Bharatpedia:Contents/Geography and places/Intro

Geography (Greek Geo (γη) or Gaea (γαία), meaning "Earth", and graphein (γράφειν) meaning "to describe" or "to write") is the study of the earth and its features, inhabitants, and phenomena. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes (275-195 B.C.). Four historical traditions in geographical research are the spatial analysis of natural and human phenomena (geography as a study of distribution), area studies (places and regions), study of man-land relationship, and research in earth sciences. Nonetheless, modern geography is an all-encompassing discipline that foremost seeks to understand the world and all of its human and natural complexities — not merely where objects are, but how they have changed and come to be. As "the bridge between the human and physical sciences," geography is divided into two main branches — human geography and physical geography.