Study Geography in France

What is Geography?

Geography is the science of the relationship between humans and the Earth. It is at the crossroads of natural sciences (biology, geology, climatology) and social sciences (sociology, political science, economics, history). It studies the way societies use space and distribute themselves on Earth. It is interested in all major current issues: globalization, climate change, migration, development, international relations …

You learn technical skills such as creating maps, making statistics, studying geolocalized data, diagnosing a territory to plan its development, and conducting population surveys. These are skills that are in demand in many fields and that allow for good professional integration.

Geography also allows us to open up to the world: we are interested in places worldwide, and we try to go as far as possible in the field. The training courses often offer field internships in France and worldwide, starting from the Licence 3 to learn how to do research. In the Master’s program, students choose between a research stay to complete their thesis and an internship related to their specialty (NGO, urban planning, local government, etc.).

Job opportunities :

• Urban planning and development
• Teaching and research, from elementary school to higher education
• The environment and sustainable development professions
• Development and international cooperation
• Geopolitics and international relations
• Territorial development and tourism
• Data processing and statistics

The education process: 

Geography is studied at the university, in the “Bachelor – Master – Doctorate” system.

Courses may vary from one university to another. There are lectures and tutorials, which mix social geography (the study of cities, economic geography, geopolitics) and physical geography (landforms, climate functioning, water, etc.). They are complemented by tools: territorial diagnosis, cartography, statistics, survey techniques. Under the Licence, one can choose between several options to start specializing. After the first two years, one can choose a professional license to become a cartographer or statistician or continue with a general license.

From the Master’s degree onwards, one specializes in a branch of geography: there are specialized Master’s degrees on preparation for teaching in middle and high schools, on the environment, development, geopolitics, natural risk management, heritage and tourism, territorial development, in many French cities.

Application to study

It is done as in all university courses, depending on the year of study and administrative status. You can consult the UEE article on university admission procedures.