The Companion Encyclopedia of Geography provides an authoritative and provocative source of reference for all those concerned with the earth and its people. Examining both physical and human geography and charting human activities within their habitat up to the present day, this Companion also asks what lies in the future:* A differentiated world* A world transformed by the growth of a global economy* The global scale of habitat modification* A world of questions* Changing worlds, changing geographies* Geographical futures.The forty-five self contained chapters are bound into a unifying whole by the editors' general and part introductions; each chapter provides details of the most useful sources of further reading and research, and the volume is concluded with a comprehensive index. This is an invaluable resource not only for students, teachers and researchers in the academic domain but also professionals in interested commercial and public-sector organisations.