IGCSE Theme 3 Economic Development Definitions

Question 1

Define the term GNP per capita

Answer 1

The total value of all the goods and services produced by a country in a year including income from foreign investments

Question 2

Define the term HDI

Answer 2

Human Development Index. A summary measure of life expectancy at birth, mean years of schooling and expected years of school and gross national income per capita

Question 3

Define the term literacy rate

Answer 3

The percentage of a population that can read and write

Question 4

Define the term life expectancy

Answer 4

The number of years that a person can expect to live, on average, in a given population

Question 5

Define the term primary sector

Answer 5

Involves the production or extraction of raw materials - this includes forestry, farming, fishing and mining

Question 6

Define the term secondary sector

Answer 6

The manufacturing of goods. For example, producing cars in a car factory or making clothes in the textile industry.

Question 7

Define the term tertiary sector

Answer 7

Involves providing services to people, for example a cleaner, teacher or a doctor

Question 8

Define the term quaternary sector

Answer 8

Focuses on knowledge-based industries or high-tech industries such as ICT (information and communication technologies) and research and development

Question 9

Define the term globalisation

Answer 9

The process by which the world is becoming increasingly interconnected as a result of massively increased trade and cultural exchange

Question 10

Define the term commercial agriculture

Answer 10

Farming to make a profit

Question 11

Define the term subsistence agriculture

Answer 11

Farming for consumption, not for sale

Question 12

Define the term arable agriculture

Answer 12

The growing of crops only

Question 13

Define the term pastoral agriculture

Answer 13

The rearing of animals only for eggs, milk, wool etc

Question 14

Define the term mixed agriculture

Answer 14

Both animals and plants are reared and grown respectively

Question 15

Define the term intensive agriculture

Answer 15

A system of farming using large amounts of labour and capital relative to the land area

Question 16

Define the term extensive agriculture

Answer 16

An agricultural system that uses small inputs of labour and capital relative to the land area

Question 17

Define the term sedentary farming

Answer 17

Farming in one place

Question 18

Define the term nomadic farming

Answer 18

Moving from one place to another, especially with herds of animals

Question 19

Define the term input (agriculture)

Answer 19

What is put into a farming system - these may be human or natural e.g. Labour, land, capital, seeds, climate, soil, relief, machinery, fertilisers, water

Question 20

Define the term agricultural process

Answer 20

A sequence of actions in a farming system - these include ploughing, spraying, weeding, harvesting, sowing, milking, feeding, irrigation

Question 21

Define the term agricultural outputs

Answer 21

The outcome of agricultural processes - these include crops, pollution, agricultural waste, profits, meat, wool, lambs, calves

Question 22

Define the term industrial inputs

Answer 22

Materials that are used in the process to create an output

Question 23

Define the term industrial processes

Answer 23

The procedures in a factory or where materials are changed into a final product

Question 24

Define the term industrial outputs

Answer 24

Finished products and wastes obtained from industry

Question 25

Define the term manufacturing industry

Answer 25

When raw materials are made into products

Question 26

Define the term processing industry

Answer 26

Raw materials are treated or prepared into a different state through a series of stages. This often uses chemical processes

Question 27

Define the term assembly industry

Answer 27

Industries that put together and combine component parts until the final product is assembled

Question 28

Define the term high-technology industry (hi-tech industry)

Answer 28

These industries are defined by having high concentrations of workers in STEM occupations; often involve microelectronics and advanced manufacturing techniques

Question 29

Define the term tourism

Answer 29

Travel away from home for recreation and pleasure that involves at least one overnight stay

Question 30

Define the term renewable energy

Answer 30

Energy that comes from sources or processes that are constantly replenished

Question 31

Define the non-renewable energy

Answer 31

Energy sources that will run out or will not be replenished in our lifetimes

Question 32

Define the term fossil fuels

Answer 32

A fuel formed from the remains of former living things

Question 33

Define the term soil erosion

Answer 33

The wearing away of the upper layer of soil often by wind or water

Question 34

Define the term desertification

Answer 34

A decline in soil fertility characterised by an area becoming increasingly arid

Question 35

Define the term enhanced global warming

Answer 35

Human activities that are adding to the warming of the atmosphere due to the greenhouse effect

Question 36

Define the term sustainable development

Answer 36

Development that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

Question 37

Define the term ecotourism

Answer 37

A form of tourism involving responsible travel to natural areas, conserving the environment