determinism
- The Concept of Neo-Determinism, introduced by geographer Griffith Taylor in the 1920s, strikes a middle ground between environmental determinism and possibilism, often termed stop-and-go determinism.
Development of geography
- The development of geography dates back to the earliest records when scholars focused on understanding the Earth’s physical domain through map-making and astronomical measurements.
- Ancient Greeks, including Hower, Herodotus, Thales, Aristotle, and Eratosthenes, are credited as early geographers.
- The explorers and travelers from the 15th to the early 18th century, such as Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Magellan, and Thomas Cook, contributed significantly. Modern geography was shaped by Varenius, Kant, Humboldt, and Ritter, often considered the founders of modern geography.
- The post-Second World War period witnessed rapid development in geography. Hartshorne defined geography as a science dealing with areal differentiation.
Branches of Geography
- In contemporary geography, the regional and systematic approaches are viewed as complementary rather than contradictory.
- Geography, as an interdisciplinary subject, employs major approaches, including the systematic and regional approaches:
- Systematic Approach: This involves studying specific natural or human phenomena that give rise to spatial patterns and structures on Earth’s surface. Alexander Von Humboldt introduced this approach.
- In the systematic approach, a phenomenon is studied the world over as a whole and then the identification of All typologies or spatial patterns is Based on the systematic approach geography can be classified as
Branches of Geography
| Systematic Approach | Physical Geography | Geography of Principles/Philosophy | Geography of Methods/ Techniques | Human Geography |
| Biogeography | Geographical Thought | Human Ecology (Land and Human Interaction) | Cartography | Quantitative Techniques |
| Field Survey Methods | Geo Informatics | Geomorphology | Climatology | Hydrology |
| Soil Geography | Social/Historical Cultural | Population and Settlements | Political | Economic |
| Ecology | Plant Geography | Environmental Geography | Zoo Geography |
Physical Geography
Physical Geography encompasses various subfields that focus on understanding different aspects of the Earth’s physical environment:
- Geomorphology: Devoted to the study of landforms, their evolution, and related processes.
- Climatology: Encompasses the study of the structure of the atmosphere, elements of weather, climate types, and regions.
- Hydrology: Studies the realm of water, including oceans, lakes, rivers, and other water bodies, and its effects on different life forms, including human activities.
- Soil Geography: Concerned with the distribution and variability of soils on terrestrial landscapes ranging from local to global scales.
The Geography of Principles/Philosophy
The Geography of Principles/Philosophy delves into the foundational aspects of geography:
- Geographical Thought: Encompasses the historical development of geographic knowledge in specific places, times, and contexts, primarily approached from a historical perspective.
- Human Ecology: An interdisciplinary study of the relationship between humans and their natural, social, and built environments, involving advancements in ecology, geography, sociology, psychology, anthropology, zoology, public health, and home economics.
The Geography of Methods/Techniques
The Geography of Methods/Techniques focuses on methodologies and techniques used in geographic studies:
- Cartography: The study of the conception, production, dissemination, and analysis of maps.
- Quantitative Techniques: Methods used in quantitative geography, including geographic information systems (GIS) for mapping, analysis, and optimization, useful in airborne sensing, statistics, exploratory spatial data analysis, mathematics, and regional analysis.
- Field Survey Methods: Basic procedures involving observation, sketching, measurement, interviews, etc., to understand the Earth’s features.
- Geo Informatics: The science and technology that develops and uses information science infrastructure to address geographical, cartographical, and geoscientific challenges.
Geo Informatics comprises various components:
- Geographical Information System (GIS): Utilized for storing, visualizing, analyzing, and interpreting geographic data.
- Global Positioning System (GPS): Determines the location of objects on Earth.
- Land Information System (LIS): Integrates various tasks in traditional cadastres and land registration systems into one.
Human Geography
Human Geography explores diverse aspects:
- Social/Cultural Geography: Examines society’s spatial dynamics and cultural contributions.
- Historical Geography: Studies historical processes shaping spatial organization.
- Population and Settlement Geography (Rural and Urban): Analyzes population aspects and settlement characteristics.
Political Geography
- Political Boundaries: Studies spatial relations between political units.
- Election Scenario: Analyzes delimitation of constituencies and political behavior.
- Spatial Distribution of Political Processes: Explores how geographical location impacts political processes.
- Economic Geography covers economic activities:
- Agriculture: Involves cultivating the soil for crop production.
- Industrial Activities: Encompasses setting up industries for goods and services.
- Trade and Transport: Deals with merchandise sales, passenger/cargo transport, and utility services.
- Infrastructure: Includes essential systems like transport and water supplies.
- Services: Encompasses intangible activities such as banking, insurance, and legal services.
- Tourism: Focuses on the movement of people for personal or professional purposes.
Biogeography
Biogeography examines ecosystems:
- Ecology/Ecosystem: Studies the scientific characteristics of species habitats.
- Plant Geography: Analyzes spatial patterns of natural vegetation.
- Environmental Geography: Explores spatial interactions between humans and the natural world, addressing concerns like land degradation and pollution.
- Zoo Geography: Studies spatial patterns and characteristics of animals and their habitats.
Regional Approach:
- Regions: The world is divided into regions at different hierarchical levels, and specific geographical phenomena in each region are studied.
- Developed by: Karl Ritter, a German geographer and contemporary of Humboldt.
| Branches of Geography (Based on Regional Approach) |
| Regional Studies/ Area Studies |
| Regional Development |
| Regional Analysis |
| Regional Planning |
| Micro Regional Studies |
| Meso Regional Studies |
| Macro Regional Studies |
| Country Rural Planning |
| Planning Town Urban |
- Regional Studies/Area Studies involve the comprehensive examination of a specific region, considering macro, meso, and micro regional studies.
- Regional Development focuses on the geography of welfare and its progression, adopting an integrated approach that considers economic and social interdependencies, emphasizing sustainable utilization of natural resources.
- Regional Analysis aims to identify and address various economic and social issues within a geographical context, encompassing population changes, migration, land use, environment, housing, work, welfare, health, and transportation.
- Regional Planning is the integrated management of economic, social, and physical resources in a spatially bounded area, encompassing both Country/Rural and Town/Urban Planning.
Important Facts:
- Compte de Buffon, a French scientist, provided the first scientific explanation of the Earth’s geological history.
- James Hutton is recognized as the father of modern geology.
- The term Pangaea was coined by Wegener.
- Davis proposed the concept of the Geographical cycle.
- Ptolemy was the first scholar to depict India on the world map.
- Karl Ritter, known as the easy chair geographer, studied Earth’s surface with humans at the center of the analysis.
| Books | Authors |
| Geographic | Strabo |
| Natural History/Historia Naturalis | Pliny the Elder |
| The Geography of the Peace | Nicholas John Spikeman |
| Cosmos | Alexander Von Homboldt |
| The Geography (Geographia) | Ptolemy |
| Anthropogeography | Frederick Ratzel |
| Die Erdkunde | Carl Ritter |
| Kitab Surat-Al-Ard | Al-Khwarizmi |
| Aryabhattiyam | Aryabhatta |
| Siddhanta Shiromani | Bhaskaracharya (Bhaskara-II) |
| Iliad and Odyssey | Homer |
| Kitab-ul-Hind (Geography of India) | Alberuni |
| The Rihla | Ibn Battuta |
Prelims Facts
- Who said that ‘The Geography studies the difference of phenomena in different parts of the Earth’s surface’? -Hettner (BPSC (Pre) 2014]
- Who developed the Regional Geography approach to study Geography? – Karl Ritter (UPPSC (Pre) 2016]
- Who said geography is a concern with the description surface? an explanation of the areal differentiation of the Earth’s – Richard Hartshorne (CGPSC (Pre) 2016]
- Geo-informatics comprising techniques such as – Remote Sensing, GIS, GPS (CGPSC (Pre) 2014]
- Who said that the Human Geography is a synthetic study of the relationship between Human Societies and Earth’s – Friedrich Ratzel (MPPSC (Pre) 2023] surface?
- Introduced the concept of stop and Which Geographer go Determinism? Isaiah Bowman [MPPSC 2023]
- David Harvey, a famous Geographer belonged to which England (MPPSC (Pre) 2023) country? England (MPPSC pre 2023
UPSC NCERT Practice Questions
1. The word Geography was first used by
(a) Richard Hartshorne
(b) Eratosthenes
( c) Both (a) and (b)
(d) Neither (a) nor (b)
2. Consider the statements given below.
1. Geography is the description of Earth.
2. It is derived from the German words ‘Geo + graphics
3. Geography is a highly dynamic phenomenon.
Which of the following statement(s) given above is/are correct?
(a) Only 2
(c) 1 and 3
(b) 1 and 2
(d) All of these
3. ‘Geography studies the difference of phenomena usually related in different parts of the Earth’s surface. Who gave this definition of geography?
(a) Alfred Hettner
(b) Aristotle
(c) Immanuel Kant
(d) R Hartshorne
4. Who are credited to be the earliest geographers of the world?
1. Germans
2. Indians
3. Greeks
4. Chinese
Select the correct answer by using the codes given below.
(a) Only 1
(b) 2 and 3
(c) Only 3
(d) All of these
5. Christopher Columbus is famous for
(a) discovering America
(b) propounding the geographical theories
(c) classifying the geographical timescale
(d) None of the above
6. Who are regarded as the founders of modern geography?
(a) Carl Ritter
(b) Alexander Von Humboldt
(c) Both a and d
(d) Neither (a) nor (b)
7. Which geographical approach is defined as a phenomenon which studies the world over as a whole?
a) Regional approach
(b) Global approach
(c) Physical approach
(d) Systematic approach
8. Consider the following statements about the systematic approach of geography.
1. It studies the world as a whole and gives rise to spatial patterns on Earth surface.
2. This approach was introduced by Hartshorne
3. Physical geography, Bio-geography, Human geography and Geographical methods are its sub-branches
Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 2
(b) 2 and 3
(c) Only 2
(d) 1 and 3
9. Regional approach of geography was discoverd by
(a) Karl Ritter
(b) Vasco da Gama
(c) Humboldt
(d) Griffith Taylor
10. Consider the following pairs.
Branches of Geography
1. Regional
2. Physical
3. Human
Sub-Partso
Meso regiono
Population
Oceanography
Which of the pair(s) given above is/are correctly matched?
(a) Only 1
(b) 2 and 3
(c) 1 and 2
(d) All of these
11. Which concept says that “Physical environment has a massive and controlling impact on human beings and humans have no option but to follow the dictates of nature”………?
(a) Concept’s of Possibilism
(b) Concept of Neo-Determinism
(c) Concept of Determinism
(d) Concept of Absolutism
12 . Concept of ‘Neo-Determinism’ or ‘Stop-and-go Determinism’ was introduced by
(a) Alfred Wegener
(b) Griffith Taylor
(c) Eratosthenes
(d) Dmitri Mendeleev
13 . Which of the following pair(s) is/are correctly matched?
1. Neo-Determinism : Griffith Taylor
2. Determinism : E Huntington
3. Possibilism : Vidal De La Blache
Codes
(a) 1 and 2
(b) 2 and 3
(c) Only 2
(d) All of these
14. Consider the following statements concerning Possibilism and Determinism. environment and using natural resources according to
1. Possibilism views humans as capable of modifying their own needs.
2. Determinism propounds that human choices and needs are restricted by natural factors.
3. F Ratzel belonged to the Deterministic School.
Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 2
(b) 2 and 3
(c) 1 and 3
(d) All of the above
Know Right Answer
1 (b)
2 (c)
3 (a)
4 (c)
5 (a)
6 (c)
7 (d)
8 (d)
9 (a)
10 (a)
11 (c)
12 (b)
13 ( d)
14 (d)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
FAQ 1: Why is the study of geography considered important in the UPSC exam, and how do NCERT notes help in this context?
Answer: Geography is a crucial component of the UPSC exam as it covers a wide range of topics that are essential for understanding the world and its various aspects. The study of geography helps candidates develop a comprehensive understanding of physical, human, and environmental factors. NCERT notes on geography serve as a valuable resource because they are curated by experts and provide a structured overview of key concepts. They help candidates grasp fundamental principles, historical developments, and contemporary issues, aiding in a thorough preparation for the geography section of the UPSC exam.
FAQ 2: How does geography function as a discipline, and what are the key features highlighted in UPSC NCERT notes?
Answer: Geography functions as a discipline by employing a systematic approach to study the Earth’s physical features, human societies, and their interactions. UPSC NCERT notes emphasize key features of geography as a discipline, including spatial analysis, regional studies, and the integration of physical and human aspects. The notes highlight the significance of maps, fieldwork, and technology in geographical research. Understanding these features helps candidates approach geographical questions in the UPSC exam with a holistic perspective, demonstrating their ability to analyze and interpret spatial patterns and relationships.
FAQ 3: How do UPSC NCERT notes contribute to a candidate’s preparation for the geography section, specifically regarding conceptual clarity?
Answer: UPSC NCERT notes play a crucial role in enhancing conceptual clarity in geography. These notes systematically present foundational concepts, theories, and principles, aiding candidates in building a strong conceptual framework. By focusing on NCERT notes, aspirants can gain clarity on geographical terms, theories, and their applications. Additionally, the notes often include illustrative examples and case studies, helping candidates apply theoretical knowledge to real-world scenarios. This approach not only facilitates a deeper understanding of geographical concepts but also equips candidates with the ability to analyze and answer questions effectively in the UPSC exam.
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