Geography comprises the study of both human and natural patterns and processes at the Earth's surface, as well as the interactions between people and their environment. The most fundamental question a geographer asks is Why is what where? In other words, they focus on the concept of "place" asking what is unique at that location and how does this location interact with other locations. In order to understand the complex patterns of interaction between the physical and human environments, Geographers divide the world into regions.

Geography can be sub-divided into two main areas of inquiry—Human Geography and Physical Geography. Human geographers examine social and cultural patterns and processes (e.g., migration, religious diversity, transportation systems, urbanization, socio-economic conditions, and tourism), while physical geographers investigate natural patterns and processes (e.g., global warming, land-use and land-cover change, water resorces, deforestation, and soil erosion).

Geographers use a wide range of tools to portray and analyze spatial information (information associated with a geographic location) including maps, geographic information systems (also known as GIS), remote sensing, global positioning systems (also known as GPS), spatial statistics, and mathematical modeling, as well as the more commonly known regional desccriptions.