Edexcel GCSE Geography A key terms

The networks and facilities needed for an economy and society to function, including roads, power supplies and communications.

The older urban area around a city’s central business district, often containing a mixture of housing and former industrial land.

Incoming solar radiation received at the Earth's surface.

Water caught and temporarily held by vegetation before it reaches the ground.

The dependence of organisms and environmental components on one another.

A relatively warm interval between glacial periods, when glaciers and ice sheets retreat.

An agreement between national governments to cooperate, for example by reducing trade barriers or addressing debt.

Ridges of high land projecting alternately from opposite sides of a valley, around which a river winds.

Equipment and methods suited to local needs, skills and resources, which local people can use and maintain.

Electricity generation that varies because its energy source is not continuously available, as with changing wind conditions.

Natural fluctuations in climate that occur alongside longer-term climate change.

Money, goods, technology or specialist skills provided to help people or support a country's development.

A change in where someone lives that crosses a national border.

The exchange of goods and services between countries.

The belt of low pressure near the equator where the trade winds meet and warm, moist air rises.

Spending on assets or improvements, such as premises, equipment, infrastructure or training, intended to provide future benefits.

The artificial supply of water to farmland to help crops grow.

A crack in rock along which there has been no significant displacement.

The part of a map that explains its colours, symbols and other markings.

A body of water separated from the open sea by a barrier such as a coastal bar.

The time between peak rainfall and peak river discharge following a rainfall event.

A country without a coastline, which must cross another country's territory to reach a seaport.

The visible character of an area, formed by its physical features and human activity.

The movement of rock, soil or other slope material downhill under gravity.

The purpose for which land is used, such as farming, housing, forestry or recreation.

The purpose for which land, a building or a space is used, such as housing, shopping or industry.

An episode of cooler-than-average sea-surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific, linked to changes in atmospheric circulation.

Erosion sideways into river banks, widening the channel and valley.