1. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY 
Wegner’s continental drift hypothesis
Weathering
Erosion
Climate
2. CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY
A wide-ranging and comprehensive field that studies spatial aspects of human cultures
Culture – shared patterns of learned behavior involving beliefs, institutions, technology, etc.
Major components focus on:
o Cultural Landscapes
o Culture Hearths
o Cultural Diffusion
o Cultural Environments
o Culture Regions
Cultural landscape – the forms superimposed on the physical landscape by the activities of man
Cultural hearth – the source areas from which radiated ideas, innovations, and ideologies that change the world beyond
3. DEMOGRAPHY / POPULATION GEOGRAPHY
The world's population is in 4 major clusters. Look at the map above and you can see the difference in available electric light at night in the rest of the world and in those four clusters.
1) East Asia 2) South Asia
3) Europe 4) Eastern US
4. POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY
A subfield within the human branch of geography
The study of the interaction of geographical area and political process
The spatial analysis of political phenomena and processes
State – a politically organized territory, administered by a sovereign government and recognized by a significant portion of the international community
A state must also contain:
o A permanent resident population
o An organized economy
o A functioning internal circulation system
Nation – some examples of stateless nations: the Cherokee Nation, the Palestinians, the Kurds
Nation State – a country whose population possesses a substantial degree of cultural homogeneity and unity
5. ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY
Patterns of development
Economic conditions (World Bank’s groupings):
High income
Upper-middle income
Lower-middle income
Low income
Core areas versus peripheries
