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The 5 Themes of
Geography
Geography
• Geography: field of study covering everything from
the global landscape to the air we breathe to how
people interact with the world around them.
• Geographers use 5 themes to explain and understand
these characteristics
Location
• Asks “Where is it?”
• Every place has:
Absolute Location: gives precise coordinated,
determined by lines of latitude and longitude or could be
a specific street address.
Relative Location: describes one objects location in
relation to another object.
• Huntersville is north of Charlotte.
• California is west of Nevada
Place
• Asks “What is it like?”
• Is used to describe the physical and human
characteristics of a location.
• Physical characteristics include any natural formations,
such as mountains and lakes, as well as the flora and
fauna present
• Human characteristics pertain to man-made structures
as well as population and cultural description of the
area.
Movement
• Asks “How do people, goods, and ideas get from one
place to another?”
• Movement refers to the travel of people, goods, and
ideas throughout a particular location or throughout
the world.
• It can be the study of migrations as well as the
spread of fads.
Regions
• What places have in common.
• A region is a way of dividing
the world into distinct areas
through unifying
characteristics.
• These areas can be determined by natural
characteristics or political lines and fall into one of the
following categories: formal, functional, or vernacular.
Regions
Formal Regions
• Designated by official boundaries – like states and
countries.
Functional Regions
• Determined by their connections – like the delivery
area of a pizza place.
Vernacular Regions
• What people believe are regions with no formal
boundaries – like “the south”.
Human-Environment Interaction
• How people interact with
their environment.
People ……
• Adapt to their environment.
• Modify their environment.
• Depend on their
environment.
Human-Environment Interaction
Examples
• People adapt to their
environment by wearing
clothing that is suitable for the
weather.
• People modify the environment
by heating and/or cooling a
building for comfort.
• People alter the landscape by
building bridges or a shopping
mall.
If you can’t remember
the 5 themes of
Geography, just ask
Mr. Help!
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M – Movement
R – Regions
HE – Human-Environment Interaction
L – Location
P – Place