Abstract: The author attempts to answer the question raised by some students of geography,“what is geography”.Instead of giving a definition,the author begins with a discussion on the characteristics of geography.They are:1)Surface of ithe earth as the object of geographical stndy,2)the earth as the stage of human activities and the concept of noosphere,3)geography as an interdeciphinary science, 4)the concept of region and regional geography,5)synthesis in the study of geography,6)times and geography,7)purpose of the study of geography. The second part discusses the different schools and theories of geographical thought,following the themes suggested by P.Haggett(Loeational Analysis in Humon Geography,1965)They are:the traditional view of areal differentiation,the landscape school,the ecological school,the locafional school and set theory. The third part is a review on recent trends of geograpy,including:1)the rise of applied geography,2)synthesis versus analysis,3)from individual to collective efforts,4)application of new techniques. The paper ended with a review on the system of geography as proposed by H. Uhlig in“Organization and system of Geography”(Geoforum 1,1970).