A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms and how they integrate with

natural or man-made features.

A landscape includes the physical elements of geophysically defined landforms such as (ice-
capped) mountains, hills, water bodies such as rivers, lakes, ponds and the sea, living elements
of land cover including indigenous vegetation, human elements including different forms of land
use, buildings and structures, and transitory elements such as lighting and weather conditions.
Combining both their physical origins and the cultural overlay of human presence, often created
over millennia, landscapes reflect a living synthesis of people and place that is vital to local
and national identity. The character of a landscape helps define the self-image of the people
who inhabit it and a sense of place that differentiates one region from other regions. It is the
dynamic backdrop to people’s lives. Landscape can be as varied as farmland, a landscape park,
or wilderness.
The Earth has a vast range of landscapes, including the icy landscapes of polar
regions, mountainous landscapes, vast arid desert landscapes, islands and coastal landscapes,
densely forested or wooded landscapes including past boreal forests and tropical rainforests,
and agricultural landscapes of temperate and tropical regions.
The activity of modifying the visible features of an area of land is referred to as landscaping.

Definition and etymology

There are several definitions of what constitutes a landscape, depending on context. In common
usage however, a landscape refers either to all the visible features of an area of land (usually
rural), often considered in terms of aesthetic appeal, or to a pictorial representation of an area of
countryside, specifically within the genre of landscape painting. When people deliberately
improve the aesthetic appearance of a piece of land—by changing contours and vegetation, etc.
—it is said to have been landscaped,[1] though the result may not constitute a landscape
according to some definitions.
The word landscape (landscipe or landscaef) arrived in England—and therefore into
the English language—after the fifth century, following the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons; these
terms referred to a system of human-made spaces on the land. The term landscape emerged
around the turn of the sixteenth century to denote a painting whose primary subject matter was
natural scenery. Land (a word from Germanic origin) may be taken in its sense of something to
which people belong (as in England being the land of the English). The suffix -scape is
equivalent to the more common English suffix -ship. The roots of -ship are etymologically akin
to Old English sceppan or scyppan, meaning to shape. The suffix -schaft is related to the
verb schaffen, so that -ship and shape are also etymologically linked. The modern form of the
word, with its connotations of scenery, appeared in the late sixteenth century when the
term landschap was introduced by Dutch painters who used it to refer to paintings of inland
natural or rural scenery. The word landscape, first recorded in 1598, was borrowed from a
Dutch painters' term.[4] The popular conception of the landscape that is reflected in dictionaries
conveys both a particular and a general meaning, the particular referring to an area of the
Earth's surface and the general being that which can be seen by an observer. An example of
this second usage can be found as early as 1662 in the Book of Common Prayer.
Physical landscape
Geomorphology: The physical evolution of landscape
Geomorphology is the scientific study of the origin and evolution
of topographic and bathymetric features created by physical or chemical processes operating at
or near Earth's surface. Geomorphologists seek to understand why landscapes look the way
they do, to understand landform history and dynamics and to predict changes through a
combination of field observations, physical experiments and numerical modeling.
Geomorphology is practiced within physical geography, geology, geodesy, engineering
geology, archaeology and geotechnical engineering. This broad base of interests contributes to
many research styles and interests within the field.
The surface of Earth is modified by a combination of surface processes that sculpt landscapes,
and geologic processes that cause tectonic uplift and subsidence, and shape the coastal
geography. Surface processes comprise the action of water, wind, ice, fire, and living things on
the surface of the Earth, along with chemical reactions that form soils and alter material
properties, the stability and rate of change of topography under the force of gravity, and other
factors, such as (in the very recent past) human alteration of the landscape. Many of these
factors are strongly mediated by climate. Geologic processes include the uplift of mountain
ranges, the growth of volcanoes, isostatic changes in land surface elevation (sometimes in
response to surface processes), and the formation of deep sedimentary basins where the
surface of Earth drops and is filled with material eroded from other parts of the landscape. The
Earth surface and its topography therefore are an intersection of climatic, hydrologic,
and biologic action with geologic processes.
List of different types of landscape
Desert, Plain, Taiga, Tundra, Wetland, Mountain, Mountain range, Cliff, Coast, Littoral
zone, Glacier, Polar regions of Earth, Shrubland, Forest, Rainforest, Woodland, Jungle, Moors.

Landscape ecology
Landscape ecology is the science of studying and improving relationships between ecological
processes in the environment and particular ecosystems. This is done within a variety of
landscape scales, development spatial patterns, and organizational levels of research and
policy.
Landscape is a central concept in landscape ecology. It is, however, defined in quite different
ways. For example: Carl Troll conceives of landscape not as a mental construct but as an
objectively given ‘organic entity’, a ‘‘harmonic individuum of space’’.] Ernst Neef] defines
landscapes as sections within the uninterrupted earth-wide interconnection of geofactors which
are defined as such on the basis of their uniformity in terms of a specific land use, and are thus
defined in an anthropocentric and relativistic way.
According to Richard Forman and Michael Godron, a landscape is a heterogeneous land area
composed of a cluster of interacting ecosystems that is repeated in similar form throughout,
whereby they list woods, meadows, marshes and villages as examples of a landscape’s
ecosystems, and state that a landscape is an area at least a few kilometres wide. John A.
Wiens opposes the traditional view expounded by Carl Troll, Isaak S. Zonneveld, Zev Naveh,
Richard T. T. Forman/Michel Godron and others that landscapes are arenas in which humans
interact with their environments on a kilometre-wide scale; instead, he defines 'landscape'—
regardless of scale—as "the template on which spatial patterns influence ecological
processes". Some define 'landscape' as an area containing two or more ecosystems in close
proximity.
Integrated landscape management
Integrated landscape management is a way of managing a landscape that brings together
multiple stakeholders, who collaborate to integrate policy and practice for their different land use
objectives, with the purpose of achieving sustainable landscapes. It recognises that, for
example, one river basin can supply water for towns and agriculture, timber and food crops for
smallholders and industry, and habitat for biodiversity; the way in which each one of these
sectors pursues its goals can have impacts on the others. The intention is to minimise conflict
between these different land use objectives and ecosystem services. This approach draws on
landscape ecology, as well as many related fields that also seek to integrate different land uses
and users, such as watershed management.
Proponents of integrated landscape management argue that it is well-suited to address complex
global challenges, such as those that are the focus of the Sustainable Development
Goals. Integrated landscape management is increasingly taken up at the national, local and
international level, for example the UN Environment Programme states that "UNEP champions
the landscape approach de facto as it embodies the main elements of integrated ecosystem
management".

Landscape archaeology
Main articles: Landscape archaeology and Historical ecology

Medieval Ridge and Furrow above Wood Stanway, Gloucestershire, England.

Landscape archaeology or landscape history is the study of the way in which humanity has
changed the physical appearance of the environment - both present and past. Landscape
generally refers to both natural environments and environments constructed by human
beings. Natural landscapes are considered to be environments that have not been altered by
humans in any shape or form. Cultural landscapes, on the other hand, are environments that
have been altered in some manner by people (including temporary structures and places, such
as campsites, that are created by human beings). Among archaeologists, the term landscape
can refer to the meanings and alterations people mark onto their surroundings. As such,
landscape archaeology is often employed to study the human use of land over extensive
periods of time. Landscape archaeology can be summed up by Nicole Branton's statement:
"the landscapes in landscape archaeology may be as small as a single household or
garden or as large as an empire", and "although resource exploitation, class, and power
are frequent topics of landscape archaeology, landscape approaches are concerned
with spatial, not necessarily ecological or economic, relationships. While similar to
settlement archaeology and ecological archaeology, landscape approaches model
places and spaces as dynamic participants in past behavior, not merely setting (affecting
human action), or artifact (affected by human action)".
Cultural landscape

The Batad rice terraces, The Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras, the first site to be
included in the UNESCO World Heritage List cultural landscape category in 1995.
The concept of cultural landscapes can be found in the European tradition of landscape
painting. From the 16th century onwards, many European artists painted landscapes in favor of
people, diminishing the people in their paintings to figures subsumed within broader, regionally
specific landscapes.
The geographer Otto Schlüter is credited with having first formally used "cultural landscape" as
an academic term in the early 20th century.[32] In 1908, Schlüter argued that by
defining geography as a Landschaftskunde (landscape science) this would give geography a
logical subject matter shared by no other discipline.] He defined two forms of landscape:
the Urlandschaft (transl. original landscape) or landscape that existed before major human
induced changes and the Kulturlandschaft (transl. 'cultural landscape') a landscape created by
human culture. The major task of geography was to trace the changes in these two landscapes.
It was Carl O. Sauer, a human geographer, who was probably the most influential in promoting
and developing the idea of cultural landscapes. Sauer was determined to stress the agency of
culture as a force in shaping the visible features of the Earth’s surface in delimited areas. Within
his definition, the physical environment retains a central significance, as the medium with and
through which human cultures act.His classic definition of a 'cultural landscape' reads as
follows:
The cultural landscape is fashioned from a natural landscape by a cultural group. Culture is the
agent, the natural area is the medium, the cultural landscape is the result.
A cultural landscape, as defined by the World Heritage Committee, is the "cultural properties
[that] represent the combined works of nature and of man."
The World Heritage Committee identifies three categories of cultural landscape, ranging from (i)
those landscapes most deliberately 'shaped' by people, through (ii) full range of 'combined'
works, to (iii) those least evidently 'shaped' by people (yet highly valued). The three categories
extracted from the Committee's Operational Guidelines, are as follows.

1. "A landscape designed and created intentionally by man";

2. an "organically evolved landscape" which may be a "relict (or fossil) landscape" or a
"continuing landscape"; and
3. an "associative cultural landscape" which may be valued because of the "religious,
artistic or cultural associations of the natural element".
Landscape gardens
The Chinese garden is a landscape garden style which has evolved over three thousand years.
It includes both the vast gardens of the Chinese emperors and members of the Imperial Family,
built for pleasure and to impress, and the more intimate gardens created by scholars, poets,
former government officials, soldiers and merchants, made for reflection and escape from the
outside world. They create an idealized miniature landscape, which is meant to express the
harmony that should exist between man and nature A typical Chinese garden is enclosed by
walls and includes one or more ponds, scholar's rocks, trees and flowers, and an assortment of
halls and pavilions within the garden, connected by winding paths and zig-zag galleries. By
moving from structure to structure, visitors can view a series of carefully composed scenes,
unrolling like a scroll of landscape paintings.
The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the 'English
garden', is a style of parkland garden intended to look as though it might be a natural
landscape, although it may be very extensively re-arranged. It emerged in England in the early
18th century, and spread across Europe, replacing the more formal, symmetrical jardin à la
française of the 17th century as the principal style for large parks and gardens in Europe.[40] The
English garden (and later French landscape garden) presented an idealized view of nature. It
drew inspiration from paintings of landscapes by Claude Lorraine and Nicolas Poussin, and
from the classic Chinese gardens of the East,[41] which had recently been described by
European travellers and were realized in the Anglo-Chinese garden,[41] and the philosophy
of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712 – 1778).
The English garden usually included a lake, sweeps of gently rolling lawns set against groves of
trees, and recreations of classical temples, Gothic ruins, bridges, and other picturesque
architecture, designed to recreate an idyllic pastoral landscape. The work of Lancelot
"Capability" Brown and Humphry Repton was particularly influential. By the end of the 18th
century the English garden was being imitated by the French landscape garden, and as far
away as St. Petersburg, Russia, in Pavlovsk, the gardens of the future Emperor Paul. It also
had a major influence on the form of the public parks and gardens which appeared around the
world in the 19th century.
Landscape architecture
Landscape architecture is a multi-disciplinary field, incorporating aspects of botany, horticulture,
the fine arts, architecture, industrial design, geology and the earth sciences, environmental
psychology, geography, and ecology. The activities of a landscape architect can range from the
creation of public parks and parkways to site planning for campuses and corporate office parks,
from the design of residential estates to the design of civil infrastructure and the management of
large wilderness areas or reclamation of degraded landscapes such as mines or landfills.
Landscape architects work on all types of structures and external space – large or
small, urban, suburban and rural, and with "hard" (built) and "soft" (planted) materials, while
paying attention to ecological sustainability.
For the period before 1800, the history of landscape gardening (later called landscape
architecture) is largely that of master planning and garden design for manor
houses, palaces and royal properties, religious complexes, and centers of government. An
example is the extensive work by André Le Nôtre at Vaux-le-Vicomte and at the Palace of
Versailles for King Louis XIV of France. The first person to write of making a landscape
was Joseph Addison in 1712. The term landscape architecture was invented by Gilbert Laing
Meason in 1828 and was first used as a professional title by Frederick Law Olmsted in 1863.
During the latter 19th century, the term landscape architect became used by professional
people who designed landscapes. Frederick Law Olmsted used the term 'landscape
architecture' as a profession for the first time when designing Central Park, New York City, US.
Here the combination of traditional landscape gardening and the emerging field of city planning
gave landscape architecture its unique focus. This use of the term landscape architect became
established after Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. and others founded the American Society of
Landscape Architects (ASLA) in 1899.
Landscape and literature
The earliest landscape literature

The Djabugay language group's mythical being, Damarri, transformed into a mountain range, is

seen lying on his back above the Barron River Gorge, looking upwards to the skies, within
north-east Australia's wet tropical forested landscape
Possibly the earliest landscape literature is found in Australian aboriginal myths (also known
as Dreamtimeor Dreaming stories, songlines, or Aboriginal oral literature), the
stories traditionally performed by Aboriginal peoples[43] within each of the language
groups across Australia. All such myths variously tell significant truths within each Aboriginal
group's local landscape. They effectively layer the whole of the Australian continent's
topography with cultural nuance and deeper meaning, and empower selected audiences with
the accumulated wisdom and knowledge of Australian Aboriginal ancestors back to time
immemorial.
In the West pastoral poetry represent the earliest form of landscape literature, though this
literary genre presents an idealized landscape peopled by shepherds and shepherdesses, and
creates "an image of a peaceful uncorrupted existence; a kind of prelapsarian world".The
pastoral has its origins in the works of the Greek poet Theocritus (c. 316 - c. 260 BC).
The Romantic period poet William Wordsworth created a modern, more realistic form of pastoral
with Michael, A Pastoral Poem (1800).
An early form of landscape poetry, Shanshui poetry, developed in China during the third and
fourth centuries A.D.
Topographical poetry
Topographical poetry is a genre of poetry that describes, and often praises, a landscape or
place. John Denham's 1642 poem "Cooper's Hill" established the genre, which peaked in
popularity in 18th-century England. Examples of topographical verse date, however, to the Late
Classical period, and can be found throughout the Medieval era and during the Renaissance.
Though the earliest examples come mostly from continental Europe, the topographical poetry in
the tradition originating with Denham concerns itself with the classics, and many of the various
types of topographical verse, such as river, ruin, or hilltop poems were established by the early
17th century.] Alexander Pope's "Windsor Forest" (1713) and John Dyer's "Grongar Hill' (1762)
are two other familiar examples. George Crabbe, the Suffolk regional poet, also wrote
topographical poems, as did William Wordsworth, of which Lines written a few miles above
Tintern Abbey is an obvious example.] More recently, Matthew Arnold's "The Scholar Gipsy"
(1853) praises the Oxfordshire countryside, and W. H. Auden's "In Praise of Limestone" (1948)
uses a limestone landscape as an allegory.
Subgenres of topographical poetry include the country house poem, written in 17th-century
England to compliment a wealthy patron, and the prospect poem, describing the view from a
distance or a temporal view into the future, with the sense of opportunity or expectation. When
understood broadly as landscape poetry and when assessed from its establishment to the
present, topographical poetry can take on many formal situations and types of places. Kenneth
Baker, in his "Introduction to The Faber Book of Landscape Poetry, identifies 37 varieties and
compiles poems from the 16th through the 20th centuries—from Edmund Spenser to Sylvia
Plath—correspondent to each type, from "Walks and Surveys," to "Mountains, Hills, and the
View from Above," to "Violation of Nature and the Landscape," to "Spirits and Ghosts."
Common aesthetic registers of which topographical poetry makes use include pastoral imagery,
the sublime, and the picturesque, which include images of rivers, ruins, moonlight, birdsong,
and clouds, peasants, mountains, caves, and waterscapes.
Though describing a landscape or scenery, topographical poetry often, at least implicitly,
addresses a political issue or the meaning of nationality in some way. The description of the
landscape therefore becomes a poetic vehicle for a political message. For example, in John
Den am's "Cooper's Hill," the speaker discusses the merits of the recently executed Charles I.