CSS Geography Economic Geography Syllabus

Economic Geography syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Economic Geography in CSS Geography, not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Agricultural Systems

   5 topics

   • Factors affecting agriculture
   • Subsistence agriculture and population growth
   • Commercial agriculture and market forces
   • Sustainable agriculture
   • Types and distribution of agriculture
2. 2

   Industrial Geography

   4 topics

   • The Industrial Revolution
   • Factors of industrial location
   • Industrial location theories
   • Distribution of industries and industrial estates
3. 3

   Resources and Sustainability

   4 topics

   • Renewable resources
   • Recycling resources
   • Sustainable resources
   • Power and energy resources

Economic Geography flashcards for CSS Geography

21 of 50 cards from the Economic Geography deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. Define economic geography.

   The branch of geography that studies the location, distribution, and spatial organization of economic activities (production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services) across the Earth's surface.

2. List the main physical (natural) factors affecting agriculture.

   Climate (temperature, rainfall, length of growing season), soil (fertility, texture, depth), relief/topography (slope, altitude), and water availability (drainage and irrigation).

3. What are the principal human/economic factors affecting agriculture?

   Capital (machinery, inputs), labour, technology, transport, market access, government policy/subsidies, land tenure/ownership, and farm size.

4. What climatic threshold roughly limits most crop cultivation in terms of rainfall?

   About 250 mm (10 inches) of annual rainfall is generally the lower limit for rain-fed (dry) farming; below this, irrigation or pastoral nomadism dominates.

5. How does temperature (growing season) act as a limiting factor for agriculture?

   Crops need a minimum growing-season temperature (commonly above 6 degrees C) and a frost-free period of sufficient length; high latitudes and altitudes shorten the growing season and limit cultivation.

6. How does relief/slope affect agriculture?

   Steep slopes increase erosion, hinder machinery, and reduce soil depth, so they favour terracing, pasture, or forestry, while flat or gently sloping land favours arable cultivation.

7. Define subsistence agriculture.

   A farming system in which farmers grow crops and raise livestock mainly to feed themselves and their families, with little or no surplus produced for sale.

8. Distinguish intensive subsistence agriculture from extensive (shifting) subsistence agriculture.

   Intensive subsistence uses small plots with high labour and yields per unit area (e.g., wet-rice farming in monsoon Asia); extensive subsistence uses large areas with low inputs per unit (e.g., shifting cultivation, pastoral nomadism).

9. What is shifting cultivation (slash-and-burn)?

   An extensive subsistence system where vegetation is cleared and burned, the cleared plot is cropped for a few years until fertility declines, then abandoned for the land to recover while farmers move to a new plot.

10. Name regional terms for shifting cultivation.

    Jhum (India/Bangladesh), Milpa (Central America/Mexico), Ladang (Indonesia/Malaysia), Chitemene (Zambia), and Roca (Brazil).

11. State Boserup's theory linking population growth and agriculture.

    Ester Boserup argued that population growth drives agricultural intensification and innovation ('necessity is the mother of invention'), so rising population leads to more intensive farming methods and higher output rather than famine.

12. How does Malthus's view of population and agriculture differ from Boserup's?

    Malthus held that population grows geometrically while food supply grows arithmetically, so population is checked by famine, disease, and war (positive checks); Boserup held that population pressure stimulates agricultural intensification to feed more people.

13. Define commercial agriculture.

    A farming system in which crops and livestock are produced primarily for sale in the market to generate profit, characterised by large scale, high capital input, and specialisation.

14. Name the three main types of commercial agriculture.

    Commercial grain farming (extensive cereal), mixed crop-and-livestock farming, and commercial plantation/specialised farming (including commercial gardening/horticulture and dairying).

15. What is plantation agriculture?

    A large-scale commercial farming system, typically in tropical/subtropical regions, that specialises in one or two cash crops (e.g., tea, coffee, rubber, sugarcane, banana) grown for export.

16. How do market forces influence commercial agriculture?

    Prices, demand, and competition determine what is grown, where, and in what quantity; farmers respond to profitability, world commodity prices, supply-demand balance, and the cost of transport to market.

17. Define sustainable agriculture.

    Farming that meets current food and fibre needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs, by maintaining soil health, conserving water, protecting biodiversity, and remaining economically viable.

18. List three core goals (pillars) of sustainable agriculture.

    Environmental health (conserving soil, water, biodiversity), economic profitability, and social/economic equity for farmers and communities.

19. Name common practices used in sustainable agriculture.

    Crop rotation, organic farming, integrated pest management (IPM), agroforestry, conservation/zero tillage, contour ploughing/terracing, cover cropping, and drip irrigation.

20. What is crop rotation and why is it sustainable?

    Growing different crops in sequence on the same land across seasons; it restores soil fertility (e.g., legumes fix nitrogen), breaks pest and disease cycles, and reduces dependence on chemical fertilisers.

21. What is integrated pest management (IPM)?

    A sustainable pest-control approach combining biological, cultural, mechanical, and minimal chemical methods to keep pests below economic damage levels while reducing pesticide use.

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