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<nowiki>{{ιστορία της γεωγραφίας (πλευρικός πίνακας)}}
{{History of science sidebar}}</nowiki>
This article explores the '''[[history]] of [[geography]]'''.

==Βαβυλωνία==
{{Δείτε|Βαβυλωνιακός Χάρτης του Κόσμου}}

Οι παλαιότεροι γνωστοί χάρτες χρονολογούνται στην αρχαία [[Βαβυλώνα]] από τον 9ο αιώνα πΧ.<ref name="Kurt A. Raaflaub & Richard J. A. Talbert 2009 147">{{εκκρεμεί παραπομπή|title=Geography and Ethnography: Perceptions of the World in Pre-Modern Societies|author=Kurt A. Raaflaub & Richard J. A. Talbert|publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]]|year=2009|isbn=1405191465|page=147}}</ref> Ο καλύτερα γνωστός [[Βαβυλωνία|Βαβυλωνιακός]] παγκόσμιος χάρτης, όμως, είναι ο ''Imago Mundi'' του 600 πΧ.<ref>Siebold, Jim [http://www.henry-davis.com/MAPS/Ancient%20Web%20Pages/103.html Slide 103] via henry-davis.com - accessed 2008-02-04</ref> Ο χάρτης ανακατασκευασμένος από τον Έκχαρντ Ούνγκερ δείχνει την [[Βαβυλώνα]] στον [[Ευφράτης|Ευφράτη]], περιβαλλόμενη από μια κυκλική μάζα γης που δείχνει την [[Ασσυρία]], τους [[Ουραρτού]]<ref>http://www.jstor.org/pss/1151277 IMAGO MVNDI, Vol.48 pp.209</ref> και πολλές πόλεις, με την σειρά τους περιβαλλόμενες από έναν "παγερό ποταμό" τον  ([[Ωκεανός (μυθολογία)|Ωκεανό]]), με επτά νησιά τοποθετημένα έτσι ώστε να δημιουργείται ένας αστέρας με επτά αιχμές. Το συνοδευτικό κείμενο αναφέρει επτά εξώτερες περιοχές πέρα από τον περικλείοντα ωκεανό. Οι περιγραφές πέντε εξ αυτών έχουν επιβιώσει.<ref>{{cite book|first=Irving|last=Finel|title=A join to the map of the world: A notable discover|year=1995|pages=26–27}}</ref>

Σε αντιδιαστολή με τον ''Imago Mundi'', ένας προηγούμενος Βαβυλωνιακός [[χάρτης του κόσμου]] που ανάγεται πίσω στον 9ο αιώνα πΧ απεικόνιζε την Βαβυλώνα να είναι πολύ μακρύτερα από το κέντρο του κόσμου, αν και δεν είναι βέβαιο τι αντιπροσώπευε αυτό το κέντρο.<ref name="Kurt A. Raaflaub & Richard J. A. Talbert 2009 147"/>

==Ελληνορωμαϊκός κόσμος==
{{Δείτε|Κατάλογος Ελληνορωμαίων γεωγράφων}}

Οι [[Αρχαία Ελλάδα|αρχαίοι Έλληνες]] είδαν τον ποιητή [[Όμηρος|Όμηρο]] ως ιδρυτή της γεωγραφίας. Τα έργα του, η ''[[Ιλιάδα]]'' και η ''[[Οδύσσεια]]'' είναι λογοτεχνικά έργα, αλλά αμφότερα περιέχουν πολλές γεωγραφικές πληροφορίες. Ο Όμηρος περιγράφει έναν κυκλικό κόσμο που περιβάλλεται δακτυλιακά από έναν μοναδικό μαζικό ωκεανό. Τα έργα δείχνουν ότι οι [[Έλληνες]] κατά τον [[8ος αιώνας πΧ|8ο αι. πΧ]] είχαν σημαντική γνώση της γεωγραφίας της ανατολικής Μεσογείου. Τα ποιήματα περιέχουν έναν μεγάλο αριθμό ονομάτων τοποθεσιών και περιγραφές, αλλά για πολλές από αυτές είναι αβέβαιο σε ποια αληθινή τοποθεσία, εάν και εφόσον, πραγματικά αναφέρονται.

Ο [[Θαλής]] από τη Μίλητο is one of the first known philosophers known to have wondered about the shape of the world. He proposed that the world was based on water, and that all things grew out of it. He also laid down many of the astronomical and mathematical rules that would allow geography to be studied scientifically. His successor [[Anaximander]] is the first person known to have attempted to create a scale map of the known world and to have introduced the [[gnomon]] to Ancient Greece.

O [[Εκαταίος ο Μιλήσιος]] εγκαινίασε μια διαφορετική μορφή γεωγραφίας, αποφεύγοντας τους μαθηματικούς υπολογισμούς του Θαλή και του Αναξίμανδρου έμαθε για τον κόσμοο συγκεντρώνοτνας προηγούμενα έργα και μιλώντας με ναυτικούς οι οποίοι περνούσαν από τον πολυάσχολο λιμένα της Μιλήτου. From these accounts he wrote a detailed prose account of what was known of the world. A similar work, and one that mostly survives today, is [[Herodotus]]' ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]]''. While primarily a work of history, the book contains a wealth of geographic descriptions covering much of the known world. Egypt, Scythia, Persia, and Asia Minor are all described in great detail. Little is known about areas further a field, and descriptions of areas such as [[India]] are almost wholly fanciful. Herodotus also made important observations about geography. He is the first to have noted the process by which large rivers, such as the Nile, build up [[River delta|deltas]], and is also the first recorded as observing that winds tend to blow from colder regions to warmer ones.

[[Pythagoras]] was perhaps the first to propose a spherical world, arguing that the sphere was the most perfect form. This idea was embraced by [[Plato]] and [[Aristotle]] presented empirical evidence to verify this. He noted that the Earth's shadow during an eclipse is curved, and also that stars increase in height as one moves north. [[Eudoxus of Cnidus]] used the idea of a sphere to explain how the sun created differing climatic zones based on latitude. This led the Greeks to believe in a division of the world into five regions. At each of the poles was an uncharitably cold region. While extrapolating from the heat of the Sahara it was deduced that the area around the equator was unbearably hot. Between these extreme regions both the northern and southern hemispheres had a temperate belt suitable for human habitation.

===Hellenistic period===
These theories clashed with the evidence of explorers, however. [[Hanno the Navigator]] had traveled as far south as [[Sierra Leone]], and it is possible other Phoenicians had circumnavigated Africa. In the [[4th century BC]] the Greek explorer [[Pytheas]] traveled through northwest Europe, and circled the British Isles. He found that the region was considerably more habitable than theory expected, but his discoveries were largely dismissed as fanciful by his contemporaries because of this. Conquerors also carried out exploration, for example, [[Caesar's invasions of Britain]] and [[Gallic Wars|Germany]], expeditions/invasions sent by [[Augustus]] to [[Arabia Felix]] and [[Axum|Ethiopia]] ([[Res Gestae]] 26), and perhaps the greatest Ancient Greek explorer of all, [[Alexander the Great]], who deliberately set out to learn more about the east through his military expeditions and so took a large number of geographers and writers with his army who recorded their observations as they moved east.

The ancient Greeks divided the world into three continents, Europe, Asia, and [[Libya]] (Africa). The [[Hellespont]] formed the border between Europe and Asia. The border between Asia and Libya was generally considered to be the Nile river, but some geographers, such as Herodotus objected to this. Herodotus argued that there was no difference between the people on the east and west sides of the Nile, and that the [[Red Sea]] was a better border. The relatively narrow habitable band was considered to run from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to an unknown sea somewhere east of India in the east. The southern portion of Africa was unknown, as was the northern portion of Europe and Asia, so it was believed that they were circled by a sea. These areas were generally considered uninhabitable.

The size of the Earth was an important question to the Ancient Greeks. [[Eratosthenes]] attempted to calculate its circumference by measuring the angle of the sun at two different locations. While his numbers were problematic, most of the errors cancelled themselves out and he got quite an accurate figure. Since the distance from the Atlantic to India was roughly known, this raised the important question of what was in the vast region east of Asia and to the west of Europe. [[Crates of Mallus]] proposed that there were in fact four inhabitable land masses, two in each hemisphere. In Rome a large globe was created depicting this world. That some of the figures Eratosthenes had used in his calculation were considerably in error became known, and [[Posidonius]] set out to get a more accurate measurement. This number actually was considerably smaller than the real one, but it became accepted that the eastern part of Asia was not a huge distance from Europe.

===Roman period===
[[Image:PtolemyWorldMap.jpg|thumb|300px|A 15th century depiction of the [[Ptolemy world map]], reconstituted from Ptolemy's ''Geographia'' (circa [[150]])]]

While the works of almost all earlier geographers have been lost, many of them are partially known through quotations found in [[Strabo]]. Strabo's seventeen volume work of geography is almost completely extant, and is one of the most important sources of information on classical geography. Strabo accepted the narrow band of habitation theory, and rejected the accounts of Hanno and Pytheas as fables. None of Strabo's maps survive, but his detailed descriptions give a clear picture of the status of geographical knowledge of the time. A century after Strabo [[Ptolemy]] launched a similar undertaking. By this time the Roman Empire had expanded through much of Europe, and previously unknown areas such as the British Isles had been explored. The [[Silk Road]] was also in operation, and for the first time knowledge of the far east began to be known. Ptolemy's ''[[Geographia (Ptolemy)|Geographia]]'' opens with a theoretical discussion about the nature and techniques of geographical inquiry, and then moves to detailed descriptions of much the known world. Ptolemy lists a huge number of cities, tribes, and sites and places them in the world. It is uncertain what Ptolemy's names correspond to in the modern world, and a vast amount of scholarship has gone into trying to link Ptolemaic descriptions to know locations.

[[Pliny the Elder]]'s [[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]] also has sections on geography. For the most part Ancient Greek geography was an academic field. There is little evidence that maps or charts were used for navigation. It does, however, seem that at least in Athens the people were acquainted with maps and that several were on public display. It was the Romans who made far more extensive practical use of geography and maps.

==Κίνα==
{{κύριο|Κινεζική γεωγραφία}}
{{Δείτε|History of cartography#China|l1=History of cartography: China}}
[[File:Western Han Mawangdui Silk Map.JPG|thumb|An early [[Han Dynasty|Western Han Dynasty]] (202 BC &ndash; 9 AD) [[silk]] map found in tomb 3 of [[Mawangdui]], depicting the Kingdom of [[Changsha]] and Kingdom of [[Nanyue]] in southern China (note: the south direction is oriented at the top, north at the bottom).]]
[[Image:Song Dynasty Map.JPG|thumb|right|The ''Yu Ji Tu'', or ''Map of the Tracks of Yu Gong'', carved into stone in 1137, located in the [[Stele Forest]] of [[Xian]]. This 3 ft squared map features a graduated scale of 100 [[Li (unit)|li]] for each rectangular grid. China's coastline and river systems are clearly defined and precisely pinpointed on the map. [[Yu the Great|Yu Gong]] is in reference to the Chinese deity described in the [[History of geography#China|geographical chapter]] of the ''[[Classic of History]]'', dated 5th century BC.]]
In [[China]], the earliest known geographical Chinese writing dates back to the [[5th century BC]], during the beginning of the [[Warring States]] ([[481 BC]]-[[221 BC]]).<ref name="needham volume 3 500"/> This was the 'Yu Gong' ('Tribute of Yu') chapter of the book ''Shu Jing'' (''[[Classic of History]]''). The book describes the traditional nine provinces, their kinds of soil, their characteristic products and economic goods, their tributary goods, their trades and vocations, their state revenues and agricultural systems, and the various rivers and lakes listed and placed accordingly.<ref name="needham volume 3 500">Needham, Volume 3, 500.</ref> The nine provinces in the time of this geographical work was very small in terrain size compared to what modern China occupies today. In fact, its description pertained to areas of the [[Yellow River]], the lower valleys of the [[Yangtze]], with the plain between them and the Shandong peninsula, and to the west the most northern parts of the [[Wei River]] and the [[Han River (Hanshui)|Han River]] were known (along with the southern parts of modern day [[Shanxi]] province).<ref name="needham volume 3 500"/>

In this ancient geographical treatise (which would greatly influence later Chinese geographers and cartographers), the Chinese used the mythological figure of [[Yu the Great]] to describe the known earth (of the Chinese). Apart from the appearance of Yu, however, the work was devoid of magic, fantasy, Chinese folklore, or legend.<ref name="needham volume 3 501">Needham, Volume 3, 501.</ref> Although the Chinese geographical writing in the time of [[Herodotus]] and [[Strabo]] were of lesser quality and contained less systematic approach, this would change from the 3rd century onwards, as Chinese methods of documenting geography became more complex than found in Europe (until the 13th century).<ref name="needham volume 3 512">Needham, Volume 3, 512.</ref>

The earliest extant maps found in archeological sites of China date to the 4th century BC and were made in the ancient [[Qin (state)|State of Qin]].<ref name="hsu 90 93">Hsu, 90&ndash;93.</ref> The earliest known reference to the application of a geometric grid and mathematically graduated scale to a map was contained in the writings of the cartographer [[Pei Xiu]] (224&ndash;271).<ref name="needham volume 3 538 540">Needham, Volume 3, 538&ndash;540.</ref> From the 1st century AD onwards, official Chinese historical texts contained a geographical section, which was often an enormous compilation of changes in place-names and local administrative divisions controlled by the ruling dynasty, descriptions of mountain ranges, river systems, taxable products, etc.<ref name="needham volume 3 508">Needham, Volume 3, 508.</ref> The ancient Chinese historian [[Ban Gu]] (32&ndash;92) most likely started the trend of the [[gazeteer]] in China, which became prominent in the [[Southern and Northern Dynasties]] period and [[Sui Dynasty]].<ref name="hsu 98">Hsu, 98.</ref> Local gazeteers would feature a wealth of geographic information, although its cartographic aspects were not as highly professional as the maps created by professional cartographers.<ref name="hsu 98"/>

From the time of the 5th century BC ''Shu Jing'' forward, Chinese geographical writing provided more concrete information and less legendary element. This example can be seen in the 4th chapter of the ''[[Huainanzi]]'' (Book of the Master of Huainan), compiled under the editorship of Prince [[Liu An]] in 139 BC during the [[Han Dynasty]] ([[202 BC]]-[[202 AD]]). The chapter gave general descriptions of [[topography]] in a systematic fashion, given visual aids by the use of maps (di tu) due to the efforts of Liu An and his associate Zuo Wu.<ref name="needham volume 3 507-508">Needham, Volume 3, 507-508.</ref> In [[Chang Chu]]'s ''Hua Yang Guo Chi'' (''Historical Geography of [[Szechuan]]'') of 347 AD, not only rivers, trade routes, and various tribes were described, but it also wrote of a 'Ba Jun Tu Jing' ('Map of Szechuan'), which had been made much earlier in 150 AD.<ref name="needham volume 3 517">Needham, Volume 3, 517.</ref> The ''Shui Jing'' (''Waterways Classic'') was written anonymously in the 3rd century during the [[Three Kingdoms]] era (attributed often to [[Guo Pu]]), and gave a description of some 137 rivers found throughout China.<ref name="needham volume 3 514">Needham, Volume 3, 514.</ref> In the 6th century AD, the book was expanded to forty times its original size by the geographers [[Li Daoyuan]], given the new title of ''[[Shui Jing Zhu]]'' (''The Waterways Classic Commented'').<ref name="needham volume 3 514"/>

In later periods of the [[Song Dynasty]] (960-1279 AD) and [[Ming Dynasty]] (1368-1644 AD) there were much more systematic and professional approaches to geographic literature. The Song Dynasty poet, scholar, and government official [[Fan Chengda]] (1126–1193) wrote the geographical treatise known as the ''Gui Hai Yu Heng Chi''.<ref name="needham volume 3 510">Needham, Volume 3, 510.</ref> It focused primarily on the [[topography]] of the land, along with the agricultural, economic and commercial products of each region in China's southern provinces.<ref name="needham volume 3 510"/> The [[polymath]] Chinese scientist [[Shen Kuo]] (1031–1095) devoted a significant amount of his written work to geography, as well as a hypothesis of land formation ([[geomorphology]]) due to the evidence of [[Marine (ocean)|marine]] [[fossil]]s found far inland, along with [[bamboo]] fossils found underground in a region far from where bamboo was suitable to grow. The 14th century [[Yuan Dynasty]] geographer [[Na-xin]] wrote a treatise of archeological topography of all the regions north of the Yellow River, in his book ''He Shuo Fang Gu Ji''.<ref name="needham volume 3 511"/> The Ming Dynasty geographer [[Xu Xiake]] (1587–1641) traveled throughout the provinces of China (often on foot) to write his enormous geographical and topographical treatise, documenting various details of his travels, such as the locations of small gorges, or [[mineral]] beds such as [[mica]] schists.<ref name="needham volume 3 524">Needham, Volume 3, 524.</ref> Xu's work was largely systematic, providing accurate details of measurement, and his work (translated later by Ding Wenjiang) read more like a 20th century field surveyor than an early 17th century scholar.<ref name="needham volume 3 524"/>

The Chinese were also concerned with documenting geographical information of foreign regions far outside of China. Although Chinese had been writing of civilizations of the Middle East, India, and Central Asia since the traveler [[Zhang Qian]] (2nd century BC), later Chinese would provide more concrete and valid information on the topography and geographical aspects of foreign regions. The [[Tang Dynasty]] ([[618]]-[[907]] AD) Chinese diplomat [[Wang Xuance]] traveled to [[Magadha]] (modern northeastern [[India]]) during the [[7th century]] AD. Afterwards he wrote the book ''Zhang Tian-zhu Guo Tu'' (Illustrated Accounts of Central India), which included a wealth of geographical information.<ref name="needham volume 3 511">Needham, Volume 3, 511.</ref> Chinese geographers such as [[Jia Dan]] (730&ndash;805) wrote accurate descriptions of places far abroad. In his work written between [[785]] and [[805]] AD, he described the sea route going into the mouth of the [[Persian Gulf]], and that the medieval [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]]s (whom he called the people of the Luo-He-Yi country, i.e. [[Persia]]) had erected 'ornamental pillars' in the sea that acted as [[lighthouse]] beacons for ships that might go astray.<ref name="Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 661">Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 661.</ref> Confirming Jia's reports about lighthouses in the Persian Gulf, Arabic writers a century after Jia wrote of the same structures, writers such as [[al-Mas'udi]] and [[al-Muqaddasi]]. The later Song Dynasty ambassador Xu Jing wrote his accounts of voyage and travel throughout [[Korea]] in his work of 1124 AD, the ''Xuan-He Feng Shi Gao Li Tu Jing'' (''Illustrated Record of an Embassy to Korea in the Xuan-He Reign Period'').<ref name="needham volume 3 511"/> The geography of medieval [[Cambodia]] (the [[Khmer Empire]]) was documented in the book ''Zhen-La Feng Tu Ji'' of 1297 AD, written by [[Zhou Daguan]].<ref name="needham volume 3 511"/>

==Medieval Islamic world==
<nowiki>{{Unbalanced|date=April 2010}}</nowiki>
{{κύριο|Geography and cartography in medieval Islam}}

In the Middle East, [[Muslim geographers]] such as [[Muhammad al-Idrisi|al-Idrisi]], [[al-Yaqubi]], [[al-Masudi]], [[Ibn Khurdadhbih]], [[Ibn al-Faqih]], [[al-Istakhri]], [[Ibn Battuta]], [[Ibn Khaldun]], etc. maintained the Greek and Roman techniques and developed new ones. The [[Islamic empire]] stretched from [[Spain]] to [[India]], and Arab and [[Jew]]ish traders (known as [[Radhanite]]s) travelled throughout [[Eurasia]], [[Africa]] and the [[Indian Ocean]]. The Arabs added a great deal of knowledge to expand and correct the classical sources. There were some representatives of the West that produced geographical works of quality, such as the [[Syria]]n [[bishop]] [[Jacob of Edessa]] ([[633]]-[[708]]), but this paled in comparison to the virtual mountain of work published by Islamic writers of the Middle Ages (who were largely responsible for the foundations of knowledge present in later Western geography).<ref name="needham volume 3 512">Needham, Volume 3, 512.</ref>

During the [[Muslim conquests]] of the seventh and early eighth centuries, [[Rashidun army|Arab armies]] established the [[Islam]]ic [[Arab Empire]], reaching from [[Central Asia]] to the [[Iberian Peninsula]]. An early form of [[globalization]] began emerging during the Islamic Golden Age, when the knowledge, trade and economies from many previously isolated regions and civilizations began integrating due to contacts with Muslim explorers, sailors, scholars, traders, and travelers. Subhi Y. Labib has called this period the ''Pax Islamica'', and John M. Hobson has called it the ''Afro-Asiatic [[age of discovery]]'', in reference to the Muslim [[Southwest Asia]]n and [[North Africa]]n traders and explorers who travelled most of the [[Old World]], and established an early [[global economy]]<ref name=Hobson-29-30/> across most of [[Asia]], [[Africa]], and [[Europe]], with their trade networks extending from the [[Atlantic Ocean]] and [[Mediterranean Sea]] in the west to the [[Indian Ocean]] and [[China Seas]] in the east,<ref name=Labib>Subhi Y. Labib (1969), "Capitalism in Medieval Islam", ''The Journal of Economic History'' '''29''' (1), pp. 79–96.</ref> and even as far as [[Japan]], [[Korea]]<ref>{{εκκρεμεί παραπομπή|last=Al-Monaes|first=Walled A.|title=Muslim contributions to geography until the end of the 12th century AD|journal=[[GeoJournal]]|volume=25|issue=4|pages=393–400|publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media]]|date=December 1991|doi=10.1007/BF02439491}}</ref> and the [[Bering Strait]].<ref name=A104>Alavi, S. M. Ziauddin (1965), ''Arab geography in the ninth and tenth centuries'', pp. 104-5, [[Aligarh]]: Aligarh Muslim University Press</ref>
Arabic silver ''[[dirham]]'' coins were also being circulated throughout the [[Afro-Eurasia]]n landmass, as far as [[sub-Saharan Africa]] in the south and [[northern Europe]] in the north, often in exchange for goods and [[slave]]s.<ref>Roman K. Kovalev, Alexis C. Kaelin (2007), "Circulation of Arab Silver in Medieval Afro-Eurasia: Preliminary Observations", ''History Compass'' '''5''' (2), pp. 560–80.</ref> In England, for example, the [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] king [[Offa of Mercia]] (r. 757-796) had coins minted with the [[Shahadah]] in Arabic.<ref>[[Mayor of London]] (2006), [http://www.london.gov.uk/gla/publications/equalities/muslims-in-london.pdf Muslims in London], p. 14, Greater London Authority.</ref> These factors helped establish the [[Arab Empire]] (including the [[Rashidun Empire|Rashidun]], [[Umayyad]], [[Abbasid]] and [[Fatimid]] [[caliphate]]s) as the world's leading extensive economic power throughout the 7th–13th centuries.<ref name=Hobson-29-30>John M. Hobson (2004), ''The Eastern Origins of Western Civilisation'', pp. 29–30, [[Cambridge University Press]], ISBN 0521547245.</ref>

In the 9th century, [[Al-Kindi|Alkindus]] was the first to introduce [[experiment]]ation into the [[Earth science]]s.<ref name=Plinio>Plinio Prioreschi, "Al-Kindi, A Precursor Of The Scientific Revolution", ''Journal of the International Society for the History of Islamic Medicine'', 2002 (2): 17-19.</ref> An early adherent of [[environmental determinism]] was the medieval [[Afro-Arab]] writer [[al-Jahiz]], who explained how the environment can determine the physical characteristics of the inhabitants of a certain community. He used his early theory of [[evolution]] to explain the origins of different [[human skin color]]s, particularly [[Black people|black skin]], which he believed to be the result of the environment. He cited a stony region of black [[basalt]] in the northern [[Najd]] as evidence for his theory.<ref>Lawrence I. Conrad (1982), "Taun and Waba: Conceptions of Plague and Pestilence in Early Islam", ''Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient'' '''25''' (3), pp. 268-307 [278].</ref> In the early tenth century, [[Ahmed ibn Sahl al-Balkhi|Abū Zayd al-Balkhī]], originally from [[Balkh]], founded the "Balkhī school" of terrestrial mapping in [[Baghdad]]. The geographers of this school also wrote extensively of the peoples, products, and customs of areas in the Muslim world, with little interest in the non-Muslim realms.<ref name = E61-3>E. Edson and Emilie Savage-Smith, ''Medieval Views of the Cosmos'', pp. 61-3, Bodleian Library, [[University of Oxford]]</ref> Suhrāb, a late tenth century Muslim geographer, accompanied a book of geographical coordinates with instructions for making a rectangular world map, with [[equirectangular projection]] or cylindrical cylindrical equidistant projection.<ref name = E61-3/> In the early 11th century, [[Avicenna]] hypothesized on the [[Geology|geological]] causes of [[mountain]]s in ''[[The Book of Healing]]'' (1027).



In mathematical geography, [[Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī]], around 1025, was the first to describe a polar equi-[[azimuthal equidistant projection]] of the [[celestial sphere]].<ref>David A. King (1996), "Astronomy and Islamic society: Qibla, gnomics and timekeeping", in Roshdi Rashed, ed., ''[[Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic Science]]'', Vol. 1, p. 128-184 [153]. [[Routledge]], London and New York.</ref> He was also regarded as the most skilled when it came to mapping [[City|cities]] and measuring the distances between them, which he did for many cities in the [[Middle East]] and western [[Indian subcontinent]]. He often combined astronomical readings and mathematical equations, in order to develop methods of pin-pointing locations by recording degrees of [[latitude]] and [[longitude]]. He also developed similar techniques when it came to measuring the heights of [[mountain]]s, depths of [[valley]]s, and expanse of the [[horizon]], in ''The Chronology of the Ancient Nations''. He also discussed [[human geography]] and the [[planetary habitability]] of the [[Earth]]. He hypothesized that roughly a quarter of the Earth's surface is habitable by [[human]]s, and also argued that the shores of [[Asia]] and [[Europe]] were "separated by a vast sea, too dark and dense to navigate and too risky to try" in reference to the [[Atlantic Ocean]] and [[Pacific Ocean]].<ref name=Bill>{{εκκρεμεί παραπομπή|last=Scheppler |first=Bill |year=2006 |title=Al-Biruni: Master Astronomer and Muslim Scholar of the Eleventh Century |publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group |isbn=1404205128 |pp=41-2}}</ref>

At the age of 17, al-Biruni calculated the [[latitude]] of Kath, [[Khwarazm]], using the maximum altitude of the Sun.{{εκκρεμεί παραπομπή|date=May 2010}} Al-Biruni also solved a complex [[Geodesy|geodesic]] equation in order to accurately compute the [[Earth]]'s [[circumference]], which were close to modern values of the Earth's circumference.<ref>James S. Aber (2003). Alberuni calculated the Earth's circumference at a small town of Pind Dadan Khan, District Jhelum, Punjab, Pakistan.[http://academic.emporia.edu/aberjame/histgeol/biruni/biruni.htm Abu Rayhan al-Biruni], [[Emporia State University]].</ref> His estimate of 6,339.9&nbsp;km for the [[Earth radius]] was only 16.8&nbsp;km less than the modern value of 6,356.7&nbsp;km. In contrast to his predecessors who measured the Earth's circumference by sighting the Sun simultaneously from two different locations, al-Biruni developed a new method of using [[trigonometric]] calculations based on the angle between a [[plain]] and [[mountain]] top which yielded more accurate measurements of the Earth's circumference and made it possible for it to be measured by a single person from a single location.<ref>Lenn Evan Goodman (1992), ''Avicenna'', p. 31, [[Routledge]], ISBN 041501929X.</ref>

By the age of 22, al-Biruni had written several short works, including a study of [[map projection]]s, ''[[Cartography]]'', which included a method for projecting a [[Sphere|hemisphere]] on a [[plane (mathematics)|plane]]. Biruni's ''Kitab al-Jawahir'' (''Book of Precious Stones'') described [[mineral]]s such as [[Rock (geology)|stones]] and [[metal]]s in depth, and was regarded as the most complete book on [[mineralogy]] in his time.{{εκκρεμεί παραπομπή|date=May 2010}} He conducted hundreds of [[experiment]]s to gauge the accurate measurements of items he [[Pharmacopoeia|catalogued]], and he often listed them by name in a number of different languages, including [[Arabic language|Arabic]], [[Persian language|Persian]], [[Greek language|Greek]], [[Syriac language|Syriac]], [[Hindi]], [[Latin]], and other languages. In the ''Book of Precious Stones'', he catalogued each [[mineral]] by its [[color]], [[odor]], [[hardness]], [[density]] and [[weight]]. The weights for many of these minerals he measured were correct to three [[Arithmetic precision|decimal places]] of accuracy, and were almost as accurate as modern measurements for these minerals.<ref>{{εκκρεμεί παραπομπή|last=Scheppler |first=Bill |year=2006 |title=Al-Biruni: Master Astronomer and Muslim Scholar of the Eleventh Century |publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group |isbn=1404205128 |pp=42-3}}</ref>

John J. O'Connor and Edmund F. Robertson write in the ''[[MacTutor History of Mathematics archive]]'':

{{απόσπασμα|"Important contributions to geodesy and geography were also made by al-Biruni. He introduced techniques to measure the earth and distances on it using [[triangulation]]. He found the [[radius]] of the earth to be 6339.6 km, a value not obtained in the [[Western world|West]] until the 16th century. His ''Masudic canon'' contains a table giving the coordinates of six hundred places, almost all of which he had direct knowledge."<ref name=Biruni>{{MacTutor|id=Al-Biruni|title=Al-Biruni}}</ref>}}

[[File:TabulaRogeriana upside-down.jpg|thumb|right|350px|The [[Tabula Rogeriana]], drawn by [[Al-Idrisi]] for [[Roger II of Sicily]] in 1154.  Note that in the original map, the north is at the bottom and south at the top, in contrast to modern [[Cartography|cartographic]] conventions.]]

The [[Arab]] geographer [[Al-Idrisi]]'s Mappa Mundi incorporated the knowledge of [[Africa]], the [[Indian Ocean]] and the [[Far East]] gathered by [[Islamic geography#Age of discovery|Arab merchants and explorers]] with the information inherited from the classical geographers to create one of the most accurate maps of the world to date. The [[Tabula Rogeriana]] was drawn by Al-Idrisi in 1154 for the [[Normans|Norman]] King [[Roger II of Sicily]], after a stay of eighteen years at his court, where he worked on the commentaries and illustrations of the map. The map, written in Arabic, shows the Eurasian continent in its entirety, but only shows the northern part of the African continent.

The earliest known treatises dealing with [[environmentalism]] and [[environmental science]], especially [[pollution]], were Arabic treatises written by [[al-Kindi]], [[al-Razi]], [[Ibn Al-Jazzar]], [[al-Tamimi]], [[al-Masihi]], [[Avicenna]], [[Ali ibn Ridwan]], [[Abd-el-latif]], and [[Ibn al-Nafis]]. Their works covered a number of subjects related to pollution such as [[air pollution]], [[water pollution]], [[soil contamination]], [[municipal solid waste]] mishandling, and [[environmental impact assessment]]s of certain localities.<ref>L. Gari (2002), "Arabic Treatises on Environmental Pollution up to the End of the Thirteenth Century", ''Environment and History'' '''8''' (4), pp. 475-488.</ref> [[Córdoba, Spain|Cordoba]], [[al-Andalus]] also had the first [[waste container]]s and [[waste disposal]] facilities for [[litter]] collection.<ref>S. P. Scott (1904), ''History of the Moorish Empire in Europe'', 3 vols, J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia and London. <br> F. B. Artz (1980), ''The Mind of the Middle Ages'', Third edition revised, [[University of Chicago Press]], pp 148-50. <br> ([[cf.]] [http://www.1001inventions.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=main.viewSection&intSectionID=441 References], 1001 Inventions)</ref>

In the 14th century, [[Ibn Battuta|Ibn Baṭṭūṭah]], a [[Moroccan]], began his travels. He started as a pilgrim to Mecca, but continued his journeys for the next 30 years, covering some 73,000 miles (117,000&nbsp;km). Before returning home, he had visited most of the Muslim world and beyond, from Europe and southern Africa in the west to eastern Asia in the east. The universal use of Arabic in the Muslim world and his status as judge trained in law gave him access to royal courts at most locations he visited.<ref name = ESS116>E. Edson and Emilie Savage-Smith, ''Medieval Views of the Cosmos'', pp. 113-6, Bodleian Library, [[University of Oxford]]</ref>

[[Ibn Battuta]] (1304–1368) was a traveler and explorer, whose account documents his travels and excursions over a period of almost thirty years, covering some 73,000 miles (117,000&nbsp;km).{{εκκρεμεί παραπομπή|date=May 2010}} These journeys covered most of the known [[Old World]], extending from [[North Africa]], [[West Africa]], [[Southern Europe]] and [[Eastern Europe]] in the west, to the [[Middle East]], [[Indian subcontinent]], [[Central Asia]], [[Southeast Asia]] and [[China]] in the east, a distance readily surpassing that of his predecessors and his near-contemporary [[Marco Polo]].

==Μεσαιωνική Ευρώπη==
{{Δείτε|Εξερεύνηση της Ασίας}}

Κατά τον [[Πρώιμος Μεσαίωνας|Πρώιμο Μεαίωνα]], η γεωγραφική γνώση στην Ευρώπη regressed (though it is a popular misconception that they thought the world was flat), and the simple [[T and O map]] became the standard depiction of the world.

The trips of [[Republic of Venice|Venetian]] explorer [[Marco Polo]] in the 1200s, the Christian [[Crusade]]s of the 1100s and 1200s, and the Portuguese and Spanish voyages of exploration during the 1400s and 1500s opened up new horizons and stimulated geographic writings. The [[Mongol Empire|Mongols]] also learned much about the geography of Asia. During the 1400s, [[Henry the Navigator]] of Portugal supported explorations of the African coast and became a leader in the promotion of geographic studies. Among the most notable accounts of voyages and discoveries published during the 1500s were those by [[Giambattista Ramusio]] in Venice, by [[Richard Hakluyt]] in England, and by [[Theodore de Bry]] in what is now Belgium.

==Πρώιμη σύγχρονη περίοδος==
[[Image:Marco Polo portrait.jpg|thumb|left|100px|Πορτραίτο του [[Μάρκο Πόλο]].]]
{{Δείτε|Εποχή των Ανακαλύψεων}}

Μετά τα ταξίδια του [[Μάρκο Πόλο]], το ενδιαφέρον για τη γεωγραφία απλώθηκε σ' όλη την Ευρώπη. Από  το ''περίπου'' 1400, τα γραπτά του [[Πτολεμαίος]] και των [[Ισλαμική γεωγραφία|Ισλαμικών διαδόχων]] του έδωσαν μια συστηματική δομή και να απεικονίσουν τις γεωγραφικές πληροφορίες. ΤΑ μεγάλια ταξίδια εξερεύνησης τον [[16ος αιώνας|16ο]] και [[17ος αιώνας|17ο  αιώνα]] ανανέωσαν μια επιθυμία για ακριβείς γεωγραφικές λεπτομέρειες, και πιο στερεά θεωρητικά θεμέλια. Η ''Geographia Generalis'' του [[Μπερνάρντους Βαρένιους]] και του [[Γκεράρντους Μέρκατορ]]'s world map are prime examples of the new breed of scientific geography.

[[Image:Piri reis world map 01.jpg|thumb|Surviving fragment of the [[Piri Reis map|first World Map]] of [[Piri Reis]] (1513)]]

The Muslim [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] cartographer [[Piri Reis]] drawn navigational maps in his ''Kitab-ı Bahriye''. The work includes an atlas of charts for small segments of the Mediterranean, accompanied by sailing instructions covering the sea. In the second version of the work, he included a map of the Americas.<ref>Edson and Savage-Smith (2004), p. 106</ref> The [[Piri Reis map]] drawn by the Ottoman cartographer [[Piri Reis]] in 1513 is an early surviving map to show the Americas,<ref>Dutch, Steven.[http://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/PSEUDOSC/PiriRies.HTM The Piri Reis Map]. [[University of Wisconsin–Green Bay]]</ref><ref>{{cite journal  |last=Hamdani  |first=Abbas  |title=Ottoman Response to the Discovery of America and the New Route to India  |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society  |volume=101  |issue=3  |pages=327  |publisher=American Oriental Society   |location=  |date=Jul. - Sep., 1981}}</ref><ref>McIntosh, Gregory C. The Piri Reis Map of 1513. Athens, Georgia: University of George Press, 2000</ref> and may show the coastline [[Antarctica]].

==19th century==

By the [[18th century]], geography had become recognized as a discrete discipline and became part of a typical [[university]] curriculum in Europe (especially [[Paris]] and [[Berlin]]), although not the in the [[United Kingdom]] where geography was generally taught as a sub-discipline of other subjects.

One of the great works of this time was ''Kosmos: a sketch of a physical description of the Universe'', by [[Alexander von Humboldt]], the first volume of which was published in German in 1845. Such was the power of this work that Dr Mary Somerville, of [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge University]] intended to scrap publication of her own ''Physical Geography'' on reading ''Kosmos''. Von Humboldt himself persuaded her to publish (after the publisher sent him a copy).

In 1877, [[Thomas Henry Huxley]] published his Physiography with the philosophy of [[Universality (philosophy)|universality]] presented as an integrated approach in the study of the natural environment. The philosophy of universality in geography was not a new one but can be seen as evolving from the works of [[Alexander Von Humboldt]] and [[Immanuel Kant]]. The publication of Huxley physiography presented a new form of geography that analysed and classified [[Causality|cause and effect]] at the micro-level and then applied these to the macro-scale (due to the view that the micro was part of the macro and thus an understanding of all the micro-scales was need to understand the macro level). This approach emphasized the empirical collection of data over the theoretical. The same approach was also used by [[Halford John Mackinder]] in 1887. However, the integration of the [[Geosphere]], [[Atmosphere]] and [[Biosphere]] under physiography was soon over taken by Davisian geomorphology.

Over the past two centuries the quantity of knowledge and the number of tools has exploded. There are strong links between geography and the sciences of [[geology]] and [[botany]], as well as [[economics]], [[sociology]] and [[demographics]].

The [[Royal Geographical Society]] was founded in [[England]] in 1830, although the United Kingdom did not get its first full Chair of geography until 1917. The first real geographical intellect to emerge in [[United Kingdom]] geography was [[Halford John Mackinder]], appointed reader at [[University of Oxford|Oxford University]] in 1887.

The [[National Geographic Society]] was founded in the [[USA]] in 1888 and began publication of the ''National Geographic'' magazine which became and continues to be a great popularizer of geographic information. The society has long supported geographic research and education.

==20th century==
In the West during the second half of the [[19th century|19th]] and the [[20th century]], the discipline of geography went through four major phases: environmental determinism, regional geography, the quantitative revolution, and critical geography.

===Environmental determinism===
{{κύριο|Environmental determinism}}
'''Environmental determinism''' is the theory that a people's physical, mental and moral habits are directly due to the influence of their natural environment. Prominent [[environmental determinism|environmental determinists]] included [[Carl Ritter]], [[Ellen Churchill Semple]], and [[Ellsworth Huntington]]. Popular hypotheses included "heat makes inhabitants of the tropics lazy" and "frequent changes in barometric pressure make inhabitants of temperate latitudes more intellectually agile." Environmental determinist geographers attempted to make the study of such influences scientific. Around the 1930s, this school of thought was widely repudiated as lacking any basis and being prone to (often bigoted) generalizations. Environmental determinism remains an embarrassment to many contemporary geographers, and leads to skepticism among many of them of claims of environmental influence on culture (such as the theories of [[Jared Diamond]]).

===Regional geography===
{{κύριο|Regional geography}}
'''Regional geography''' was coined by a group of geographers known as possibilists and represented a reaffirmation that the proper topic of geography was study of places (regions). Regional geographers focused on the collection of descriptive information about places, as well as the proper methods for dividing the earth up into regions. Well-known names from these period are [[Alfred Hettner]] in Germany and [[Paul Vidal de la Blache]] in France. The philosophical basis of this field in United States was laid out by [[Richard Hartshorne]], who defined geography as a study of areal differentiation, which later led to criticism of this approach as overly descriptive and unscientific.

===The Quantitative revolution===
{{κύριο|Quantitative revolution}}
'''The quantitative revolution''' in geography began in the 1950s. Geographers formulated geographical theories and subjected the theories to empirical tests, usually using [[statistical methods]] (especially [[hypothesis testing]]). This quantitative revolution laid the groundwork for the development of [[geographic information system]]s.{{εκκρεμεί παραπομπή|date=April 2010}} Well-known geographers from this period are [[Fred K. Schaefer]], [[Waldo Tobler]], [[William Garrison (geographer)|William Garrison]], [[Peter Haggett]], [[Richard Chorley|Richard J. Chorley]], [[William Bunge]], and [[Torsten Hägerstrand]].

===Critical geography===
{{κύριο|Critical geography}}
Though positivist approaches remain important in geography, '''critical geography''' arose as a critique of positivism. The first strain of critical geography to emerge was [[humanistic geography]]. Drawing on the philosophies of [[existentialism]] and [[Phenomenology (philosophy)|phenomenology]], humanistic geographers (such as [[Yi-Fu Tuan]]) focused on people's sense of, and relationship with, places. More influential was [[Marxist geography]], which applied the social theories of [[Karl Marx]] and his followers to geographic phenomena. [[David Harvey (geographer)|David Harvey]] and [[Richard Peet]] are well-known Marxist geographers. [[Feminist geography]] is, as the name suggests, the use of ideas from [[feminism]] in geographic contexts. The most recent strain of critical geography is postmodernist geography, which employs the ideas of [[postmodernism|postmodernist]] and [[poststructuralism|poststructuralist]] theorists to explore the social construction of spatial relations.

==See also==
*[[Human geography]]
*[[Physical geography]]
*[[Cartography]]
*[[Economic geography]]
*[[Royal Scottish Geographical Society]]
*[[Royal Geographical Society]]
*[[List of maritime explorers]]
*[[List of explorers]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}

==References==
*Hsu, Mei-ling. "The Qin Maps: A Clue to Later Chinese Cartographic Development," ''Imago Mundi'' (Volume 45, 1993): 90-100.
*Martin, Geoffrey J. ''All Possible Worlds: A History of Geographical Ideas.'' New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.
*Needham, Joseph (1986). ''Science and Civilization in China: Volume 3''. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd.
*Needham, Joseph (1986). ''Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Part 3''. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd.
*[[John Brian Harley|Harley, J.B.]] and [[David Woodward]]. eds. ''The History of Cartography series'' Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987-

==External links==
*[http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=moa&cc=moa&key=title&page=browse&value=encyclop%C3%A6dia+of+geography&Submit=Quick+Browse ''The encyclopædia of geography: comprising a complete description of the earth, physical, statistical, civil, and political''], 1852, Hugh Murray, 1779–1846, et al. (Philadelphia: Blanchard and Lea) at the University of Michigan Making of America site.
*[http://print.google.com/print?hl=en&id=Qh7nDfGm7BkC&dq=the+story+of+maps&prev=http://www.google.com/search%3Fhl%3Den%26q%3Dthe%2Bstory%2Bof%2Bmaps%26btnG%3DGoogle%2BSearch&pg=PR3&printsec=4&lpg=PR3&sig=3_YcktpzRxkwSjR-ZyfXtLjoQp8 ''The Story of Maps'' at Google Book Search], a history of [[cartography]]; why North is at the "top" of a map, how they surveyed all of Europe and other interesting facts.
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