Državna Matura Geography flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Karst polje

A large flat-floored depression in limestone terrain, bounded by steep slopes and often cultivated; formed by dissolution and tectonic movement along faults in the Dinaric karst.

Lapse rate

The rate at which air temperature falls with altitude, averaging about 6.5 °C per kilometre in the troposphere; explains why mountain climates differ from lowland climates at the same latitude.

Drainage basin

An area of land drained by a river and its tributaries, bounded by a watershed; its regime depends on precipitation, snowmelt, geology, relief and vegetation cover.

Soil horizon

A distinct layer in a soil profile: O organic litter, A humus-rich topsoil, B illuvial accumulation, C weathered parent material and R bedrock; horizons reflect climate, rock and time.

Demographic transition

A model of population change through stages from high birth and death rates to low birth and death rates; natural increase is highest in the late expanding stage.

Dependency ratio

The ratio of dependants (population aged 0–14 plus 65 and over) to the working-age population (15–64), usually multiplied by 100 to express it as a percentage.

Push and pull factors

Conditions that drive migration: push factors such as poverty, unemployment or conflict repel people; pull factors such as jobs, wages and services attract them to a destination.

Von Thünen model

A model of agricultural land use in concentric rings around a market; land use depends on distance, transport cost and product perishability, with intensive farming nearest the market.

Great Rift Valley

A north–south tectonic depression in East Africa formed by crustal divergence, bordered by volcanoes and lakes such as Tanganyika and Malawi, and a major site of hominin fossils.

Monsoon

A seasonal reversal of prevailing winds, especially in South and East Asia, bringing a wet summer from the ocean and a dry winter from the land interior.

El Niño

An irregular warming of surface water in the eastern equatorial Pacific that shifts rainfall patterns, causing drought in some regions and floods in others worldwide.

Antarctic Treaty

An international agreement reserving Antarctica for peaceful scientific research, prohibiting military activity and mineral exploitation, and suspending territorial claims on the continent.

Bora (bura)

A cold, gusty north-easterly wind blowing down the Dinaric slopes toward the Adriatic, affecting coastal Croatia in winter and influencing coastal climate and traffic.

Dinara

The highest peak in Croatia, rising to 1,831 metres on the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina; the Dinaric mountain belt is named after it.

Croatian island count

Croatia has 1,244 islands, islets and rocks, of which about 50 are permanently inhabited; the largest islands are Krk and Cres.

Plitvice Lakes

A Croatian national park and UNESCO site of 16 terraced karst lakes linked by waterfalls; the tufa barriers are formed by precipitation of calcium carbonate.

Map scale

The ratio of map distance to ground distance; at 1:50,000 one centimetre on the map represents 500 metres on the ground, and larger scales show more detail.

Contour lines

Lines connecting points of equal elevation on a topographic map; closely spaced contours indicate steep slopes, and widely spaced contours indicate gentle slopes.

Vector and raster data

Two GIS data models: vector stores points, lines and polygons for discrete objects, while raster stores grid cells for continuous surfaces such as elevation or land cover.

NDVI

The Normalised Difference Vegetation Index, calculated as (NIR − Red) / (NIR + Red) from satellite bands; values near 1 indicate dense healthy vegetation.

Hypothesis

A testable statement predicting a relationship between variables; fieldwork data are collected to accept or reject it, and results are reported with limitations.

Stratified sampling

A sampling method that divides a population into subgroups (strata) and samples each proportionally, reducing bias compared with simple random sampling of the whole population.

Chi-square test

A statistical test of association between two categorical variables; it compares observed and expected frequencies and is significant when the calculated value exceeds the critical value.

Standard deviation

A measure of the spread of values around the mean; a small value indicates clustered data and a large value indicates widely dispersed data.

Sustainable development

Development that meets present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs, balancing economic, social and environmental objectives.

Enhanced greenhouse effect

The additional warming caused by human emissions of CO2, methane and nitrous oxide, which trap outgoing long-wave radiation and raise global mean temperature.

Mitigation and adaptation

Two responses to climate change: mitigation reduces greenhouse gas emissions, while adaptation adjusts systems to reduce vulnerability to unavoidable impacts such as sea-level rise.

Circular economy

An economic model that keeps materials in use through reuse, repair and recycling, reducing waste and resource consumption compared with a linear take-make-dispose model.

Eutrophication

Excess nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates entering water cause algal blooms, oxygen depletion and loss of aquatic life; a common freshwater and coastal pollution problem.

Subsistence agriculture

Farming that produces mainly for the farmer's own household, such as shifting cultivation or pastoral nomadism, with little surplus for sale and low inputs.

Central business district

The commercial core of a city with the highest land values, greatest accessibility and tallest buildings, dominated by retail, offices and transport terminals.

Spearman rank correlation

A statistical test measuring the strength and direction of a monotonic relationship between two ranked variables, yielding a coefficient between −1 and +1.