Statistical spatial analysis is defined as a set of techniques for studying data which are located in space viewed in relationship with the surface of the Earth. Particular techniques of spatial analysis are used in diverse areas of science, from medicine (epidemiology), through logistics and physics, to economy (finding the best locations for plants, shops, etc.).

The development of the methods of spatial distribution analysis and of the analysis of interrelationships among objects has been and is, to a large extent, determined by the development of information technology. Computers with ever increasing computing power, together with GIS systems, allow the processing of large amounts of geographic data.