72 of the Geography glossary’s terms, each with the part of the syllabus where you first meet it.
The inverse relationship between the size of hazard events and how often they occur: small events are frequent and large events are rare.
A vector-borne disease caused by Plasmodium parasites and spread to humans by the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes, causing fever, anaemia and, if untreated, death.
Deficiencies, excesses or imbalances in a person’s intake of energy or nutrients, covering undernutrition, micronutrient deficiency and overnutrition (overweight and obesity).
The theory, set out by Thomas Malthus in 1798, that population grows geometrically while food supply grows only arithmetically, so population will outstrip food and be held back by famine, disease and war.
The planned movement of people, buildings and infrastructure away from places at high risk from hazards such as sea-level rise, coastal erosion or flooding.
A salt-tolerant tree or shrub that grows in the intertidal zone of sheltered tropical and subtropical coasts; mangrove swamps are forests of these trees.
A narrow column of unusually hot rock rising from deep in the mantle that melts as it nears the surface and produces a hotspot.
The ratio between a distance on a map and the same distance on the ground, shown as a representative fraction such as 1:25,000, a scale bar or a statement.
A period of days to months in which ocean temperatures in a region are unusually high for the time of year, commonly above the 90th percentile for at least five days.
Plastic waste in the sea, from large items such as bottles, bags and fishing nets to tiny fragments known as microplastics.
An area of sea or coast in which human activities such as fishing, mining or development are restricted by law to protect its ecosystems and resources.
A disagreement between states over sovereignty of islands or other features, the boundaries of maritime zones, or rights to use the sea and its resources.
A range of marks, such as 7–8 out of 10, with a description of the typical qualities of an answer in that range, used to mark extended answers as a whole rather than point by point.
The guidance examiners use for one examination paper, listing creditable points for structured questions and question-specific notes for applying the markbands to extended answers.
The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (1973, modified 1978), which regulates discharges of oil, chemicals, sewage, garbage and air pollutants from ships.
A coarse grass adapted to coastal dunes, with rolled leaves that reduce water loss, deep roots and rapid growth when buried by sand, which binds and builds foredunes.
The downslope movement of rock, soil or debris under the influence of gravity, from very slow creep to sudden falls and flows.
Tourism in which large numbers of people visit the same destinations, usually on standardised and relatively cheap products such as package holidays, often at the same times of year.
Public transport that carries large numbers of passengers along fixed routes, such as metros, commuter railways, trams and bus rapid transit.
The number of women who die from causes related to pregnancy or childbirth, during pregnancy or within 42 days of its end, per 100,000 live births in a year.
The largest catch that can be taken from a fish stock year after year without reducing its size, reached when the stock is kept at a medium level.
A term coined by George Ritzer in 1993 for the spread of the fast-food restaurant’s principles of efficiency, calculability, predictability and control to more and more of society and the world.
A model (1967) of the South-east Asian port city, centred on the port, with western and alien commercial zones, mixed land use, squatter areas, and industrial estates and market gardening at the edge.
An average found by adding all the values in a data set and dividing the total by the number of values.
A sinuous bend in a river channel, with erosion on the outer bank and deposition on the inner bank, that migrates across the floodplain over time.
A band of debris running along the middle of a glacier, formed where the lateral moraines of two joining glaciers merge.
An average equal to the middle value of a data set arranged in order, or the mean of the two middle values when the number of values is even.
The age that divides a population into two equal halves, so that half the people are younger and half are older.
A large, short-lived event of international significance, such as the Olympic Games or the FIFA World Cup, that attracts many visitors and global media coverage and requires major investment by the host.
An urban area (urban agglomeration) with a population of 10 million or more.
A very large dam, usually more than about 150 m high, with a reservoir of several cubic kilometres or a capacity above 1,000 MW, whose impacts extend across a whole basin.
A very large earthquake on the gently dipping fault between a subducting plate and the overriding plate, which can exceed magnitude 9.
A form of foreign direct investment in which a firm buys (acquisition) or combines with (merger) an existing firm in another country, rather than building a new facility.
An isolated, flat-topped hill with steep sides, wider than it is high, left where a resistant caprock protects weaker horizontal rocks as the surrounding plateau is eroded.
An urban area with more than 20 million people, a term used by UN-Habitat for the very largest urban agglomerations.
A period in which precipitation is well below the long-term average for a place, usually over several months; the first stage of a drought.
An ice-like solid in which methane is trapped within a lattice of frozen water molecules, found in ocean-floor sediments and beneath permafrost where temperatures are low and pressures high.
Business tourism for meetings, incentives (reward trips for employees), conferences and exhibitions or events.
Very small loans, usually without collateral, made to people on low incomes to start or expand a small enterprise; the lending part of microfinance.
The provision of small-scale financial services, including loans, savings, insurance and money transfers, to people on low incomes who are excluded from conventional banks.
A lack of one or more vitamins or minerals, such as iron, vitamin A, iodine or zinc, that the body needs in small amounts; it can occur in people who eat enough calories.
A piece of plastic smaller than 5 mm, either manufactured at that size, such as microbeads, or formed when larger plastic breaks down.
A country whose GNI per capita (Atlas method) lies between the low- and high-income thresholds (US$1,176–14,375 in July 2026), split into lower-middle and upper-middle income at US$4,635.
The movement of people from one place to another with the intention of settling, temporarily or permanently, usually for at least a year.
Regular long-term changes in the Earth’s orbit (eccentricity), axial tilt (obliquity) and axis direction (precession) that alter the distribution of solar radiation and pace the ice ages.
An armed group that is not part of a state’s regular armed forces, such as a rebel or paramilitary force, which may control territory and resources by force.
Eight international development goals adopted by the United Nations for 2000–2015, focused mainly on reducing poverty, hunger, disease and illiteracy in low- and middle-income countries.
An urban area with a population of one million people or more.
The removal of valuable solid minerals such as metal ores and diamonds, or of oil and natural gas, from the ground or the seabed by mining or drilling.
The food energy, in kilocalories per day, a person needs for light physical activity and a minimum acceptable body weight for their height; typically about 1,800 kcal averaged over a population.
A group of people who differ from the majority of a population in ethnicity, religion, language or another identity and who usually hold less power, whatever their numbers.
The shortfall in the number of women and girls in a population compared with the number expected if they had received the same nutrition, health care and survival chances as men and boys.
In climate change, action to reduce the causes of warming by cutting greenhouse gas emissions or enlarging carbon sinks; in hazard management, action to reduce a hazard’s impact.
Development that combines housing, shops, offices, services and leisure in the same area or building, so that people can meet daily needs within a short distance.
An average equal to the value or class that occurs most frequently in a data set, often used for categories such as shop types or modes of transport.
A scale from I to XII that measures the intensity of earthquake shaking at a place from what people feel and the damage it causes.
A logarithmic scale that measures the energy released by an earthquake from the fault area, the slip and the rock strength; each whole number is about 32 times more energy.
The cultivation of a single crop species over a large area, often for years in succession, which simplifies large-scale farming but reduces biodiversity and increases dependence on agrochemicals.
A ridge or mound of till carried and deposited by a glacier, named by its position as lateral, medial, terminal or recessional.
The risk that people take fewer precautions, or choose riskier places to live, because insurance or a government will pay for their losses.
Travel to places that have appeared in films or television series, or where they were made, such as film sets and filming locations; also called film-induced tourism.
A fast flow of fine-grained, water-saturated material such as clay and silt down a slope or channel.
An organisation whose members are the governments of several countries, which co-operate under shared rules on issues such as trade, security or the environment; trade blocs are one type.
A society, or a policy, in which several cultural or ethnic groups live together and keep their distinct identities, with equal rights and mutual respect.
An index developed by OPHI and the UNDP in 2010 that counts people deprived in at least a third of ten weighted indicators of health, education and living standards.
Aid that donor governments give to international organisations, such as the World Bank, UN agencies or regional development banks, which then allocate it to recipient countries.
The presence of two or more long-term health conditions in the same person at the same time, such as diabetes, heart disease and arthritis; it becomes more common with age.
A model (Harris and Ullman, 1945) of a city that grows around several separate centres, such as the central business district, industrial districts and outlying business districts.
The process by which spending in an economy is re-spent locally, creating further rounds of income and employment, so that the total effect is larger than the initial spending.
A distribution of global power in which three or more states or groups of states have significant influence, so that no single superpower dominates.
A dam and reservoir project designed to serve several purposes at once, such as hydroelectric power, irrigation, flood control, water supply and navigation.
The solid waste collected by or for local authorities from households, businesses and public spaces, such as food waste, packaging, paper, plastics, glass, metals and textiles.