Geography key terms

A map using symbols whose areas are proportional to the quantities represented at particular locations.

Symbols whose sizes represent quantities. For proportional circles or squares, symbol area is proportional to the value represented.

A large, largely undisturbed natural area protected to preserve biodiversity and natural processes.

Physical measures, such as reinforced shelters and sea walls, designed to reduce harm from a hazard.

The supply of a resource to meet people’s needs.

An initial statistical estimate that may change when more information becomes available or methods are improved.

Indirect evidence used to reconstruct past climatic conditions, such as pollen, tree rings or the chemical composition of ice.

Investment by government, for example in transport, education, healthcare or housing.

A feature that attracts people to a place, such as employment opportunities or better access to healthcare.

The amount of goods and services that a person's income can buy.

A condition that encourages people to leave a place, such as drought or loss of their livelihood.

A pointed mountain summit formed as three or more corries erode back towards one another.

A fast-moving flow of very hot gases, ash and rock fragments travelling down a volcano.

Descriptive information, such as observations of a landscape or people's comments about a place.

Descriptive information, such as observations of housing conditions or residents’ accounts of their experiences.

People's overall well-being, including their health, education and access to essential services, rather than income alone.

Information recorded as numbers through counting, measuring or scoring.

Information expressed as numbers, such as income, journey times or the number of people sharing a toilet.

A value dividing ordered data into quarters. The lower quartile is at approximately 25%, the median at 50% and the upper quartile at 75%.

The geological period covering approximately the last 2.6 million years, characterised by repeated glacial and interglacial periods.

The most recent geological period, beginning about 2.6 million years ago and continuing to the present.

Knowledge-based economic activities involving research, information and the development of new ideas or technologies.

A group containing one fifth, or 20%, of a set ranked by a characteristic such as income.

A circular graph with several axes extending outwards from a shared centre.

Energy travelling as electromagnetic waves. Incoming sunlight is mainly short-wave radiation; Earth emits energy as long-wave infrared radiation.

The breakdown of unstable atomic nuclei, releasing energy that contributes to Earth's internal heat.

Waste containing radioactive material that requires secure management and storage to protect people and the environment.