Geography Notes: Five Themes, Location, Place, Region, Movement, and Human-Environment Interaction

The Five Themes of Geography

• Movement

• Human-Environment Interaction

• Region

• Location

• Place

The Five Themes provide a framework for understanding how people interact with the world and organize spatial information.

Location

Absolute Location

• Absolute location: the exact spot on the earth where something is found.

• Described by coordinates: Latitude and Longitude.

Relative Location

• Relative location: the position of a place in relation to other places.

• Described using directions (North, South, East, West) and understanding where a place sits in relation to other features.

Place

• Every place on Earth has special characteristics that make it different from every other place.

• Physical characteristics include

  • Weather

  • Land features

  • Plants

  • Animals

• Human characteristics include

  • A type of people

  • Ideas

  • Culture

  • Architecture/buildings

Region

• A region is an area defined by common characteristics.

• Regions can be defined by more than one characteristic (physical, cultural, economic, etc.).

Human-Environment Interaction

• Human-Environment Interaction is a core geographic theme describing how people interact with their surroundings.

• People adapt to their environment.

• People change their environment.

Movement

• Movement refers to the way people, goods, and ideas move continuously.

• This movement is called spatial interaction.

• People meet their needs by traveling to other places or by trading with others elsewhere.

• As movement and transportation change, other geographic features also change.

Region (revisited) and regional thinking

• A Region is an area defined by common characteristics.

• Regions can be defined by more than one characteristic.