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

A summary of the branches of geography, their objectives and what they study.

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

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

The main branches of geography

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

Since there are many things that can be studied geography is subdivided into several branches which can be put together in different groups. Moreover, being a discipline that touches so many different aspects it has an integrative nature, drawing on the knowledge and methods of other fields such as biology, geology, history, chemistry, sociology...

As we have mentioned, there are several branches of geography. These can be grouped according to their field of study and, below, we present several geographical branches classified in three main groupsPhysical geography, Biological geography and human geography.

Physical geography

Physical geography includes any branch of geography that focuses its field of study on the physical surface of the earth.. That is to say, within physical geography is any discipline that deals with the natural geographic space and the factors that condition it. The branches within it aim 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. Today it is it is considered as a science that is halfway between geography and geology and that is in charge of studying and is responsible for studying the forms of the earth's surface. It deals with 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 responsible for studying phenomena associated with the flow of water, such as sediments, river formation, tidal waves, swamps, etc. This science is very important since 70% of the earth's surface is water.

Glaciology

Glaciology studies the different forms of water in solid state in nature.. Although solid water is commonly known as ice, that is not its only form. Solid water also comes in the form of snow, snowdrifts, glaciers, hail.... Glaciology studies both present-day natural solid water and that of past epochs and geological age.

4. Climatology

Climatology studies the atmospheric states of a region. Its object of study are the phenomena that occur when a part of the atmosphere comes into contact with a part of the earth's surface. This field of knowledge obtains the information from meteorological data and relying on other branches of physical geography.

5. Soil science

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

Biological geography

Biological geography is comprised of several branches, all of which are responsible for studying the responsible for studying the associations between living beings and the different existing terrestrial environments.. That is to say, it is in charge of studying how plants, animals and other organisms interact and are conditioned by the terrestrial surface. The most outstanding are the following two:

6. Phytogeography

Phytogeography is in charge of 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 geographical environment. This discipline is the one that allows us to know in which latitudes we are more likely to find one type of vegetation or another.

7. Zoogeography

Zoogeography is very similar to phytogeography, but instead of focusing on plants, it focuses on animals. It studies the geographic distribution of animal species on the earth's surface and the factors that have influenced their dispersal, such as migrations, adaptations, and adaptations.such as migrations, adaptations, and intra- and interspecies competition.

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 also investigates the role of geographical conditions on human beings 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 studies population geography. is responsible for studying human geography as a whole.. It 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 is concerned with the study of the elements and spaces that make up cities.. This branch tries to analyze and search for the relationships within an urban nucleus. It also studies how cities grow both spatially and demographically, what changes are incorporated in a city to make it more beneficial for its inhabitants and the distribution of streets, neighborhoods, parks, commercial areas...

10. Rural geography

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

It also addresses the possible technical problems that influence production, how agriculture can damage or be respectful of the environment, the changes in rural villages and how this influences the personality and culture of their inhabitants.

11. Cultural geography

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

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

12. Political geography

Political geography studies and interprets the relations 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...

13. Economic geography

As its name suggests, economic geography focuses on economic aspects. It studies how the combination of natural and spatial factors influences the economic activities of a particular population group or region. population group or region. It also takes into account aspects such as supply and demand relationships from a geographical perspective, i.e., analyzing the relationships between consumers and producers in a specific area.

14. Regional geography

Regional geography focuses on the study of a particular region of the EarthIn other words, it delves into the geographic characteristics of a clearly delimited territory. Because of this, regional geography is not only human, but also biological, physical, cultural, economic and other characteristics, since it is in fact a hybrid branch of all the aforementioned. It could be considered to be the application of general geography but limited to a specific piece of the earth's crust.

Bibliographical references:

• Andrades, M; Múñez, C. (2012). Fundamentals of climatology. Material Didáctico Agricultura y Alimentación. University of La Rioja. Spain.
• Valencia Rangel, Francisco (1987). Introducción a la Geografía Física (13th edition). Mexico: Herrero.
• Puyol, Rafael; Estébanez, José; Méndez, Ricardo (1995). Geografía humana. Madrid: Cátedra Geografía.
• Méndez, Ricardo (1997). Geografía económica. La lógica espacial del capitalismo. Barcelona: Ariel Geografía.
• Ferreras, C.; Fidalgo, C. E. (1999). Biogeography and edaphology. Madrid: Síntesis.