Ban's was in fact the first work on history to include a chapter specifically devoted to geography. Not only did it spur others to attach importance to geography, it has also helped solve numerous historical riddles. The 1972 discovery of an ancient tomb at Mawangdui in Changsha, Hunan gave rise to many questions.
《史記》中雖已有豐富的地理記述，但《漢書．地理志》是我國史書中首次出現以「地理」命名的專書，被視為中國「最早最好的地理書」，不僅帶起後人重視地理紀錄，也解開許多歷史之謎。