Note: As of March 2025, we have split this popular resource into two separate articles: The History of Geography, provided below, and Geography, found here.
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The term "geography" was coined by the Greek scholar Eratosthenes in the third century B.C.E. In Greek, geo- means “earth” and -graphy means “to write.” Using geography, Eratosthenes and other Greeks developed an understanding of where their homeland was located in relation to other places, what their own and other places were like, and how people and environments were distributed. These concerns have been central to geography ever since.
Of course, the Greeks were not the only people interested in geography, nor were they the first. Throughout human history, most societies have sought to understand something about their place in the world and the people and environments around them. Mesopotamian societies inscribed maps on clay tablets, some of which survive to this day. The earliest known attempt at mapping the world is a Babylonian clay tablet known as the Imago Mundi. This map, created in the sixth century B.C.E., is more of a metaphorical and spiritual representation of Babylonian society rather than an accurate depiction of geography. Other Mesopotamian maps were more practical, marking irrigation networks and landholdings.
Indigenous peoples around the world developed geographic ideas and practices long before Eratosthenes. For example, Polynesian navigators embarked on long-range sea voyages across the Pacific Islands as early as 3000 years ago. The people of the Marshall Islands used navigation charts made of natural materials (“stick charts”) to visualize and memorize currents, wind patterns and island locations. A Polynesian navigator named Tupaia helped British explorer James Cook succeed in reaching New Zealand in 1769 and then Australia in 1770. Using the stars to navigate, Tupaia piloted Cook’s ship, the HMS Endeavor, from Tahiti through the South Pacific islands. His ability to communicate with the Māori people of New Zealand was essential in helping Cook and his crew survive.
Indeed, mapmaking probably came even before writing in many places, but ancient Greek geographers were particularly influential. They developed very detailed maps of Greek city-states, including parts of Europe, Africa and Asia. More importantly, they also raised questions about how and why different human and natural patterns came into being on Earth’s surface, and why variations existed from place to place. The effort to answer these questions about patterns and distribution led them to figure out that the world was round, to calculate Earth’s circumference and to develop explanations of everything from the seasonal flooding of the Nile to differences in population densities from place to place.
During the medieval period, geography ceased to be a major academic pursuit in Europe. Advances in geography were chiefly made by scientists from the Muslim world, based around the Middle East and North Africa. Geographers of this Islamic Golden Age created an early example of a rectangular map based on a grid, a map system that is still familiar today. Islamic scholars also applied their study of people and places to agriculture, determining which crops and livestock were most suited to specific habitats or environments.
In addition to the advances in the Middle East, the Chinese Empire in Asia also contributed immensely to geography. Around 1000 C.E., Chinese navigators achieved one of the most important developments in the history of geography: they were the first to use the compass for navigational purposes. In the early 1400s, the explorer Zheng He embarked on seven voyages to the lands bordering the China Sea and the Indian Ocean, establishing China’s influence throughout Southeast Asia.
Geography, The Age of Discovery, and Colonialism
Italian explorer Marco Polo's travels through Asia increased European interest and involvement in the spice trade during the 13th century. However, acquiring spices from East Asian and Arab merchants was expensive, and a major land route for the European spice trade, known as the Silk Road, was lost with the conquering of Constantinople by the Ottoman Empire in 1453. These and other economic factors, in addition to competition between Christian and Islamic societies, motivated European nations to send explorers in search of a sea route to China. This period of time between the 15th and 17th centuries is known in the West as the Age of Exploration or the Age of Discovery.
With the dawn of the Age of Discovery, the study of geography regained popularity in Europe. The invention of the printing press in the mid-1400s helped spread geographic knowledge by making maps and charts widely available. Improvements in shipbuilding and navigation facilitated more exploration, greatly improving the accuracy of maps and geographic information.
This advantage enabled European nations to extend their global influence and power. During the Age of Discovery, European nations established colonies around the world. By the end of this era, improved transportation, communication and navigational technology allowed countries such as Great Britain to establish colonies as far away as the Americas. This was lucrative for European powers, but the Age of Discovery brought about nightmarish change for the people already living in the territories the colonizers claimed.
When Christopher Columbus landed in the Americas in 1492, millions of Indigenous peoples already lived there. By the 1600s, despite resistance from Indigenous communities, colonizer influences wiped out 90 percent of the Indigenous population of the Americas. This huge population loss was the result of both violence from the colonizers and infectious diseases from Europe to which Indigenous peoples lacked immunity.
For those Indigenous peoples who survived, the European settlers took over their land and natural resources. Forced to relocate, Indigenous tribes of what is now the continental United States lost most of their historical land during colonization and the future westward movement of European settlers. Indigenous peoples were banned from speaking their languages, using their terms for the land and practicing their cultural traditions, which caused them to lose important elements of their ways of life.
Slavery was also a reality in the Americas. In North America, before settlements were even established, European explorers captured and enslaved Indigenous peoples. The Europeans often sent these people to labor on plantations in the Caribbean islands. European colonizers also used violence to capture and enslave Indigenous communities in South America. Spain’s South American colonies operated under the encomienda system. In this system, the Spanish encomenderos ruled over Indigenous communities. The Indigenous peoples provided labor and tributes like gold and crops in exchange for education and protection. However, the encomenderos did not protect Indigenous peoples and instead treated them as slaves.
Another horrific outcome of the Age of Discovery was the beginning of European involvement in the transatlantic slave trade. The first cargo of African slaves arrived in Virginia from West Africa in 1619. By 1867, more than 12 million Africans had been kidnapped and forced onto slave ships to endure a dangerous journey, known as the Middle Passage, across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas. The captors separated these people from their homes, families and traditions. European colonists and powers acquired vast amounts of wealth by exploiting the labor of enslaved people.
Colonialism is a dark chapter in the history of geography. While the pursuit of wealth and geographic study enabled colonialism, that pursuit also helped people understand the planet on which they lived.
Geography and Multidisciplinary Connections
Not surprisingly, geography became an important focus of study in schools and universities. Geography also became an important part of other academic disciplines, such as chemistry, economics and philosophy. In fact, every academic subject has some geographic connection.
Geochemistry is one of many examples of how geography intersects with other subjects. Geochemists study where certain chemical elements, such as gold or silver, can be found. Economists examine which nations trade with other nations and what resources are exchanged.
Oceanography, a related discipline of physical geography, includes observation of ocean tides and currents. For example, 18th-century mariners figured out the geography of the Gulf Stream, a massive current that flows like a river through the Atlantic Ocean. The discovery and tracking of the Gulf Stream helped communications and travel between Europe and the Americas.
Studies of the geographic distribution of human settlements have shown how economic forces and modes of transport influence the location of towns and cities. For example, geographic analysis has pointed to the role of the United States Interstate Highway System and the rapid growth of car ownership in creating a boom in U.S. suburban growth after World War II. The geographic perspective helped show where Americans were moving, why they were moving there and how their new living places affected their lives, their relationships with others and their interactions with the environment.
Geographic analyses of the spread of diseases have pointed to the conditions that allow particular diseases to develop and spread. Dr. John Snow’s cholera map stands out as a classic example. When cholera broke out in London, England, in 1854, Snow represented the deaths per household on a street map. Using the map, he was able to trace the source of the outbreak to a water pump on the corner of Broad Street and Cambridge Street. The geographic perspective helped identify the source of the problem (the water from a specific pump) and allowed people to avoid the disease (avoiding water from that pump).
These examples of different uses of the geographic perspective help explain why geographic study and research remain important as we confront challenges, including environmental pollution, poverty, hunger, and ethnic or political conflict.
