chorography

The word chorography was borrowed in the 16th century from Latin chorographia, which in turn comes from Greek chōrographia, a combination of "chōros" ("place") and "graphia" ("writing"). Chorography was distinguished from geography in that the former was concerned with smaller regions and specific locations whereas the latter was concerned with larger regions or with the world in general. The maps and the art of mapping that once were the field of chorography have since passed into the spheres of geography and topography. As with the art it names, the word chorography is now primarily encountered in historical discussions of geography and cartography.