Cambridge IGCSE Geography (0460) Syllabus

Geography (0460) syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Geography (0460) in Cambridge IGCSE, not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Population and Settlement

   4 topics

   • Population dynamics
     • Birth rates, death rates and growth
     • Population pyramids and structure
     • Population policies
   • Migration
     • Causes and types of migration
     • Impacts on source and destination
   • Settlements and service provision
     • Settlement patterns and hierarchy
     • Urban land use models
   • Urbanisation
     • Causes and problems of rapid urban growth
     • Managing urban environments
2. 2

   The Natural Environment

   5 topics

   • Earthquakes and volcanoes
     • Plate tectonics and plate boundaries
     • Hazards, impacts and management
   • Rivers
     • The drainage basin and water cycle
     • River processes and landforms
     • Flooding and management
   • Coasts
     • Marine processes
     • Coastal landforms
     • Coral reefs and mangroves
   • Weather and climate
     • Measuring weather elements
     • Equatorial and hot desert climates
   • Ecosystems
     • Tropical rainforest
     • Hot desert ecosystems
3. 3

   Economic Development

   5 topics

   • Development indicators
     • Measuring development
     • Inequalities within and between countries
   • Agriculture
     • Farming systems and inputs/outputs
     • Causes and effects of food shortages
   • Industry
     • Industrial systems and location factors
     • Manufacturing zones
   • Tourism
     • Growth of tourism
     • Benefits, disadvantages and sustainability
   • Energy, water and the environment
     • Energy supply and demand
     • Environmental risks of economic development
4. 4

   Geographical Skills and Fieldwork

   3 topics

   • Map skills
     • Grid references, scale and distance
     • Relief, cross-sections and gradient
   • Interpreting data
     • Graphs, charts and statistics
     • Photographs and satellite images
   • Fieldwork investigation
     • Hypotheses and data collection methods
     • Presentation, analysis and conclusions

Geography (0460) flashcards for Cambridge IGCSE

24 of 78 cards from the Geography (0460) deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. What is the formula for natural increase (or natural population change) per year?

   Natural increase $= \text{birth rate} - \text{death rate}$, expressed per 1000 people per year. A positive value means growth; negative means decline.

2. Define birth rate and death rate as used in population studies.

   Birth rate = number of live births per 1000 people per year. Death rate = number of deaths per 1000 people per year.

3. How is population density calculated, and what are its units?

   $$\text{Population density} = \frac{\text{total population}}{\text{land area}}$$ measured in people per $\text{km}^{2}$.

4. What is the difference between population density and population distribution?

   Density is the number of people per unit area (people/$\text{km}^{2}$); distribution is how people are spread out across an area (e.g. clustered, sparse, even).

5. Name the five stages of the Demographic Transition Model (DTM).

   Stage 1 high fluctuating; Stage 2 early expanding; Stage 3 late expanding; Stage 4 low fluctuating; Stage 5 declining.

6. In the Demographic Transition Model, what happens to birth and death rates in Stage 2?

   Death rate falls rapidly (better food, medicine, sanitation) while birth rate stays high, producing a high natural increase and rapid population growth.

7. What does a population pyramid with a wide base and narrow top indicate?

   A youthful, rapidly growing population with high birth rate, high death rate and low life expectancy (typical of an LIC in DTM Stage 2).

8. Define dependency ratio and give its formula.

   It measures the non-working population relative to the working population: $$\text{Dependency ratio} = \frac{\text{(under 15)} + \text{(over 64)}}{\text{population aged 15--64}} \times 100$$

9. List two problems caused by an ageing population.

   Higher cost of pensions and healthcare; shrinking workforce and tax base; greater demand for care services; potential labour shortages.

10. What is an anti-natalist policy? Give an example.

    A policy to reduce the birth rate. Example: China's former One-Child Policy, which used fines and incentives to limit family size.

11. Define migration and distinguish a migrant's immigration from emigration.

    Migration is the movement of people to live in another place. Immigration = moving into a country; emigration = leaving a country to live elsewhere.

12. What is the difference between voluntary and forced migration?

    Voluntary migration is by personal choice (e.g. for work). Forced migration is when people have no choice (e.g. fleeing war, natural disaster, persecution).

13. Define push and pull factors in migration, with one example of each.

    Push factors drive people away from an area (e.g. unemployment, war). Pull factors attract people to a destination (e.g. better jobs, safety).

14. What is the difference between a refugee and an economic migrant?

    A refugee is forced to flee their country due to war, persecution or disaster. An economic migrant moves voluntarily to improve their standard of living/work.

15. State two impacts of emigration on the source (origin) country.

    Negative: loss of working-age people and skills (brain drain). Positive: remittances sent home, reduced pressure on jobs and resources.

16. What is a settlement hierarchy? List its order from smallest to largest.

    A ranking of settlements by size and services: isolated dwelling, hamlet, village, town, city, conurbation/megacity.

17. Define sphere of influence and threshold population for a service.

    Sphere of influence is the area served by a settlement/service. Threshold population is the minimum number of people needed to support a service.

18. What is the difference between low-order and high-order goods/services?

    Low-order goods are cheap, bought frequently with a low threshold (e.g. bread, newspapers). High-order goods are expensive, bought rarely with a high threshold and wide range (e.g. furniture, cars).

19. Name four common settlement site factors.

    Water supply (wet point), dry point (above flood level), defence, shelter, fertile land, building materials, fuel, and good communications/route centre.

20. Describe the four main settlement shapes/patterns.

    Nucleated (clustered around a point), dispersed (scattered), linear (along a road/river), and isolated (single dwellings).

21. Define urbanisation.

    The increasing proportion of a country's population living in towns and cities (urban areas) rather than rural areas.

22. Name the typical land-use zones in the Burgess (concentric) urban model from centre outwards.

    CBD (central business district), inner city/zone of transition (older industry and housing), inner suburbs (medium-class housing), outer suburbs (high-class housing), and rural-urban fringe.

23. What is a shanty town / squatter settlement?

    An area of illegal, self-built informal housing on the edge of (or within) a city in an LIC, often lacking services such as clean water, sanitation and electricity.

24. List three problems of rapid urbanisation in LICs.

    Housing shortages/shanty towns, traffic congestion and air pollution, unemployment/informal jobs, pressure on water, sanitation and waste services.

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