From the Latin spatium , space is a term with multiple meanings. It can be the extension that the existing matter contains, the part that a sensible object occupies or the capacity of a land or place.
Geographic, on the other hand, comes from geographicus and refers to that belonging to or relating to geography (the science that is dedicated to the description of the Earth).
The notion of geographic space, then, is used by geography to name the space organized by a society. It is an extension in which human groups coexist and interact with the environment.
It is about any place that is inhabited, modified or transformed by humans in order to obtain some benefit, to satisfy our various needs, such as food, housing, clothing and leisure, as well as the results of these transformations over time.
The geographical space is a social construction that can be studied in its various manifestations (such as natural landscape, urban landscape, industrial landscape, etc.).
The French geographer Jean Tricart (1920-2003) defined geographic space as the "epidermis of planet Earth" , which can be analyzed according to its spatial system (location) or its environmental system (ecology).
It is important to note that all geographical space is the result of history, since each society has its own mode of organization and leaves its traces on the landscape. The geographical space, therefore, depends on the historical process.
The geographic space controlled under an administrative order is known as territory and can be made up of various entities, such as municipalities, counties, provinces or regions.
It is worth mentioning that for a geographic space to exist there must be, first of all, a natural space that serves as a point of settlement and development for a society. Over the years, actions such as cutting down trees, pruning, diverting water currents and building buildings, among many other ways in which human beings modify everything in their path, the natural space becomes becomes geographic.
Geographic space is not something static; On the contrary, given our nature and the fact that we never stop having needs, the transformations that we carry out in it are continuous and changing, which responds directly to the inevitable cultural evolution. It arises from the relationship between two essential elements for our life: nature and society. These two, in turn, give rise to the economy.
The natural elements are the set of all creation of nature, such as seas, rivers, relief, vegetation, various animal species and natural disasters; the social include organized groups of people (the people), religion, culture and politics; the economic ones are the result of the imposition of the social on nature, and represent the main cause of modifications to the natural space.
The main economic activities carried out by societies are livestock, agriculture, banking, mining, fishing, industry, commercial networks, transportation and the provision of services.
Despite the fact that the three elements just mentioned are always found, not all geographic spaces are the same, since each of these variables can present a myriad of peculiarities. Furthermore, in each space there may be a different percentage of nature, society and economy; in other words, the dominance of each element also varies in each particular case.