BSEB Inter Geography key terms

The branch of geography that studies how human populations spread over Earth's surface, how they interact with their surroundings, and how economic, cultural and political activities shape places.

The view that the natural environment controls human behaviour and settlement patterns, so that similar environments produce similar ways of life regardless of culture or technology.

The view that nature offers a range of possibilities from which people choose according to their culture, technology and needs, so environment limits but does not dictate human action.

A middle position holding that humans can modify their environment but must respect ecological limits, so nature sets boundaries within which human choice operates.

The average number of persons living per unit area, usually persons per square kilometre, obtained by dividing total population by total land area of the territory.

Total population of an area divided by its total land area, ignoring whether the land is cultivated, desert, forest or urban, so it gives only a rough crowding measure.

Total population divided by the area of cultivable land, showing how many people each unit of farmland must support and therefore how heavy the pressure on soil is.

The number of farmers or agricultural workers per unit of cultivated land, used to judge how labour-intensive farming is and whether farms are fragmented or consolidated.

The number of females per 1,000 males in a population, a standard Indian measure of gender balance that reflects mortality, migration and, in some societies, discrimination against girls.

The distribution of a population across age groups, commonly shown as broad young, working and old bands, which determines demand for schools, jobs, housing and health care.

A paired horizontal bar graph plotting males and females by age group, whose outline reveals whether a population is youthful, mature or ageing and hints at past births, deaths and migration.

The number of persons in dependent ages, usually below 15 and above 64, expressed per 100 persons of working age, indicating how many non-earners each worker must support.

The economic advantage a country gains when a large share of its population is of working age and fertility has fallen, provided enough jobs and skills exist to employ them.

The historical shift of a population from high birth and death rates through a phase of rapid growth to low birth and death rates as health care and development improve.

The annual percentage change in population size, combining natural increase, births minus deaths, with net migration, and used to project how fast a population will double.

The process of enlarging people's choices and capabilities so they can lead long, healthy, knowledgeable and creative lives, rather than merely raising average income.

A composite index averaging three dimensions, a long and healthy life, knowledge, and a decent standard of living, each measured by life expectancy, education indicators and per capita income.

Amartya Sen's idea that development should be judged by what people are actually able to do and be, not by income or commodities alone, so freedom and choice become central.

An economic activity that directly draws products from nature, such as farming, fishing, forestry, grazing and mining, and whose output depends heavily on environmental conditions.

Farming in which most produce is consumed by the farmer's own household, plots are small, tools simple and output low, and little surplus reaches the market.

A form of subsistence farming in which forest is cleared and burnt, crops grown for a few years, and the plot abandoned when fertility falls so vegetation can recover.

Large-scale farming oriented to sale in markets, using capital, machinery, fertiliser and hired labour to produce high yields of one or a few crops or livestock for profit.

Large estates growing one tropical or subtropical cash crop such as tea, coffee, rubber or sugarcane, using abundant labour or capital and exporting most output.

An economic activity that changes the form of raw materials into finished or semi-finished goods, as in manufacturing, processing, construction and power generation.

A manufacturing activity whose location is not tied to raw materials or markets because its inputs are light and its products easily transported, so it follows labour or policy incentives.

The choice of where to place a factory, shaped by access to raw materials, power, labour, transport, capital, markets and government policy.

An economic activity that provides a service rather than a good, including transport, trade, banking, education, health care, tourism and administration.

A specialised service activity centred on knowledge, such as research, education, information processing, consultancy and financial analysis, often requiring high qualifications.

The highest-order service activity, involving decision-making and control by senior executives, policy-makers and scientists in government, universities and large corporations.

The interconnected system of routes and nodes, roads, railways, airways, waterways and terminals, along which people and goods move between places.

A place where goods are transferred from one mode of transport to another, such as a port or railhead, which often grows into a trading and processing centre.

The voluntary exchange of goods and services between regions or countries, driven by differences in resources, costs and demand and recorded as imports and exports.

The difference between the value of a country's exports and its imports of goods over a period; a surplus means exports exceed imports and a deficit means the reverse.

A permanent or temporary cluster of dwellings where people live, ranging from a hamlet or village to a town or metropolis, shaped by site, situation and function.

The rising share of a population living in towns and cities, produced by rural-to-urban migration and by natural growth and reclassification of settlements.

A continuous built-up area formed when neighbouring towns expand and merge, so that separate administrative units function as one large urban labour and housing market.

The official enumeration of a country's population at regular intervals, recording numbers, age, sex, literacy, occupation and residence for planning and analysis.

The percentage of the population aged seven and above who can read and write with understanding, a core indicator of educational development in India.

The exchange of goods and services across national borders, influenced by comparative advantage, tariffs, trade agreements and the direction and composition of a country's exports and imports.

The deterioration of land, water and air quality through pollution, deforestation, over-extraction and unplanned urban growth, reducing the resource base for future generations.

The ratio between distance on a map and the corresponding distance on the ground, expressed as a statement, representative fraction or linear bar.

A line on a map joining points of equal elevation above sea level, whose spacing and shape reveal slope steepness, valleys, ridges and hill summits.

A large-scale map showing relief by contours together with rivers, roads, settlements and land use, used for terrain interpretation and field survey work.