geographie

Geography (Geographie in German and French contexts) is the science that studies the Earth's surfaces, their natural systems, and the relationships between people and their environments, emphasizing spatial patterns and processes. It investigates how places differ, how they are connected, and how factors such as climate, landforms, vegetation, culture, and economy shape distributions and interactions at various scales.

Geography is typically divided into physical geography, which examines natural phenomena such as geomorphology, hydrology, climatology, and biogeography, and human geography, which analyzes population, economy, politics, culture, and urbanization, along with how humans modify and are affected by space.

Practitioners use fieldwork, mapping, and increasingly digital tools to collect and analyze data. Cartography is the art and science of mapmaking; geographic information systems (GIS) integrate diverse datasets for display and analysis; and remote sensing gathers imagery from aircraft and satellites. Research combines qualitative methods with quantitative models, including spatial statistics and geographic information science.

Geography has ancient roots in the work of early scholars who described the world and estimated distances, such as Eratosthenes and Ptolemy, and it evolved through the modern era into an interdisciplinary field that intersects geology, ecology, sociology, economics, and urban planning. Its scope ranges from global climate patterns to local land-use planning.

Applications of geographic knowledge include natural resource management, urban and regional planning, environmental assessment, disaster risk reduction, transportation planning, and public health. By revealing how locations and distances influence outcomes, geography supports evidence-based decision making and policy.