ABSTRACT
As with anthropologists, geographers cannot deepen their studies unless they restrict their field of operation which leads to studies of a monographic type. This term involves three ideas: a 'field' of study which is localized and circumscribed; a limited spatial area or a restricted number of people; and finally, within this framework, a study which is exhaustive or one which at least aims at a complete coverage of some of the perspectives pertaining to the student's discipline. The concept of regional geography, endowed by the nature of things with a certain ambiguity, originated in Europe, primarily in France where, from the beginning of the twentieth century, several grand theses, prototypes of many others, founded and applied the first rigorous methods of regional analysis. The most venial sin as far as regional and anthropological researches are concerned involves the exaggeration—or, on the contrary, the minimizing—of the influence or importance of this or that factor.
