Human Geography: Nature and Scope
Human Geography: Nature and Scope
Human Geography: Nature and Scope
Colonial period Exploration and Imperial and trade interests prompted the discovery and
description exploration of new areas. An encyclopaedic description of
the area formed an important aspect of the geographers
account.
Colonial period Regional analysis Elaborate description of all aspects of a region were
undertaken. The idea was that all the regions were part of
a whole, ie (the earth); so, understanding the parts in
totality would lead to an understanding of the whole.
1930s through the Areal differentiation The focus was on identifying the uniqueness of any region
inter-War period and understanding how and why it was different from
others.
Late 1950s to the Spatial organisation Marked by the use of computers and sophisticated
late 1960s statistical tools. Laws of physics were often applied to
map and analyse human phenomena. This phase was
called the quantitative revolution. The main objective was
to identify mappable patterns for different human
activities.
interface with other sister disciplines in social expanding realm of human geography. The
sciences in order to understand and explain boundaries between sub-fields often overlap.
human elements on the surface of the earth. What follows in this book in the form of
With the expansion of knowledge, new sub- chapters will provide you a fairly widespread
fields emerge and it has also happened to coverage of different aspects of human
human geography. Let us examine these fields geography. The exercises, the activities and the
and sub-fields of Human Geography (Table 1.2). case studies will provide you with some
You would have noticed that the list is empirical instances so as to have a batter
large and comprehensive. It reflects the understanding of its subject matter.
EXERCISES
1. Choose the right answer from the four alternatives given below.
(i) Which one of the following statements does not describe geography?
(a) an integrative discipline
(b) study of the inter-relationship between humans and environment