The 5 Themes of Geography

The five themes of geography are location, place, human-environment interaction, movement, and region. These were defined in 1984 by the National Council for Geographic Education and the Association of American Geographers to facilitate and organize the teaching of geography in the K-12 classroom.

While the five themes have since been supplanted by the more comprehensive National Geography Standards, they still provide an effective means of organizing geography instruction.

What Is Geography?

Geography, which comes from the Greek roots "ge" for earth and "graph" for "to write," covers a vast array of concepts linked to people, cultures, and earth. The field has only gotten more complex over time, as technologies including computerized mapping and data analysis lead to new tools such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

The five themes of geography effectively helped simplify this complicated nature of geography, making the subject more approachable for students and educators alike. 

Location

Most geographic studies begin by learning the locations of places. Location can be absolute or relative.

• Absolute location: Provides a definite reference for locating a place. The reference can be latitude and longitude, a street address, or even the Township and Range system. For example, you might be located at 183 Main Street in Anytown, USA, or you might be positioned at 42.2542° N, 77.7906° W.
• Relative location: Describes a place with respect to its environment and connection to other places. As an example, a home might be located four miles from the Atlantic Ocean, 2.4 miles from the town's elementary school, and 32 miles from the nearest international airport.

Place

Place describes the human and physical characteristics of a location.

• Physical characteristics: Include a description of such things as mountains, rivers, beaches, topography, climate, and animal and plant life. If a place is described as hot, sandy, fertile, or forested, these terms all paint a picture of the location's physical characteristics. A topographical map is one tool used to illustrate the physical characteristics of a location.
• Human characteristics: Include the human-designed cultural features of a place. These features include land use, architectural styles, forms of livelihood, religious practices, political systems, common foods, local folklore, means of transportation, and methods of communication. For example, a location could be described as a technologically advanced French-speaking democracy with a Catholic majority.

Human-Environment Interaction

This theme considers how humans adapt to and modify the environment. Humans shape the landscape through their interaction with the land, which has both positive and negative effects on the environment.

As an example of the human-environment interaction, think about how people living in cold climates have often mined coal or drilled for natural gas to heat their homes. Another example would be the massive landfill projects in Boston conducted in the 18th and 19th centuries to expand habitable areas and improve transportation.

Movement

Humans move—a lot, and ideas, fads, goods, resources, and communication all travel distances as well. This theme studies movement and migration across the planet. The emigration of Syrians during wartime, the flow of water in the Gulf Stream, and the expansion of cell phone reception around the planet are all examples of movement.

Regions

Regions divide the world into manageable units for geographic study. Regions have some sort of characteristic that unifies the area and can be formal, functional, or vernacular.

• Formal regions: These are designated by official boundaries, such as cities, states, counties, and countries. For the most part, they are clearly indicated and publicly known.
• Functional regions: These are defined by their connections. For example, a newspaper's circulation, or geographical area where it's distributed and read, can be considered the functional region for that newspaper. 
• Vernacular regions: These include perceived regions, such as "The South," "The Midwest," or the "Middle East"; they have no formal boundaries but are understood in mental maps of the world.