The word “geography” originated in ancient Greece around 300 BCE. It comes from the Greek words “geo,” meaning Earth, and “graphein,” meaning to write or describe. The term was first used by the scholar Eratosthenes to describe the study of Earth’s features and the relationships between people and their environments.
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The term “geography” was first used in ancient Greece around 300 BCE and is derived from the Greek words “geo,” meaning Earth, and “graphein,” meaning to write or describe. The Greek scholar Eratosthenes, known as the “Father of Geography,” introduced the term to describe the study of Earth’s physical features, landscapes, and human-environment interactions. Eratosthenes made significant contributions to the field, including calculating the Earth’s circumference with remarkable accuracy. The concept of geography as a systematic study of Earth and its features has evolved over centuries, but the origins of the term reflect its foundational role in understanding our planet.