1.3.2 - Human Geography

Social/Cultural Geography examines how societies interact with their environments and how these interactions shape spatial patterns. It focuses on the social structures (e.g., communities, institutions) and cultural elements (e.g., language, religion, traditions) that define a society. This branch studies how these factors influence where people live, how they organize spaces (e.g., cities or villages), and how cultural practices spread or evolve across regions.
- Step 1: Identify societal and cultural elements in a region (e.g., language or festivals).
- Step 2: Analyze how these elements create spatial patterns (e.g., cultural neighborhoods in a city).
- Step 3: Study the dynamics of how societies and cultures interact with their environment.

This branch focuses on two related areas: population and settlements. Population Geography examines how populations grow, where people live (distribution), how densely they live (density), the balance of males and females (sex ratio), why people move (migration), and what jobs they do (occupational structure). Settlement Geography looks at the characteristics of places where people live, such as rural villages (e.g., small, agriculture-based) or urban cities (e.g., large, industrialized). It studies how these settlements are organized and why they form in specific locations.
- Step 1: Analyze population characteristics (e.g., growth, migration patterns).
- Step 2: Study settlement types (rural vs. urban) and their features.
- Step 3: Connect population trends to settlement patterns (e.g., urban growth due to migration).

Economic Geography explores how people earn a living and how economic activities are organized across space. It studies activities like farming (agriculture), manufacturing (industry), attracting visitors (tourism), buying and selling goods (trade), and moving goods or people (transport). It also examines infrastructure (e.g., roads, ports) and services (e.g., banking, healthcare) that support these activities. This branch analyzes why certain economic activities thrive in specific places and how they shape regional development.
- Step 1: Identify key economic activities in a region (e.g., farming or tourism).
- Step 2: Study the infrastructure and services supporting these activities.
- Step 3: Analyze why these activities are located in specific areas (e.g., ports for trade).

Historical Geography investigates how historical events and processes have shaped the organization of space over time. It looks at how regions developed their current characteristics through past experiences, such as colonization, industrialization, or wars. It also studies how geographical features (e.g., rivers, mountains) have changed or been used differently over time. This branch connects the past to the present to explain why places look the way they do today.
- Step 1: Identify historical events that shaped a region (e.g., colonization).
- Step 2: Study how these events organized space (e.g., building cities).
- Step 3: Analyze changes in geographical features over time (e.g., deforestation).

Political Geography examines how political processes shape and are shaped by space. It studies boundaries (e.g., borders between countries), relationships between neighboring regions (e.g., trade or conflicts), and how areas are divided for governance (e.g., constituencies for elections). It also analyzes election patterns and develops theories to explain why people vote or act politically in certain ways. This branch helps understand how politics influences the organization of space.
- Step 1: Study political boundaries and their significance (e.g., national borders).
- Step 2: Analyze spatial relationships between political units (e.g., alliances).
- Step 3: Examine elections and political behavior in different regions.