Information collected first-hand by the investigator in the field, for example by measurement, counting, observation, questionnaires or interviews.
93 of the Geography glossary’s terms, each with the part of the syllabus where you first meet it.
A compressional seismic wave that pushes and pulls rock in its direction of travel; it is the fastest wave and passes through solids and liquids.
The belt of subduction zones, volcanoes and earthquakes that surrounds the Pacific Ocean, where about two-thirds of the world's volcanoes and most large earthquakes occur.
A holiday sold at a single price that combines at least transport and accommodation, often with transfers, meals and excursions, usually organised by a tour operator.
An epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, such as several countries or continents, and affects a large number of people.
The main international multi-sport event for athletes with physical, visual or intellectual impairments, held after the Olympic Games in the same host city.
The 2015 treaty under the UNFCCC in which almost every country agreed to limit warming to well below 2 °C, pursue 1.5 °C, and set and regularly strengthen national emissions pledges.
A scheme in which drivers leave their cars at car parks on the edge of a city and complete their journey to the centre by public transport.
The percentage of a population, or of a group within it, that takes part in a particular activity over a stated period.
Solid or liquid particles suspended in the air, classed by diameter as PM10 (up to 10 micrometres) and PM2.5 (up to 2.5 micrometres), which penetrate deep into the lungs and bloodstream.
A microorganism, such as a virus, bacterium, protozoan or fungus, that causes disease in the organism it infects.
A regular pattern of stone circles, polygons, nets or stripes on the ground in periglacial areas, produced mainly by frost heave, sorting of stones and, on slopes, solifluction.
An arrangement in which those who benefit from an ecosystem pay the people who manage it to keep it intact, for example through blue carbon credits.
The highest discharge reached by a river during a storm or flood event, read from the top of the storm hydrograph.
The point within a central business district with the highest land values, usually the junction of the busiest shopping streets.
A wetland in which waterlogged conditions slow decomposition, so partly decayed plant matter accumulates as peat and stores large amounts of carbon.
A fieldwork method that records the number of people passing a fixed point in a set time, used to measure how busy different parts of a settlement are.
The facilitation, for financial gain, of a person’s irregular entry into a country of which they are not a citizen or resident; the person usually consents and the relationship ends on arrival.
A country’s total greenhouse gas or carbon dioxide emissions divided by its population, usually given in tonnes per person per year.
The change in a value expressed as a percentage of its original value: the difference between the new and original values, divided by the original value, multiplied by 100.
The level of crowding that visitors will tolerate before their experience of a site is spoiled; also called psychological carrying capacity.
The slow downward movement of water from the soil into the underlying rock, where it may reach the groundwater store.
The growth of urban populations, housing and economic activities in the zone just beyond a city's formal boundary, often unplanned and mixing urban and rural characteristics.
A cold, non-glacial environment near ice sheets or glaciers or at high altitude, in which the ground is frozen for much or all of the year and repeated freezing and thawing shapes the land.
A region with lower levels of economic development, investment and services than the core, which often loses young people and resources to the core.
Ground (soil, sediment or rock) that remains at or below 0 °C for at least two consecutive years, storing large amounts of frozen organic carbon in the Arctic and on high plateaus.
The warming and melting of ground ice in permafrost, which deepens the active layer, causes subsidence and releases stored carbon as carbon dioxide and methane.
A barrier that slows or weakens diffusion but allows part of the phenomenon to pass through.
A toxic carbon-based chemical that resists breakdown, accumulates in the fatty tissue of organisms and is carried long distances by air and water, such as DDT or PCBs.
The ability of individuals to think, speak, communicate, travel and associate with others as they choose, without unjustified interference by the state or other powerful actors.
The capacity of individuals and households to prepare for, cope with and recover from a hazard event, for example through emergency plans, savings, insurance and knowledge of what to do.
The different viewpoints from which an issue can be seen, such as those of stakeholders, places, scales or time periods, which shape how costs, benefits and priorities are judged.
An attempt to trick people into revealing passwords, bank details or other personal information through messages or websites that appear to come from a trusted organisation.
A brownish haze formed when nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds, mainly from vehicle exhausts, react in strong sunlight to produce ground-level ozone and other secondary pollutants.
A technology that converts sunlight directly into electricity in semiconductor cells, usually made of silicon, mounted in panels.
The maximum number of visitors a site can physically hold at one time, limited by its space and facilities, such as seats, beds or beach area.
A shortage in which natural water supplies cannot meet all demands, including environmental flows; usually defined as more than about 75% of river flows being withdrawn.
The breakdown of rock into smaller fragments without any change in its chemical composition, by processes such as thermal fracture, salt crystallisation and freeze-thaw.
An input indicator of health care: the number of medical doctors, generalist and specialist, per 1,000 people in a country (published by the WHO per 10,000 people).
Microscopic plant-like organisms, mainly algae and cyanobacteria, that drift in the sunlit surface ocean and photosynthesise, forming the base of most marine food webs.
A small trial of the fieldwork methods carried out before the main data collection, to test equipment, timing, safety and questionnaire wording.
A dome-shaped hill with a core of ice, up to about 70 m high, formed in permafrost areas when water under pressure freezes near the surface, in drained lake beds (closed system) or from rising groundwater (open system).
The emotional bond between people and a place, built through family history, community, identity and livelihoods, which can lead people to stay in or return to hazardous places.
A framework that sets limits for nine Earth-system processes, such as climate change, biosphere integrity and freshwater change, within which humanity can operate without risking abrupt or irreversible environmental change.
A settlement designed as a whole before it is built, with its street layout, land-use zones and services decided in advance by a government or developer.
The deliberate design of a product so that it becomes unusable, unrepairable or out of date after a limited period, encouraging consumers to replace it.
Flood mitigation that changes how people use, prepare for and respond to flood-prone land, such as zoning, insurance, warnings and preparation, rather than changing the river itself.
The zone where two tectonic plates meet and move relative to each other, where most earthquakes and volcanoes occur.
A model (1974) that classifies tourists by personality on a scale from psychocentric (familiar, safe, organised travel) to allocentric (new, unfamiliar, independent travel), with most people mid-centric.
Glacial erosion in which meltwater freezes onto jointed bedrock, so that moving ice pulls away blocks of rock.
A gently sloping deposit of sand and gravel on the inside of a meander bend, where water is shallow and flow is slow.
Pollution that enters water from a single identifiable place, such as a sewage outfall, factory pipe or slurry tank, so it can be measured and regulated.
A system of migration control in which applicants gain points for characteristics such as a job offer, skills, qualifications, language ability and salary, and may apply for a visa if they reach a set threshold.
An environment in the high latitudes, mostly within the Arctic and Antarctic Circles, where the warmest month averages below about 10 °C, winters are long and dark, and precipitation is usually low.
The idea that, as trade and investment become freer, polluting industries relocate to places with weaker or less enforced environmental rules, shifting pollution towards lower-income countries.
A lump of minerals a few centimetres across, rich in manganese, nickel, cobalt and copper, that forms very slowly on the deep-ocean floor.
The number of people living in a unit of area, calculated as total population divided by land area and usually given in people per km².
The way in which people are spread across an area, describing where they are concentrated and where they are sparse or absent.
An estimate of the future size and structure of a population calculated from assumptions about fertility, mortality and migration, usually given in several variants to show uncertainty.
A pair of back-to-back horizontal bar charts showing the percentage or number of males and females in each five-year age group of a population.
The composition of a population by age and sex, usually shown as a population pyramid.
A political approach that claims to represent “the people” against an elite seen as corrupt or self-serving, often promising simple solutions to complex problems; it can be combined with left-wing or right-wing ideas.
The pressure of water held in the spaces between particles of soil or rock; when it rises it pushes the grains apart and reduces friction.
A feedback loop in which the response to a change amplifies the original change, pushing the system further from its starting state, as when melting ice exposes darker surfaces that absorb more heat.
The actions taken after a hazard event to save lives, meet urgent needs and restore and improve communities, usually divided into rescue, rehabilitation and reconstruction.
A mental health condition that can follow a frightening or distressing event such as a disaster, with symptoms including flashbacks, anxiety, sleep problems and avoidance that can last for months or years.
A condition in which a person or household lacks the income or resources to meet basic needs such as food, clean water, shelter, health care and education; also called absolute poverty.
A sampling method that chooses sites or people that are safe, accessible and available, used where random or systematic sites cannot be reached.
The measures taken before a hazard event to reduce its impact, including monitoring, warnings, land-use planning, building design, defences, education and evacuation plans.
The knowledge, plans, resources and practised actions that individuals, households and communities have in place to respond effectively before and during a hazard event.
A model of disaster risk in which root causes, dynamic pressures and unsafe conditions build vulnerability, and a disaster happens when this vulnerability meets a hazard.
The total number or proportion of people in a population who have a disease at a particular time, including both new and existing cases.
Information collected first-hand by the investigator in the field, for example by measurement, counting, observation, questionnaires or interviews.
A hazard caused directly by an eruption or earthquake, such as lava flows, ash fall or ground shaking.
Economic activities that extract raw materials directly from the natural environment, such as farming, fishing, forestry, mining and quarrying.
Features that exist independently of tourism and attract visitors, such as climate, landscape, coasts, wildlife, historic buildings, culture and religious sites.
A city that is much larger than any other in its country, usually more than twice the size of the second city, and dominates its economic, political and cultural life.
A government policy that aims to increase the birth rate and family size, for example through child benefits, tax relief, paid parental leave, subsidised childcare and housing support.
A map showing the level of a hazard, such as ground shaking, that has a stated chance of being exceeded in a given period, used for building codes and insurance.
Ethiopia’s social protection programme, begun in 2005, that gives cash or food to chronically food-insecure households in return for work on public projects, with unconditional support for those unable to work.
The transfer of profits earned by a TNC’s foreign subsidiaries back to the parent company in its home country or headquarters, rather than reinvesting them in the host country.
A system in which the most successful teams in a division move up to a higher division and the least successful move down at the end of each season.
A map with symbols, usually circles, placed at locations and drawn with their area proportional to an absolute value there, such as population or visitor numbers.
A government policy of restricting imports, through tariffs, quotas, subsidies or other barriers, to protect domestic producers and jobs from foreign competition.
A plant succession that develops on bare sand, as on coastal dunes, from salt-tolerant pioneer plants near the beach to heath or woodland inland.
Describes a tourist who prefers familiar, safe and well-developed destinations, organised travel and familiar food and surroundings (Plog's 'dependable').
A formal declaration by the WHO, under the International Health Regulations, that an extraordinary disease event is a risk to other states through international spread and may need a coordinated response.
A positive feature of a destination, such as jobs, higher wages, services or safety, that attracts migrants to it.
An adjustment that converts incomes into a common currency according to what they can buy locally, so that differences in the cost of living between countries are taken into account.
A tourist resort planned and constructed specifically for tourism, often on a largely undeveloped site, rather than growing gradually from an existing settlement.
A town or city planned and built from the beginning on an undeveloped site, with its layout, infrastructure and technology designed in advance.
A negative feature of a place of origin, such as unemployment, poverty, conflict or environmental hazard, that encourages people to leave it.
A steep, pointed mountain summit with three or more faces, formed where three or more cirques have eroded back into the same peak, leaving arêtes between them.
A fast, ground-hugging current of hot gas, ash and rock that flows down a volcano at hundreds of degrees Celsius and often over 100 km per hour.