Introduction to Geography and the Five Themes

Before we examine the map we will work from, we need context for this regional approach and a framework for how to explore the world in one course.

This section presents a framework that does the following:

• Provides an overview of geography as a field of study,
• Justifies the spatial perspective the discipline of geography provides,
• Explains the role maps and geospatial technology play in geography,
• Summarizes the subdisciplines of geography that will inform our analysis of each region,
• Defines regions and shows how they help us understand the world, and
• Introduces the concept of spatial interaction as a means for exploring the world's regions and their interconnectedness.

Watch this video for an overview of geography. The presenter introduces geography through the five themes of location, place, region, movement, and human-environment interaction. We will study many different concepts to understand the world from a spatial perspective. You will see that identifying the patterns that connect regions is an important element of this course.