International Encyclopedia Of Human Geography

Human Geography is a branch of geography that focuses on the systematic study of patterns and processes that shape human interaction with the environment, with particular reference to the causes and consequences of the spatial distribution of human activity on the earths surface. Human geography broadly differs from physical geography in that it has a greater focus on studying intangible or abstract patterns surrounding human activity and is more receptive to qualitative research methodologies. It encompasses human, political, cultural, social and economic aspects of the social sciences. Geography is concerned with place. Understanding the nature and causes of aerial differentiation on the global surface has been the geographers task since people first noticed differences between places. Through geography we seek to understand these differences in patterns of human distribution, interrelationships between human society and the physical environment, peoples use of the Earth in time and space, and how these differences are related to peoples cultures and economies. This book concentrates on the field of human geography, providing a handy introductory text on the subject. Incorporating within its folds such fields as cultural, population, historical, political, economic and urban geography, human (or social) geography is a vast and wide ranging subject.