Geography key terms

An area of land containing a cluster of businesses, often on the edge of an urban area.

An organised bus transport system using dedicated infrastructure and coordinated services to improve public transport journeys.

Wide, flared roots extending above ground from the base of a tree, helping support tall trees with shallow root systems.

The energy obtained from the food a person eats, commonly expressed in kilocalories (kcal) per person per day.

The upper layer of overlapping tree crowns in a forest.

The amount of traffic, freight or passengers that a transport facility or network can handle.

The resources and abilities available to prepare for a hazard, deal with its effects and recover afterwards.

Chemical weathering in which slightly acidic rainwater dissolves calcium carbonate in rocks such as chalk and limestone.

Capturing carbon dioxide from an industrial source before it enters the atmosphere, then transporting and storing it underground.

A greenhouse gas released by burning fossil fuels and wood, and by industrial processes such as cement production. Plants remove it from the atmosphere through photosynthesis.

A unit that expresses different greenhouse gases in terms of the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide with the same warming effect.

The total greenhouse gas emissions associated with a product, activity or person. For food, this includes production, packaging and transport.

A store that takes in more carbon than it releases, such as a growing forest.

A traditional system of inherited social groups that can influence status and opportunities in Indian society.

A traditional system of inherited social groups that can influence people's status and opportunities.

The area of land drained by a river and its tributaries.

Keeping cattle on extensive areas of grazing land, often to produce beef.

A hollow eroded into coastal rock as waves enlarge a weakness such as a crack.

The central business district: the main concentration of shops and offices in a city centre.

A survey of the population and households, normally carried out every ten years in the UK, recording characteristics such as age, country of birth and employment.

The main commercial and business centre of a city, containing activities such as offices, banking and retail.

A measure describing the centre or typical value of a dataset, such as the mean, median or mode.

The shape of a river channel from one bank to the other, including its width and depth.

A view across a river channel showing its shape and changes in depth from one bank to the other.

Artificial alteration of a river channel, including straightening it, to move water downstream more quickly.

The breakdown of rock through chemical reactions that change or dissolve its minerals.

Low height for a child's age, indicating longer-term undernutrition.