Environmental determinism is the belief that the environment, most notably its physical factors such as landforms and climate, determines the patterns of human culture and societal development. These different outlooks then spread throughout a population and help define the overall behavior and culture of a society.

Environmental determinism: A philosophy of geography that stated that human behaviors are a direct result of the surrounding environment. It suggests that humans are not a product of their environment, but rather that they possess the skills necessary to change their environment to satisfy human needs.

Environmental determinism, or the idea that the environment (including geography and climate) determines the character and attributes of cultural and ethnic groups, was historically used to justify Western colonisation.

Environmental Determinism is theory that environment causes social development or the idea that natural environment influences people. Possibilism is theory that people can adjust or overcome an environment.

Environmental determinism is the idea that the physical environment, climate and geographical conditions shape human thoughts, actions and behaviour. Possibilism refers to the theory that the environment imposes certain constraints or limitations, but culture is otherwise determined by human actions.

Griffith Taylor

Possibilism in cultural geography is the theory that the environment sets certain constraints or limitations, but culture is otherwise determined by social conditions. He observed that humans were the active elements in a human-environmental partnership and partnering.

Political boundaries are the dividing lines between countries, states, provinces, counties, and cities. These lines, more often called borders, are created by people to separate areas governed by different groups. Political boundaries change over time through wars, treaties, and trade.