5 THEMES OF GEOGRAPHY

Created by: Roiden Fredrich M. Fernandez

LESSON

1

GROUP 1

Provides an effective organization of the teaching of geography. 

Provides an organizing framework for the presentation of geographic materials.

Adopted in 1984 by the National Council for Geographic Education and the 

Association of American Geographers

Five Themes of Geography

Five Themes of Geography

1. LOCATION used to identify a point or an area on the Earth’s

surface or elsewhere. Location can be absolute or relative.

THEME

1

Latitude

Latitude (shown as a

horizontal line) is the angular

distance, in degrees,

minutes, and seconds of a

point north or south of the

Equator. Lines of latitude are

often referred to as

parallels. 

Longitude

Longitude (shown as a

vertical line) is the angular

distance, in degrees,

minutes, and seconds, of a

point east or west of the

Prime (Greenwich) Meridian.

Lines of longitude are often

referred to as meridians. .

Latitude and Longitude

Absolute Location

 A location can be

absolute (specific) as in

coordinates of a map

using longitude and

latitudeExample:

Coordinates of CMULHS

7° 51′ 2″ N, 125° 2′ 59″ E

(Read as 7 degrees 51 minutes 2 seconds NORTHAnd 125 degrees 2 minutes 59 seconds EAST)

Relative Location

Relative location is the

location of a place relative

to another place (ie south,

north, downhill, or uphill.) 

2. PLACE Describes the human and physical characteristics of a

location.

THEME

2

Physical characteristics

Includes a description such things as the mountains, rivers, beaches,

topography, and animal and plant life of a place.

Human characteristics

Includes the human-

designed cultural features

of a place, from land use

and architecture to forms of

livelihood and religion to

food and folk ways to

transportation and 

3. HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION This theme considers how humans adapt to and modify the environment. Humans

shape the landscape through their interaction with the land; this has both positive

and negative effects on the environment.

THEME

3

Examples of Human-Environment Interaction

Winter Summer

Places attracts people for different reasons. Wearing light clothing in hot places and

warm clothing for cool places.

4. MOVEMENT This theme studies movement and migration across

the planet.

THEME

4

Examples of Movement

Migration of Homo Sapiens Transportation

5. REGIONRegion divides the world into manageable units for

geographic study. Regions have some sort of characteristic that unifies the

area. Regions can be formal, functional, or vernacular.

THEME

5

Formal Region

Formal regions are those that are

designated by official boundaries,

such as cities, states, counties, and

countries. For the most part, they

are clearly indicated and publicly

known.

Functional Region

Functional regions are defined by

their connections. For example, the

Regions of the Philippines.

Vernacular Region

Vernacular regions are perceived

regions, such as "The South," "The

Midwest," or the "Middle East;" they

have no formal boundaries but are

understood in our mental maps of the

world.

Examples; 1. Citizens of the United

States are generally known as

Americans from America. 

2. Filipino’s speak Tagalog