Meta tags:

Headings (most frequently used words):

period, geography, century, medieval, roman, world, early, the, history, of, contents, egypt, babylon, greco, india, china, middle, ages, modern, 19th, 20th, 21st, see, also, notes, references, external, links, hellenistic, ancient, late, byzantine, empire, and, syria, islamic, europe, 16th, 18th, centuries, in, west, environmental, determinism, regional, quantitative, revolution, critical, social, theory, spatial, analysis, split,

Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (786), and (379), #geography (176), was (87), world (66), from (60), that (57), century (55), this (54), geographical (53), with (50), his (50), for (41), geographers (40), #history (39), map (38), science (36), known (35), which (34), edit (32), also (32), critical (30), work (28), are (27), information (26), human (25), earth (25), were (25), such (24), geographic (23), chinese (23), book (23), period (23), during (23), asia (21), roman (21), volume (20), first (20), europe (20), india (20), but (19), space (19), between (19), knowledge (19), environmental (18), place (18), quantitative (18), china (18), new (18), humboldt (18), modern (18), ancient (18), africa (18), maps (17), university (17), early (17), more (17), who (17), wrote (17), physical (16), not (16), one (16), about (15), cartography (15), later (15), its (15), have (15), these (15), has (15), their (15), great (15), had (15), descriptions (15), all (14), time (14), social (14), regional (14), needham (14), part (14), empire (14), well (14), been (14), scientific (14), theory (13), medieval (13), most (13), made (13), west (13), dynasty (13), east (13), economic (12), society (12), various (12), regions (12), works (12), used (12), ptolemy (12), they (11), press (11), doi (11), region (11), islamic (11), middle (11), article (11), revolution (11), many (11), into (11), found (11), description (10), discipline (10), determinism (10), cambridge (10), thought (10), only (10), western (10), herodotus (10), theories (10), main (10), important (10), out (10), centuries (10), nature (10), sources (10), would (10), view (9), use (9), articles (9), retrieved (9), spatial (9), research (9), system (9), john (9), much (9), isbn (9), richard (9), while (9), called (9), through (9), any (9), can (9), kant (9), what (9), sea (9), toggle (8), cs1 (8), names (8), list (8), analysis (8), land (8), gis (8), historical (8), other (8), peoples (8), alexander (8), von (8), american (8), geographer (8), environment (8), south (8), according (8), royal (8), after (8), some (8), described (8), 20th (8), places (8), based (8), things (8), than (8), however (8), influence (8), natural (8), included (8), around (8), them (8), became (8), kingdom (8), there (8), created (8), far (8), southern (8), river (8), wikipedia (7), four (7), statistical (7), studies (7), theoretical (7), cultural (7), philosophy (7), north (7), 2004 (7), 978 (7), general (7), accurate (7), arabic (7), 2008 (7), ages (7), methods (7), being (7), ocean (7), egypt (7), concept (7), strabo (7), see (7), empirical (7), study (7), although (7), considered (7), leibniz (7), along (7), 16th (7), european (7), throughout (7), earliest (7), persian (7), written (7), cities (7), jing (7), rivers (7), dwipa (7), maint (6), authors (6), unsourced (6), links (6), education (6), central (6), tobler (6), law (6), tools (6), landscape (6), military (6), america (6), mundi (6), bibcode (6), parts (6), published (6), indian (6), approach (6), led (6), marxist (6), when (6), chapter (6), including (6), believed (6), age (6), accounts (6), writings (6), observations (6), era (6), though (6), exploration (6), gave (6), expeditions (6), evidence (6), northern (6), whose (6), ibn (6), byzantine (6), each (6), surveyors (6), subsection (6), may (5), using (5), non (5), page (5), long (5), references (5), greek (5), sidebar (5), different (5), societies (5), problem (5), distance (5), mapping (5), ecology (5), political (5), religion (5), how (5), company (5), imago (5), chicago (5), david (5), 2009 (5), 2000 (5), link (5), cite (5), experience (5), pdf (5), original (5), cosmas (5), roads (5), today (5), vast (5), unknown (5), those (5), where (5), two (5), often (5), focused (5), people (5), term (5), since (5), upon (5), states (5), related (5), citation (5), needed (5), systems (5), real (5), united (5), school (5), evolution (5), founded (5), number (5), form (5), him (5), become (5), regarded (5), idea (5), both (5), further (5), expanded (5), administrative (5), projection (5), systematic (5), large (5), areas (5), appearance (5), earlier (5), kitab (5), seven (5), provinces (5), 6th (5), topography (5), eastern (5), writing (5), treatise (5), greeks (5), babylon (5), topic (4), table (4), contents (4), search (4), under (4), additional (4), value (4), location (4), statements (4), april (4), 2024 (4), national (4), data (4), context (4), survey (4), global (4), web (4), internet (4), integrated (4), geomorphology (4), transport (4), music (4), geopolitics (4), moral (4), development (4), agricultural (4), top (4), smith (4), joseph (4), vol (4), oxford (4), tradition (4), 2013 (4), empiricism (4), francis (4), association (4), professional (4), s2cid (4), years (4), waldo (4), archived (4), jstor (4), classical (4), journal (4), publication (4), culture (4), henry (4), collection (4), whole (4), help (4), machine (4), began (4), together (4), creation (4), within (4), approaches (4), understanding (4), emerged (4), sense (4), make (4), especially (4), laid (4), proposed (4), william (4), foreign (4), area (4), due (4), changes (4), 19th (4), until (4), over (4), then (4), scale (4), 18th (4), universal (4), travel (4), plants (4), discovery (4), practical (4), order (4), theology (4), formed (4), could (4), date (4), back (4), given (4), without (4), application (4), travels (4), provided (4), like (4), interest (4), voyages (4), example (4), learn (4), americas (4), waldseemüller (4), 15th (4), atlantic (4), geographia (4), tabula (4), 13th (4), christian (4), arabs (4), wealth (4), create (4), mathematical (4), mountains (4), sphere (4), 10th (4), products (4), late (4), account (4), mediterranean (4), contains (4), scholarship (4), center (4), times (4), divisions (4), traveled (4), scholar (4), 4th (4), han (4), contain (4), detailed (4), miles (4), greco (4), nile (4), miletus (4), fields (4), hide (4), move (4), statistics (3), contact (3), text (3), site (3), commons (3), last (3), categories (3), missing (3), publisher (3), november (3), needing (3), 2017 (3), 2014 (3), language (3), pages (3), index (3), portal (3), five (3), themes (3), institutions (3), uncertain (3), second (3), concepts (3), ethnography (3), change (3), surveying (3), hydrography (3), computer (3), techniques (3), geodesy (3), geology (3), urban (3), population (3), animal (3), behavioral (3), why (3), story (3), encyclopædia (3), 1986 (3), books (3), civilization (3), possible (3), ideas (3), livingstone (3), 1993 (3), blackwell (3), hsu (3), mei (3), cartographic (3), 100 (3), eds (3), series (3), 1995 (3), bacon (3), geographies (3), annals (3), 1080 (3), 1068 (3), planning (3), milton (3), santos (3), radical (3), discoveries (3), imperialism (3), academic (3), 1996 (3), encyclopedia (3), spain (3), brill (3), literature (3), indicopleustes (3), rocks (3), way (3), three (3), publishing (3), greece (3), 600 (3), british (3), country (3), notable (3), babylonian (3), notes (3), explorers (3), attempted (3), everything (3), 1970s (3), continued (3), split (3), 21st (3), followers (3), phenomena (3), recent (3), relations (3), feminist (3), saw (3), took (3), framework (3), else (3), hypothesis (3), model (3), less (3), field (3), inhabitants (3), intellectually (3), among (3), carl (3), ritter (3), england (3), get (3), quantity (3), physiography (3), presented (3), seen (3), micro (3), macro (3), german (3), power (3), sent (3), kosmos (3), generally (3), stimulated (3), attention (3), devoted (3), george (3), division (3), rational (3), smaller (3), local (3), descartes (3), newton (3), enlightenment (3), 17th (3), relative (3), portion (3), locke (3), position (3), thing (3), because (3), men (3), might (3), certain (3), quality (3), principles (3), grew (3), embraced (3), reformation (3), community (3), illustrated (3), primary (3), discourse (3), humans (3), native (3), challenged (3), section (3), material (3), adding (3), citations (3), prior (3), printed (3), globe (3), spheres (3), largely (3), started (3), across (3), continents (3), marco (3), polo (3), explorer (3), yuan (3), korea (3), determine (3), explain (3), arab (3), having (3), constantinople (3), employed (3), rogeriana (3), idrisi (3), sicily (3), recorded (3), habitable (3), latitude (3), equidistant (3), balkhī (3), muslim (3), realms (3), rectangular (3), baghdad (3), details (3), providing (3), noted (3), lands (3), describes (3), spherical (3), extant (3), compiled (3), routes (3), grid (3), habitation (3), authored (3), syria (3), persia (3), egyptian (3), several (3), lists (3), enormous (3), documenting (3), jia (3), writers (3), song (3), guo (3), locations (3), measurement (3), read (3), 5th (3), 202 (3), size (3), contained (3), cartographers (3), state (3), gong (3), water (3), circumference (3), divided (3), road (3), sun (3), eratosthenes (3), border (3), perhaps (3), surrounded (3), graeco (3), languages (2), privacy (2), policy (2), terms (2), organization (2), wikimedia (2), inc (2), september (2), numeric (2), multiple (2), 2016 (2), wayback (2), containing (2), february (2), short (2), wikidata (2), title (2), category (2), international (2), film (2), organizations (2), effect (2), modifiable (2), unit (2), areal (2), coastline (2), representational (2), interview (2), geopoetics (2), qualitative (2), modeling (2), remote (2), sensing (2), photogrammetry (2), participant (2), observation (2), algebra (2), positioning (2), geovisualization (2), geostatistics (2), geomathematics (2), geologic (2), modelling (2), distributed (2), geochronology (2), architecture (2), geomatics (2), geoinformatics (2), geodesign (2), technical (2), quaternary (2), pedology (2), soil (2), limnology (2), hydrology (2), glaciology (2), palaeogeography (2), paleoclimatology (2), climatology (2), oceanography (2), coastal (2), zoogeography (2), phytogeography (2), biogeography (2), tropical (2), tourism (2), settlement (2), strategic (2), electoral (2), imagined (2), palaeo (2), health (2), food (2), sexuality (2), neo (2), emotional (2), psychological (2), vernacular (2), linguistics (2), retail (2), marketing (2), labor (2), histo (2), financial (2), cyber (2), children (2), cognitive (2), outline (2), topics (2), facts (2), making (2), hugh (2), civil (2), external (2), taipei (2), caves (2), ltd (2), martin (2), york (2), 2005 (2), wiley (2), qin (2), casey (2), philosophical (2), kwan (2), beyond (2), difference (2), 1111 (2), 1467 (2), 8306 (2), 2004aaag (2), 300 (2), 1990s (2), progress (2), 1998 (2), construction (2), 234 (2), 225 (2), melgaço (2), lucas (2), prouse (2), carolyn (2), springer (2), tuan (2), 2000enpla (2), peet (2), edward (2), 1749 (2), reformed (2), 2022 (2), july (2), reply (2), march (2), 2019 (2), 143141 (2), 2307 (2), savage (2), princeton (2), concise (2), biography (2), our (2), via (2), pre (2), hartshorne (2), michael (2), library (2), accessed (2), islam (2), 307 (2), 3632188 (2), king (2), cosmos (2), sevilla (2), talbert (2), watson (2), unger (2), originally (2), 2012 (2), iran (2), learning (2), 224 (2), jacob (2), edessa (2), day (2), britannica (2), asian (2), lower (2), 508 (2), jacques (2), lalita (2), rana (2), diana (2), eck (2), random (2), house (2), thompson (2), lewis (2), instruments (2), rome (2), berlin (2), die (2), umsegelung (2), 1800 (2), explained (2), requires (2), join (2), 209 (2), com (2), perceptions (2), dictionary (2), before (2), practitioners (2), common (2), debates (2), lead (2), situation (2), groups (2), result (2), viewed (2), directly (2), criticisms (2), rise (2), technology (2), put (2), advances (2), positivist (2), gained (2), popularity (2), strain (2), emerge (2), drawing (2), humanistic (2), relationship (2), applied (2), name (2), postmodernist (2), karl (2), build (2), others (2), near (2), augustus (2), popular (2), amongst (2), students (2), proper (2), descriptive (2), dividing (2), germany (2), france (2), basis (2), defined (2), prominent (2), heat (2), temperate (2), latitudes (2), widely (2), remains (2), supported (2), did (2), full (2), intellect (2), 1887 (2), halford (2), mackinder (2), sciences (2), universality (2), huxley (2), classified (2), level (2), need (2), same (2), integration (2), cause (2), polymath (2), mary (2), somerville (2), her (2), universe (2), 1859 (2), independent (2), baconian (2), ideal (2), studied (2), key (2), following (2), forster (2), animals (2), mining (2), free (2), will (2), harmony (2), stressed (2), method (2), indigenous (2), pride (2), geographie (2), physique (2), relation (2), voyage (2), reason (2), rationalism (2), asserted (2), man (2), discussion (2), materialism (2), exploiting (2), expansion (2), implied (2), importance (2), fact (2), even (2), mind (2), exact (2), mathematics (2), species (2), founder (2), absolute (2), modification (2), particular (2), moved (2), discussed (2), simultaneous (2), compresence (2), observed (2), magic (2), astrology (2), providence (2), previously (2), translated (2), scripture (2), content (2), showed (2), utility (2), skilled (2), best (2), rules (2), events (2), diseases (2), encouraged (2), collected (2), investigation (2), required (2), varenius (2), english (2), either (2), differing (2), women (2), colonial (2), remove (2), message (2), please (2), removed (2), reliable (2), improve (2), extensive (2), birth (2), certificate (2), cartographer (2), 1507 (2), mentioned (2), universalis (2), cosmographia (2), portuguese (2), pacific (2), wide (2), detail (2), surviving (2), navigator (2), 12th (2), ruling (2), undertaking (2), mongols (2), chronicles (2), 14th (2), rule (2), flat (2), depiction (2), chronology (2), 776 (2), 869 (2), particularly (2), black (2), skin (2), jahiz (2), nations (2), commissioned (2), few (2), 1154 (2), shows (2), roger (2), norman (2), describe (2), polar (2), equi (2), came (2), measuring (2), combined (2), astronomical (2), record (2), roughly (2), planetary (2), valleys (2), longitude (2), celestial (2), azimuthal (2), abū (2), note (2), bottom (2), contrast (2), terrestrial (2), extensively (2), little (2), healing (2), avicenna (2), develop (2), towards (2), precious (2), here (2), trend (2), religious (2), muhammad (2), sahara (2), kingdoms (2), bakri (2), give (2), surat (2), ard (2), peninsula (2), abu (2), inhabiting (2), practices (2), buldan (2), compendium (2), records (2), 960 (2), died (2), personal (2), masalik (2), mamalik (2), 850 (2), describing (2), syrian (2), iraq (2), wisdom (2), 7th (2), carefully (2), arabia (2), picture (2), scientifically (2), basil (2), aristotle (2), ethiopia (2), sri (2), lanka (2), cyprus (2), beginning (2), byzantium (2), ethnica (2), synecdemus (2), concrete (2), aspects (2), 805 (2), route (2), gulf (2), feng (2), xuan (2), zhang (2), zhu (2), government (2), official (2), primarily (2), amount (2), formation (2), inland (2), fossils (2), bamboo (2), suitable (2), archeological (2), yellow (2), ming (2), topographical (2), small (2), chi (2), forward (2), liu (2), trade (2), tribes (2), sichuan (2), 150 (2), 3rd (2), waterways (2), classic (2), shui (2), shu (2), sites (2), graduated (2), onwards (2), texts (2), feature (2), legend (2), goods (2), nine (2), relatively (2), documents (2), dating (2), depicting (2), direction (2), silk (2), chapters (2), calculated (2), matter (2), earthquakes (2), dwipas (2), puranas (2), find (2), gods (2), every (2), hindu (2), britain (2), includes (2), high (2), romans (2), army (2), transportation (2), triangulation (2), 000 (2), almost (2), completely (2), accepted (2), narrow (2), band (2), hanno (2), pytheas (2), similar (2), isles (2), moves (2), huge (2), question (2), set (2), actually (2), considerably (2), libya (2), circled (2), red (2), invasions (2), circumnavigation (2), phoenician (2), sailors (2), hellenistic (2), thales (2), anaximander (2), mostly (2), histories (2), hecataeus (2), person (2), homer (2), circular (2), 9th (2), islands (2), encircling (2), lay (2), crete (2), structuralism (2), upload (2), file (2), log (2), donate (2), menu (2), add, mobile, cookie, statement, developers, code, conduct, legal, safety, contacts, disclaimers, available, apply, you, agree, registered, trademark, profit, foundation, creative, attribution, sharealike, license, rendered, parsoid, edited, 2026, utc, hidden, 2010, october, errors, periodical, webarchive, template, child, parameter, https, org, php, history_of_geography, oldid, 1377010523, wikiproject, wikiquotes, bowl, citizenship, council, olympiad, geo, literacy, geoscience, gamma, theta, upsilon, neighborhood, averaging, temporal, ecological, fallacy, paradox, boundary, problems, possibilism, traditions, decay, arbia, laws, edaphology, geophysics, geobiology, meteorology, atmospheric, branches, glossary, surveyed, interesting, russell, 1921, winston, countries, allen, nellie, burnham, 1916, ginn, industrial, 1852, 1779, 1846, philadelphia, blanchard, lea, michigan, murray, comprising, complete, geoffrey, worlds, episodes, contested, enterprise, ling, clue, 1987, woodward, harley, earle, kenzer, mathewson, rowman, littlefield, publishers, california, fate, bowen, 1981, canonical, hybrid, 763, 00432, 756k, 756, barnes, trevor, 00330120902931937, 2009profg, 292b, 292, schuurman, nadine, trouble, heartland, critics, 590, 10214, 1828, hdl, 1191, 030913200100189111, 569, graf, whine, newsletter, hepple, regression, 144335512, a300225, 1998enpla, 225h, centrality, periphery, brauch, hans, günter, 319, 53825, pioneer, 1930, 1977, minneapolis, 3126299, oclc, 8166, 0808, perspective, castree, noel, 970, a3263, 955c, 955, professionalisation, activism, whither, celebrating, thirty, 953, 128738768, a32202, 951p, 951, cave, gate, clerkenwell, 241, january, 310, 33201684, 09402009, 304t, 304, 1970, 240, 34085823, movie, simulating, growth, detroit, jackson, stephen, 324, 597, 2015, 596, physics, trans, robert, 691, 24736, daum, andreas, abc, clio, 284, 9781610699204, interpreting, revolutionized, kerski, 1939, taylor, 00045603909357282, grafton, anthony, jardine, lisa, harvard, 250, 247, humanism, humanities, liberal, arts, fifteenth, sixteenth, heffernan, politics, nineteenth, 1992, hebert, congress, bulletin, 2003, august, named, snyder, flattening, projections, conrad, lawrence, 1982, taun, waba, conceptions, plague, pestilence, 268, 278, orient, bagrow, leo, precedent, publications, 1985, astronomy, qibla, gnomics, timekeeping, roshdi, rashed, 128, 184, 153, london, routledge, edson, bodleian, views, emilie, universidad, 421, brentjes, 129, 16663, antiquity, fresh, perspectives, alhazen, yarshater, ehsan, xiii, fasc, december, updated, 227, iranian, young, latham, serjeant, editors, 1990, abbasid, romeny, bas, ter, haar, koninklijke, leiden, netherlands, syriac, miller, 1857, boston, gould, lincoln, 428, testimony, yule, educational, services, 206, 1966, 212, cathay, thither, notices, beatrice, nicolini, penelope, jane, 13780, makran, oman, zanzibar, terminal, corridor, 1799, 1856, representation, herbert, donner, 661, 524, 511, 510, 514, 517, 507, 538, 540, 512, 501, 500, gernet, 521, 49781, 339, digital, sacred, anu, kapur, 2002, voice, concern, 2001, logan, issue, 1997, 277, 273, forgotten, russo, lucio, asiens, und, europas, auf, der, vega, adolf, erik, nordenskiöld, p148, durch, phönizische, schiffer, ums, jahr, chr, geb, afrikas, cup, archive, 1963, p56, p200, inhabited, eastward, desert, unexplored, james, rennell, examined, comparison, bulmer, p672, finel, irving, discover, catherine, delano, logo, 211, 1151277, 03085699608592846, siebold, jim, davis, 2018, slide, 103, kurt, raaflaub, 147, 4051, 9146, sons, montet, pierre, eternal, phoenix, etymonline, online, etymology, scottish, maritime, chorography, initial, debate, merits, positivism, excise, went, overthrow, dominant, 1960s, decline, comment, lack, vocabulary, rounds, polarizing, mutual, indifference, absence, dialog, 2000s, camps, irreconcilable, analytical, opposed, positive, levied, counter, argue, response, difficulty, technologies, forth, addressed, computers, anti, critique, philosophies, influential, suggests, contexts, employs, theorists, explore, poststructuralist, feminism, harvey, marx, phenomenology, existentialism, least, dedicated, titled, take, corrections, resurgence, umbrella, uniting, frameworks, 1950s, formulated, subjected, tests, usually, groundwork, distant, torsten, hägerstrand, ackerman, bunge, chorley, peter, haggett, garrison, fred, schaefer, testing, remained, incredibly, scholars, proponents, reject, paradigm, heyday, substantive, contributions, readers, cultures, effects, delineation, borders, coined, group, possibilists, represented, reaffirmation, differentiation, criticism, overly, unscientific, paul, vidal, blache, alfred, hettner, mental, habits, environmentally, deterministic, hypotheses, stereotypes, makes, tropics, lazy, frequent, barometric, pressure, agile, determinist, influences, 1930s, repudiated, lacking, prone, bigoted, generalizations, embarrassment, contemporary, leads, skepticism, claims, jared, diamond, ellsworth, huntington, ellen, churchill, semple, determinists, half, engaged, broad, 1888, magazine, continues, popularizer, 1830, chair, 1917, appointed, reader, past, exploded, strong, demographics, sociology, economics, botany, 1877, evolving, analysed, thus, scales, understand, emphasized, soon, taken, davisian, biosphere, atmosphere, geosphere, immanuel, thomas, holistic, 1845, intended, scrap, own, reading, himself, persuaded, publish, copy, sketch, recognized, discrete, typical, curriculum, paris, taught, sub, subjects, 1769, indicate, conceptual, culmination, phenomenon, adequately, itself, alone, understood, must, stands, connected, admired, synthesizing, goetzmann, activity, 1789, met, mainz, travelling, year, influenced, prussian, officer, steben, miners, prototype, institutes, naturphilosophie, goethe, herder, letter, never, lose, sight, concurrent, forces, inanimate, vegetable, focus, meanwhile, 1825, growing, jeffersonian, born, meaning, helped, components, teleological, monde, theorie, terre, historique, geognosia, tried, reconcile, stressing, grounded, aesthetic, unity, distinguished, perceived, line, associating, tenure, offered, lectures, 1756, lecture, 1801, involvement, fairly, limited, manfred, büttner, kantian, emancipation, extent, founders, established, physische, königsberg, intelligible, noumena, sensible, drive, betterment, belief, attached, defended, emotions, morals, piloted, major, challenge, mechanical, conceptualized, changing, rather, sum, nevertheless, acknowledged, interpretation, jean, rousseau, advancements, mean, widening, enable, industrialization, father, doctrine, emphasizing, object, cannot, isolated, opinion, advocated, viewing, entire, mechanist, chemistry

Text of the page (random words):
a geometric grid and mathematically graduated scale to a map was contained in the writings of the cartographer pei xiu 224 271 26 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 27 the ancient chinese historian ban gu 32 92 most likely started the trend of the gazetteer in china which became prominent in the northern and southern dynasties period and sui dynasty 28 local gazetteers would feature a wealth of geographic information although its cartographic aspects were not as highly professional as the maps created by professional cartographers 28 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 29 in chang chu s hua yang guo chi historical geography of sichuan of 347 not only rivers trade routes and various tribes were described but it also wrote of a ba jun tu jing map of sichuan which had been made much earlier in 150 30 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 31 in the 6th century 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 31 in later periods of the song dynasty 960 1279 and ming dynasty 1368 1644 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 32 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 32 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 fossils 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 33 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 34 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 34 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 chinese diplomat wang xuance traveled to magadha modern northeastern india during the 7th century afterwards he wrote the book zhang tian zhu guo tu illustrated accounts of central india which included a wealth of geographical information 33 chinese geographers such as jia dan 730 805 wrote accurate descriptions of places far abroad in his work written between 785 and 805 he described the sea route going into the mouth of the persian gulf and that the medieval iranians 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 35 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 the xuan he feng shi gao li tu jing illustrated record of an embassy to korea in the xuan he reign period 33 the geography of medieval cambodia the khmer empire was documented in the book zhen la feng tu ji of 1297 written by zhou daguan 33 middle ages edit byzantine empire and syria edit after the fall of the western roman empire the eastern roman empire ruled from constantinople and known as the byzantine empire continued to thrive and produced several noteworthy geographers stephanus of byzantium 6th century was a grammarian at constantinople and authored the important geographical dictionary ethnica this work is of enormous value providing well referenced geographical and other information about ancient greece the geographer hierocles 6th century authored the synecdemus prior to ad 535 in which he provides a table of administrative divisions of the byzantine empire and lists the cities in each the synecdemus and the ethnica were the principal sources of constantine vii s work on the themes or divisions of byzantium and are the primary sources we have today on political geography of the sixth century east george of cyprus is known for his descriptio orbis romani description of the roman world written in the decade 600 610 36 beginning with italy and progressing counterclockwise including africa egypt and the western middle east george lists cities towns fortresses and administrative divisions of the byzantine or eastern roman empire cosmas indicopleustes 6th century also known as cosmas the monk was an alexandrian merchant 37 by the records of his travels he seems to have visited india sri lanka the kingdom of axum in modern ethiopia and eritrea included in his work christian topography were some of the earliest world maps 38 39 40 though cosmas believed the earth to be flat most christian geographers of his time disagreed with him 41 syrian bishop jacob of edessa 633 708 adapted scientific material sourced from aristotle theophrastus ptolemy and basil to develop a carefully structured picture of the cosmos he corrects his sources and writes more scientifically whereas basil s hexaemeron is theological in style 42 karl müller has collected and printed several anonymous works of geography from this era including the expositio totius mundi islamic world edit main article geography and cartography in the medieval islamic world in the latter 7th century adherents of the new religion of islam expanded northward out of arabia towards the levant and iraq there carefully preserved in the monasteries and libraries they discovered the greek classics which included great works of geography by egyptian ptolemy s almagest and geography along with the geographical wisdom of the chinese and the great accomplishments of the roman empire the arabs who spoke only arabic employed christians and jews to translate these and many other manuscripts into arabic the primary geographical scholarship of this era occurred throughout the islamic realms in west asia s newly intellectually dynamic regions like persia today s iran but also in the great learning center the house of wisdom at baghdad in today s iraq as well as in syria both being centers of knowledge from the earliest times early caliphs encouraged scholarship 43 under their rule native west asians served as mawali or dhimmi 44 and most geographers in this period were syrian or persian i e of either zoroastrian or christian background like much of the region s population citation needed persians who wrote on geography or created maps during the middle ages included al khwārizmī 780 850 wrote the image of the earth kitab surat al ard in which he used the geography ptolemy of ptolemy but improved upon his values for the mediterranean sea asia and africa ibn khurdadhbih 820 912 authored a book of administrative geography book of the routes and provinces kitab al masalik wa l mamalik which is the earliest surviving arabic work of its kind he made the first quadratic scheme map of four sectors sohrab or sorkhab 45 died 930 wrote marvels of the seven climes to the end of habitation describing and illustrating a rectangular grid of latitude and longitude to produce a world map 46 47 al balkhi 850 934 founded the balkhī school of terrestrial mapping in baghdad al istakhri died 957 compiled the book of the routes of states kitab masalik al mamalik from personal observations and literary sources al biruni 973 1052 described polar equi azimuthal equidistant projection of the celestial sphere abu nasr mansur 960 1036 known for his work with the spherical sine law his book of azimuths is no longer extant avicenna 980 1037 wrote on earth sciences in his book of healing ibn al faqih 10th century wrote concise book of lands mukhtasar kitab al buldan ibn rustah 10th century wrote a geographical compendium known as book of precious records arabs who contributed to this tradition included al jahiz 776 869 who described the impact of the physical environment of man upon his appearance which led him to compare the peoples of various regions of the world and the peoples inhabiting them ya qubi d 897 whose kitab al buldan describes numerous places across africa and asia while also giving pride of place to the description of the peoples inhabiting the lands mentioned as well as their beliefs and practices abu muhammad al hasan al hamdani 893 947 whose sifat jazirat al arab remains one of the most valuable sources on the geography flaura fauna and peoples of the arabian peninsula al masudi 896 956 who wrote the meadows of gold combining universal history with scientific geography ibn hawqal d 978 who wrote surat al ard adding further detail on the islamic west as well as more accurate maps to the currents of western asian scholarship to which he belonged al maqdisi 945 991 whose description and cultural division of the world in his work aḥsan al taqāsīm make it a landmark in geographical studies his work also highlighted a tendency to give greater attention and depth of analysis to the lands of the islamic world al bakri 1040 1094 whose book of roads and kingdoms al bakri contains important descriptions of the atlantic world the sahara and central africa muhammad al idrisi 1100 1165 whose tabula rogeriana is one of the most advanced works of geography of the whole middle ages here a reversal of the trend that had started a few centuries earlier can be noted with a tentative return to universal geography transcending the boundaries of the religious spheres ibn jubayr 1145 1217 who left behind an account of his pilgrimage across the mediterranean towards the hijaz providing precious descriptions of the interactions between the norman byzantine and arab cultural spheres in the region ibn khaldun 1332 1406 whose muqaddimah an introduction to his world history extensively discusses the influence of different geographic settings not only on the physical appearance of men but also on the forms of social organization they develop further details about some of the authors are given below in the early 10th century abū zayd al balkhī a persian 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 48 suhrāb a late 10th century persian geographer accompanied a book of geographical coordinates with instructions for making a rectangular world map with equirectangular projection or cylindrical equidistant projection 48 in the early 11th century avicenna hypothesized on the geological causes of mountains in the book of healing 1027 the tabula rogeriana drawn by al idrisi for roger ii of sicily in 1154 note that in this map the north is at the bottom and south at the top in contrast to modern cartographic conventions in mathematical geography persian abū rayhān al bīrūnī around 1025 was the first to describe a polar equi azimuthal equidistant projection of the celestial sphere 49 he was also regarded as the most skilled when it came to mapping cities and measuring the distances between them which he did for many cities in the middle east and western indian subcontinent he combined astronomical readings and mathematical equations to record degrees of latitude and longitude and to measure the heights of mountains and depths of valleys recorded in the chronology of the ancient nations he discussed human geography and the planetary habitability of the earth suggesting that roughly a quarter of the earth s surface is habitable by humans by the early 12th century the normans had overthrown the arabs in sicily palermo had become a crossroads for travelers and traders from many nations and the norman king roger ii having great interest in geography commissioned the creation of a book and map that would compile all this wealth of geographical information researchers were sent out and the collection of data took 15 years 50 al idrisi one of few arabs who had ever been to france and england as well as spain central asia and constantinople was employed to create the book from this mass of data utilizing the information inherited from the classical geographers he created one of the most accurate maps of the world to date the tabula rogeriana 1154 the map written in arabic shows the eurasian continent in its entirety and the northern part of africa an adherent of environmental determinism was the medieval afro arab writer al jahiz 776 869 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 colors particularly 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 51 medieval europe edit fictional portrait of marco polo see also chronology of european exploration of asia during the early middle ages geographical knowledge in europe 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 venetian explorer marco polo throughout mongol empire in the 13th century the christian crusa...