The Five Themes of Geography

Geography is the study of the earth and everything on it.

There are five main themes of geography namely:

1.) Location

2.) Place

3.) Human-environment interaction

4.) Movement

5.) Region

Where is it?
There are two main types of location: Absolute and Relative Location

Absolute Location: 

This is the exact spot on earth where a place can be found. Geographers use imaginary lines on Earth’s surface. This helps them locate any place in the world. 

Example: 40°N, 30° W

Our home address is also an example of absolute location.

Relative Location: 
This is where a place is in relation to other places. 

Examples: next door, nearby, a short drive away, down the road. It can be in the same general location as another location.

Example: next to the post office. 

Ghana International School is close to the American Embassy.

A place is an area that is defined by everything in it. All places have features that give them personality and distinguish them from other places. Every place on Earth has physical features/characteristics, which include climate, land forms, bodies of water, and plant and animal life. Places can also have human traits/characteristics, or features created by people, such as governments and cultural traditions,architectural styles, religious practices, political systems, common foods, local folklore etc. If you refer to your school as a place, then that place would include walls, windows, gym, cafeteria, classrooms, people, clothing, books, maps, mops, brooms, hallways, mice (if you have them) and everything else in the school, including the languages spoken.

A region is an area that is defined by certain similar characteristics. Those unifying or similar characteristics can be physical, natural, human, or cultural. 

Examples: Forest region of Ghana, West Africa, English speaking West Africa, Caribbean countries, French West Africa etc.

Movement refers to the way people, products, information and ideas move from one place to another. This can be local such as how did you get to school today, or it can be global such as how did humans get to North America? Some people travel for career, others to be close to family, and some move to escape war or religious persecution. The emigration of Syrians during war, the flow of water in the Gulf Stream, and the expansion of cell phone reception around the planet are all examples of movement.

Human-Environment Interaction

Human-environment interaction looks at the relationships between people and their environment; how people adapt to the environment and how they change it. 

How do people depend on the environment? Example: In ancient times, the annual flooding of the Nile River produced good soil for growing crops.

How do people adapt to the environment? Example: The ancient Egyptians rebuilt their homes each year, after the annual flooding. As time went on, they built their homes above the floodplain.

How do people modify the environment? 

Example: The ancient Egyptians built irrigation ditches to help water the crops. In modern times, Egypt built a dam to control the flood waters of the Nile River.)