This handbook presents the foundations of modern rural analysis. The first part of the book presents a comprehensive description of the elements of rural analysis, providing the basis for a synthetic view of rural landscapes in the second part. Included is a comprehensive description and explanation of the rural landscapes from throughout the world, which leads to a complete management scheme for rural landscapes. The text covers topics such as global change, the role of information technologies in rural areas, gender relations and how to bridge the gap between scientific analysis and decision-making processes. A fully-worked example is provided, illustrating how all the analyses and techniques shown can be applied in a real case.