د "ځمکپوهنه" د بڼو تر مېنځ توپير

[[دوتنه:Physical_world.jpg|thumb|299px|left|Map of the Earth]]

'''Geography''' (from the [[Greek language|Greek]] words '''[[Gaia (mythology)|Geo]]''' (''γη'') or '''Gaea''' (''γαια''), both meaning '''"Earth"''', and '''graphein''' (''γραφειν'') meaning '''"to describe"''' or "to write"''or "to map")'' is the study of the [[earth]] and its features, inhabitants, and phenomena.<ref>{{cite web |title=Geography |work=The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/geography |accessmonthday=October 9|accessyear=2006 }}</ref> A literal translation would be "to describe the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was [[Eratosthenes]] (275-195 B.C.). Four historical traditions in geographical research are the [[spatial analysis]] of natural and human phenomena (geography as a study of distribution), area studies (places and regions), study of man-land relationship, and research in [[earth sciences]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Pattison |first=W.D. |year=1990 |title=The Four Traditions of Geography |journal=Journal of Geography |volume=89 |issue=5 |pages=pp. 202-6 |url=http://www.geog.ucsb.edu/~kclarke/G200B/four_20traditions_20of_20geography.pdf |id={{ISSN|0022-1341}} }} Reprint of a 1964 article.</ref> Nonetheless, modern geography is an all-encompassing discipline that foremost seeks to understand the world and all of its human and natural complexities-- not merely where objects are, but how they have changed and come to be. As "the bridge between the human and physical sciences," geography is divided into two main branches - human geography and physical geography.<ref>web.clas.ufl.edu/users/morgans/lecture_2.prn.pdf.</ref>