The concept of imagined geographies (or imaginative geographies) originated from Edward Said, particularly his work on critique on Orientalism. Imagined geographies refers to the perception of a space created through certain imagery, texts, and/or discourses. For Said, imagined does not mean to be false or made-up, but rather is used synonymous with perceived. Despite often being constructed on a national level, imagined geographies also occur domestically in nations and locally within regions, cities, etc.

Imagined geographies can be seen as a form of social constructionism on par with Benedict Anderson's concept of imagined communities. Edward Said's notion of Orientalism is tied to the tumultuous dynamics of contemporary history. Orientalism is often referred to as the West's patronizing perceptions and depictions of the East, but more specifically towards Islamic and Confucian states. Orientalism has also been labeled to as the cornerstone of postcolonial studies.

This theory has also been used to critique several geographies created; both historically and contemporarily—an example is Maria Todorova's work Imagining the Balkans. Samuel P. Huntington's Clash of Civilizations has also been criticized as showing a whole set of imagined geographies. Halford Mackinder's theories have also been argued by scholars to be an imagined geography that emphasised the important of Europe over non-European countries, and asserted the view of the geographical "expert" with the "God's eye view".