54 of the Geography glossary’s terms, each with the part of the syllabus where you first meet it.
The cold phase of ENSO, an intensified form of normal conditions, in which stronger trade winds increase upwelling off South America and rainfall over the western Pacific.
The time between the peak of rainfall and the peak of discharge in a river, usually measured in hours.
A volcanic mudflow of ash, rock and water, formed by heavy rain or melting ice, that follows river valleys far from the volcano.
A long-term decline in the biological or economic productivity of land, caused by processes such as soil erosion, nutrient loss, salinisation and loss of vegetation.
The creation of new land from the sea, a lake or a wetland by draining it or filling it with sand, rock or other material.
The gradual sinking of the ground surface, often caused by the compaction of clay and silt layers when groundwater is pumped out.
The system of rules, set in law or by custom, that decides how land is owned, used, inherited and transferred, and by whom.
The purpose for which an area of land is used, classified in towns and cities as residential, commercial, industrial, transport, open space, institutional or vacant land.
The planning control of what can be built or done on different areas of land, used on floodplains to keep housing and vital services away from the highest-risk zones; also called floodplain zoning.
A site where waste is disposed of by burying it in the ground; a sanitary landfill uses liners, leachate drainage and daily cover to limit pollution.
A low- or middle-income country with no direct access to the sea, which depends on transit through neighbouring countries for its seaborne trade.
The everyday term for the rapid downslope movement of rock, soil or debris, used for most falls, slides and flows.
Deliberate efforts to halt the decline of an endangered language and increase its number of speakers, for example through schools, broadcasting and official status.
The rate at which air temperature falls with increasing height in the lower atmosphere; the environmental lapse rate averages about 6.5 °C per 1,000 m but varies with time and place.
The purchase or long-term lease of large areas of land, typically thousands of hectares, by companies, investment funds or foreign governments, often for export farming; called a land grab by critics.
The time, between about 26,000 and 20,000 years ago, when the ice sheets of the most recent glacial period reached their greatest extent and sea level was about 125 m lower than today.
Travel to see places, landscapes or species that are disappearing or changing, such as glaciers, coral reefs or polar wildlife, before they are lost.
The energy absorbed when water evaporates and released when water vapour condenses, without a change in temperature; the main energy source of tropical cyclones.
A ridge of till along the side of a glacier or glacial valley, formed mainly from rock that fell from the valley sides.
Changing the path of a lava flow away from settlements and infrastructure by building earth barriers or channels, or by cooling the flow front with water.
The downward removal of soluble substances, such as nitrates or salts, from the soil by water percolating through it.
The proportion of tourist spending that leaves the host country's economy, through imports, profits repatriated by foreign owners, wages of foreign workers and commissions paid abroad.
The long-term effects of hosting an event that remain after it ends, such as new infrastructure, urban regeneration, sports participation, debt or a changed international image.
The discretionary time left after work, study, sleep, personal care and obligations such as housework and caring, and the activities people freely choose to do in that time.
A raised bank along the edge of a river channel; natural levees are built of coarse sediment deposited when floodwater spills out of the channel and loses velocity.
The tendency for flood defences such as artificial levees to encourage more building on the land they protect, so that losses are larger when an extreme flood overtops or breaches them.
The average number of years a newborn baby would live if current age-specific death rates stayed the same throughout its life.
A method that measures the environmental impacts of a product, such as its greenhouse gas emissions, across every stage of its life from raw materials and production to transport, use and disposal.
A management approach that defines how much change in a site's environmental and social conditions is acceptable, monitors indicators of those conditions and acts when a limit is approached.
The boundaries, set mainly by temperature, rainfall and growing-season length, beyond which a particular crop cannot be grown successfully or profitably.
An economic system based on “take, make, dispose”, in which raw materials are extracted, made into products, used and then discarded as waste.
An urban metabolism in which resources flow into the city, are used once and leave as waste and pollution, with little reuse or recycling.
A process in which shaking raises the pore-water pressure in saturated sand or silt so much that it loses strength and behaves like a liquid.
The water content of the material in a mass movement, from dry falls and slides to wet flows; one of the criteria used to classify mass movements.
The physical and chemical characteristics of a rock, such as mineral composition, hardness, grain size and permeability, which affect its resistance to erosion and weathering.
The rigid outer shell of the Earth, made of the crust and the uppermost mantle, about 100 km thick on average and broken into tectonic plates.
A cool period from about 1300 (or the 16th century) to about 1850, during which glaciers in the Alps and elsewhere advanced to their largest extent of recent millennia.
The attempt to influence the decisions of legislators, officials or international negotiators through direct contact, evidence and argument, by companies, industry groups or civil society organisations.
A currency, usually backed by the national currency, that can be spent only with participating businesses in a particular town or region, intended to keep spending within the local economy.
The practice of buying food, goods and services from producers in the same locality or region rather than from distant suppliers, to support the local economy and reduce dependence on global supply chains.
A ratio comparing an activity's share of the total in an area with its share in a larger reference area: above 1 means the activity is more concentrated locally.
A fine, yellowish, unstratified silt deposited by wind, often far from the desert or glacial outwash from which it was blown; it forms fertile but easily eroded soils.
A graph scale on which each equal distance represents a tenfold increase, used for data spanning a wide range; a constant rate of growth plots as a straight line.
The international treaty of 1972 controlling the deliberate dumping of wastes at sea from ships, aircraft and platforms; since 1993 it has banned dumping radioactive waste.
A graph or section showing how the height of a river bed changes with distance from its source to its mouth, typically a concave curve that flattens towards base level.
A tourist destination far from the visitor's home, usually reached by a flight of more than about six hours, often in another continent.
The movement of sediment along a coast by waves approaching at an angle, as swash carries material diagonally up the beach and backwash returns it straight down; also called littoral drift.
Infrared energy emitted by the Earth’s surface and atmosphere, at longer wavelengths than solar radiation because the Earth is much cooler than the Sun; also called terrestrial radiation.
A graph plotting the cumulative percentage of income or wealth against the cumulative percentage of the population, ranked from poorest to richest, to show inequality.
Harm from climate change that cannot be avoided by mitigation or adaptation, such as land lost to the sea or livelihoods destroyed, and the finance to address it, including the fund agreed at COP27.
A defined urban area in which the most polluting vehicles are banned or must pay a daily charge, to reduce traffic emissions; London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone is an example.
An airline that offers low fares by cutting costs, for example through one aircraft type, secondary airports, quick turnarounds, online booking and charges for extras.
A country whose GNI per capita (World Bank Atlas method) is at or below the low-income threshold, US$1,175 in the classification published in July 2026.
A common facility that is used frequently, has a small range and threshold population, and serves a small local area, such as a neighbourhood park or gym.