GEOGRAPHY, the exact and organised knowledge of the distribution of phenomena on the surface of the Earth (yi , the Earth, and to write). It deals with the form and motion of the planet so far as a knowledge of these is necessary for fixing positions on the surface and explaining the incidence of solar radiation, more fully with the forms of the lithosphere or stony crust of the Earth, the extent of the water envelope or hydro sphere, the movements of the water and of the all-surrounding at mosphere, the distribution of plants and animals and very fully with that of the human race, and with all the interactions and rela tionships between these distributions.
Geography is a synthetic science, largely dependent for its data on the results of specialized sciences such as astronomy, physics, geology, oceanography, meteorology, biology and anthropology and always having respect to the natural regions of the world. The characteristic task of geography is to investigate the control exercised by the forms and vertical relief of the surface of the lithosphere directly or indirectly on the various mobile distribu tions. Viewed in this light geography is a unified and definite science of wide outlook and comprehensive grasp. It is essential to classify its subject matter so as to give prominence to facts in their relationships and to the natural order in which they occur.
This article first sketches the progress of geographical discovery, then deals with the growth of geographical theory and finally indicates the general principles of geography as they are under stood at the present time.