Who was the first Geographer?

Eratosthenes was the first geographer. Eratosthenes the first spot has to go to the man who coined the term geography, Eratosthenes. He created one of the earliest maps of the known world between 276-195 BC, but his greatest contribution was the concept of latitude and longitude.

He lived from c. 276 BC to c. 194 BC.

Eratosthenes was an Ancient Greek scientist born in the town of Cyrene in about 276 BC. Cyrene, then a Greek city, is now the town of Shahhat in Libya. Eratosthenes was educated in philosophy and mathematics in Athens. We do not know what he looked like.

Eratosthenes was the first geographer. He brought the concept of geography, a common field of science. Thousands of years ago, when the world was unexplored, exotic, and beyond anyone’s imagination, Eratosthenes was the one who spotted this term. He was one of the biggest contributors to the science of geography.

Eratosthenes was a Greek Mathematician and dexterous geographer. Initially, he developed one of the earliest maps between the year 276-195 BC. However, his greatest milestone was the concept of latitude and longitude. According to him, the word “Geography” is made up of two words - "Geo" means the earth and "Graphein" means to write.

It is also believed that he became the first man ever to calculate the appropriate size of the earth with a minimum of 2% error approximately. For his remarkable accomplishments, Eratosthenes will always lie at the top of the renowned geographers' list.

Talking about Geography, it’s a branch of social science which deals with the study of islands, continents, features, inhabitants, and natural processes of the earth. In short, it is an overall study of the earth.

A geographer is someone who studies and writes about the features, land, inhabitants and phenomena of our world. Eratosthenes, who lived over two hundred years before Christ, can be credited with creating the word Geograpy. He drew the very first map known to the world. It is he who derived the concept of latitude and longitude and was the first to accurately calculate the circumference of the Earth.

However, Herodotus, another Greek, who lived much earlier still, 484-425 BC, wrote volumes about the physical features of our planet. Later, the Romans took over this area of study from the Greeks and Strabo, 64-20 BC wrote 17 volumes about the different societies that existed across the extent of the world as it was then known.