CHAPTER ONE

Introduction
1.1. Geography: Definition, Scope and Themes
1.1.1. Meaning of Geography

Because of the dynamic nature of the discipline and the changes in its scope
and method of study it is difficult to forward a definition acceptable to all
geographers at all times and places.
However, the following may be accepted as a working definition.
Geography is the scientific study of the Earth that describes and analyses
spatial & temporal variations of physical, biological and human phenomena,
& their interrelationships & dynamism over the surface of the Earth.
•Scientific study – systematic way of explaining nature/Universe.
•Spatial analysis – refers to comparisons with respect to space.
•Temporal analysis – refers to comparisons made with respect to the passage
of time.
•Interrelationship & dynamism – interdependence and changes
• In the old tradition, the study of geography had been
considered as the study of sites (description) and
names (toponym) of places.
• Geography has now acquired the status of science that
explains the arrangements of various natural and
cultural features on the Earth surface.
• Geography is a holistic and interdisciplinary field of
study contributing to the understanding of the
changing spatial structures from the past to the future.
• 1.1.2. The Scope, Approaches and Themes of
Geography
Scope:
• The scope of Geography is the surface of the Earth,
which includes the atmosphere, lithosphere,
hydrosphere and biosphere.
→Atmosphere – the mixture of gases around the earth.
→Lithosphere – Rigid, rocky outer layer of the Earth,
consisting of the crust.
→Hydrosphere – the total amount of water (surface,
underground, air) on a planet.
→Biosphere – habitable zone which ecosystem
composed of living & non-living organisms.
Approaches:
Geography can be approached by considering two
continuums: a human-physical continuum and a topical-
regional continuum.
→Human continuum – economic, political, cultural,
transport, urban, social, population…
→Physical continuum – climatology, hydrology,
biogeography, pedology, geomorphology …
→The topical (systematic) fields of Geography - view
particular categories of physical or human phenomena as
distributed over the Earth.
→Regional geography – is concerned with the associations
within regions of all or some of the elements and their
interrelationships.
Themes of Geography:
• Five basic themes; location, place, human-environment
interaction, movement, and region.
Location
Location is defined as a particular place or position.
→Absolute/astronomical/mathematical – identified by latitude &
longitude (exact address)
→Relative location – defines places relative to other landmarks.
Place
Place refers to the physical and human aspects of a location. Is
associated with:
→Toponym – the name of a place.
→Site – the description of the features of the place (landform,
pedology, hydrology ...)
→Situation – the environmental conditions of the place.
Human-Environment Interaction
• Involves three distinct aspects, dependency, adaptation,
and modification.
→Dependency – refers to the ways in which humans are
dependent on nature for a living.
→Adaptation – relates to how humans modify themselves,
their lifestyles and their behavior to live in a new
environment with new challenges.
→Modification – allowed humans to “conquer” the world
for their comfortable living.
Movement
Refers to the translocation of human beings, transport of
their goods & flow of their ideas from one end of the planet
to another.
Region
A region is a geographic area having distinctive chxs
that distinguishes itself from adjacent unit(s) of space.
→formal region – homogeneity in a certain
phenomenon (soil, temperature, rainfall, language,
religion, and economy).
→Functional or nodal region – characterized by
functional interrelationships in a spatial system defined
by the linkages binding particular phenomena.
1.2. Location, Shape and Size of Ethiopia and the Horn
The Horn of Africa
•It is the easternmost extension of African – consisting
of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia.
•In terms of size, Ethiopia is the largest of all the
Horn countries, while Djibouti is the smallest.
•The Horn contains diverse areas as the
highlands of the Ethiopian Plateau, the Ogaden
desert, and the Eritrean and Somali coasts.
1.2.1. Location of Ethiopia
Astronomical (absolute) location
•Astronomically, Ethiopia is a landlocked
country located between 3oN (Moyale) and 15oN
(Bademe) latitudes and 33oE (Akobo) to 48oE
(the tip of Ogaden in the east) longitudes.
• •The east west distance (15 degree) is longer than
the north-south distance (12 degree).
→Important Implications
• As a result of its latitudinal extension the country
experiences tropical climate.
• Due to its longitudinal extension there is a
difference of one hour between the most easterly
and most westerly points of the country.
Relative location
• Expresses the location of countries or places with
reference to the location of other countries
(vicinal), landmasses or water bodies.
 Vicinal location In relation to water bodies & land masses
 Sudan to the west and northwest  In the Horn of Africa
 South Sudan to southwest  Southwest of the Arabian Peninsula
 Djibouti to the east  South of Europe
 Somalia to the east &  Northwest of the Indian Ocean
southeast  In the Nile Basin
 Eritrea to the north northeast
• The implications of the location of Ethiopia are described
as follows:
a) Climate:
• Has a tropical climate, though modified by its altitude.
• The location of Ethiopia relative to the Indian Ocean, the
Atlantic Ocean and the African and Asian landmass has
also various bearings on the climate of Ethiopia.
b) Socio-cultural:
• Ethiopia is one of the earliest recipients of the major
world religions namely Christianity, Islam and Judaism
due to its proximity to the Middle East.
• The linguistic and other cultural relationships, which
Ethiopia shares with its neighbors, reflect the influence
of location.
c) Political:
The political history of Ethiopia has been considerably
influenced by:

• Geopolitical considerations of superpowers.

• Adjacency to the Red Sea (a major global trade route).

• The Middle East geopolitical paradigms.

• As a result, Ethiopia has been exposed for external

invasions in a number of times; though the country resisted
foreign intervention and remains free of external
domination.
• 1.2.2. Size of Ethiopia
• Area is approximate 1,106,000 square km & is
the 8th largest country in Africa & 25th in the
World.
• It extends about 1,639 kilometers East-West,
and 1,577 kilometers North-South.
• About 0.7% of the country is covered by water
bodies.
• The size of Ethiopia also affects both the
natural and human environment of the country.
 Advantages Disadvantages

Possess diverse agro ecological Demands greater capital to

zones construct infrastructure

Variety of natural resources Requires large army to protect its

territory
Own extensive arable land Difficult for effective administration

Have larger population size Difficult for socio-economic

integration
Home for diverse cultures
Greater depth in defense
external invasion
1.2.3. The shape of Ethiopia and its Implication
•Countries of the World have different kinds of
shape that can be divided into five main
categories: compact, fragmented, elongated,
perforated, and protruded.
•These shapes have implications on defense,
administration and economic integration.
• Compact shape countries: The distance from the
geographic center of the state to any of the
borders does not vary greatly. It is easier for
defense, socioeconomic and cultural integration.
• Fragmented shape countries: They are divided
from their other parts by either water, land or other
countries.
• Elongated shape countries: They are
geographically long and relatively narrow like
Chile.
• Perforated shape countries: A country that
completely surrounds another country like the
Republic of South Africa.
• Protrude shape countries: Countries that have one
portion that is much more elongated than the rest
of the country like Myanmar and Eritrea.
Indices of Compactness – measure the deviation of the shape of a
country from a circular shape.
There are four most commonly used measures of compactness.
These are:
1. Area-Boundary ratio: the ratio of area of country to its
boundary length. The higher the A/B ratio, the greater the
degree of compactness.
AB ratio- A/B = 1,106,000km2/5260=210.23
2. Boundary-Circumference ratio: The ratio of boundary length
of a country to the circumference of a circle having the same area
as the country itself. Therefore, the nearer the ratio to 1 the more
compact the country is.
48oE-33oE=15o/2=7o 3o’ this should be changed in to
km
1o=111km
7o 30’*111km= 832.5
• Circumference(c) = 2=2*3.14*832.5=5228.1
• BC ratio- B/C= 5260/5228.1= 1.01
[Link]-Circumference ratio: The ratio of the area
of the country to the circumference of the
smallest inscribing circle: The higher the A/C
ratio, the greater the degree of compactness.

• Circumference= 2𝜋𝑟= 2*3.14*832.5=5228.1

• Area =1,106,000km2

• Area-Circumference ratio-A/C=
1,106,000/5228.1= 211.5
[Link] - Area (A/A’) ratio: The ratio of the actual
area of a country to the smallest possible
inscribing circle. The nearer the ratio to 1, the
more compact the country is.
Table 1.3: Ethiopia's shape compared to its
neighbors in the Horn
Country Area(km2) Boundary (km) A/B ratio B/C ratio A/C ratio
Ethiopia 1,106,000 5,260 210.27 1.41 296.61
Djibouti 22,000 820 26.83 1.56 41.83
Eritrea 117,400 2,420 48.51 1.99 96.83
Kenya 582,644 3,600 161.85 1.33 215.28
Somalia 637,657 5,100 125.03 1.80 225.22
Source: Bekure (1982, 1983)
1.3. Basic Skills of Map Reading
What is a Map?
• A map is a two-dimensional scaled representation of part or whole of the
Earth surface on a flat body such as piece of paper, black board, wood or
cloth.
• Map reading encompasses a systematic identification of natural features
and manmade features.
• Since these features cannot easily be observed and interpreted in real
landscapes, maps are essential.

Importance of maps
To represent & analyze geographical details/facts of regions i.e. relief,
drainage, settlement etc.
• Provide location of geographical features using grid reference, place
naming...
• Maps are used on various disciplines like land use planning, military
science, tourism...
• Map makes storage of the geographical data of areas represented.
• Used to asses’ reliable measurements of the geographical features
i.e. area size, distance etc.
Types of Map
• For the purpose of this course, topographical and statistical maps
are considered.
a. Topographical maps:
• Topographic maps depict one or more natural & cultural features
of an area.
• They could be small, medium or large scale depending on the
size of the area represented.
• Contents of topographical maps depend on purpose of a map,
scale of a map, date of compilation, and nature of the land
represented.
• The scale of a map is the ratio of a distance on the map to the
corresponding distance on the ground.
• A map is classified as small scale (world map) or large scale
(town map) or sometimes medium scale (country map).
• Small scale refers to world maps or maps of large regions
such as continents or large nations. In other words, they
show large areas of land on a small space. They are called
small scale because the representative fraction is relatively
small.
• Large-scale maps show smaller areas in more detail, such as
county maps or town plans might. Such maps are called
large scale because the representative fraction is relatively
large.
• For instance a town plan, which is a large-scale map, might
be on a scale of 1:10,000, whereas the world map, which is
a small scale map, might be on a scale of 1:500,000.
b. Special purpose/statistical maps: These are maps, which show
distribution of different aspects such as temperature, rainfall, settlement,
vegetation etc.

Marginal Information on Maps (Elements of Maps)

Marginal information is shown on a map to enable the reading and
interpretation of the geographical information of an area represented.
This includes:
a. Title: tells what the map is all about.
b. Key (legend): list of convectional symbols & signs with their
meanings.
c. Scale: ratio b/n the distance on the map and the actual ground distance.
- Enable the map user to interpret the ground measurement i.e. distance,
areal sizes etc.
d. North arrow: It is indicated with the north direction on a map; used to
know the other important directions of the mapped area like east, west,
south, and west.
e. Margin: Is the frame of the map. It is important for
showing the end of the mapped area.
f. Date of compilation: It is a date of map publication.
This enables map users to realize
whether the map is updated or outdated.
1.3.1. Basic Principles of Map Reading
• In developing map reading abilities and skills, certain
basic principles must be applied by the map-reader to
translate map symbols into landscape images.
• Map Readers must have ideas about the symbol
• Knowledge of directions is an important principle in
reading maps.
• A grid reference.