Geo-Environmental sciences 124
Physical Geography
Introduction to physical geography
What is geography?
• Knowing where things are
• More important to know why things occur where they do
o Study of spatial variation – how and why things differ across the earth
o Development of spatial patterns over time
• Interaction of people and groups with their environment
o Different environments: urban, rural, physical, cultural, political
o Understanding the relationships between phenomena
Decolonized Geography
• Alternative viewpoints to Eurocentric discourses and theories (pluriversality vs
universality)
o Instead of everything being universal for everyone there are now multiple
perspectives that are equally valid
o Pluriversality expands on universality
o Pluriversality is about multiple perspectives coming together to create a new
moral future for ourselves
• Critique of Eurocentric discourses
• Deconstruction of structures and systems of oppression
• Europe continues to benefit from the colonial legacies of expropriation and violence
Evolution of Geography
• Greek geographers gave structure to the discipline:
o Eratosthenes (276 BC- 195 BC)
§ Coined the word “geography” – Geo (earth) and Graphein (to write)
§ Invented a system on latitude and longitude, calculated circumference
of the earth
o Strabo (64 BC – 20 AD)
§ Travelled widely in Egypt, Italy, Ethiopia, Asia Minor (Turkey)
§ Wrote a description of the people and places he visited
, § 17-volume work Geographica
o Herodotus (484 BC – 425 BC)
§ Wrote about lands, people, economies, customs
§ To understand the Persian empire and Persian wars
o From 3 to 1200 Chinese geographers were pre-eminent
§ More complex geographical methods and thought than in Europe at
the time
o Shift in the evolution of geography from Europe to Islamic world
§ Al Idrisi (1099 – 1165/66)
• Witten accounts of his journeys
• Wrote Kitab Nuzhat al-mushtāq (recreation of the desirer in the
account of cities, regions, countries, islands, towns, and distant
lands)
• Modern geography started around the 1600s
• Geography had become a fully-fledged discipline by the end of the 1800s
• Courses were offered at universities in Europe and then around the world
• Results was the development on inter-related specialized sub-disciplines
• Three dominant sub-divisions:
o Spatial differences of physical and human phenomena on earth and the
relationships between human societies and the natural environment
o Focus on systems which link physical and human activities
o Regional analysis
Core Geographic Concepts
• Recognizing spatial patterns is essential in geography
• Geography is a spatial science:
o Spatial distribution of phenomena
§ How and where things are placed in relation to other phenomena
(how they are located)
o Spatial extent of regions
o Spatial behavior of people
o Spatial relationships between places on earth
o Spatial processes that underlie behaviors and relationships
• Location of places and things is the root of all geographic study
o Absolute location
, § Identification of a place by precise and accepted system of co-
ordinates
• 33º 55’ 57.67” S, 18º 51’ 44.86” E
§ Global coverage of parallels and meridians (latitude and longitude)
§ Absolute location is unique to each place
§ Site: absolute location concept referring to attributes and
characteristics of a place
• For example: a church, a mine, a school, a hospital etc.
o Relative location
§ Position in relation to other places or things
§ Expresses spatial interconnection and interdependence
§ Situation: relative location concept referring to external relations of a
place
• Direction is the universal spatial concept together with
location
o Absolute direction
§ Based on cardinal points of the compass:
north, south, east, west
o Relative direction
§ These are culturally based and locationally
variable
§ Where you are based and what you refer to
things around you
§ For example: “up north”, “far east”
• Distance is the universal spatial concept together with location and direction
o Absolute distance
§ Two points in earth measured by an accepted unit such as kilometers
§ For example: from Johannesburg to Cape Town is 1397,8km
o Relative distance
§ Transformation of linear units into another more meaningful unit
§ For example: time distance – 5-minute walk or 20-minute drive
§ Also, a late-night walk in an unknown location may seem longer
• Size and Scale
o Scale is the relationship between the size of an area on a map and the size in
reality
, o Scale implies degree of generalization of earth’s phenomena (so what is
grouped/categorized together to form patterns)
• Physical and Cultural characteristics/attributes of places give them potential,
meaning and individual character
o Human action happens withing the physical (natural) landscape
o Humans always modify the physical attributes of a place – they use soil, water,
plant and animal resources, etc.
o Cultural landscape is the observable marks left by human activities
o Place attributes are always changing
• Interactions between places
o Relationships between phenomena are stronger when they are near to each
other – spatial interaction
o Distance decay – accessibility (closer - more related, further – less related)
o Connectivity
§ Ways in which places are connected: roads, telephone lines, sewers
§ Mobile technology (Whatsapp, Instagram, emails) has erased time
and distance barriers
o Spatial diffusion is the process of dispersion of an idea or thing from a point
of origin
§ Think about how a new song is diffused (spread) by mobile
technology such as YouTube or TikTok
o Increased global connectivity – Globalization
o Geographers study the dynamics of spatial relationships of places and regions
• Place similarity and regions
o No two places on earth are exactly the same
o But the natural and cultural characteristics of places show similar patterns in
some areas
o Allows us to see and define regions based on spatial distributions of
phenomena
o Types of regions:
§ Formal Regions: area of uniformity
regarding a single feature or a limited
number of features
• For example: map of south
African climate regions or a map
that outlines boarders
Physical Geography
Introduction to physical geography
What is geography?
• Knowing where things are
• More important to know why things occur where they do
o Study of spatial variation – how and why things differ across the earth
o Development of spatial patterns over time
• Interaction of people and groups with their environment
o Different environments: urban, rural, physical, cultural, political
o Understanding the relationships between phenomena
Decolonized Geography
• Alternative viewpoints to Eurocentric discourses and theories (pluriversality vs
universality)
o Instead of everything being universal for everyone there are now multiple
perspectives that are equally valid
o Pluriversality expands on universality
o Pluriversality is about multiple perspectives coming together to create a new
moral future for ourselves
• Critique of Eurocentric discourses
• Deconstruction of structures and systems of oppression
• Europe continues to benefit from the colonial legacies of expropriation and violence
Evolution of Geography
• Greek geographers gave structure to the discipline:
o Eratosthenes (276 BC- 195 BC)
§ Coined the word “geography” – Geo (earth) and Graphein (to write)
§ Invented a system on latitude and longitude, calculated circumference
of the earth
o Strabo (64 BC – 20 AD)
§ Travelled widely in Egypt, Italy, Ethiopia, Asia Minor (Turkey)
§ Wrote a description of the people and places he visited
, § 17-volume work Geographica
o Herodotus (484 BC – 425 BC)
§ Wrote about lands, people, economies, customs
§ To understand the Persian empire and Persian wars
o From 3 to 1200 Chinese geographers were pre-eminent
§ More complex geographical methods and thought than in Europe at
the time
o Shift in the evolution of geography from Europe to Islamic world
§ Al Idrisi (1099 – 1165/66)
• Witten accounts of his journeys
• Wrote Kitab Nuzhat al-mushtāq (recreation of the desirer in the
account of cities, regions, countries, islands, towns, and distant
lands)
• Modern geography started around the 1600s
• Geography had become a fully-fledged discipline by the end of the 1800s
• Courses were offered at universities in Europe and then around the world
• Results was the development on inter-related specialized sub-disciplines
• Three dominant sub-divisions:
o Spatial differences of physical and human phenomena on earth and the
relationships between human societies and the natural environment
o Focus on systems which link physical and human activities
o Regional analysis
Core Geographic Concepts
• Recognizing spatial patterns is essential in geography
• Geography is a spatial science:
o Spatial distribution of phenomena
§ How and where things are placed in relation to other phenomena
(how they are located)
o Spatial extent of regions
o Spatial behavior of people
o Spatial relationships between places on earth
o Spatial processes that underlie behaviors and relationships
• Location of places and things is the root of all geographic study
o Absolute location
, § Identification of a place by precise and accepted system of co-
ordinates
• 33º 55’ 57.67” S, 18º 51’ 44.86” E
§ Global coverage of parallels and meridians (latitude and longitude)
§ Absolute location is unique to each place
§ Site: absolute location concept referring to attributes and
characteristics of a place
• For example: a church, a mine, a school, a hospital etc.
o Relative location
§ Position in relation to other places or things
§ Expresses spatial interconnection and interdependence
§ Situation: relative location concept referring to external relations of a
place
• Direction is the universal spatial concept together with
location
o Absolute direction
§ Based on cardinal points of the compass:
north, south, east, west
o Relative direction
§ These are culturally based and locationally
variable
§ Where you are based and what you refer to
things around you
§ For example: “up north”, “far east”
• Distance is the universal spatial concept together with location and direction
o Absolute distance
§ Two points in earth measured by an accepted unit such as kilometers
§ For example: from Johannesburg to Cape Town is 1397,8km
o Relative distance
§ Transformation of linear units into another more meaningful unit
§ For example: time distance – 5-minute walk or 20-minute drive
§ Also, a late-night walk in an unknown location may seem longer
• Size and Scale
o Scale is the relationship between the size of an area on a map and the size in
reality
, o Scale implies degree of generalization of earth’s phenomena (so what is
grouped/categorized together to form patterns)
• Physical and Cultural characteristics/attributes of places give them potential,
meaning and individual character
o Human action happens withing the physical (natural) landscape
o Humans always modify the physical attributes of a place – they use soil, water,
plant and animal resources, etc.
o Cultural landscape is the observable marks left by human activities
o Place attributes are always changing
• Interactions between places
o Relationships between phenomena are stronger when they are near to each
other – spatial interaction
o Distance decay – accessibility (closer - more related, further – less related)
o Connectivity
§ Ways in which places are connected: roads, telephone lines, sewers
§ Mobile technology (Whatsapp, Instagram, emails) has erased time
and distance barriers
o Spatial diffusion is the process of dispersion of an idea or thing from a point
of origin
§ Think about how a new song is diffused (spread) by mobile
technology such as YouTube or TikTok
o Increased global connectivity – Globalization
o Geographers study the dynamics of spatial relationships of places and regions
• Place similarity and regions
o No two places on earth are exactly the same
o But the natural and cultural characteristics of places show similar patterns in
some areas
o Allows us to see and define regions based on spatial distributions of
phenomena
o Types of regions:
§ Formal Regions: area of uniformity
regarding a single feature or a limited
number of features
• For example: map of south
African climate regions or a map
that outlines boarders
