Fundamentals of Physical Geography

Physical geography is one of the two major subfields of geography and is that branch of natural science which deals with the study of processes and patterns in the natural environment like the atmosphere, biosphere and geosphere, as opposed to the cultural or built environment, the domain of human geography that deals with the geographic envelope of the earth and its structural parts. Physical geography has two basic branches: general geography, which is concerned with the general structural patterns and development of the earth’s geographic envelope, and landscape science, which is the study of geosystems classified by rank. In addition, paleogeography is considered a branch of both physical geography and historical geology. Physical geography as we understand the term today has remained a relatively limited field of study in many of the developed countries, where geography is viewed primarily as a social science, the content of physical geography has usually been restricted to the study of abiotic aspects of the natural world on the earth’s surface. The comprehensive study of geosystems has dictated the adoption of a given methodology in physical geography.