Free Geography Textbooks

Geography is often defined as the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants and phenomena of Earth. The study of Geography dates back to Eratosthenes, a Greek scholar who lived from 276 to 195 BC. This life science is divided into two main branches – human geography and physical geography.

 

Physical Geography

Physical geography is the branch of geography which is sometimes referred to as Earth Science. Physical geography can further be categorized to include the following:

 

• Biogreography
• Climatology & Meteorology
• Coastal Geography
• Environmental Management
• Geodesy
• Goemorphology
• Glaciology
• Hydrology & Hydrography
• Landscape Ecology
• Oceanography
• Pedology
• Palaeogeography
• Quaternary Science

 

Human Geography

Human Geography is the branch of life science the studies the patterns and processes that shape the human society. It encompasses human, cultural, economic, political and social aspects. It too is divided into sub-categories. They include:

 

• Cultural
• Developmental
• Economic
• Health
• Historical & Time
• Political Geography & Geopolitics
• Population Geography or Demography
• Religion
• Social
• Transportation
• Tourism
• Urban

 

Integrated Geography

Globalization and technological innovations have made it more difficult to separate the two traditional branches of this life science. Integrated geography bridges the study of interactions between humans and their environment. Within this growing sub-specialty are the fields of emergency management, environmental management, sustainability and political ecology.

Fields Related to Geography

There are number of fields that are often identified as being closely related to the study of geography. They have become their own distinct fields of study and I have opted to include them elsewhere within The Free Textbook List. Those fields include but are not limited to: urban planning, regional planning, spatial planning, regional economics, resource management, location theory, urban & regional planning, transport and communication, population distribution, landscape ecology, environmental quality and astronomy.

 

Geography Textbooks

As I find them, I will continually be adding free online geography textbooks to this page. It is my hope that the materials identified here will help students to succeed in their studies and perhaps educate their professors about the numerous online textbooks that they could use in their classrooms to replace high priced traditional textbooks.