IB geography core key words

Scale

Places, areas or territories can be studied and identified at a variety of geographic scales, from a local level to the national or state level. The global distribution of population is a macroscale (planetary scale) data pattern. In contrast, very small-scale patterns are sometimes called microscale distributions.

Population distribution

A description of the way in which people are spread out across the Earth’s surface. For instance, around 4 billion people live in Asia.

Population density

The number of people living within a specified area. For instance, the population density of large parts of New Mexico (USA) is less than one person per square kilometre.

Environmental determinism

The oversimplistic and discredited idea that what human societies can or cannot achieve is decided mainly by physical environmental factors, such as climate and local resource availability. This view ignores important technological, cultural and political factors, such as innovation, cooperation or conflict.

Arid

A climate whose precipitation is less than 250 mm annually.

Development

Human development generally means the ways in which a country’s people strive to grow economically and also to improve the quality of life. A country’s level of development is most often shown by economic indicators of average national wealth and/or income, but can encompass social and political criteria, too.

Gross domestic product (GDP)

A measure of the total value of the output of final goods and services inside a nation’s borders. Each country’s annual calculation includes the value added by any foreign-owned businesses that have located operations there.

Purchasing power parity (PPP)

A measure of average wealth that takes into account the cost of a typical ‘basket of goods’ in a country. In low-income countries, goods often cost less, meaning that wages go further than might be expected in a high-income country.

Global North and Global South

A way of distinguishing between the privileged, powerful and wealthy countries of the Western world and Japan (‘Global North') and the African, Asian and Latin American countries (‘Global South’) who were historically marginalized, oppressed or colonized by European countries in particular.

Neo-colonial

A term originally used to characterize the indirect actions by which developed countries exercise a degree of control over the development of their former colonies (more recently, it has become widely used to describe some of China's overseas activities too). Indicators of neo-colonial control include conditions attached to aid and loans, cultural influence and military or economic support (either overt or covert) for particular political groups or movements within a country.

Relative poverty

When a person’s income is too low to maintain the average standard of living in a particular society. Asset growth for very rich people can lead to more people being in relative poverty.

Lorenz curve

A diagrammatic expression of the extent to which a distribution is unequal. The dashed straight diagonal line on a Lorenz curve shows a perfectly even and equal distribution. The further away the solid curved line deviates from this dashed line, the greater the level of inequality that actually exists for the scenario shown.

Core-periphery system

The uneven spatial distribution of national population and wealth between two or more regions of a state or country, resulting from flows of migrants, trade and investment.

Backwash

Flows of people, investment and resources directed from peripheral to core regions. This process is responsible for the polarization of regional prosperity between regions within the same country.

Internal migration

The movement of people from place to place inside the borders of a country. Globally, most internal migrants move from rural to urban areas (‘rural-urban’ migrants) or between urban areas (‘urban—urban’).

counterurbanization

people relocating from urban to rural area

Special Economic Zone (SEZ)

A part of a city or country where business, tax and trading laws are more liberal than those found in the rest of the state, for the purposes of stimulating investment and industrial activity.

Deindustrialization

The loss of traditional manufacturing industries in some high-income countries due to their closure or relocation elsewhere. Since the 1960s, many industries have all but vanished from Europe and North America. Instead, they thrive in Asia, South America and, increasingly, Africa.

Demography

The study of population dynamics and changes.

Population structure

The make-up of a population in terms of age, gender, occupation, ethnicity or any other selected criterion.

Population pyramid

A type of bar chart used to show the proportion of males and females belonging to different cohorts (age groups) for a place or country.

Replacement level

The fertility rate required to maintain a population at its current size.

Urbanization

An increase in the proportion of people living in urban areas.

Informal housing

Areas of housing built by the local population in places where government has struggled to provide sufficient fully-planned housing and infrastructure. While some informal housing may be of a poor standard, often it is not. The best examples are built in bricks, steel and cement by experienced professionals.

Informal sector

Unofficial forms of employment that are not easily made subject to government regulation or taxation. Sometimes called ‘cash in hand’ work, informal employment may be the only kind of work that low-skilled or marginalized people can get.

Refugee

A person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution or natural disaster.

Internally displaced people (IDPs)

People who have found shelter in another part of their country after being forced to flee their homes.

Intervening obstacles

Barriers to migrants such as a political border or physical feature (deserts, mountains and rivers).

Militia groups

An armed non-official or informal military force raised by members of civil society. Militia groups may be characterized as either freedom fighters or terrorists in varying political contexts, or by different observers.

Ageing population

A population structure where the proportion of people aged 65 and over is high and rising. This is caused by increasing life expectancy and can be further exaggerated by the effect of low birth rates. It is also called a ‘greying’ population.

Sex ratio

The relative proportions of men and women in a society’s population.

Human resources

The working-age people found in a place who can generate wealth with the skills and capabilities they possess (dependent on their educational levels, the languages they speak and their capacity to innovate and invent).

Climate change

Any long-term trend or movement in climate detected by a sustained shift in the average value for any climatic element (for example, rainfall, drought, hurricanes).

Greenhouse gases

Those atmospheric gases that absorb infrared radiation and cause world temperatures to be warmer than they would otherwise be.

Anthropocene

The current geological age we are now living in, viewed as the commencement of a period in which human activity and industrialization have become the dominant influence on Earth's climate and the natural environment.

Anthropogenic carbon flow

The current amount of carbon emissions released annually by a country (for example, due to fossil fuel burning and cement making) produced in each nation. The figure can be adjusted upwards to factor in the carbon equivalents of other greenhouse gas emissions (methane and nitrous oxide).

Anthropogenic carbon stock

The total size of the store of anthropogenic carbon emissions released into the atmosphere since industrialization began around 1750.

Carbon intensity

The amount of CO₂ emitted per unit of GDP. If a country's carbon emissions rise less slowly than its GDP is increasing, this suggests some action is being taken to reduce emissions at the same time as industrial output is increasing.

Per capita carbon footprint

The amount of carbon dioxide emissions an average person in a country is responsible for as they go about their everyday life.

Globalization

The variety of accelerating ways in which places and people have become connected with one another as part of a complicated global system.

Transnational corporations (TNCs)

Businesses whose operations are spread across the world, operating in many nations as both makers and sellers of goods and services. Many of the largest are instantly recognizable ‘global brands’ that bring cultural change to the places where products are consumed.

External forcing

A term used to describe processes that impact on Earth’s climate system, which originate from outside of the climate system itself, such as variations in solar output.

Global dimming

Suspended particulate matter in the atmosphere can reflect solar energy back into space and so have a net cooling effect. This phenomenon can occur naturally because of volcanic emissions but can also be caused by human pollution too

Albedo

How much solar radiation a surface reflects. White surfaces have the highest albedo, or reflectivity.

Biome

Large planetary-scale plant and animal communities covering large areas of the Earth's continents. For example, tropical rainforest, desert and grassland.

Tundra

A ‘cold desert’ ecosystem composed of tough short grasses that survive in extremely cold, sometimes waterlogged, conditions at high latitudes where trees cannot grow. The tundra is underlain by permafrost.

Tree line

The boundary between the coniferous forest and tundra biomes.

Cryosphere

Those portions of Earth’s surface where water is in solid form.

Permafrost

Ground (soil or rock and included ice) that remains at or below 0°C for at least two consecutive years. The thickness of permafrost varies from less than 1 metre to more than 1.5 kilometres.

Mass balance

The difference between the amount of snowfall gained by a glacier or ice sheet, and the amount of ice lost through the processes of calving (blocks breaking off) and/or melting.

Eustatic

A rise or fall in the height of Earth’s oceans due to changes in how much water has been stored there.

Desertification

The intensification (‘deepening’) or extensification (‘widening’) of arid, desert-like conditions.

El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO)

A sustained sea surface temperature anomaly across the central tropical Pacific Ocean. It brings a change in weather conditions that can last from two to seven years. Along with La Niña events, El Niño events are part of a short-term climate cycle that brings variations in climate but only for a few years.

Extreme weather event

An occurrence such as drought or a storm which appears unusually severe or long lasting and whose magnitude lies at the extreme range of what has been recorded in the past.

Event attribution

A developing field of science which tries to determine whether there is a direct causal link between an individual case of flood, fire or storm and global climate change. Event attribution is still very hard to do in practice.

Climate emergency

a situation requiring urgent action to reduce or halt climate change and to avoid potentially irreversible environmental damage resulting from it

Climate justice

Concerned with setting out moral or legal principles of fairness in the way different people are treated, based on our ethics and values.

Environmental racism

Any policy, practice or directive that differentially affects or disadvantages (whether intended or unintended) individuals, groups or communities based on race.

Indigenous population

An ethnic group that has occupied the place where they live and call home for hundreds or thousands of years.

Resilience

The capacity of individuals, societies, organizations or environments to recover and resume ‘business as usual’ functions and operations following a hazard event or other system shock.

Wicked problem

A challenge that cannot be dealt with easily owing to its scale and complexity. Wicked problems arise from the interactions of many different places, people, things, ideas and perspectives within complex and interconnected systems.

Mitigation

Any action intended to reduce GHG emissions, such as using less fossil fuel-derived energy, thereby helping to slow down and ultimately stop climate change. Mitigation can be practised by stakeholders at different scales, from a citizen cycling rather than driving, to a government setting strict national targets for reduced carbon emissions.

Adaptation

Any action designed to protect people from the harmful impacts of climate change but without tackling the underlying problem of rising GHG emissions.

Adaptation limits

Points beyond which a community or environment cannot be protected from growing risks through adaptive actions. There are ‘hard adaptation’ limits (no adaptive actions are possible, even where money is available) and ‘soft adaptation’ limits (protection is still possible but the costs are excessive).

Net zero

The balance between the amount of greenhouse gas produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere. We reach net zero when the amount we add is no more than the amount taken away.

Geo-engineering

The deliberate, large-scale manipulation of the planetary environment in order to counteract anthropogenic climate change.

Cap and trade

An environmental policy that places a limit on the amount a natural resource can be used, identifies the resource users, divides this amount up into shares per user, and allows users to sell their shares if they do not wish to use them directly.

Neoliberal

A philosophy of managing economies and societies which takes the view that government interference should be kept to a minimum and that problems are best left for market forces to solve.

Civil society

Any organization or movement that works in the area between the household, the private sector and the state to negotiate matters of public concern. Civil society includes non-governmental organizations (NGOs), community groups, trade unions, academic institutions and faith-based organizations.

Consumption

The level of use a society makes of the resources available to it. Economic development and changing lifestyles and aspirations usually result in accelerated consumption of resources.

Extreme poverty

When a person’s income is too low for basic human needs to be met, potentially resulting in hunger and homelessness.

Fragile middle class

Globally, there are 4 billion people who have escaped poverty but have yet to join the so-called NGMC. These are people who live off 2–10 dollars per day and is broadly similar to the idea of a lower middle class.

NGMC

new found wealth that can continually meet masic daily needs and increase standard of living by entering consumer markets (discretionary income)

Ecological footprint

A crude measurement of the area of land or water required to provide a person (or society) with the energy, food and resources needed to live, and to also absorb waste.

Embedded water

A measure of the amount of water used in the production and transport to market of food and commodities (also known as the amount of ‘virtual water’ or ‘water footprint’ attached to a product). Embedded water may include the use of local water resources and the use of water resources in distant places.

Green revolution

A period when the productivity of global agriculture increased greatly as a result of new technologies including fertilizers and selectively bred high-yield crops.

Nutrition transition

A change in diet from staple carbohydrates towards meat and fish proteins and dairy products. This happens typically when incomes rise from $2 a day to $10 a day.

Energy mix

The proportions of hydrocarbons, renewable energy sources and nuclear energy that a country uses to meet its domestic needs.

Renewable energy

Wind, solar and tidal power sources which result from a flow of energy from the Sun.

Non-renewable resources

Mineral and fossil fuel resources that are available only in limited supplies. Fossil fuels were created as the remains of marine creatures that decayed millions of years ago, under huge amounts of pressure and heat. They cannot be replaced easily.

Renewable resources

Natural resources that are replenished by the environment over relatively short periods of time. Forestry is a renewable resource: regrowth occurs after wood has been cut provided the rate of use does not exceed the forest’s capacity to regenerate naturally.

Peak oil

The point when the maximum rate of global oil production is reached (likely to be before 2030).

Water-Food-Energy nexus (WFE nexus)

The complex and dynamic interrelationships between water, energy and food resource systems. Understanding of these interrelationships is essential if natural resources are to be used and managed more sustainably.

Water security

When all people, at all times, have sustainable access to adequate quantities of acceptable quality water for sustaining livelihoods, wellbeing and development.

Water scarcity

When the annual supply of water directly available per person falls below 1,000 cumecs.

Safe water

Water that is safe to drink or to use for food preparation, without risk of health problems.

Food security

When all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.

Food availability

Sufficient quantities of food of appropriate quality to support a population, supplied through domestic production or imports, including food aid.

Food insecurity

When people cannot grow or buy the food they need to meet basic needs.

Energy security

When all people, at all times, enjoy the uninterrupted availability of the energy they require to meet their needs, and at an affordable price.

Energy pathways

Flows of energy that link producer regions with consumer regions. In physical terms, pathways take the form of pipelines, electricity power lines and the routes taken by gas and oil tankers, or trains carrying coal.

Desalinization

The removal of salt water and other minerals from seawater. The process is costly and requires desalinization plants to be built.

Land grab

This term typically describes the acquisition of large areas of land in low-income and middle-income countries (and historically in some high-income countries like the USA and Australia) by domestic forces or outside forces, including international businesses and governments. Indigenous people who have occupied land for centuries or millennia may be told they no longer have the right to remain where they have always lived.

Carrying capacity

The maximum number of people an area of land can support with current levels of technology.

Overpopulation

A theoretical state of imbalance where there are too many people relative to the resources a nation possesses. The resulting unemployment and insecurity threatens everyone's quality of life.

Underpopulation

A theoretical state of imbalance where there are too few people relative to the resources a nation possesses to make effective use of them, lowering quality of life for all as a result.

Stewardship

An approach to resource management which views humans as ‘caretakers’ of the natural world.

Sustainable development

Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Circular economy

An approach to business management and product design that maximizes the efficiency of resource use, and aims ultimately to phase out waste and pollution altogether.

Millennium Development Goals

A set of interrelated global targets for poverty reduction and human development. They were introduced in 2000 at the UN Millennium Summit; their successor, the Sustainable Development Goals, followed in 2015.