Fields and Branches of Human Geography

Tourism geography studies tourist flows along with their economic and social impacts. More visitors may increase employment and demand for hotels and services, but the same demand may place pressure on the local housing market and increase rents. Therefore, both positive and negative consequences can be examined within tourism geography. Economic geography provides a broader context, but tourism is the main driving activity in this question. In examinations, tourist growth, employment, housing pressure, land values, and local economic effects strongly indicate tourism geography.

Agriculture, industry, and services represent major sectors of the economy. The proportion of people employed in each sector helps explain a region's occupational structure and level of economic development. Economic geography studies the spatial distribution and regional specialization of such activities. Population geography may examine employment as a demographic characteristic, but economic geography is more appropriate when the focus is the structure of the regional economy. In examinations, primary, secondary, and tertiary activities are strong indicators of economic geography.

A linear village is a type of settlement pattern in which houses develop along a road, river, or another route. Settlement geography studies the size, form, site, situation, and pattern of rural and urban settlements. The road may explain the cause of the pattern, but the main subject is the spatial form of the village. Transport geography can explain the road network, while settlement morphology belongs to settlement geography. In examinations, terms such as linear, compact, dispersed, site, and settlement pattern strongly indicate settlement geography.

The central business district is a major component of a city's internal structure. As distance from the CBD increases, patterns of commercial, residential, and other land uses may change. Urban geography studies city structure, urban land use, centrality, and spatial organization. Economic geography can provide a broader context for commercial activity, but land-use gradients within a city are specifically an urban-geography topic. In examinations, CBD, urban land use, centrality, and distance gradients strongly indicate urban geography.

Political boundaries do not always coincide with cultural boundaries. Communities sharing language, traditions, and identity may live in separate political territories. Cultural geography studies cultural regions, identity, and cross-border cultural continuity. Political geography explains boundaries and territorial control, but if the main issue is continuity of culture across the border, cultural geography is more appropriate. In examinations, distinguishing political boundaries from cultural regions is important. Shared identity across a border is a strong clue for cultural geography.

An industrial corridor is not merely a collection of factories; it can influence employment, investment, transport, and market networks. Economic geography studies these economic activities and their spatial relationships in a broad regional framework. Industrial geography focuses more specifically on industrial location, while economic geography is better suited to understanding the wider regional consequences of a corridor. In examinations, a combination of industry, employment, markets, investment, and regional development strongly indicates economic geography.

The movement of young people out of villages is migration, and it can alter the age structure of the source area. A higher proportion of elderly residents and labor shortages are consequences of population redistribution. Population geography studies migration, age structure, and demographic change. Agricultural geography can explain the effects of labor shortages on farming, but the underlying process is population mobility. In examinations, out-migration, ageing, source-area change, and population redistribution strongly indicate population geography.

Gender geography studies how space, mobility, safety, and access to resources affect women and men differently. Safe transport and workplace distance can influence women's participation in employment. Transport geography can explain mobility infrastructure, but the main concern here is gendered access to work. Therefore, gender geography is the most precise branch. In examinations, women, safety, mobility, workplace access, employment opportunities, and gender inequality strongly indicate gender geography.

Movement of migrant workers is a form of population mobility, but the main outcome in this question is disease spread. Medical geography studies the spatial distribution, diffusion, and risk patterns of disease. It can examine relationships between movement routes and transmission. Population geography can explain the migration process, but the health pattern itself is a central concern of medical geography. In examinations, mobility combined with disease diffusion, health risk, or spatial patterns of illness strongly indicates medical geography.

A new road changes network connectivity and accessibility. It can reduce travel time, improve access to markets, and increase the movement of goods. Transport geography studies routes, networks, accessibility, and movement flows spatially. Economic geography may explain market effects, but the primary change in this question is transport infrastructure. Therefore, transport geography is the most appropriate answer. In examinations, roads, travel time, accessibility, connectivity, freight movement, and network change strongly indicate transport geography.

Electoral boundaries can influence voter composition and political representation. Electoral geography studies constituencies, boundary delimitation, voting patterns, and representation spatially. Political geography examines territorial organization more broadly, but the specific issue of electoral boundaries belongs to electoral geography. In examinations, constituency boundaries, delimitation, representation, voter distribution, and electoral outcomes are strong indicators of electoral geography.

Tourism potential does not depend only on natural attractions. Accessibility, accommodation, transport, food, and local services also influence destination development. Tourism geography provides an integrated study of attractions, accessibility, facilities, and visitor flows. Resource geography may examine natural attractions as resources, but tourism geography is more appropriate for assessing overall tourism potential. In examinations, the combination of attractions, accessibility, accommodation, tourist facilities, and destination development clearly indicates tourism geography.

Forests and minerals are both resources, and the use of one resource can affect another resource and land use. Resource geography studies availability, exploitation, conservation, and competing uses of resources spatially. Industrial geography can explain industrial location, but the question focuses on resource use and forest decline. Therefore, resource geography is more appropriate. In examinations, extraction, depletion, conservation, competing resource use, and environmental pressure strongly indicate resource geography.

Income-based residential segregation and unequal access to social facilities are both spatial expressions of social inequality. Social geography examines why different classes occupy different parts of a city and how access to education, health care, and other services varies among them. Urban geography can explain the city's structure, but the central issue here is class-based inequality. In examinations, segregation combined with unequal services, social exclusion, and class differences strongly indicates social geography.

The question is based on the difference between perceived distance and actual distance. Behavioural geography studies spatial perception, mental maps, and individual decision-making. A familiar route or place may feel closer even when the objective distance is greater. Transport geography can measure physical distance and networks, but perceived distance is a specific behavioural-geography concept. In examinations, familiarity, perception, mental images, subjective distance, and personal choice strongly indicate behavioural geography.

The location of a capital is an important spatial aspect of state organization. Its position can influence administrative control, territorial integration, and security. Political geography studies states, territories, capital locations, and the organization of political power. Military geography may examine security more specifically, but political geography provides the broader framework linking administration and territory. In examinations, capital location, state territory, administrative control, sovereignty, and territorial integration strongly indicate political geography.

A railway line changes accessibility and connectivity, which can attract industries and commercial centers to new locations. Transport geography studies the spatial effects of transport networks and how they influence location patterns. Industrial and trade geography can explain specific consequences, but the primary cause here is railway infrastructure. Therefore, transport geography is the most appropriate branch. In examinations, a new route combined with accessibility change, shifting economic activities, and changing location patterns strongly indicates transport geography.

Religion is a major element of culture, and its spatial diffusion is an important topic in cultural geography. When external religious traditions interact with local culture, processes of cultural contact, blending, and identity formation may occur. Cultural geography studies such diffusion and transformation. Historical geography can provide the temporal background, but the central concern here is the spread and mixing of culture. In examinations, religion, cultural diffusion, cultural contact, and blending strongly indicate cultural geography.

Differences in voting behavior between rural and urban areas are a central concern of electoral geography. This branch studies electoral outcomes, turnout, constituency patterns, and regional political variation spatially. Social geography can provide the social context of rural-urban differences, but the main outcome here is the election result. Therefore, electoral geography is the most appropriate field. In examinations, rural versus urban voting, vote-share differences, turnout patterns, and constituency variation strongly indicate electoral geography.

Mountain passes can have strategic importance because they serve as movement corridors through difficult terrain. Military geography studies spatial relationships among terrain, routes, border security, and defense planning. Transport geography can explain route accessibility, but the purpose here is military movement and defense. Therefore, military geography is the correct answer. In examinations, strategic passes, border security, troop movement, defense routes, and terrain constraints strongly indicate military geography.

Education, health care, and housing are major indicators of quality of life. Welfare geography studies welfare, deprivation, and access to services across different regions and social groups. If the aim is to assess living standards spatially, welfare geography is the most precise field. Social geography can provide a broader context of inequality, but quality-of-life and welfare indicators are especially associated with welfare geography. In examinations, education, health, housing, deprivation, and welfare together strongly indicate welfare geography.

Abundant natural resources do not automatically guarantee economic development. Lack of capital, technology, transport, institutions, or markets may limit effective resource use. Economic geography studies spatial relationships among resources, production, and regional development. Resource geography can explain resource availability and utilization, but economic geography is broader for understanding why a resource-rich region may remain economically backward. In examinations, questions about resource-rich yet underdeveloped regions require analysis of multiple economic and spatial factors rather than assuming resources alone determine development.

Crop choice does not depend only on soil and climate; markets, transport costs, and profitability can also be important. Agricultural geography studies spatial relationships among crop choice, market accessibility, and farming systems. Transport geography can explain transport costs, but the main outcome in this question is agricultural decision-making. Therefore, agricultural geography is the most appropriate branch. In examinations, farmer decisions, market proximity, transport costs, crop patterns, and agricultural land use strongly indicate agricultural geography.

The declining importance of a river port through time is an example of changing spatial function. Historical geography studies how transport technology and economic change alter the roles of places over time. Expansion of road transport may reduce the commercial importance of an older river port. Transport geography can explain the present network, but the question focuses on historical transition. Therefore, historical geography is most appropriate. In examinations, decline over time, old transport nodes, changing functions, and historical transformation strongly indicate historical geography.

Physical accessibility is good because the hospital is nearby, but social and economic accessibility remains poor. Social geography studies how income, class, and inequality influence actual access to services. Medical geography can explain the distribution of health facilities, but an affordability barrier is fundamentally an issue of social inequality. Therefore, social geography is the better answer. In examinations, students should distinguish physical proximity from effective access because economic capacity, social status, and exclusion can prevent people from using nearby services.