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The "north-south divide". A key feature of Development and Economic Geography

Human geography is one of the two major sub-fields of the discipline of geography. Human geography is a branch of the social sciences that studies the world, its people, communities, and cultures ^[1] with an emphasis on relations of and across space and place. Human geography differs from physical geography mainly in that it has a greater focus on studying human activities and is more receptive to qualitative research methodologies. As a discipline, Human geography is particularly diverse with respect to its methods and theoretical approaches to study (see below).

History[link]

Geographical knowledge, both physical and social, has a long history. In the History of geography, geographers have often recorded and described features of the Earth that might now be considered the remit of human, rather than physical, geographers. For example Hecataeus of Miletus, a geographer and historian in ancient Greece, described inhabitants of the ancient world as well as physical features.

It was not until the 18th and 19th Centuries, however, that geography was recognised as a formal academic discipline.

The Royal Geographical Society was founded in England in 1830, ^[2] although the United Kingdom did not get its first full Chair of geography until 1917. The first real geographical intellect to emerge in United Kingdom geography was Halford John Mackinder, appointed reader at Oxford University in 1887.

The National Geographic Society was founded in the USA in 1888 and began publication of the National Geographic magazine which became and continues to be a great populariser of geographic information. The society has long supported geographic research and education.

Original map by John Snow showing the clusters of cholera cases in the London epidemic of 1854

One of the first examples of geographic methods being used for purposes other than to describe and theorise the physical properties of the earth is John Snow's map of the 1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak. Though a physician and a pioneer of epidemiology, the map is probably one of the earliest examples of Health geography.

The now fairly distinct differences between the subfields of physical and human geography developed at a later date. This connection between both physical and human properties of geography is most apparent in the theory of Environmental determinism, made popular in the 19th Century by Carl Ritter and others, and with close links to evolutionary biology of the time. Environmental determinism is the theory that a people's physical, mental and moral habits are directly due to the influence of their natural environment. However, by the mid-19th Century, environmental determinism was under attack for lacking methodological rigour associated with modern science, and later as serving to justify racism and imperialism.

A similar concern with both human and physical aspects is apparent in the later Regional geography, during the later 19th and first half of the 20th Centuries. The goal of regional geography, through regionalization, was to delineate space into regions and then understand and describe the unique characteristics of each region, in both human and physical aspects. With links to possibilism and cultural ecology, some of the same notions of causal effect of the environment on society and culture, as with environmental determinism remained.

By the 1960s, however, the quantitative revolution lead to strong criticism of regional geography. Due to a perceived lack of scientific rigour in and overly descriptive nature of the discipline, and a continued separation of geography from geology and the two subfields of physical and human geography, geographers in the mid-20th Century began to apply statistical and mathematical model methods to solving spatial problems.^[1] Much of the development during the quantitative revolution is now apparent in the use of Geographic information systems; the use of statistics, spatial modelling and positivist approaches is still important to many branches of human geography. Well-known geographers from this period are Fred K. Schaefer, Waldo Tobler, William Garrison, Peter Haggett, Richard J. Chorley, William Bunge, and Torsten Hägerstrand.

From the 1970s a number of critiques of the positivism now associated with geography emerged. Known under the term critical geography this signalled another turning point in the discipline. Behavioural geography emerged for some time as a means to understand how people made perceived spaces and places, and made locational decisions. More influentially, radical geography emerged in the 1970s and 1980s, drawing heavily on Marxist theory and techniques, and is associated with geographers such as David Harvey and Richard Peet. Seeking to say something 'meaningful' about the problems recognised through quantitative methods,^[3] to provide explanations rather than descriptions, to put forward alternatives and solutions and to be politically engaged,^[4] rather than the detachment associated with positivist methods. (The detachment and objectivity of the quantitative revolution was itself critiqued by radical geographers as being a tool of capital). Radical geography and the links to Marxism and related theories remain an important part of contemporary human geography (See: Antipode (Journal)) Critical geography also saw the introduction of humanistic geography, associated with the work of Yi-Fu Tuan, which, though similar to behavioural geography, pushed for a much more qualitative approach in methodology.

The changes under critical geography have led to contemporary approaches in the discipline such as Feminist geography, New cultural geography, and the engagement with postmodern and post structural theories and philosophies.

Fields of human geography[link]

The main fields of study in human geography focus around the core fields of:

Culture[link]

Cultural geography is the study of cultural products and norms and their variation across and relations to spaces and places. It focuses on describing and analysing the ways language, religion, economy, government, and other cultural phenomena vary or remain constant from one place to another and on explaining how humans function spatially.^[5]

• Subfields include: Children's geographies, Animal geographies, Language geography, Sexuality and Space and Religion geography

Development[link]

Development Geography is the study of the Earth's geography with reference to the Standard of living and the Quality of life of its human inhabitants, study of the location, distribution and spatial organization of economic activities, across the Earth. The subject matter investigated is strongly influenced by the researcher's methodological approach.

Economic[link]

Economic geography examines relationships between human economic systems, states, and other factors, and the biophysical environment.

• Subfields include Marketing geography and Transportation geography

Health[link]

Health geography is the application of geographical information, perspectives, and methods to the study of health, disease, and health care.

Historical[link]

Historical Geography is the study of the human, physical, fictional, theoretical, and "real" geographies of the past. Historical geography studies a wide variety of issues and topics. A common theme is the study of the geographies of the past and how a place or region changes through time. Many historical geographers study geographical patterns through time, including how people have interacted with their environment, and created the cultural landscape.

• Subfields include Time geography

Political[link]

Political geography is concerned with the study of both the spatially uneven outcomes of political processes and the ways in which political processes are themselves affected by spatial structures.

• Subfields include Electoral geography, Geopolitics, Strategic geography and Military geography

Population[link]

Population geography is the study of the ways in which spatial variations in the distribution, composition, migration, and growth of populations are related to the nature of places.

Settlement[link]

Settlement geography, including urban geography, is the study of urban and rural areas with specific regards to spatial, relational and theoretical aspects of settlement. That is the study of areas which have a concentration of buildings and infrastructure. These are areas where the majority of economic activities are in the secondary sector and tertiary sectors. In case of urban settlement, they probably have a high population density.

Philosophical & theoretical approaches[link]

Within each of the subfields, various philosophical approaches can be used in research; therefore, an urban geographer could be a Feminist or Marxist geographer, etc.

Such approaches are:

• Behavioural geography
• Critical geography
• Feminist geography
• Marxist geography
• Non-representational theory
• Positivism
• Postcolonialism
• Poststructuralist geography
• Psychoanalytic geography
• Psychogeography
• Spatial analysis

List of notable human geographers[link]

Carl Ritter - considered to be one of the founding fathers of modern geography

• Carl Ritter (1779–1859), considered to be one of the founding fathers of modern geography and first chair in geography at the Humboldt University of Berlin, also noted for his use of organic analogy in his works.
• Xavier Hommaire de Hell (1812–1848), research in Turkey, southern Russia and Persia
• Friedrich Ratzel (1844–1904), environmental determinist, invented the term Lebensraum
• Paul Vidal de la Blache (1845–1918), founder of the French School of geopolitics and possibilism.
• Sir Halford John Mackinder (1861–1947), author of The Geographical Pivot of History, co-founder of the London School of Economics, along with the Geographical Association.
• Carl O. Sauer (1889–1975), critic of environmental determinism and proponent of cultural ecology.
• Walter Christaller (1893–1969), economic geographer and developer of the central place theory.
• Richard Hartshorne (1899–1992), scholar of the history and philosophy of geography.
• Torsten Hägerstrand (1916–2004), critic of the quantitative revolution and regional science, noted figure in critical geography.
• Milton Santos (1926–2001) winner of the Vautrin Lud prize in 1994, one of the most important geographers in South America.
• Waldo R. Tobler (born 1930), developer of the First law of geography.
• Yi-Fu Tuan (born 1930) A Chinese-American geographer.
• David Harvey (born 1935), world's most cited academic geographer and winner of the Lauréat Prix International de Géographie Vautrin Lud, also noted for his work in critical geography and critique of global capitalism.
• Evelyn Stokes (1936–2005). Professor of geography at the University of Waikato in New Zealand. Known for recognizing inequality with marginalised groups including women and Māori using geography.
• Steve Butcher, Professor of Human Geographical Studies at Kent State University
• Allen J. Scott (born 1938), winner of Vautrin Lud Prize in 2003 and the Anders Retzius Gold medal 2009; author of numerous books and papers on economic and urban geography, known for his work on regional development, new industrial spaces, agglomeration theory, global city-regions and the cultural economy.
• Edward Soja (born 1941), noted for his work on regional development, planning and governance, along with coining the terms synekism and postmetropolis.
• Doreen Massey (born 1944), key scholar in the space and places of globalization and its pluralities, winner of the Vautrin Lud Prize.
• Michael Watts, Class of 1963 Professor of Geography and Development Studies, University of California, Berkeley
• Nigel Thrift (born 1949), developer of non-representational theory.
• Derek Gregory (born 1951), famous for writing on the Israeli, U.S. and UK actions in the Middle East after 9/11, influenced by Edward Said and has contributed work on imagined geographies.
• Cindi Katz (born 1954), who writes on social reproduction and the production of space. Writing on children's geographies, place and nature, everyday life and security.
• Gillian Rose (born 1962), most famous for her critique: Feminism & Geography: The Limits of Geographical Knowledge (1993), which was one of the first moves towards a development of feminist geography.

Human geography journals[link]

As with all social sciences, human geographers publish research and other written work in a variety of academic journals. Whilst human geography is interdisciplinary, there are a number of journals with a human geography focus.

These include:

See also[link]

	Book: Geography
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.

• Geography of food
• Integrated geography
• Political ecology

Further reading[link]

• Blij, Harm Jan, De (2008). Geography: realms, regions, and concepts. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley. ISBN 978-0-470-12905-0. 
• Clifford, N.J.; Holloway, S.L.; Rice, S.P.; Valentine, G., ed. (2009). Key Concepts in Geography (2nd ed.). London: SAGE. ISBN 978-1-4129-3021-5. 
• Cloke, Paul J.; Crang, Philip; Goodwin, Mark (2004). Envisioning human geographies. London: Arnold. ISBN 978-0-340-72013-4. 
• Cloke, Paul J.; Crang, Phil; Crang, Philip; Goodwin, Mark (2005). Introducing human geographies (2nd ed.). London: Hodder Arnold. ISBN 978-0-340-88276-4. 
• Crang, Mike; Thrift, Nigel J. (2000). Thinking space. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-16016-2. 
• Daniels, Peter; Bradshaw, Michael; Shaw, Denis J. B.; Sidaway, James D. (2004). An Introduction to Human Geography: issues for the 21st century (2nd ed.). Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-13-121766-9. 
• Flowerdew, Robin; Martin, David (2005). Methods in human geography: a guide for students doing a research project (2nd ed.). Harlow: Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-582-47321-8. 
• Gregory, Derek; Martin, Ron G.; Smith, Graham (1994). Human geography: society, space and social science. Basingstoke: Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-333-45251-6. 
• Harvey, David D. (1996). Justice, Nature and the Geography of Difference. Blackwell Pub. ISBN 978-1-55786-680-6. 
• Johnston, R.J. (2009). The Dictionary of Human Geography (5th ed.). Blackwell Publishers, London. 
• Johnston, R.J (2002). Geographies of Global Change: Remapping the World. Blackwell Publishers, London. 
• Moseley, William W.; Lanegran, David A.; Pandit, Kavita (2007). The Introductory Reader in Human Geography: Contemporary Debates and Classic Writings. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1-4051-4922-8. 
• Peet, Richard, ed. (1998). Modern Geographical Thought. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-1-55786-378-2. 
• Soja, Edward (1989). Postmodern Geographies: The Reassertion of Space in Critical Social Theory. Verso, London. 

References[link]

External links[link]

• Worldmapper - Mapping project using social data sets
• Online Human Geography Resource - Help and advice on human geography matters
• Online AP Human Geography Resource - Human Geography vocabulary and map database

v t e Sub-fields of and approaches to Human geography Sub-fields Cultural · Development · Economic · Health · Historical · Language · Marketing · Military · Political · Population · Religion · Social · Strategic · Time · Tourism · Transportation · Urban Approaches Behavioral · Critical · Culture theory · Feminist · Marxist · Non-representational theory Modernism (Structuralism • Semiotics) · Postmodernism (Post-structuralism • Deconstruction)

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The Human Face
Directed by	James Erskine David Stewart
Produced by	Nick Rossiter
Written by	John Cleese
Starring	John Cleese Elizabeth Hurley David Attenborough Candice Bergen Pierce Brosnan Mali Finn Charles Fleming William Goldman Kevyn Major Howard Michael Palin Joan Rivers Michael Rix
Release date(s)	2001
Running time	50 minutes
Country	United Kingdom  United States
Language	English

The Human Face is a 4 part BBC series that examined the science behind facial beauty, expression, and fame. John Cleese, actor, comedian, visiting professor, and best-selling author on psychology, investigated identity, perception, creativity and sexuality and their relation to the human face, combining art, technology and human interest stories. Paul Ekman served as scientific adviser.

Plot[link]

Part One: Here’s Looking at You[link]

Investigated family resemblances, facial recognition and the purpose of the face and its features, going back to five hundred million years ago. It also speculated about the multi-racial face of the future and showed surgeons in Kentucky preparing for the world’s first facial transplant.

Part Two: Fame and Infamy[link]

Looked at the ubiquity of famous faces on billboards, magazines, and movie screens, and the messages they carry about sex, politics, glamour and power. Considering Diana, Princess of Wales, Jackie Onassis, Marilyn Monroe, it told the story of the face as icon, from Egyptian mummies to Hollywood stars.

Part Three: Survival of the Prettiest[link]

Studied whether human physical attractiveness is a matter of personal taste, looking at standards of beauty that are shared worldwide: a pretty face suggest fertility and ugliness suggests poor health. Big eyes, smooth skin and symmetrical features are valued, and can lead to a better job, more money, and better sex.

Part Four: Secrets and Lies[link]

Looked at how the face communicates without speech, focusing on expressions, disguise and the mysterious art of face-reading^{[clarification needed]}.

Cast[link]

• John Cleese as Himself (Host)
• Elizabeth Hurley as Various roles
• David Attenborough as Himself
• Candice Bergen as Herself
• Pierce Brosnan as Himself
• Mali Finn as Herself
• Charles Fleming as Himself
• William Goldman as Himself
• Kevyn Major Howard as Himself
• Michael Palin as Applicant/peasant
• Dr. Vilayanur Ramachandran as Himself
• Joan Rivers as Herself
• Michael Rix as Himself
• Prunella Scales as Pet shop owner/wife

External links[link]

• The Human Face at BBC Programmes
• The Human Face at the Internet Movie Database
• The Human Face at Rotten Tomatoes