What is Geography

On the basis of the definition given by the International Geographical Union (IGU), Geography is the discipline that attempts to explore how environments emerge by natural processes, how societies produce, organise, use and misuse environments, and how societies themselves are influenced by the environments in which they are located. Thus, geography aims to study both natural and human realms and their interactions, focusing on space, places, and regions, addressing and questioning both short-term and longer-term processes and their resultant patterns.

The contribution of geography to knowledge is in its focus on space and the environment as its principal notions of study. Since space is a basic dimension of both Nature and Humanity, containing and related to numerous natural processes and human activities, geography provides integrating and holistic perspectives for phenomena and processes handled simultaneously by several other disciplines.

The contribution of geography to society is multiform: it provides people with a better understanding of the places, regions and countries in which they live, as well as of other countries and regions and of the planet at large. It further adds the spatial and integrative dimension and holistic perspective to various planning, forecasting and decision making processes.