Geographical Environment

The sum total of natural conditions closely connected with the geographical location where human society is located, together with the population factor and the mode of production of material means, constitutes the conditions of the material life of society. Geographical environment is an organic whole constituted by the interconnection of various natural conditions and elements, including topography, mountains, forests, rivers, lakes, seas, soils, minerals, climate, flora and fauna, etc.

Geographical environment is a necessary premise for human existence and development, and a component part of social existence. It is the place where human activities take place. Man cannot exist and perform activities divorced from natural conditions. Marx called nature as “man’s inorganic body.” He held that man is a part of nature, and that various natural conditions are the natural basis for human life and the production of material means. Without certain natural conditions, productive labor is impossible to be carried out. Without nature, without the sensuous external world, the worker would create nothing. Without the geographical environment, there would be no man and no human society.

Geographical environment influences the development of society. It accelerates or retards the development of society through its influence on production. Marx said: “Apart from the social form of production, the productiveness of labor depends on the natural conditions under which the labor is performed.” Geographical environment can also condition the social development of a country through its influence on military affairs and politics.

Geographical environment is not the determining force of the development of society, it can only have an accelerating and retarding influence on the development of society. Geographical environment cannot determine the nature of society. It is the mode of production of material means that determines the nature of society. Geographical environment cannot determine the supersession of social formations. The magnitude of the effect and influence of the geographical environment on the development of society is influenced and conditioned by the level of development of the productive forces of society, the nature of society, the social system and other factors. Geographical environment determinism held that the geographical environment determines the psychology, character and temperament of people, which in turn determines the social system and the destiny of a country. It did not interpret the development of society with divinities and God, but one-sidedly exaggerates the part played by geographical environment, failed to see the ultimately determining part played by the mode of production of material means on the development of society, and failed to break out of the idealist conception of the history of society.

Geographical environment and human society interact with each other. Mankind is able to change nature and make the geographic environment beneficial to mankind; human activity will again consume natural resources and cause damage to the natural environment. Engels once warned mankind not to flatter ourselves overmuch on account of our human conquest over nature, and by no means rule over nature like a conqueror over a foreign people, like someone standing outside nature. A poor handling of the relation between man and the natural environment will result in the loss of the basis for sustainable development, not only affecting the development of the present generation but also sacrificing the interests of future generations. Protecting the ecological environment, coping with climate change and maintaining energy and resource security are common challenges facing the world today. To correctly understand the relation between geographical environment and human society, we must uphold green development, establish the concept of ecological civilization that respects nature, conforms to nature and protects nature, uphold the basic national policy of saving resources and protecting the environment, vigorously push forward the construction of ecological civilization, and achieve a harmonious development of man and nature.