Understanding Geography, Aspects & Objects of Study – As with other sciences, the object of study of geography has its own scope of study that is different from other disciplines. The object of study can be divided into two, namely material objects and formal objects. See a more complete explanation, here’s Sinaumed’s!
Definition of Geography
The word geography comes from the Greek words geo and graphein . Geo means earth and graphein means writing. So, geography is matters or science related to the earth, starting from human life that lives on earth, aspects of geography, to objects of study of geography. Meanwhile, according to the Big Indonesian Dictionary (KBBI), geography is the science of the earth’s surface, climate, population, flora, fauna, and the results obtained from the earth.
Geography itself can be regarded as one of the sciences about the earth which is quite attractive to many people in this world. It is the position of geography that makes scientists want to dig deeper into what geography is. So, so that you know more about geography, then you can see this article which will discuss the object of study of geography to aspects of geography.
What is the definition of a geographic object?
Basically the earth that we live in is the objects of the study of geography.
The object of study of geography is the geosphere, which includes the location and symptoms or phenomena that occur. A phenomenon viewed from a geographical perspective is always integrated with other sciences.
Geographical location is divided into two, namely physiographic location and sociographic location. Examples of physiographical locations are astronomical, maritime, climatological, and geomorphological locations. Meanwhile, examples of sociographic location are social, economic, political, and cultural. The material objects in this study called the geosphere include:
- The lithosphere (hard layer), which is the outer layer of the earth or commonly called the earth’s crust in geology.
- The atmosphere (air layers), weather and climate are studied in climatology and meteorology, etc.
- The hydrosphere (water layer), in the form of oceans, rivers, lakes, and groundwater.
- The biosphere (the living layer), consists of animals, plants and humans as a community, not individuals.
- Pedosphere (soil layer), a layer of rock that has undergone physical, organic, or chemical weathering.
Human geography, also known as social geography, is a branch of science that studies the relationship and mutual influence between nature and humans.
This branch of human geography emphasizes human activity as the main object of its study. The main object of the study of human geography includes aspects of population, activity aspects which include economic, political, social and cultural aspects. Branches of Human Geography:
- Population geography
Population geography is a branch of human geography whose object of study is the spatial aspect of the population. The object of this study includes distribution, density, sex comparison, comparison of humans to land area and so on. - Economic geography
Economic geography is a branch of human geography that discusses human efforts to exploit natural resources and increase the added value of goods to meet needs and analyze patterns of location, distribution and distribution of industrial and trade activities. - Political geography
Political geography is a branch of human geography whose field of study is the spatial aspect of government and statehood which includes regional and international relations of government or statehood on the surface of the earth. - Settlement geography
Settlement geography is a branch of human geography that discusses the development of settlements in an area and the pattern of their development on the surface of the earth.
Benefits of Studying Geography
There are many benefits of studying this science study. The following are some of the benefits of studying geography, including:
- Insight in the study of science trains living things to project or position themselves in a space called the earth. The orientation includes all aspects of space, namely direction, distance, area, and shape.
- Perception of relations between symptoms in studying geography, we are required to observe each other phenomena and symptoms that occur in a landscape or region so that we can conclude the relationships.
- Mapping the potential of the area by studying this regional science study, humans can map areas that have certain characteristics in accordance with the principles in geography that have been mentioned previously.
- Global understanding requires someone to know all the areas that exist on earth. That is, a person does not only know about the area where he lives, but can know all aspects that exist on the surface of this earth.
- A feeling of love arises and a desire to protect after knowing all the potential of the area and all the aspects that this earth has, of course, a feeling of love for God’s beautiful creation will arise. This feeling of love can lead to a sense of belonging so that a person will tend to keep his territory undisturbed.
In an effort to study various things that happen to the environment on the earth’s surface, this book is here to discuss various environmental issues on a local to global scale.
Various Kinds of Geography Study Objects
The object of study of geography itself consists of conditions and all processes that take place on the earth’s surface; Organizing a region and space on earth; Interpretation of natural and social landscapes; Human relations with different environments, both cultural and natural; Human interaction with processes on the surface of the earth.
From some of these scientific disciplines, it is possible to have material objects that may be the same in the field of study, but will be different in their formal objects. For example in geography, geology and geophysics, these three sciences have the same material object as making the object of the planet Earth a non-physical study, but the formal studies are different from one another. There are 2 objects of study of geography, namely material objects and formal objects. The following is an explanation of the 2 geographic objects:
1. Material Objects
The definition of a material object of geography is a material object of geography in the form of the phenomenon of the geosphere (earth surface) which consists of the atmosphere (air layer), lithosphere and pedosphere (rock and soil layers), hydrosphere (about waters), biosphere (plant and animal world) and anthroposphere ( man).
- The atmosphere or air that surrounds the earth, the atmosphere has a thickness of about 1,000 KM and is composed of several elements, including 78.08% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, and 0.034% carbon dioxide. Now, in deepening knowledge about the layers of the earth’s atmosphere, meteorology and climatology are needed.
- The lithosphere or earth’s crust, the earth itself is the home where all creatures on the earth’s surface live. The earth consists of several layers of soil, rock and minerals that make up the earth’s crust or earth’s crust. In studying lithosphere science we need to deepen knowledge such as geology, geomorphology and soil science.
- Hydrosphere (water), Almost the entire surface of the earth is water. In studying the science of the hydrosphere this can be done with the branch of hydrology for fresh water, for example such as limnology which studies lakes, hydrometeorology to study the water content in the air, flufial hydrology (rivers) and groundwater hydrology (groundwater hydrology) as well as oceanography the science which studying seawater.
- Biosger (animals and plants), this biosphere can be studied through biogeography, ecology and anthropology.
- Anthroposphere (human), in studying this geographical material object, we can understand that a phenomenon when viewed from the point of view of geography, will always be integrated with other sciences.
The location in the study of this object can be distinguished into a physiographic location and a sociographic location, for example, the physiographic location includes astronomical location, climatological location, maritime location and geomorphological location. Meanwhile, the sociographic location is the social, economic, political and cultural location.
So in reality the material object of geography includes phenomena that exist and occur on earth, for example, such as rocks, soil, earthquakes, climate, air, flora and fauna related to human life. Thus, if a phenomenon is examined from a geographical point of view, it will always be integrated with other sciences. As with natural disasters, which are discussed in the book below.
2. Formal Objects
The formal object of geography is the perspective and mindset of a phenomenon that exists on the surface of the earth, both physical, non-physical and social in nature from a spatial (special) point of view. The formal object in geography is a spatial perspective that is spaced out in geographical concepts. In studying and understanding the benefits of geographic study objects on the topic of open-earth phenomena.
Based on the perspective of formal objects, 6 main questions emerge as a characteristic of geography known as 5W + 1H as follows What (what phenomenon happened?), Where (where did this phenomenon occur?, When (when did this phenomenon occur?), Why : why did this phenomenon occur? and Who : who was involved in the phenomenon?. Not forgetting how or how to deal with this phenomenon?
Formal geographic studies always analyze the location, distribution on the earth’s surface which have interrelationships and interactions between a phenomenon and other phenomena. For example in research conducted on poverty issues, there are several things that can be studied in this regard, including:
- Where is the location of poverty? is it urban or rural? Is it an industrial, mining or agricultural area? Does it happen in developing countries or developed countries?
- What is the distribution pattern? Is it spread all over the area or only certain areas?
- What are the relations or criteria between the problem of poverty and other natural and social aspects in the region? For example, such as the availability of natural resources, the quality of the population such as the level of education, mastery of science and technology, the level of health and the customs that exist in the region.
Formal objects as outlined in geographic concepts can be seen from various points of view, such as:
- Spatial or regional point of view Through a spatial point of view, formal objects will become easier to review in terms of the value of a place from various interests. Starting from here, we can learn about location, distance and affordability or accessibility.
- From an environmental or ecological point of view, an ecological point of view can be carried out by knowing the interactions between organisms and the surrounding environment. An example of the relationship between farmers and fishermen is the relationship between farmers and fields and rice fields.
- The regional point of view is a combination of analysis from a spatial and ecological point of view. Analysis carried out from this point of view can be done by knowing the differences that exist in one region to another.
- The point of view of time, formal objects that can be studied from time to time, so that the benefits can be used and know the extent of its development. For example, measuring the area of an island over time.
Rhoad Murpey in his work entitled The Scope of Geography has argued that there are three points that become the scope of geography, namely:
- The existence of the distribution and connection of the population on earth with a number of spatial aspects and how humans can make use of them.
- The relationship of interaction between humans and the state of the physical environment, which is one part of regional diversity. Regional framework and analysis of specific regions.
Geographical Aspects
Aspects of geography is an interpretation and ideas as well as things that are considered in the study of geography. The aspects of the study of this science are divided into two, namely physical aspects and social aspects.
1. Physical Aspect
The physical aspect is a geographical aspect that concerns the state of the natural environment outside of humans. For example, the shape of the earth’s surface, waters, air conditions, plants and animals, as well as all natural phenomena that can be directly observed. This physical aspect is subdivided into topological aspects (territory), biotic aspects (humans, vegetation, and animals), and non-biotic aspects (soil, waters, and climate).
The physical aspect of geography focuses on the study of geosphere phenomena that affect human life. In general, the physical aspects of geography deal with phenomena that are directly influenced by nature, not by humans themselves. Basically, the physical aspects of geography can be broadly categorized into three categories, namely science that deals with the shape of the Earth and its measurements.
Apart from that, it also studies biotic elements (flora and fauna as well as living things), abiotic elements (weather, soil, rocks and minerals). If we break down deeper, these three broad categories can be consolidated into several separate areas of study and science. The following are some examples of the scope of geographic studies that are included in the physical aspects of geography. The following are three physical aspects of geography that can be studied or observed:
- Topological Aspect
This aspect discusses matters relating to the location or location of an area, the shape of the earth’s surface, the area and boundaries of areas that have certain characteristics. - Biotic Aspect
This aspect discusses matters relating to vegetation elements such as (plants or flora, animal or fauna) and population studies. - Non-Biotic Aspects
This aspect discusses matters relating to the elements of soil conditions, water systems (hydrology) whether waters, land or sea and climatic conditions of an area.
2. Social Aspect
The social aspect is the geographical aspect in the form of all social, cultural and economic problems that occur because of human activities and creativity on the surface of the earth. Some of the things studied in the social aspect include economic, social, political, and cultural aspects. There are other aspects besides the physical aspect, the study of geography also includes social aspects. Geography studies the humans who live in it from their relation to the phenomena that occur in the geosphere.
Social aspects also include political, anthropological, economic aspects, and aspects related to culture or human life patterns. In this aspect, humans are seen as the main focus of geographic studies by paying attention to the pattern of human distribution in space and the relationship between human behavior and the environment. There are several social aspects studied, namely:
- Social Aspect
This aspect discusses matters relating to elements of customs, traditions, communities, community groups and social institutions. - Economic Aspect
This aspect discusses matters relating to the elements of agriculture, mining, plantations, fisheries, trade, industry, transportation and markets. - Cultural Aspects
This aspect discusses matters relating to elements of religion, education, art and language. - Political Aspect
This aspect discusses matters relating to elements of governance that occur in life in society.
We hope that this article on “Understanding Aspects of Geography & Objects of Geographical Studies” will help you to understand the object of geography in more depth.
Book Recommendations About Geography
As #FriendsWithoutLimits, sinaumedia will always provide quality books such as the following books:
1. Thematic and Visual Edition of Geography Dictionary by Drs. Gatot Harmanto, M.Pd. and Rudi Hartono, S.Pd.
2. Geography Smart Card by Kak Nat
3. Sharp Geography by Rino Agustianto, S.Pd
Thus the article about the Definition of Geography, Aspects, & Objects of Study of Geography. I hope this helps.
Source: from various sources