Q. Explain the modern concept of Geography with the help of a suitable diagram.
Introduction
Initially, geography was a description of the earth and its nature alone. Later, geographers redefined geography keeping in mind man’s influence on the earth and vice-versa.
Definition of geography
Prof. I. Fairgrieve: “Geography is the science which treats the relation between the earth and man.”
The Seven concepts of Geography:
- Description of the earth: Information about various landforms and water bodies.
- Study of physical and cultural landscape: A handshake between topographical features that form the physical landscape and its humans who define the prevalent culture.
- Science of distribution: Study of the uneven dissemination of the earth’s natural wealth and features and its underlying causes.
- Study of casual relationship: Geographical causes and their effects on human and animal life.
- Study of spatial relationship: How the location of a place characterizes its climate, vegetation, human life and changes brought in thereof.
- Earth – home of human being – How Man and nature have a direct bearing on one another and imbalance in either can lead to devastating consequences.
- Study of interaction with nature: Man’s interaction, inter-relation and inter-dependence on nature’s biotic (plants, animals, insects, etc) and abiotic (soil, air, water, etc) components.
Modern concepts of geography:
- Nature is earth’s most important asset and man is its major consumer. Thus we need to study their relation in detail.
- Due to globalization, cross-cultural interaction amongst humans is increasingly thriving. So we must study about all the peoples of the world.
- Geography is an integrated science that cuts a section through all the systematic sciences.
- Griffith Tailor’s segregation of geography into 8 branches –
- Science of Environment covering (i) Topography, (ii) Climatology, (iii) Plantiology, (iv) Cartography
- Science of Human Being relating to – (i) Political, (ii) Social, (iii) Economical and (iv) Ethnology – geography.
Conclusion
Concepts of Geography are constantly evolving but it has never digressed from its main trinity of earth-man-nature.
