Geography is a field that has such a broad scope, it may be difficult to some to identify what really

defines geography. It encompasses a wide variety of knowledge, and is basically a part of our day to day
lives.

As such, geographer William Pattinson wrote the article The Four Traditions of Geography. He
identified four traditions, which can encompass the comprehensive scope of the field, namely spatial
tradition, area-studies tradition, man-land tradition and earth science tradition.

Spatial tradition concerns patterns and relationships of phenomena in an area or region. In

contrast, area-studies tradition gives importance to the characteristics of a particular area and its
differentiation from others. Man-land tradition is concerned with the relationship of human and the
physical environment, how the two shape and affect each other. Lastly, earth science tradition deals with
the physical features of earth and its characteristics as a part of the solar system.

Dividing a broad discipline into four traditions may seem that they are dealt with in isolation, but
inevitably they are interrelated. Although these four traditions are merely outlines of the scope of the
discipline, it had represented a clearer image of what is geography.

Moreover, according to J. Lewis Robinson’s A New Look at the Four Traditions of History, there
has been ease in explaining geography to non-geographers since Pattinson released his article. However,
as with every other discipline, geography has changed and developed. Robinson presented trends which
have affected the traditions and caused decline in some.