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geography

(Encyclopedia)geography, the science of place, i.e., the study of the surface of the earth, the location and distribution of its physical and cultural features, the areal patterns or places that they form, and the ...

physical geography

(Encyclopedia)physical geography: see geography. ...

atlas, in geography

(Encyclopedia)atlas, in geography, collection of maps or charts. It usually includes data on various features of a country, e.g., its topography, natural resources, climate, and population, as well as its agricultu...

antipodes, in geography

(Encyclopedia)antipodes [Gr.,=having feet opposite], people or places diametrically opposite on the globe. Thus antipodes must be separated by half the circumference of the earth (180°), and one must be as far nor...

America, in geography

(Encyclopedia)America [for Amerigo Vespucci], the lands of the Western Hemisphere—North America, Central (or Middle) America, and South America. The world map published in 1507 by Martin Waldseemüller is the fir...

Malte-Brun, Conrad

(Encyclopedia)Malte-Brun, Conrad kônˈräᵺ mälˈtə-bro͞onˌ, Fr. mältə-brôNˈ [key], 1775–1826, Danish geographer, b. Jutland but later settled in Paris; originally named Malthe Konrad Bruun. He is respo...

Ritter, Karl

(Encyclopedia)Ritter, Karl, 1779–1859, German geographer, a founder of modern human geography. He was a professor of geography at the Univ. of Berlin from 1820. He helped define the scope of geography and its rel...

Beaujeu-Garnier, Jacqueline

(Encyclopedia)Beaujeu-Garnier, Jacqueline zhäklēnˈ bōzhöˈ-gärnyāˈ [key], 1917–95, French geographer. A professor of geography at the Sorbonne, she was the author of several texts, including Urban Geograp...

Vidal de la Blache, Paul

(Encyclopedia)Vidal de la Blache, Paul pōl vēdälˈ də lä bläsh [key], French geographer, 1845–1918, the father of French human geography. He was educated at the École Normale Supérieure, Paris, and had an...

Brunhes, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Brunhes, Jean brün [key], 1869–1932, French geographer. He was a leading exponent of French systematic, as opposed to regional, geography. He studied human artifacts in the context of environment. ...