Državna Matura Geography cheat sheet

Endogenic processes (tectonics, volcanism, earthquakes) build relief; exogenic processes (weathering, erosion, transport, deposition) destroy it; the balance of uplift and denudation shapes landforms.

Fluvial landforms: V-shaped valleys and waterfalls in the upper course, meanders and floodplains in the middle course, deltas and alluvial fans at deposition sites where gradient or current velocity drops.

Karst forms by chemical dissolution of limestone: surface features are karst polje, sinkhole (dolina), karst field and blind valley; underground features are caves, pits and stalactites/stalagmites.

Glacial landforms: cirque, arête and horn in the accumulation zone; U-shaped valley, hanging valley and moraines in the transport/deposition zone; drumlins and erratics mark former ice flow.

Climatic controls: latitude (insolation angle), altitude (lapse rate about 6.5 °C/km), distance from sea (continentality), ocean currents, prevailing winds and relief.

Köppen classification letters: A tropical, B dry, C temperate, D continental, E polar; second letter f = no dry season, s = dry summer, w = dry winter, m = monsoon.

Hydrology: a drainage basin is bounded by a watershed; regime depends on precipitation, snowmelt, evapotranspiration, geology and land cover; specific runoff = discharge / basin area.

Soil profile horizons: O organic litter, A humus-rich topsoil, B illuvial accumulation, C weathered parent material, R bedrock; soil type depends on climate, parent rock, relief, organisms and time.

Demographic transition stages: high stationary (high birth and death rates), early expanding, late expanding (death rate falls first), low stationary; natural increase = birth rate − death rate.

Population pyramid shapes: expansive (broad base, high fertility), stationary (straight sides), constrictive (narrow base, ageing population); dependency ratio = (0–14 + 65+) / 15–64 × 100.

Push factors include poverty, unemployment, conflict and environmental disaster; pull factors include jobs, wages, services and political stability; net migration = immigration − emigration.

Settlement hierarchy follows population size and service range: hamlet, village, small town, town, city, metropolis, megalopolis; higher-order centres offer rarer, more specialised services.

Urban models: Burgess concentric zones, Hoyt sectors, Harris–Ullman multiple nuclei; CBD is characterised by high land value, accessibility and vertical development.

Agriculture types: subsistence (shifting cultivation, pastoral nomadism), commercial (mixed farming, plantation, ranching), intensive (rice paddies, market gardening); von Thünen rings depend on distance and perishability.

Industrial location factors: raw materials, energy, water, labour, transport, market and agglomeration; Weber's least-cost location minimises transport plus labour cost.

Transport and tourism: nodes–links model; accessibility drives tourism demand; carrying capacity limits sustainable visitor numbers at a destination.

Africa: the Great Rift Valley runs north–south in the east; the Sahara and Kalahari are the main deserts; the Nile and Congo are the largest river systems; climate is symmetric about the Equator.

Asia: the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau form the main watershed; monsoons dominate South and East Asia; the Ganges, Yangtze and Mekong support dense populations.

Europe: relief is dominated by the Alps, Pyrenees, Carpathians and the North European Plain; the Rhine, Danube and Volga are key navigable rivers; the Gulf Stream moderates the west coast.

North America: the Rocky Mountains, Great Plains, Mississippi–Missouri system, Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway; climate ranges from arctic to subtropical.

South America: the Andes, Amazon Basin, Orinoco and Paraná–Plata systems; the Amazon rainforest is the largest tropical forest; El Niño affects the Pacific coast.

Australia and Oceania: the Great Dividing Range, Murray–Darling Basin, Great Artesian Basin and the arid interior; most population is concentrated on the humid east and south-east coasts.

Polar regions: Antarctica is a continent covered by ice and governed by the Antarctic Treaty; the Arctic is an ocean surrounded by land with permafrost and tundra.

Country profiles: compare population, capital, dominant relief, climate type and main economic sectors; use the correct continent and macroregion for each country.

Relief zones: the Pannonian lowland (east), the Dinaric mountain belt (karst, Lika, Gorski kotar) and the Adriatic coast with islands; the Dinaric belt runs NW–SE.

Climate: continental climate inland, mountain climate at high altitude, and Mediterranean climate on the coast; the bora (bura) is a cold, gusty NE wind, and the sirocco (jugo) is a warm, humid SE wind.

Rivers: the Sava, Drava, Danube and Kupa belong to the Black Sea basin; the Krka, Cetina and Neretva (partly) belong to the Adriatic basin; the Plitvice Lakes are a karst lake system.

Croatia has 1,244 islands, islets and rocks; the largest islands are Krk and Cres; the highest peak is Dinara (Sinjal, 1,831 m).

Population: about 3.9 million (2021 census); negative natural increase and emigration cause depopulation of rural and eastern areas; Zagreb is the largest city and capital.

Economy: services and tourism dominate; shipbuilding, food processing, oil and petrochemicals, and agriculture (Slavonia, Baranja, Srijem) are important; tourism is concentrated on the coast.

Regions: Slavonia, Baranja and Srijem (east), central Croatia, Hrvatsko zagorje, Lika and Gorski kotar, Istria, Dalmatia and Dubrovnik littoral; each has distinct relief and economy.

Protected areas include Plitvice Lakes, Krka, Paklenica, Risnjak, Northern Velebit and Brijuni national parks; karst poljes and caves are characteristic landforms.

Map scale = map distance / ground distance; a 1:50,000 map means 1 cm on the map equals 500 m on the ground; large scale shows more detail over a smaller area.

Map projections distort shape, area, distance or direction; conformal preserves angles, equal-area preserves area, equidistant preserves distance from a point or line.

Topographic map symbols: contour lines connect points of equal elevation; closer contours mean steeper slope; hachures and spot heights supplement elevation data.

GIS layers are thematic datasets (relief, roads, land use) referenced to coordinates; overlay, buffer, clip, dissolve and spatial join are core analysis operations.

Raster data are grid cells (pixels) suited to continuous surfaces; vector data are points, lines and polygons suited to discrete objects; each has different storage and analysis trade-offs.

Remote sensing: passive sensors record reflected solar or emitted energy; active sensors (radar, lidar) emit their own signal; resolution types are spatial, spectral, temporal and radiometric.

NDVI = (NIR − Red) / (NIR + Red); values near 1 indicate dense healthy vegetation; values near 0 or negative indicate bare soil, water or built-up surfaces.

GPS/GNSS uses satellite signals to determine position; accuracy depends on satellite geometry, atmospheric effects and correction services (e.g. differential GNSS).

Research design: define the problem, formulate a hypothesis, choose methods, collect data, analyse, interpret and report; a hypothesis must be testable against evidence.

Sampling: random, systematic and stratified sampling reduce bias; sample size affects reliability; a pilot study tests instruments before the main survey.

Fieldwork instruments: clinometer (slope angle), compass (bearing), GPS (location), flow meter (discharge), thermometer and pH meter (water quality), quadrat (vegetation cover).

Data types: nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio; choose mean/median/mode and appropriate graphs (bar, line, scatter, histogram) according to data type.

Central tendency and dispersion: mean, median and mode describe the centre; range and standard deviation describe spread; correlation describes the strength of a relationship, not causation.

Cartographic interpretation: read legend, scale and orientation first; use contour spacing for slope, drainage patterns for lithology, and settlement patterns for human activity.

Statistical tests: chi-square for association between categorical variables; Spearman rank correlation for monotonic relationships between ranked data; significance level commonly 0.05.

Presenting results: label axes and units, include a title and legend, and state limitations such as sample size, measurement error and seasonal bias.

Sustainable development balances economic growth, social equity and environmental protection; the Brundtland definition is development that meets present needs without compromising future generations.

Climate change: greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, N2O, water vapour) trap outgoing long-wave radiation; the enhanced greenhouse effect raises global mean temperature and sea level.

Consequences include glacier retreat, ocean acidification, extreme weather, shifting biomes and coastal flooding; mitigation reduces emissions, adaptation reduces vulnerability.

Renewable energy sources include solar, wind, hydro, geothermal and biomass; non-renewable sources include coal, oil, gas and nuclear fuel; energy mix reflects resource endowment.

Environmental problems: air pollution (particulate matter, acid rain), water pollution (eutrophication, nitrates), soil degradation (erosion, salinisation), deforestation and biodiversity loss.

Waste management follows the hierarchy: prevent, reuse, recycle, recover energy, dispose; circular economy closes material loops; protected areas conserve habitats and species.

Globalisation: growth of trade, capital, information and labour flows; indicators include trade-to-GDP ratio, FDI and internet penetration; effects include outsourcing and regional inequality.

International frameworks: UN Sustainable Development Goals (17 goals), Paris Agreement (limit warming well below 2 °C), Kyoto Protocol and national protected-area networks.

Endogenic processes (tectonics, volcanism, earthquakes) build relief; exogenic processes (weathering, erosion, transport, deposition) destroy it; the balance of uplift and denudation shapes landforms.

Fluvial landforms: V-shaped valleys and waterfalls in the upper course, meanders and floodplains in the middle course, deltas and alluvial fans at deposition sites where gradient or current velocity drops.

Karst forms by chemical dissolution of limestone: surface features are karst polje, sinkhole (dolina), karst field and blind valley; underground features are caves, pits and stalactites/stalagmites.

Glacial landforms: cirque, arête and horn in the accumulation zone; U-shaped valley, hanging valley and moraines in the transport/deposition zone; drumlins and erratics mark former ice flow.

Climatic controls: latitude (insolation angle), altitude (lapse rate about 6.5 °C/km), distance from sea (continentality), ocean currents, prevailing winds and relief.

Köppen classification letters: A tropical, B dry, C temperate, D continental, E polar; second letter f = no dry season, s = dry summer, w = dry winter, m = monsoon.

Hydrology: a drainage basin is bounded by a watershed; regime depends on precipitation, snowmelt, evapotranspiration, geology and land cover; specific runoff = discharge / basin area.

Soil profile horizons: O organic litter, A humus-rich topsoil, B illuvial accumulation, C weathered parent material, R bedrock; soil type depends on climate, parent rock, relief, organisms and time.

Demographic transition stages: high stationary (high birth and death rates), early expanding, late expanding (death rate falls first), low stationary; natural increase = birth rate − death rate.

Population pyramid shapes: expansive (broad base, high fertility), stationary (straight sides), constrictive (narrow base, ageing population); dependency ratio = (0–14 + 65+) / 15–64 × 100.

Push factors include poverty, unemployment, conflict and environmental disaster; pull factors include jobs, wages, services and political stability; net migration = immigration − emigration.

Settlement hierarchy follows population size and service range: hamlet, village, small town, town, city, metropolis, megalopolis; higher-order centres offer rarer, more specialised services.

Urban models: Burgess concentric zones, Hoyt sectors, Harris–Ullman multiple nuclei; CBD is characterised by high land value, accessibility and vertical development.

Agriculture types: subsistence (shifting cultivation, pastoral nomadism), commercial (mixed farming, plantation, ranching), intensive (rice paddies, market gardening); von Thünen rings depend on distance and perishability.

Industrial location factors: raw materials, energy, water, labour, transport, market and agglomeration; Weber's least-cost location minimises transport plus labour cost.

Transport and tourism: nodes–links model; accessibility drives tourism demand; carrying capacity limits sustainable visitor numbers at a destination.

Africa: the Great Rift Valley runs north–south in the east; the Sahara and Kalahari are the main deserts; the Nile and Congo are the largest river systems; climate is symmetric about the Equator.

Asia: the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau form the main watershed; monsoons dominate South and East Asia; the Ganges, Yangtze and Mekong support dense populations.

Europe: relief is dominated by the Alps, Pyrenees, Carpathians and North European Plain; the Rhine, Danube and Volga are key navigable rivers; the Gulf Stream moderates the west coast.

North America: the Rocky Mountains, Great Plains, Mississippi–Missouri system, Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway; climate ranges from arctic to subtropical.

South America: the Andes, Amazon Basin, Orinoco and Paraná–Plata systems; the Amazon rainforest is the largest tropical forest; El Niño affects the Pacific coast.

Australia and Oceania: the Great Dividing Range, Murray–Darling Basin, Great Artesian Basin and the arid interior; most population is concentrated on the humid east and south-east coasts.

Polar regions: Antarctica is a continent covered by ice and governed by the Antarctic Treaty; the Arctic is an ocean surrounded by land with permafrost and tundra.

Country profiles: compare population, capital, dominant relief, climate type and main economic sectors; use the correct continent and macroregion for each country.

Relief zones: the Pannonian lowland (east), the Dinaric mountain belt (karst, Lika, Gorski kotar) and the Adriatic coast with islands; the Dinaric belt runs NW–SE.

Climate: continental climate inland, mountain climate at high altitude, and Mediterranean climate on the coast; the bora (bura) is a cold, gusty NE wind, and the sirocco (jugo) is a warm, humid SE wind.

Rivers: the Sava, Drava, Danube and Kupa belong to the Black Sea basin; the Krka, Cetina and Neretva (partly) belong to the Adriatic basin; the Plitvice Lakes are a karst lake system.

Croatia has 1,244 islands, islets and rocks; the largest islands are Krk and Cres; the highest peak is Dinara (Sinjal, 1,831 m).

Population: about 3.9 million (2021 census); negative natural increase and emigration cause depopulation of rural and eastern areas; Zagreb is the largest city and capital.

Economy: services and tourism dominate; shipbuilding, food processing, oil and petrochemicals, and agriculture (Slavonia, Baranja, Srijem) are important; tourism is concentrated on the coast.

Regions: Slavonia, Baranja and Srijem (east), central Croatia, Hrvatsko zagorje, Lika and Gorski kotar, Istria, Dalmatia and Dubrovnik littoral; each has distinct relief and economy.

Protected areas include Plitvice Lakes, Krka, Paklenica, Risnjak, Northern Velebit and Brijuni national parks; karst poljes and caves are characteristic landforms.

Map scale = map distance / ground distance; a 1:50,000 map means 1 cm on the map equals 500 m on the ground; large scale shows more detail over a smaller area.

Map projections distort shape, area, distance or direction; conformal preserves angles, equal-area preserves area, equidistant preserves distance from a point or line.

Topographic map symbols: contour lines connect points of equal elevation; closer contours mean steeper slope; hachures and spot heights supplement elevation data.

GIS layers are thematic datasets (relief, roads, land use) referenced to coordinates; overlay, buffer, clip, dissolve and spatial join are core analysis operations.

Raster data are grid cells (pixels) suited to continuous surfaces; vector data are points, lines and polygons suited to discrete objects; each has different storage and analysis trade-offs.

Remote sensing: passive sensors record reflected solar or emitted energy; active sensors (radar, lidar) emit their own signal; resolution types are spatial, spectral, temporal and radiometric.

NDVI = (NIR − Red) / (NIR + Red); values near 1 indicate dense healthy vegetation; values near 0 or negative indicate bare soil, water or built-up surfaces.

GPS/GNSS uses satellite signals to determine position; accuracy depends on satellite geometry, atmospheric effects and correction services (e.g. differential GNSS).

Research design: define the problem, formulate a hypothesis, choose methods, collect data, analyse, interpret and report; a hypothesis must be testable against evidence.

Sampling: random, systematic and stratified sampling reduce bias; sample size affects reliability; a pilot study tests instruments before the main survey.

Fieldwork instruments: clinometer (slope angle), compass (bearing), GPS (location), flow meter (discharge), thermometer and pH meter (water quality), quadrat (vegetation cover).

Data types: nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio; choose mean/median/mode and appropriate graphs (bar, line, scatter, histogram) according to data type.

Central tendency and dispersion: mean, median and mode describe the centre; range and standard deviation describe spread; correlation describes the strength of a relationship, not causation.

Cartographic interpretation: read legend, scale and orientation first; use contour spacing for slope, drainage patterns for lithology, and settlement patterns for human activity.

Statistical tests: chi-square for association between categorical variables; Spearman rank correlation for monotonic relationships between ranked data; significance level commonly 0.05.

Presenting results: label axes and units, include a title and legend, and state limitations such as sample size, measurement error and seasonal bias.

Sustainable development balances economic growth, social equity and environmental protection; the Brundtland definition is development that meets present needs without compromising future generations.

Climate change: greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, N2O, water vapour) trap outgoing long-wave radiation; the enhanced greenhouse effect raises global mean temperature and sea level.

Consequences include glacier retreat, ocean acidification, extreme weather, shifting biomes and coastal flooding; mitigation reduces emissions, adaptation reduces vulnerability.

Renewable energy sources include solar, wind, hydro, geothermal and biomass; non-renewable sources include coal, oil, gas and nuclear fuel; energy mix reflects resource endowment.

Environmental problems: air pollution (particulate matter, acid rain), water pollution (eutrophication, nitrates), soil degradation (erosion, salinisation), deforestation and biodiversity loss.

Waste management follows the hierarchy: prevent, reuse, recycle, recover energy, dispose; circular economy closes material loops; protected areas conserve habitats and species.

Globalisation: growth of trade, capital, information and labour flows; indicators include trade-to-GDP ratio, FDI and internet penetration; effects include outsourcing and regional inequality.

International frameworks: UN Sustainable Development Goals (17 goals), Paris Agreement (limit warming well below 2 °C), Kyoto Protocol and national protected-area networks.