geography

　　Geographyisthesciencethatstudiesthelands,thefeatures,theinhabitants,andthephenomenaoftheEarth.Aliteraltranslationwouldbe"todescribeorwriteabouttheEarth".Thefirstpersontousetheword"geography"wasEratosthenes(276-194BC).Fourhistoricaltraditionsingeographicalresearcharethespatialanalysisofthenaturalandthehumanphenomena(geographyasthestudyofdistribution),theareastudied(placesandregions),thestudyoftheman-landrelationship,andtheresearchintheearthsciences.Nonetheless,moderngeographyisanall-encompassingdisciplinethatforemostseekstounderstandtheEarthandallofitshumanandnaturalcomplexities-notmerelywhereobjectsare,buthowtheyhavechangedandcometobe.Geographyhasbeencalled"theworlddiscipline"and"thebridgebetweenthehumanandthephysicalsciences".Geographyisdividedintotwomainbranches:humangeographyandphysicalgeography.