Geography key terms

The ideas, customs and activities associated with a society, including its music, films and sport.

A running total of frequencies up to a particular value or class boundary.

A situation in which low incomes limit investment in improvements that could help raise incomes, allowing poverty to continue.

The path followed by the centre of a tropical cyclone over time.

A barrier built across a river to hold back water and control its flow.

Examining data using comparisons, calculations and relationships to make findings more precise.

A prepared form for recording observations or measurements consistently during an investigation.

A restriction or weakness in evidence that limits what can reasonably be concluded from it.

Organising or calculating with collected information so that it can be compared and interpreted.

The number of deaths per 1,000 people in a population in one year.

Money that has been borrowed and must be repaid.

An arrangement in which some of a country’s debt is cancelled or redirected in return for funding or commitments to protect the environment.

The cancellation or reduction of debt, reducing the repayments a borrower must make.

The movement of businesses and other activities away from a city centre or inner city towards outer areas or other locations.

Describes trees that shed their leaves seasonally, usually in autumn in temperate climates.

A tree that loses its leaves seasonally, usually in autumn in the UK.

Trees that shed their leaves seasonally, such as oak trees.

An ecosystem dominated by trees that shed their leaves seasonally, usually in autumn in temperate regions.

One of ten groups formed by ordering a dataset and dividing it into approximately equal parts. IMD decile 1 contains England's most deprived tenth of neighbourhoods.

An organism, such as a bacterium or fungus, that breaks down dead organic material and releases nutrients.

The breakdown of dead organic material by organisms such as bacteria and fungi, releasing nutrients.

To break a source into its parts, such as its labels, features, wording and composition, to examine how it communicates information.

An earthquake that begins far below the Earth’s surface, associated with a tectonic plate descending at a subduction zone.

The removal of forest, often to make land available for farming or other uses.

The amount or proportion of forest cleared over a stated period, often expressed in hectares per year or as a percentage per year.

The proportion of a population living in urban areas at a particular time, usually expressed as a percentage.

The decline in the importance of manufacturing within an economy, particularly its share of employment.