Some Important Geography Terms

Acid rain – rainwater containing sulphuric acid, nitric acid and compounds of ammonia. These pollutants have been pumped into the atmosphere by manufacturing industry and vehicle emissions.

Aftershocks – smaller earthquakes that occur in the same general area during the days to years following a larger event.

Amenity value – used for recreational and leisure activities.

Asylum – to claim safety in another country.

Back offices – offices of a company handling high-volume communications by telephone, electronic transaction or letter. The location of such low-to-medium level functions can be relatively flexible and they have been increasingly decentralized to locations where space, labour and other costs are relatively low.

Backwash – the movement of water down a beach by the action of gravity.

Balance of trade – the difference between the cost of imports and the cost of exports.

Beach replenishment – building up the beach by pumping sand or shingle onto it.

Bedload – larger particles moved along a river bed.

Biofuels – any fuel derived from renewable biological sources such as plants or animal waste.

Biomass – biological material used to generate energy, for example plants grown for biofuel.

Birth rate – the number of children born in a year for every 1000 people in a population.

Blind fault – one where the fault line does not reach the surface.

Brownfield land – land on which there have already been buildings.

Canalisation – making a river more like an artificially built canal.

Carbon footprint – the effect human activities have on the climate in terms of the total amount of greenhouse gas production.

Carbon neutral – not adding to the net amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.

Catchment Flood Management Plans (CFMPs) – plans setting out strategies to reduce flood risks in a river basin over 50–100 years.

Communicable disease – an infectious or contagious disease that can be spread from one person to another.

Community energy – energy produced close to the point of consumption.

Commuter range – the distance people will travel from their homes to places of work.

Conservation areas – parts of a town with historic buildings that are protected.

Consolidated rock – rock with strong structure that is hard to break down.

Constructive waves – waves that build up beach material to create landforms.

Conurbation – a large urban area formed when cities and towns merge as they grow towards each other.

Counterurbanisation – movement of people away from a city or town.

Cumulative causation – the process whereby a significant increase in economic growth can lead to even more growth as more money circulates in the economy.

Cyclone – a system of winds rotating inwards to an area of low pressure.

Death rate – the number of people who die in a year for every 1000 people in a population.

Deindustrialisation – the long-term absolute decline of employment in manufacturing.

Delta – where a river breaks into many distributaries before it reaches the sea.

Demographic transition – model showing how the population in a country changes over time as birth and death rates fall.

Demography – the study of population.

Dependency ratio – the ratio between the economically active population and those who are dependent on them.

Dependent – when an area is reliant on one company or type of company for the majority of its employment.

Desertification – the degradation of land in arid and semi-arid areas resulting primarily from human activities and influenced by climatic variations.

Destructive waves – waves that erode coastlines.

Development – the use of resources and the application of available technology to improve the standard of living within a country.

Discharge – the volume of water in a river passing a point in a given time, measured in cumecs (cubic metres per second).

Disposable income – the amount of income a person has left after paying for all necessities.

Dredging – taking sediment from river or sea bed.

Eco-homes – houses designed in ways that conserve resources and energy.

Economic core region – the most highly developed region in a country with advanced systems of infrastructure and high levels of investment, resulting in high average income.

Economic migrants – people who move to another country to get a better job and improve their standard of living.

Ecotourism – environmentally responsible travel to natural areas in a way that has a low impact on the natural environment and benefits the local economy.

Eco-towns – towns designed to be sustainable and that do not cause environmental problems.

El Niño – large climatic disturbances in the southern Pacific Ocean that occur every 3–7 years.

Emigrant – a person who leaves a country to go to live in another country for longer than a year.

Energy gap – the gap between demand for energy and the energy that can actually be supplied.

Environmental impact assessment – a document required by law in many countries, detailing all the impacts on the environment of a project above a certain size.

Epicentre – the point on the Earth’s surface directly above the focus of an earthquake.

Erosion – the wearing away and removal of rocks by the action of water, wind or ice.

Estuary – tidal part of a river mouth.

Evaporation – water turning into water vapour.

Evapotranspiration – the sum of evaporation from the Earth’s surface together with the transpiration from plants.

Exponential growth – a rate of increase that quickly doubles.

Extensive farming – when one type of farming and large farms dominate a very large area. Inputs per hectare are low compared with intensive farming, such as market gardening.

Fault – a fracture in the Earth’s crust that shows signs of movement.

Fertility rate – the average number of children to which each woman gives birth.

Flood plain – flat area next to a river that is liable to flood.

Food miles – the distance that food has been transported before it is sold.

Foreign direct investment – overseas investments in physical capital by MNCs.

Free trade – trade between countries when the prices paid are determined by what the producer wants to be paid and what the consumer is prepared to pay and there are no barriers.

Freeze–thaw – the continued freezing and thawing of moisture in rocks that will eventually cause them to break.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – total value of goods and services produced by a country in a year.

GDP at purchasing power parity (PPP$) – the GDP of a country converted into US dollars on the basis of the purchasing power parity of the country’s currency. It is assessed by calculating the number of units of a currency required to purchase the same representative basket of goods and services that a US dollar would buy in the USA.

Geology – the nature and structure of rocks.

Geothermal – energy generated by heat stored deep in the Earth.

Global city – major world city supplying financial, business and other significant services to all parts of the world. The world’s major stock markets and the headquarters of large MNCs are located in global cities.

Global civil society – international groups, associations and movements that are not controlled by the state government.

Globalisation – the increasing interconnectedness and interdependence of the world economically, culturally and politically.

GPS (Global Positioning System) – a group of satellites that allow people to find out their exact location on the Earth’s surface.

Greenfield land – land on which there has not been any previous building.

Greenhouse effect – the property of the Earth’s atmosphere by which long wavelength heat rays from the Earth’s surface are trapped or reflected back by the atmosphere.

Gross National Income – total value produced within a country together with its income received from other countries.

Groundwater flow – movement of underground water through rocks.

Groyne – wooden or concrete construction built across a beach.

Hard engineering – use of concrete barriers to control water.

Hierarchy – an arrangement in order with one at the top and an increasing number at lower levels.

High-technology cluster – where high-tech companies group together in a region because their location factors are similar and such companies benefit from being in close proximity.

Honeypot sites – particular locations that attract a lot of visitors.

Housing Association – an organisation that manages the building of houses for local people.

Hurricane – a violent tropical storm in the Caribbean region.

Hydro-electricity – electricity produced by fl owing water.

Immigrant – a person who moves to live in another country for longer than a year.

Immigration – the movement of people into a country, to live there.

Immunisation – being given a vaccine that helps the body’s immune system fight infection.

Impermeable – a surface that does not allow water to pass through it.

Infiltration – seeping of water into soil.

Informal sector – jobs that are often without regular hours and payment.

Infrastructure – the basic amenities that people need in a city, such as roads, sewerage, electricity and water supplies.

Interception – collection of water by vegetation.

International aid – the giving of resources (money, food, goods, technology, etc.) by one country or organisation to another poor country. The primary objective is to improve the economy and quality of life in the poorer country.

Irrigation – artificial watering of the land.

Lahar – a type of mudflow composed of pyroclastic material and water that flows down from a volcano, typically along a river valley.