View source for Human geography

{{Short description|Study of cultures, communities, people, lifestyle, and activities of people of the world}}
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[[File:Earth's City Lights by DMSP, 1994-1995 (large).jpg|thumb|Earth's City Lights by DMSP, 1994-1995 (large)]]
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[[File:BranchesOfGeography.png|thumb|The relationship between the three branches of geography]]


'''Human geography''', also known as '''anthropogeography''', is a branch of [[geography]] that studies how people interact with places. It focuses on the spatial relationships between [[human]] communities, cultures, economies, people, lifestyles, and their environments. Examples include patterns like [[urban sprawl]] and [[urban redevelopment]].<ref name="HGDICT">{{Cite encyclopedia |year=2000 |title=Human Geography |encyclopedia=The Dictionary of Human Geography |publisher=Blackwell |location=Oxford |last=Johnston |first=Ron |editor-last=Johnston |editor-first=Ron |pages=353–360 |editor2-last=Gregory |editor2-first=Derek |editor3-last=Pratt |editor3-first=Geraldine |display-editors=3 |editor4-last=Watts |editor4-first=Michael}}</ref> It looks at how social interactions connect with the environment using both [[Qualitative geography|qualitative]] (descriptive) and [[Quantitative geography|quantitative]] (numerical) methods.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Human Geography |url=http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelpsubject/socsci/humangeog/humangeography.html |last=Russel |first=Polly |website=British Library |access-date=26 February 2017 |archive-date=26 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170226212854/http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelpsubject/socsci/humangeog/humangeography.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Human Geography |url=https://www.geog.uni-heidelberg.de/human/index_en.html |last=Reinhold |first=Dennie |date=7 February 2017 |website=www.geog.uni-heidelberg.de |language=en |access-date=23 February 2017 |archive-date=23 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240923015926/https://www.geog.uni-heidelberg.de/human/index_en.html |url-status=live }}</ref> This multidisciplinary field draws from sociology, anthropology, economics, and environmental science, helping build a more complete understanding of how human activity shapes the spaces we live in.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rubenstein |first=James M. |title=Cultural Landscape, The: An Introduction to Human Geography |publisher=Pearson |year=2020 |isbn=9780135729625 |edition=13th}}</ref>

==History==
{{See also|History of geography}}
{{History of geography sidebar}}

The [[Royal Geographical Society]] was founded in [[England]] in 1830.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History |url=http://www.rgs.org/AboutUs/History.htm |last=Royal Geographical Society |access-date=9 March 2011 |archive-date=26 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526192438/http://www.rgs.org/AboutUs/History.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The first professor of geography in the [[United Kingdom]] was appointed in 1883,<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |date=1961 |title=Chairs of Geography in British Universities |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40565547 |journal=Geography |volume=46 |issue=4 |pages=349–353 |jstor=40565547 |issn=0016-7487 |access-date=16 July 2023 |archive-date=16 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230716133828/https://www.jstor.org/stable/40565547 |url-status=live }}</ref> and the first major geographical intellect to emerge in the UK was [[Halford John Mackinder]], appointed professor of geography at the [[London School of Economics]] in 1922.<ref name=":0" />

The [[National Geographic Society]] was founded in the United States in 1888 and began publication of the ''National Geographic'' magazine, which became, and continues to be, a great popularizer of geographic information. The society has long supported geographic research and education.

The Association of American Geographers was founded in 1904 and was renamed the [[American Association of Geographers]] in 2016 to reflect the increasingly international character of its membership.[[Image:Snow-cholera-map-1.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Original mapping by [[John Snow]] showing the [[Cluster (epidemiology)|clusters]] of [[cholera]] cases in the London [[epidemic]] of 1854, which is a classical case of using human geography|left]]

One of the first examples of geographic methods being used for purposes other than describing and theorizing the physical properties of the Earth is [[John Snow (physician)|John Snow's]] map of the [[1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak]]. Though Snow was primarily a [[physician]] and a pioneer of [[epidemiology]] rather than a geographer, his map is probably one of the earliest examples of [[health geography]].

The now-fairly-distinct differences between the subfields of physical and human geography emerged later. The connection between the physical and human properties of geography is most apparent in the theory of [[environmental determinism]], popularized in the 19th century by [[Carl Ritter]] and others, and it has close links to the field of [[evolutionary biology]] of the time. Environmental determinism is the theory that people's physical, mental, and moral habits are directly due to the influence of their natural environment. However, by the mid-19th century, environmental determinism was under attack for lacking methodological rigor associated with modern science, and later as a means to justify [[racism]] and [[imperialism]].

A similar concern with both human and physical aspects is apparent during the later 19th and first half of the 20th centuries, focused on [[regional geography]]. The goal of regional geography was to delineate space into regions and then to understand and describe the unique characteristics of each region in both human and physical terms. With links to [[Possibilism (geography)|possibilism]] and [[cultural ecology]], some of the same notions of the environment's causal effect on society and culture remain in environmental determinism.

By the 1960s, however, the [[quantitative revolution]] led to strong criticism of regional geography. Due to a perceived lack of scientific rigor in an overly descriptive nature of the discipline, and a continued separation of geography from its two subfields of physical and human geography and from [[geology]], geographers in the mid-20th century began to apply statistical and mathematical models to solve spatial problems.<ref name="HGDICT" /> Much of the development during the quantitative revolution is now apparent in the use of [[geographic information systems]]; the use of statistics, spatial modeling, and positivist approaches is still important to many branches of human geography. Well-known geographers from this period are [[Fred K. Schaefer]], [[Waldo Tobler]], [[William Garrison (geographer)|William Garrison]], [[Peter Haggett]], [[Richard Chorley|Richard J. Chorley]], [[William Bunge]], and [[Torsten Hägerstrand]].

From the 1970s, many critiques of the positivism now associated with geography emerged. Known as '[[critical geography]],' these critiques signaled another turning point in the discipline. [[Behavioral geography]] emerged over time as a means of understanding how people perceived spaces and places and made locational decisions. The more influential 'radical geography' emerged in the 1970s and 1980s. It draws heavily on [[Marxist geography|Marxist]] theory and techniques and is associated with geographers such as [[David Harvey]] and [[Richard Peet]]. Radical geographers seek to say meaningful things about problems recognized through quantitative methods,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harvey |first=David |title=Social Justice and the City |publisher=Edward Arnold |year=1973 |location=London |pages=128–129 }}</ref> provide explanations rather than descriptions, put forward alternatives and solutions, and be politically engaged,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Antipode: A Radical Journal of Geography: Celebrating Over 40 years of Radical Geography 1969–2009 |url=http://www.wiley.com/bw/journal.asp?ref=0066-4812&site=1 |last=Antipode: A Radical Journal of Geography |year=2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091010193949/http://www.wiley.com/bw/journal.asp?ref=0066-4812&site=1 |archive-date=10 October 2009 |access-date=31 May 2010 }}</ref> rather than using the detachment associated with positivists. (The detachment and [[objectivity (science)|objectivity]] of the quantitative revolution was itself critiqued by radical geographers as being a tool of capital). Radical geography and the links to Marxism and related theories remain an important part of contemporary human geography (See: ''[[Antipode (journal)|Antipode]]''). Critical geography also saw the introduction of 'humanistic geography', associated with the work of [[Yi-Fu Tuan]], which advocated a much more [[qualitative data|qualitative]] approach to methodology.

The changes under critical geography have led to contemporary approaches in the discipline, such as [[feminist geography]], [[Cultural geography#"New cultural geography"|new cultural geography]], [[settlement geography]], and the engagement with [[postmodern]] and [[post-structural]] theories and philosophies.

==Fields==
The primary fields of study in human geography focus on the core fields of:

===Cultures===
[[Cultural geography]] is the study of cultural products and norms – their variation across spaces and places, as well as their relations. It focuses on describing and analyzing the ways language, religion, economy, government, and other cultural phenomena vary or remain constant from one place to another and on explaining how humans function spatially.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Jordan-Bychkov, Terry G. |title=The human mosaic: a thematic introduction to cultural geography |last2=Domosh |first2=Mona |last3=Rowntree |first3=Lester |publisher=HarperCollinsCollegePublishers |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-06-500731-2 |location=New York}}</ref>
[[File:Agriculture in Asia.jpg|thumb|Terraced rice agriculture in Asia]]
* Subfields include: [[Social geography]], [[Animal geographies]], [[Language geography]], [[Sexuality and space]], [[Children's geographies]], and [[Religion and geography]].

===Development===
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[[Development geography]] is the study of the Earth's geography with reference to the [[standard of living]] and the [[quality of life]] of its human inhabitants, the study of the location, distribution, and spatial organization of economic activities across the Earth. The researcher's methodological approach strongly influences the subject matter investigated.

===Economies===
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[[File:Shan Street Bazaar.JPG|thumb|Economic Geography: [[Shan people|Shan]] street bazaar, market in Myanmar]]
[[Economic geography]] examines relationships between human economic systems, states, and other factors, and the biophysical environment.
* Subfields include: [[Marketing geography]] and [[Transportation geography]]

===Emotion===
{{Excerpt|Emotional geography|hat=yes|paragraphs=1-4}}

===Food===
{{Excerpt|Geography of food|hat=yes|paragraphs=1-4}}

===Health===
Medical or [[health geography]] is the application of geographical information, perspectives, and methods to the study of [[health]], [[disease]], and [[health care]]. Health geography examines the spatial relationships and patterns between people and the environment. This is a subdiscipline of human geography, researching how and why diseases are spread and contained.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dummer |first=Trevor J.B. |date=22 April 2008 |title=Health geography: supporting public health policy and planning |journal=CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal |volume=178 |issue=9 |pages=1177–1180 |doi=10.1503/cmaj.071783 |issn=0820-3946 |pmc=2292766 |pmid=18427094}}</ref>

===Histories===
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[[Historical geography]] is the study of the human, physical, fictional, theoretical, and "real" geographies of the past. Historical geography studies a wide range of topics. A common theme is the study of past geographies and how places or regions change over time. Many historical geographers study geographical patterns through time, including how people have interacted with their environment and created the cultural landscape.

===Politics===
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[[Political geography]] is concerned with the study of both the spatially uneven outcomes of political processes and how political processes are themselves affected by spatial structures.
Subfields include: [[Electoral geography]], [[Geopolitics]], [[Strategic geography]] and [[Military geography]].

===Population===
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[[Population geography]] is the study of ways in which spatial variations in the distribution, composition, migration, and growth of populations are related to their environment or location.

===Settlement===
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[[Settlement geography]], including [[urban geography]], is the study of [[urban area|urban]] and [[rural area]]s with specific regard to spatial, relational, and theoretical aspects of settlement. That is the study of areas which have a concentration of [[building]]s and [[infrastructure]]. These are areas where the majority of [[economy|economic]] activity is in the [[secondary sector of the economy|secondary sector]] and [[tertiary sector of the economy|tertiary sector]].

=== Urbanism ===
[[Urban geography]] is the study of cities, towns, and other areas of relatively dense settlement. Two main interests are site (how a settlement is positioned relative to the physical environment) and situation (how a settlement is positioned relative to other settlements). Another area of interest is the internal organization of urban areas, including how different demographic groups are distributed and the layout of infrastructure. This subdiscipline also draws on ideas from other branches of Human Geography to see their involvement in the processes and patterns evident in an [[urban area]].<ref name="Palm">{{Cite journal |last=Palm |first=Risa |date=1982 |title=Urban geography: city structures |journal=Progress in Geography |language=en |volume=6 |pages=89–95 |doi=10.1177/030913258200600104|s2cid=157288359 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Kaplan |first1=Dave H. |title=Urban Geography, 3rd. Edition |last2=Holloway |first2=Steven |last3=Wheeler |first3=James O. |publisher=Wiley |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-118-57385-3 |location=Hoboken, NJ}}</ref>
Subfields include: [[Economic geography]], [[Population geography]], and [[Settlement geography]]. These are clearly not the only subfields that could be used to assist in the study of [[Urban geography]], but they are some major players.<ref name="Palm" />

==Philosophical and theoretical approaches==
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Within each subfield, various philosophical approaches can be used in research; therefore, an urban geographer could be a Feminist or Marxist geographer, among others.

Such approaches are:
{{Div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Animal geographies]]
* [[Behavioral geography]]
* [[Cognitive geography]]
* [[Critical geography]]
* [[Feminist geography]]
* [[Marxist geography]]
* [[Non-representational theory]]
* [[Positivism]]
* [[Postcolonialism]]
* [[Poststructuralist]] geography
* [[Psychoanalysis|Psychoanalytic geography]]
* [[Psychogeography]]
* [[Spatial analysis]]
* [[Time geography]]
{{Div col end}}

==See also==
{{portal|Geography}}
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* {{Annotated link|Areography (geography of Mars)}}
* {{Annotated link|Concepts and Techniques in Modern Geography}}
* {{Annotated link|History of cartography}}
* {{Annotated link|Neogeography}}
* {{Annotated link|Planetary science}}
* {{Annotated link|Political ecology}}
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{Library resources box}}
* {{Cite book |title=Key Concepts in Geography |publisher=SAGE |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-4129-3021-5 |editor-last=Clifford |editor-first=N.J. |editor-link=Nick Clifford |edition=2nd |location=London |editor-last2=S.L. |editor-last3=Rice |editor-first3=S.P. |editor-last4=Valentine |editor-first4=G.}}
* {{Cite book |title=Modern Geographical Thought |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |year=1998 |isbn=978-1-55786-378-2 |editor-last=Peet |editor-first=Richard |location=Oxford}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Cloke |first1=Paul J. |title=Introducing human geographies |last2=Crang |first2=Phil |last3=Crang |first3=Philip |last4=Goodwin |first4=Mark |publisher=Hodder Arnold |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-340-88276-4 |edition=2nd |location=London}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Cloke |first1=Paul J. |title=Envisioning human geographies |last2=Crang |first2=Philip |last3=Goodwin |first3=Mark |publisher=Arnold |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-340-72013-4 |location=London}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Crang |first1=Mike |title=Thinking space |last2=Thrift |first2=Nigel J. |publisher=Routledge |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-415-16016-2 |location=London |author-link=Mike Crang |author-link2=Nigel Thrift}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Daniels |first1=Peter |title=An Introduction to Human Geography: issues for the 21st century |last2=Bradshaw |first2=Michael |last3=Shaw |first3=Denis J.B. |last4=Sidaway |first4=James D. |publisher=Prentice Hall |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-13-121766-9 |edition=2nd}}
* {{Cite book |last1=de Blij |first1=Harm |title=Geography: realms, regions, and concepts |last2=Jan |first2=De |publisher=John Wiley |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-470-12905-0 |location=Hoboken, NJ |author-link=Harm de Blij}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Flowerdew |first1=Robin |title=Methods in human geography: a guide for students doing a research project |last2=Martin |first2=David |publisher=Prentice Hall |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-582-47321-8 |edition=2nd |location=Harlow}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Gregory |first1=Derek |title=Human geography: society, space and social science |last2=Martin |first2=Ron G. |last3=Smith |first3=Graham |publisher=Macmillan |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-333-45251-6 |location=Basingstoke}}
* {{Cite book |last=Harvey |first=David D. |title=Justice, Nature and the Geography of Difference |publisher=Blackwell Pub |year=1996 |isbn=978-1-55786-680-6 |author-link=David Harvey (geographer)}}
* {{Cite book |last=Johnston |first=R.J. |title=Geography and Geographers. Anglo-American Human Geography since 1945 |publisher=Edward Arnold, London |year=1979}}
* {{Cite book |last=Johnston |first=R.J. |title=The Dictionary of Human Geography |publisher=Blackwell Publishers, London |year=2009 |edition=5th}}
* {{Cite book |last=Johnston |first=R.J |title=Geographies of Global Change: Remapping the World |publisher=Blackwell Publishers, London |year=2002}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Moseley |first1=William W. |title=The Introductory Reader in Human Geography: Contemporary Debates and Classic Writings |last2=Lanegran |first2=David A. |last3=Pandit |first3=Kavita |publisher=Blackwell Publishing Limited |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-4051-4922-8 |location=Malden, MA}}
* {{Cite book|last=Soja|first=Edward W.|title=Postmodern geographies : the reassertion of space in critical social theory|date=1989|publisher=Verso|isbn=0-86091-225-6|location=London|oclc=18190662}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline}}
* [https://worldmapper.org/ Worldmapper] – Mapping project using social data sets

{{Human geography}}
{{Geography topics}}
{{Environmental social science}}
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[[Category:Human geography| ]]
[[Category:Environmental social science]]