32 of the Geography glossary’s terms, each with the part of the syllabus where you first meet it.
A fertile area in a desert where groundwater reaches or comes close to the surface, through springs, wells or channels, allowing permanent settlement and irrigated farming.
Excessive accumulation of body fat that harms health, defined for adults as a body mass index of 30 or more.
The decrease in seawater pH caused by absorbing carbon dioxide, which forms carbonic acid and reduces the carbonate ions that corals, shellfish and plankton use to build shells.
A continuous, directed movement of seawater, driven at the surface mainly by prevailing winds and at depth by differences in water density.
The introduction by people of substances, objects or energy into the sea that harm living resources, human health or legitimate uses of the sea.
The thin, dense layer of basaltic rock, about 5–10 km thick, that forms the floor of the ocean basins; it is younger than about 200 million years because it is recycled at subduction zones.
NOAA’s index of ENSO: the three-month running mean of sea surface temperature anomalies in the Niño 3.4 region; +0.5 °C or more indicates El Niño and −0.5 °C or less La Niña.
Government aid, as grants or concessional loans, given to lower-income countries with the main aim of promoting their economic development and welfare, as defined by the OECD Development Assistance Committee.
A barrier of rock or concrete built in the sea parallel to the coast, so that waves break and lose energy before they reach the shore.
Petroleum and natural gas extracted from rocks beneath the seabed using fixed platforms, floating production units or drill ships.
The relocation of some of a company’s production or services to another country, either to its own facilities or to foreign contractors, usually where costs are lower.
The release of liquid petroleum into the environment, especially the sea, from tankers, pipelines, offshore platforms or wells.
China’s anti-natalist policy from 1980 to 2015, which limited most urban couples to one child using fines, workplace sanctions, contraception and sterilisation, with exemptions for many rural families and minorities.
A website or app that sells travel products such as accommodation, flights and car hire from many suppliers, earning a commission on each booking.
A wider alliance, formed in 2016, in which OPEC members co-ordinate oil production with other major exporters, most importantly Russia, to influence world oil prices.
The disposal of human faeces in fields, bushes, open water, beaches or other open spaces, or with solid waste; the lowest rung of the sanitation ladder.
A method of surface mining in which ore is removed from a large, stepped excavation open to the sky after the overlying rock and soil have been stripped away.
The theoretical population size at which, with the available resources and technology, the standard of living or output per person is at its highest.
An intergovernmental organisation of 38 mainly high-income member countries, founded in 1961, that collects economic data, compares policies and sets standards on aid, tax and investment.
An intergovernmental organisation of oil-exporting countries, founded in 1960, that co-ordinates its members’ oil production in order to influence world oil prices.
A large shopping centre or group of stores at the edge of an urban area, usually near a motorway or ring road, with extensive free parking.
The contracting of a task or process, such as manufacturing, customer service or IT, to another firm instead of carrying it out within the firm itself, in the same country or abroad.
Sorted, rounded and often layered sand and gravel deposited by meltwater streams beyond or beneath a glacier.
Farming land so intensively, for example by shortening or abandoning fallow periods, that the soil loses nutrients, organic matter and structure faster than they are replaced.
Catching fish from a stock faster than it can replace itself through reproduction and growth, so that the stock declines.
Keeping more livestock on an area of pasture than its vegetation can support, so plants are eaten faster than they regrow and the soil is left bare and compacted.
The movement of water over the ground surface towards a channel, when rainfall exceeds the infiltration capacity of the soil or falls on soil that is already saturated; also called surface runoff.
A visitor who stays at least one night in collective or private accommodation in the place visited; UN Tourism calls overnight visitors tourists.
A form of malnutrition in which energy intake exceeds energy use over a long period, leading to overweight and obesity and a higher risk of non-communicable diseases.
A situation in which the population of an area is too large for its resources and technology to support at an adequate standard of living, shown by poverty, unemployment, food shortages or environmental degradation.
A situation in which the number of visitors to a destination is so high that it damages the quality of life of residents, the experience of visitors or the environment.
A crescent-shaped lake on a floodplain formed when a river cuts through the narrow neck of a meander and deposition seals off the abandoned loop.