The 14 branches of Geography: what they are and what they study

Geography is a science that studies the phenomena that occur on the earth's surface, including the landforms, ethnic groups, economic activities associated with land, and the distribution of living species.

There are many branches of geography and all of them can be included in different groups. Next we will see the main branches of this discipline, in addition to learning what they do and what their main objects of study are.

• Related article: "The 30 branches of Geology (and their characteristics)"

The main branches of geography

Geography is a science that is in charge of studying the phenomena that occur on the earth's surface. Within its general conception, this discipline analyzes the environments, spaces and inhabitants of the Earth and their interactions, for this reason we can find within its field of study the geographical features, rivers, mountains, landscapes, countries, societies, distribution ethnic ...

Since there are many things that geography can study, it is subdivided into several branches which can be put together in different groups. In addition, being a discipline that touches so many different aspects, it has an integrating nature, resorting to knowledge and methods from other fields such as biology, geology, history, chemistry, sociology…

As we have commented, there are several branches of geography. These They can be grouped according to their field of study and below, we present several geographical branches classified into three main groups: physical geography, biological geography and human geography ..

Physical geography

Physical geography includes any branch of geography that focuses its field of study on the earth's surface in the physical. That is, within physical geography there is any discipline that addresses the natural geographic space and the factors that condition it. The branches within it are intended to explain the Earth in its physical constitution, shape, and natural features.

1. Geomorphology

Geomorphology was a branch originally developed by geographers and therefore within their discipline. Nowadays it is considered as a science that is halfway between geography and geology and who is in charge of studying the shapes of the earth's surface. Investigate the topographic forms that make up the terrestrial landscape, such as mountains, valleys, plateaus, hills ...

2. Hydrography

Hydrography studies the waters of the earth's surface, such as rivers, lakes, oceans and seas. It is also in charge of studying phenomena associated with the flow of water, such as sediments, formation of rivers, tidal waves, swamps... This science is very important since 70% of the earth's surface is water.

3. Glaciology

Glaciology study the different forms that water has in solid state in nature. Although solid water is commonly known as ice, that is not its only form of presentation. Solid water also comes in the form of snow, sleet, glaciers, hail... Glaciology studies both current natural solid water and that of past eras and geological age.

4. Climatology

The climatology is in charge of studying the atmospheric states of a region. Its object of study are the phenomena that occur when a part of the atmosphere contacts a part of the earth's surface. This field of knowledge obtains information from meteorological data and relying on other branches of physical geography.

5. Edaphology

Edaphology studies the nature and properties of the soil from various points of view, taking into account the morphology, composition, formation, evolution, classification, conservation, recovery and distribution of the land.

Biological geography

Biological geography is comprised of several branches, all of them in charge of studying the associations between living beings with the different existing terrestrial environments. That is, it is in charge of studying how plants, animals and other organisms interact and are conditioned with the earth's surface. The most notable are the following two:

6. Phytogeography

Phytogeography is responsible for analyzing the relationship between different plant species and the terrestrial environment. It studies the habitat of plants and also groups them according to their genetic kinship and adaptability to the geographic environment. This discipline is what allows us to know in which latitudes it is more likely that we will find one type or another of vegetation.

7. Zoogeography

Zoogeography is a lot like phytogeography, only instead of focusing on plants it focuses on animals. It is responsible for studying the geographical distribution of animal species on the earth's surface and what factors have influenced their dispersal, such as migrations, adaptations and intra- and interspecies competitions.

Human geography

Human geography studies the causes and effects that have influenced the formation and distribution of human groups on the earth's surface. It is also in charge of investigating the role of geographical conditions on being. human and how people and the environment have influenced each other, adapting to the environment or destroying it.

8. Population geography

Population geography is a discipline that is in charge of studying human geography in its entirety. Studies aspects of human populations such as their composition, distribution, growth and migratory movements, seeing the existence of human groups as a dynamic phenomenon.

9. Urban geography

Urban geography deals with studying the elements and spaces that make up cities. This branch tries to analyze and look for the relationships that exist within an urban nucleus. It also studies how cities grow both spatially and demographically, what changes are incorporated into a city ​​to make it more beneficial for its inhabitants and the distribution of streets, neighborhoods, parks, areas commercial...

• You may be interested in: "The 8 main types of maps, and their characteristics"

10. Rural geography

Rural geography is in charge of analyzing how rural spaces are made up and how this conditions economic activities that are carried out in them. Thus, this branch of geography takes into consideration the agricultural, livestock and commercial uses that are given to the land.

It also addresses possible technical problems influencing production, how agriculture can damage or be respectful with the environment, changes in rural towns and how this influences the personality and culture of their population.

11. Cultural geography

Cultural geography studies the phenomena and processes that occur within human groups, each with its cultural characteristics such as identity, language, traditions, customs and worldview.

Originally this branch was more oriented to the relationships between human beings and the environment in which they inhabited, but with the passage of time their perspective has changed and now economic and economic factors are also taken into account. Social.

12. Political geography

Political geography studies and interprets the relationships that may exist between the territory and the State as well as the growth of a country or changes in its territorial domain. Thus, within this branch we find aspects such as borders, diplomacy between states, strategic invasions, the geographical changes of a country during its history ...

• You may be interested in: "What is Political Psychology?"

13. Economic geography

As its name suggests, economic geography focuses on economic aspects. Study how the combination of natural and spatial factors influences the economic activities of a population group or specific region. In addition, it takes into account aspects such as supply and demand relationships, taking a geographical perspective, that is, analyzing the relationships between consumers and producers in a specific area.

14. Regional geography

Regional geography focuses on the study of a specific region of the Earth, that is, it delves into the geographical characteristics of a clearly delimited territory. Because of this, regional geography is, in addition to human, biological, physical, cultural, economic and other characteristics since it is actually a hybrid branch of all the previously mentioned. It could be considered to be the application of general geography but limited to a specific piece of the earth's crust.

Bibliographic references:

• Andrades, M; Múñez, C. (2012). Fundamentals of climatology. Didactic Material Agriculture and Food. University of La Rioja. Spain.
• Valencia Rangel, Francisco (1987). Introduction to Physical Geography (13th edition). Mexico: Herrero.
• Puyol, Rafael; Estébanez, José; Mendez, Ricardo (1995). Human geography. Madrid: Geography Chair.
• Mendez, Ricardo (1997). Economic geography. The spatial logic of capitalism. Barcelona: Ariel Geography.
• Ferreras, C.; Fidalgo, C. AND. (1999). Biogeography and edaphology. Madrid: Synthesis.