GCSE & IGCSE Geography A key terms

153 terms with short definitions you can learn for the exam. Type to filter the list.

Command words 14

Analyse IGCSE: Investigate an issue by breaking it down into its separate parts and showing how they link.
Assess: Use evidence to weigh up how important something is compared with other factors.
Calculate: Work out a numerical answer and show your working.
Compare: Point out the similarities and differences between two things named in the question.
Define: Give the meaning of a term, precisely.
Describe: Say what something is like, or set out the steps of a process. Give the main features; no reasons are needed.
Discuss: Look at the strengths and weaknesses of different sides of an issue or question.
Draw / Plot: Show geographical information as a graph, map or diagram, for example completing a bar chart.
Evaluate: Judge how valuable or successful something is, and finish with a supported judgement or conclusion.
Examine: Break something into its parts or processes and show how each one contributes.
Explain: Give reasons for how or why something happens, developing each reason.
Identify / State / Name: Recall or pick out one or more pieces of information. No explanation is needed.
Label: Add one or more labels to a resource you are given, such as a photo, map or diagram.
Suggest: Use what you know to give a reasoned explanation of how or why something might happen, often in a place or situation you have not studied.

Key terms 116

Abrasion: Erosion where rocks carried by waves, rivers or ice scrape and wear away the land.
Adaptation: Changing how people live to cope with the effects of a problem, such as building flood defences.
Aid: Help given by one country or organisation to another, such as money, goods or expertise. It can be bilateral, multilateral, emergency or long-term.
Arete GCSE: A narrow, knife-edge ridge between two corries, such as Striding Edge on Helvellyn.
Arid GCSE: Dry all the time, with very little rainfall, as in hot deserts.
Attrition: Erosion where rocks knock into each other and become smaller and rounder.
Beach nourishment: Adding sand or shingle to a beach so it absorbs more wave energy. Also called beach replenishment.
Biodiversity: The variety of living things (plants, animals and other organisms) in an area.
Biome: A very large ecosystem, such as tropical rainforest or hot desert, controlled mainly by climate.
Bottom-up development: Small projects led by local communities, often with NGOs, using local knowledge and simple technology.
Brain drain IGCSE: The loss of skilled and educated people when they emigrate.
Brownfield site: Land that has been built on before and can be redeveloped.
CBD: Central business district: the centre of a city, with shops, offices and the highest land values.
Census GCSE: A count of the whole population with details such as age and housing. In the UK it is taken every 10 years.
Climate change: A long-term change in the Earth's climate, especially the warming since about 1900 caused mainly by extra greenhouse gases.
Concordant coast GCSE: A coast where bands of rock run parallel to the coastline, as at Lulworth Cove.
Constructive wave: A low wave with a strong swash and weak backwash that builds up beaches.
Corrie GCSE: An armchair-shaped hollow on a mountainside where a glacier formed. It may contain a small lake called a tarn.
Counter-urbanisation: The movement of people out of cities to towns and villages in the countryside.
Deforestation: The cutting down and removal of forest.
Deindustrialisation: The decline of manufacturing industry in a place.
Demographic transition model IGCSE: A model showing how birth and death rates, and so population growth, change in five stages as a country develops.
Desalination: Removing salt from seawater to make fresh water.
Desertification IGCSE: The degradation of land in dry areas so that it becomes more desert-like, caused by climate and human activity.
Destructive wave: A tall, frequent wave with a strong backwash that erodes the coast.
Discharge: The volume of water flowing past a point in a river each second, measured in cumecs (cubic metres per second).
Discordant coast GCSE: A coast where bands of hard and soft rock meet the sea at right angles, forming headlands and bays.
Drainage basin IGCSE: The area of land drained by a river and its tributaries.
Drought GCSE: A long period with much less rainfall than normal.
Ecosystem: A community of living things and the non-living environment they depend on.
Ecotourism IGCSE: Tourism that aims to protect the environment and benefit local people.
Emerging country: A country whose economy is developing quickly, such as India or China.
Energy mix: The combination of energy sources a country uses.
Energy security IGCSE: Having a reliable, affordable supply of energy.
Enhanced greenhouse effect: Extra warming caused by people adding greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, to the atmosphere.
Fair trade: Trade in which producers in poorer countries are paid a fairer price for their goods.
Floodplain: The flat land beside a river that floods when the river overflows.
Fracking: Pumping water, sand and chemicals into shale rock at high pressure to release gas.
Fragile environment IGCSE: An environment that is easily damaged and slow to recover, such as a desert edge, rainforest or tundra.
Freeze-thaw weathering: Water in a crack freezes and expands, widening the crack until the rock breaks.
GDP per capita: The total value of goods and services a country produces in a year, divided by its population.
Gini coefficient GCSE: A measure of inequality of income or wealth, where 0 means everyone has the same.
GIS: Geographic Information System: digital maps that store and combine layers of data.
Globalisation: The growing connection between countries through trade, investment, people and information.
Greenfield site: Land that has never been built on, usually farmland or countryside.
Groyne: A wooden or rock barrier built down a beach to trap sediment moved by longshore drift.
Hard engineering: Building artificial structures, such as sea walls or dams, to control natural processes.
HDI: Human Development Index: a measure combining health, education and income, on a scale from 0 to 1.
Honeypot GCSE: A place that attracts large numbers of visitors, such as Keswick in the Lake District.
Hydraulic action: Erosion where the force of water, and air forced into cracks, breaks rock apart.
Hydrograph: A graph showing how a river's discharge changes over time, usually after a storm.
Hydrological cycle IGCSE: The continuous movement of water between the oceans, the atmosphere and the land.
Infant mortality: The number of babies who die before their first birthday per 1,000 live births.
Informal economy: Work that is not officially registered or taxed, such as street selling.
Interception: Rain caught by plants and trees before it reaches the ground.
Lag time: The time between peak rainfall and peak discharge on a hydrograph.
Life expectancy: The average number of years a person born in a place can expect to live.
Longshore drift: The movement of material along a coast by waves that approach at an angle.
Managed retreat: Letting the sea flood low-value land so it becomes a natural defence such as salt marsh. Also called managed realignment.
Mangrove IGCSE: A salt-tolerant tree that grows on muddy tropical coasts.
Mass movement: The downhill movement of rock or soil under gravity, such as sliding and slumping.
Meander: A bend in a river, formed by erosion on the outside and deposition on the inside.
Megacity: A city with more than 10 million people.
Microfinance: Small loans to people on low incomes, often to start a business.
Migration: The movement of people from one place to live in another.
Mitigation: Actions that reduce the causes of a problem, such as cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
Moraine GCSE: Unsorted material (till) carried and deposited by a glacier.
National Park GCSE: A protected area that conserves landscape and wildlife and helps people enjoy it.
Natural increase: Birth rate minus death rate.
Negative multiplier IGCSE: A downward spiral: job losses mean less spending, so more businesses close and more jobs are lost.
Net migration GCSE: Immigration minus emigration.
NGO: Non-governmental organisation: a charity or voluntary group, such as WaterAid.
Non-renewable resource: A finite resource that will run out, such as coal, oil, gas and metal ores.
North Atlantic Drift GCSE: A warm ocean current, an extension of the Gulf Stream, that keeps UK winters mild.
Oxbow lake: A curved lake left when a river cuts through the neck of a meander.
Plate boundary IGCSE: Where two tectonic plates meet: destructive, constructive, conservative or collision.
Plucking GCSE: Glacial erosion where ice freezes onto rock and pulls pieces away as it moves.
Prevailing wind: The most common wind direction. In the UK it is from the south-west.
Pull factor: Something that attracts people to a place, such as jobs or better services.
Push factor: Something that makes people want to leave a place, such as unemployment or conflict.
Quality of life: How good people's lives are, including health, housing, environment and happiness.
Re-urbanisation GCSE: The movement of people back into city centres.
Regeneration: Improving a run-down area with new housing, jobs, transport and services.
Remittances: Money sent home by migrants to their families.
Renewable resource: A resource that is replaced naturally or will not run out, such as wind or solar energy.
Rip rap: Large boulders piled at the foot of a cliff or sea wall to absorb wave energy. Also called rock armour.
Rural-urban fringe: The zone at the edge of a city where it meets the countryside.
Rural-urban migration: The movement of people from the countryside to towns and cities.
Saltation: River or wind transport where small particles bounce along the bed.
Sea wall: A concrete wall, often curved, built to reflect waves and protect the coast.
Shoreline Management Plan: A plan for a stretch of coast choosing hold the line, advance the line, managed realignment or no active intervention.
Slumping: Mass movement where saturated soft rock, such as clay, slips down a curved surface.
Soft engineering: Working with natural processes to manage a problem, such as beach nourishment or floodplain zoning.
Solution: Erosion where water dissolves rocks such as chalk and limestone; also transport of dissolved minerals.
Spit: A long, narrow ridge of sand or shingle built out into the sea by longshore drift, such as Spurn Head.
Squatter settlement: An area of poor-quality housing built by people who do not own the land. Also called a slum or informal settlement.
Stack: A pillar of rock left in the sea when the roof of an arch collapses.
Storm surge: A rise in sea level caused by low pressure and strong winds pushing water onto the coast.
Suburbanisation: The movement of people from the inner city to the suburbs.
Suspension: Transport of fine material carried along within the water.
Sustainable: Meeting the needs of people today without harming the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
Sustainable Development Goals GCSE: 17 global goals agreed by the United Nations in 2015 to end poverty and protect the planet.
TNC: Transnational corporation: a large company that operates in many countries.
Top-down development: Large projects planned by governments or big organisations, such as dams or highways.
Traction: River transport where large boulders are rolled along the bed.
Tropical cyclone: A huge rotating storm with very low pressure that forms over warm tropical oceans; called a hurricane or typhoon in some regions.
U-shaped valley GCSE: A steep-sided, flat-floored valley carved by a glacier. Also called a glacial trough.
Uneven development: Differences in wealth and quality of life between and within countries.
Urbanisation: An increase in the proportion of people living in urban areas.
V-shaped valley: A steep, narrow valley carved by vertical erosion in a river's upper course.
Vulnerability: How likely people or places are to be harmed by a hazard.
Water deficit: Where demand for water is greater than the supply.
Water stress: When demand for water is greater than the amount available, or poor quality limits its use.
Water surplus: Where water supply is greater than demand.
Waterfall: A steep drop in a river, formed where hard rock lies over softer rock that erodes faster.
Watershed IGCSE: The high ground that forms the edge of a drainage basin.

Geographical skills and calculations 23

Contours and relief: Contour lines join points of equal height. Close together means steep; far apart means gentle. Spot heights give exact heights.
Cross-section IGCSE: Lay paper along a line on a map, mark where each contour crosses and its height, then plot the marks on a graph with height on the vertical axis and join them smoothly.
Cumulative frequency IGCSE: A running total of frequencies. Plot it against the upper end of each class, join with a smooth curve, then read the median at half the total and the quartiles at a quarter and three quarters of the total.
Four-figure grid reference: Names a whole grid square. Read the easting (along the bottom) first, then the northing (up the side), using the lines at the bottom-left corner of the square: 'along the corridor, then up the stairs'.
Gradient: Vertical rise divided by horizontal distance, in the same units. Example: a rise of 50 m over 1 km (1,000 m) is 50 / 1,000 = 1 in 20.
Interquartile range (IQR): Order the data. The lower quartile is the median of the lower half and the upper quartile is the median of the upper half (leave out the overall median when there is an odd number of values). IQR = upper quartile - lower quartile. Example: lower half 3, 5, 6, 8, 9 gives LQ = 6; upper half 12, 14, 15, 18, 21 gives UQ = 15; IQR = 15 - 6 = 9. The IQR shows the spread of the middle half of the data and ignores extremes.
Lag time: Time of peak discharge minus time of peak rainfall. Example: peak rain at 14:00 and peak discharge at 20:00 gives a lag time of 6 hours.
Mean: Add all the values and divide by how many there are. Example: 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 18, 21 total 122; 122 / 11 = 11.1 (1 d.p.).
Median: The middle value when the data are in order. With 11 values it is value number (11 + 1) / 2 = 6, which is 11. With an even number of values, take the mean of the middle two.
Mode and modal class: The mode is the most common value. For grouped data, the modal class is the class with the highest frequency.
Natural increase rate IGCSE: Birth rate minus death rate (both per 1,000). Divide by 10 to give a percentage. Example: 30 - 10 = 20 per 1,000 = 2.0%.
Percentage: Part divided by whole, times 100. Example: 18 out of 60 is 18 / 60 x 100 = 30%.
Percentage change: (New - old) / old x 100. A negative answer is a decrease. Example: from 240 to 300 is (300 - 240) / 240 x 100 = 25% increase.
Percentiles: A percentile is the value below which a given percentage of the data lies. The median is the 50th percentile; the lower and upper quartiles are the 25th and 75th percentiles.
Pie charts: Each 1% is 3.6 degrees, because 360 / 100 = 3.6. So 25% is a 90 degree sector.
Population density: Population divided by area, in people per km^2. Example: 56,000 people in 35 km^2 is 56,000 / 35 = 1,600 people per km^2.
Range: Highest value minus lowest value. Example: 21 - 3 = 18. It is affected by extreme values.
River discharge: Discharge = cross-sectional area x velocity, in cumecs (m^3/s). Cross-sectional area = width x mean depth. Example: 4 m x 0.5 m x 0.6 m/s = 1.2 cumecs.
Scale: On a 1:50,000 map, 1 cm = 0.5 km (2 cm = 1 km). On a 1:25,000 map, 1 cm = 0.25 km (4 cm = 1 km). Measure curved routes with the edge of a piece of paper.
Scatter graphs and lines of best fit: Plot two variables to test a relationship. Draw a straight line of best fit following the trend with roughly equal points on each side. Describe the correlation (positive, negative or none) and point out anomalies. Use the line to interpolate (estimate within the data) or, carefully, extrapolate (beyond it).
Six-figure grid reference: Pinpoints a place within a square. Split the square into tenths each way: for example 453276 means 3 tenths east of line 45 and 6 tenths north of line 27.
Velocity (float method): Velocity = distance / time. Time a float over a measured distance (for example 10 m) several times and use the mean time.
Weaknesses in data: Check the sample size, how and when data were collected, whether the axes or scale exaggerate change, and whether averages hide variation.

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