geography

American  

[jee-og-ruh-fee] / dʒiˈɒg rə fi /

noun

geographies plural

1. the science dealing with the areal differentiation of the earth's surface, as shown in the character, arrangement, and interrelations over the world of such elements as climate, elevation, soil, vegetation, population, land use, industries, or states, and of the unit areas formed by the complex of these individual elements.

2. the study of this science.

3. the topographical features of a region, usually of the earth, sometimes of the planets.

4. a book dealing with this science or study, as a textbook.

5. the arrangement of features of any complex entity.

   the geography of the mind.

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geography British  

/ dʒɪˈɒɡrəfɪ, ˌdʒɪəˈɡræfɪkəl /

noun

1. the study of the natural features of the earth's surface, including topography, climate, soil, vegetation, etc, and man's response to them

2. the natural features of a region

3. an arrangement of constituent parts; plan; layout

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geography Scientific  

/ jē-ŏg′rə-fē /

1. The scientific study of the Earth's surface and its various climates, countries, peoples, and natural resources.

2. The physical characteristics, especially the surface features, of an area.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• geographer
  noun
• geographical
  adjective
• geographically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• geographies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of geography

First recorded in 1535–45; from Latin geōgraphia, from Greek geōgraphía “earth description”; equivalent to geo- + -graphy

Explanation

Geography is the study of the land and how we use it. A geography lesson about your hometown would teach about the terrain, including any landforms like mountains or waterways, its vegetation, roads and other human-made developments, and its people. Geography means "description of the earth's surface." It is often confused with a related word, geology, which means "study of the earth." Geography is about anything that happens on the ground, or above it, including how people live and use the land, while geology studies the earth's content, like the plates that form it and how they move.

Example Sentences

Global temperatures have been rising over the past century due to humanity's emissions of greenhouse gases, but local or regional geography shapes the speed at which different places are warming.

From BBC • Jul. 4, 2026

Race, religion, ethnicity, gender, age, sexuality, class, disability and geography don’t line up in perfect political harmony, and each social marker tells only a fraction of the whole story.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 29, 2026

Then there’s its unique geography, which has often helped insulate it from security risks and external threats.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 28, 2026

They point out that, while Australia and New Zealand’s geography justify a scaled ultra long-haul fleet, Qantas’s northern hemisphere peers don’t appear to have sufficient use cases to warrant the investment.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 23, 2026

Until Columbus demonstrated that classical geography was hopelessly misconceived, the assumption was that the arguments of the ancients needed to be interpreted, not challenged.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Related Words

• earth science
• geology
• geopolitics
• topography