How do you say "geography" in Japanese?

In Japanese, "geography" is 地理 (chiri). It is a noun pronounced "chee-ree".

Listen to the pronunciation:

Illustration of geography from Noun Town

Pronunciation

地理 is written in kanji. Romanised as chiri, it sounds roughly like "chee-ree" to an English ear.

Example sentence

新しい地理を買いました。

Atarashii Chiri wo kaimashita.

I bought a new geography.

Usage notes

Chiri (地理) is the Japanese word for geography. This noun appears in everyday contexts across homes, offices, schools, and public spaces.

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Questions about 地理

How do you pronounce 地理?

地理 is romanised as chiri. Say it roughly like "chee-ree" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is 地理 formal or casual?

地理 is a neutral, everyday word that works in both casual and polite speech. The level of formality comes from the sentence structure around it, not from the word itself.

How is 地理 written in Japanese?

地理 is written using kanji. Kanji characters carry the core meaning; any hiragana or katakana that follow show grammatical endings.

This word is part of the vocabulary taught in the Japanese language learning game Noun Town, where words are introduced through play rather than memorisation.