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Key human geography terms
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GCSE human geography (cities, development, resources, economic activity) has its own vocabulary and a few simple calculations.
Settlements and people
A settlement is a place where people live, from a hamlet to a city.
Urban areas are towns and cities; rural areas are the countryside.
Urbanisation is the growth in the proportion of people living in urban areas.
Birth rate and death rate are usually given per 1,000 people per year. Natural increase = birth rate − death rate.
Population density = number of people ÷ area, for example people per km2.
Urban areas are towns and cities; rural areas are the countryside.
Urbanisation is the growth in the proportion of people living in urban areas.
Birth rate and death rate are usually given per 1,000 people per year. Natural increase = birth rate − death rate.
Population density = number of people ÷ area, for example people per km2.
Migration and development
Migration is people moving from one place to another to live.
Push factors drive people away (lack of jobs, conflict). Pull factors attract them (jobs, services, safety).
Development is how far a country has improved its economy and people's quality of life. GCSE Geography A groups countries as developed, emerging and developing; you may also see HIC, MIC and LIC (high-, middle- and low-income countries).
Indicators include GNI per head, life expectancy and literacy rate.
Push factors drive people away (lack of jobs, conflict). Pull factors attract them (jobs, services, safety).
Development is how far a country has improved its economy and people's quality of life. GCSE Geography A groups countries as developed, emerging and developing; you may also see HIC, MIC and LIC (high-, middle- and low-income countries).
Indicators include GNI per head, life expectancy and literacy rate.
Work and sustainability
Economic sectors: primary (taking raw materials: farming, fishing, mining), secondary (making things: manufacturing), tertiary (services: shops, health, education), quaternary (research and information technology).
Sustainable development meets the needs of people today without stopping future generations from meeting their own needs.
Sustainable development meets the needs of people today without stopping future generations from meeting their own needs.
A country has a birth rate of 30 and a death rate of 10 per 1,000 people. Find its natural increase.
- Natural increase = birth rate − death rate = 30 − 10 = 20 per 1,000.
- As a percentage: 20 ÷ 1,000 × 100 = 2% per year.
Answer: 20 per 1,000 people per year (2%).
Urban vs rural; urbanisation = rising proportion in towns and cities. Natural increase = birth rate − death rate. Density = people ÷ area. Push and pull factors. Developed, emerging, developing (or HIC, MIC, LIC). Sectors: primary, secondary, tertiary, quaternary. Sustainable = meeting needs now without harming the future.
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