Geography
Geography
The exam tests physical and human geography: map reading, projections and scale, climate and biomes, population and migration, urbanization, economic development, and human-environment interaction. Items often present a map, graph, or table and ask you to interpret spatial patterns rather than recall a place name.
Core rules and concepts
- Latitude and longitude. Latitude measures distance north or south of the equator and strongly influences climate; longitude measures east or west and relates to time zones.
- Map projections. Mercator preserves shape and direction but exaggerates area at high latitudes; equal-area projections preserve area but distort shape; Robinson is a compromise.
- Climate and weather. Weather is short-term atmospheric conditions; climate is long-term pattern. Climate depends on latitude, altitude, proximity to water, ocean currents, and prevailing winds.
- Demographic transition. High birth and death rates shift to low birth and death rates as societies urbanize and develop, with rapid growth in the middle stage.
- Migration. Push factors drive people away (conflict, drought, unemployment); pull factors attract them (jobs, safety, services).
- Human-environment interaction. Irrigation, deforestation, desertification, and greenhouse gas emissions show how societies modify and depend on environments.
Worked example
A question shows a Mercator map and notes that Greenland appears nearly the size of Africa. Reason it out: Mercator projections stretch the map near the poles to preserve direction, so area is distorted at high latitudes. Africa lies near the equator, where distortion is minimal. The correct explanation is projection distortion, not an outdated map or a scale error.
Traps that cost marks
- Confusing weather with climate.
- Reversing latitude and longitude.
- Reading a projection as a literal picture of the globe.
- Assuming high population density means high development.
- Swapping push and pull factors in migration scenarios.