Glossary of Key Words
Hint for using this: Windows: press CTRL and F at the same time and then search for the word you want to look up. For Mac, use Command and F together.
| Key Word | Meaning | Example sentence |
| Altitude | Height of the land above sea level. | Mountains have a very high altitude, but rivers that are entering the sea flow at a very low altitude. |
| Aquifer | A store of water in the underground rocks. | |
| Capillary Action | When the roots of plants draw water up from the soil. | |
| Climate | The average weather of a place. | The climate of South India is hot throughout the year, especially in the months of March, April and May. There is also a monsoon (rainy) season which usually lasts from April to November. |
| Channel | Where the water flows as a river or stream. | |
| Condensation | When water vapour (an invisible gas) turns into liquid water as water droplets. | |
| Confluence | The point at which two rivers meet. | |
| Convection | When warm air or water moves towards cooler air or water. With air, it means that warm air will rise until it cools. | |
| Deforestation | When forests are cleared to make way for farms, roads, mines etc. | There has been a lot of deforestation in some parts of North Thailand in the last thirty years. |
| Development | A word geographers use when they compare life in different countries. | |
| Drainage | Describes how water runs over the land (if there is any surface water). | The drainage in Egypt is made up of one main river, the Nile. The rest of the country does not have much drainage because it is mainly hot desert. |
| Drainage Basin | The area of land drained by a river and its tributaries. | |
| Ecosystem | A group of living things and the environment in which they live. | The rainforest is an ecosystem with many living things. |
| Employment | The jobs people do. You can also use the phrase ‘economic activity’ (see below) | There is a lot of employment in the city. |
| Economic Activity | Work people earn money from. (The way people make a living). | Some of the main types of economic activity in Thailand are rice farming, manufacturing, and tourism. |
| Evaporation | When liquid water turns into a gas that is invisible (water vapour). | |
| Evapotranspiration | When both evaporation and transpiration are happening. | |
| Groundwater | Water stored in the rocks underground (also known as an aquifer). | |
| Groundwater Flow | Water that moves slowly downhill through the underground rocks, often towards a river. | |
| Impermeable | Does not let water through. | Concrete is an impermeable surface, and rain either stays on it as surface storage or moves across it as surface runoff. |
| Infiltration | When rainwater goes downwards into the soil. | There is more infiltration if the soil is loose and quite dry. |
| Interception | When trees and other plants (vegetation) block rainfall (precipitation) on its way to the ground. | Deforestation means there is less interception because there are less tress to block the rainfall. |
| Landforms | These are features on the Earth’s surface such as a mountain. | |
| Less Economically Developed Country (LEDC) | A poor country. Much of its economic activity will not earn very much money compared to the economic activity of richer countries. | Bangladesh is a Less Economically Developed Country (LEDC). |
| More Economically Developed Country | A rich country, with a lot of economic activity that earns a lot of money. | Germany is a More Economically Developed Country (MEDC). |
| Mouth | Where a river meets the sea. | |
| Natural Hazards | These are natural events which threaten people’s lives such as earthquakes. | Geographers try to understand how natural hazards are caused so that people can try to protect themselves from them more. |
| Newly Industrialised Country | A country that has had a lot of fast development in recent years, especially with more manufacturing (factories) being set up. They are often thought of as somewhere between an LEDC and a MEDC. | |
| Overland Flow | Also known as Surface Runoff. Water that flows across the surface of the ground, often towards a stream or river. | |
| Percolation | Water that moves downwards in to the rocks underground. | |
| Permeable | Lets water through. | Dry sand is permeable, water soaks into it. |
| Pollution | When harmful substances are released into the environment. | There is a lot of pollution in the city mainly because of the traffic and the many factories. |
| Population | The number of people living in a place. | China is the country with the largest population in the world. |
| Precipitation | Water falling from the sky (as rain, hail, sleet or snow). | There is a lot of precipitation in Thailand during the monsoon (rainy) season. |
| Relief | The height and shape of the land. | North Thailand, in places near to Chiang Mai, has a lot of hilly relief, but Bangkok mostly has very flat relief. |
| River Channel | A river is contained in the river channel which usually has a flat riverbed (bottom) between two sides. | |
| Runoff | Any water that runs across the surface of the land. (Also known as Overland Flow or Surface Runoff). | |
| Rural | To do with the countryside. | |
| Rural-Urban Fringe | The area at the edge of the city that starts to become countryside. | In Thailand the urban-rural fringe seems to be a place where there are areas of new housing mixed with rice fields. |
| Saturated | Full of water. | If soil is saturated, there will be no infiltration, only surface storage and / or surface runoff. |
| Settlement | A place where people live. For example, it could be a few houses and nothing more, or a village, or a town, or a city. | Tokyo is a very large settlement with more than 12 million people living in this mega-city. |
| Soil Moisture | Water that is stored in the soil. | |
| Source | Where a river begins. | |
| Surface Runoff | Also known as Overland Flow. Water that flows across the surface of the ground, often towards a stream or river. | |
| Surface Storage | Water that stays on the surface of the ground, usually in puddles. | |
| Throughflow | Water that moves through the soil underground, often towards a stream or river, through cracks and holes in the soil. | |
| Tourism | When people travel for pleasure. | There is a lot of tourism in Thailand, which helps create a lot of employment. |
| Transportation | The ways in which people and goods are moved from one place to another. | The main types of transportation in the Philippines are by road and by boat (as this country is made up of many islands). |
| Transpiration | When water vapour (an invisible gas) leaves plants through tiny holes in their leaves. | |
| Tributary | A small river or stream that joins a larger river. | |
| Urban | To do with towns or cities. | |
| Urban Growth | An increase in the land area used by towns and cities. | |
| Urbanisation | This is the increase in the percentage of people living in towns and cities. It usually means that there is urban growth (see above). | |
| Vegetation | The plant-life in a place. | There is not much vegetation in the Himalayas, because most plants are unable to grow at a high altitude. |
| Watershed | The area of high land forming the edge of a river basin. |
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