Key term
Edexcel A-Level Geography 9GE0
Tectonic Processes and Hazards
Topic overviewGlobal distribution of tectonic hazards and plate boundary processesThe structure of the Earth and mantle convectionRidge push, slab pull and sea-floor spreadingDestructive and constructive plate marginsCollision and transform marginsMagma composition and eruption styleThe Benioff zone and earthquake magnitudeSeismic waves and their effectsVolcanic hazards and tsunamisHazard, vulnerability, resilience and the risk equationThe Pressure and Release modelThe impacts of tectonic hazardsMeasuring hazards, and the hazard profileSpeed of onset, areal extent, duration and predictabilityWhy impacts differ between countriesEducation, buildings, healthcare and income as factors in vulnerabilityGovernance at local and national levelPopulation density, isolation and urbanisationHow development level shapes disaster outcomesTrends in tectonic disasters, data reliability and samplingMega-disasters and multiple-hazard zonesTheoretical frameworks for prediction, impact and managementLand-use zoning and hazard-resistant designMonitoring, prediction, preparedness and aid
Glaciated Landscapes and ChangeLandscape
Topic overviewThe cryosphere and the types of glacierGlacial chronology and the causes of climate changeEvidence for Pleistocene ice extentRelict glacial landscapes, and polar against temperate glaciersPermafrost, nivation, frost heave and solifluctionIce wedges, patterned ground, pingos and loessGlacial mass balance and the ice-albedo feedbackAccumulation and ablation processesThe equilibrium line and how glaciers moveWhat controls the rate of glacial movementBasal slip and internal deformationWhat speeds a glacier up or slows it downDebris entrainment, transport and the scale of glacial landformsGlacial erosion, corries, aretes and pyramidal peaksTroughs, hanging valleys, ribbon lakes and roches moutonneesMoraines: lateral, medial, recessional and terminalDrumlins, till plains and the two kinds of tillErratics and reconstructing former ice movementMeltwater pathways, and analysing fluvioglacial sedimentFluvio-glacial (meltwater) landformsThe value of glaciated landscapes to peopleNatural hazards and human threats to glaciated landscapesClimate change and the players who manage these landscapesManagement approaches, legislation and scale
Coastal Landscapes and ChangeLandscape
Topic overviewThe littoral zone and the influences that shape itConcordant and discordant coasts, and geological structureCoastal types and the influence of rock structureFaulting, folding and geological weaknessesRock type, permeability and cliff profilesPsammosere succession on sand dunesHalosere succession and rates of recessionWaves, beach profiles and marine erosionWave-cut notches, platforms and cliffsCaves, arches, stacks and stumpsLongshore drift and the transport of sedimentSpits, bars, tombolos and other depositional landformsSediment cells: sources, transfers and sinksWeathering on the coastMass movement and its landformsRapid coastal recession and variations in its rateCauses of sea level change, and emergent coastlinesSubmergent coastlines and contemporary sea level riseCoastal flooding as a significant and increasing riskLosses from coastal recession, and environmental refugeesHard and soft engineering on the coastIntegrated coastal zone management and shoreline policiesHow coastal management decisions are made, and by whomUsing GIS, photographs and crowd-sourced data in coastal management
Globalisation
Topic overviewWidening, deepening and the global flowsThe five global flows definedTransport, ICT and the shrinking worldPolitical and economic decision making in globalisationMeasuring globalisation: the AT Kearney and KOF indicesTNCs, glocalisation, outsourcing and switched-off placesThe global shift and who gains from itThe social and environmental costs of the global shiftDeindustrialised regions in developed countriesRural-urban migration and the growth of megacitiesGlobal hub cities and international migrationThe costs and benefits of economic migrationCultural diffusion and the spread of a global cultureCultural erosion and opposition to globalisationMeasuring development: GDP, HDI and the Gender Inequality IndexEnvironmental measures, the Gini coefficient and the Lorenz curveGeographical skills: statistics, data and research ethicsWinners, losers and the widening development gapSocial, political and environmental tensions from global changeLocal sourcing and its costs and benefitsFair trade, ethical consumption and recycling
Regenerating PlacesPlaces
Topic overviewEconomic classification and variation from place to placeThe functions of a place and why they changeMeasuring place change and deprivationPast and present connections shaping economic and social characteristicsEconomic and social inequalities changing perceptions of areasLived experience, attachment and conflict over placeEvidence, representations, Spearman's rank and significance testingMeasures of dispersion: range, interquartile range and standard deviationSuccessful regions and the spiral of declinePerceptions of the need for regenerationNational planning, transport and funding decisionsNational policy: Levelling Up, house-building targets and foreign investmentLocal government incentives and inward investmentWhat attracts investment, and the multiplier effectLocal interest groups and tourism, sport and rural regenerationRebranding to change public perception of placesRebranding deindustrialised cities and rural areasEconomic, social and environmental measures of successDeprivation domains and demographic changeHow different stakeholders judge regenerationUrban stakeholders and their criteria for successUrban regeneration: reality, image and contested decisionsRural stakeholders and their criteria for successRural regeneration: reality, image and contested decisions
Diverse PlacesPlaces
Topic overviewPopulation structure variation from place to place and over timePopulation characteristics variation from place to place and over timeGlobal, national and regional influences on placeHow places are represented in film, art, music and mediaContinuity and change in demographic and cultural characterUrban places viewed differently by different groupsIdyllic and negative perceptions of rural placesHow reputation, media and lived experience shape rural viewsEvidence about living spaces, and research ethicsMedia and creative sources, coding and samplingIncreasing cultural and social diversity in the UKWhat causes segregationSegregation along the rural-urban continuum, and migrationPerceptions of segregated places, and measuring segregationLand-use change and tension between residents and newcomersMeasuring integration, and community cohesion in SloughDiverse rural communities: the Lake District
The Water Cycle and Water Insecurity
Topic overviewThe processes of the hydrological cycleThe stores of water and their relative sizeFluxes, residence time, fossil water and the cryosphereThe drainage basin as an open systemWhat influences drainage basin processesWater budgets and river regimesWhat shapes a storm hydrographReading a storm hydrographMeteorological and hydrological drought, ENSO and human causesThe impacts of drought on wetlands and forestsThe physical causes of floodingHuman causes of floodingThe environmental and economic impacts of floodingSocial impacts, case studies and synoptic chartsHow climate change alters the hydrological cycleENSO, uncertainty and future projectionsWater stress, scarcity and the physical causes of insecurityHuman causes of water insecurity and rising demandPhysical and economic water scarcityWhy economic scarcity happens, and the price of waterHow water is used: industry, energy and agricultureThe consequences of water insecurityCompeting users and trans-boundary riversThe players in water conflict, and its causesWater transfers as a hard engineering solutionMega dams and their costsDesalination, and the case against the techno-fixThe value of more sustainable schemes of restoration of water supplies and water conservationIntegrated drainage basin management and water treatiesThe players in water management and the conflicts between them
The Carbon Cycle and Energy Security
Topic overviewCarbon stores and fluxesChemical weathering, carbonate rocks and the slow carbon cycleBiological processes sequestering carbon (fast carbon cycle)Balanced carbon cycle sustaining earth systemsEnergy security and measuring energy useWhat shapes a country's energy mixContrasting energy mixes, public perception and OPECThe players in energy security, and energy pathwaysEnergy pathways and the mismatch between supply and demandUnconventional fossil fuels and their environmental costRenewables and nuclear: the costs and benefitsBiofuels, carbon capture, hydrogen and the uncertaintiesLand-use change and its effect on the carbon and water cyclesOcean acidification and coral reefsClimate belts, Amazonian drought and ecosystem servicesForest loss, the Kuznets curve and consumer attitudesHow warming changes the hydrological cycleUncertainty, ocean health and vulnerable regionsUncertainty, feedback loops and tipping pointsAdaptation and mitigation strategiesWhy players disagree, and handling climate data
Superpowers
Topic overviewWhat makes a superpower: economy, politics and militaryCultural, demographic and resource characteristicsHard power, soft power and smart powerThe Belt and Road Initiative, and power indexesPatterns of power change over timeEmerging powers and how their strengths are assessedWorld systems, dependency and modernisation theoryIGOs and how superpowers dominate themTNCs, cultural influence and WesternisationHow superpowers and emerging nations act in global decisionsAlliances, IGOs and geostrategyThe environmental cost of superpower demandThe rising middle class in emerging superpowersContested resources and intellectual propertyContested political spheres and open conflictChina's ties with the developing worldTensions in Asia and the Middle EastChallenges to existing superpowers, and future power structures
Health, Human Rights and InterventionConnections
Topic overviewConcepts of human developmentWhat causes variations in health and life expectancyHealth variations within countriesGovernments and IGOs defining development targets and policiesHuman rights in international law and agreementsDifferences between countries in definitions and protection of human rightsVariations in rights within countriesProgress towards equality, and the case studiesForms of geopolitical interventionDevelopment aid and the arguments about itEconomic development projects and military aidDevelopment focused on human rights and welfareHealth and life expectancy variation between and within countriesWelfare states, neo-liberalism and IGO programmesThe Responsibility to Protect and UN authorisationMilitary alliances, war crimes and the cost of military powerMeasuring the success of geopolitical interventionsThe mixed record of development aidWhy superpowers give aid, and the Gini coefficientMilitary interventions, both direct and indirect, have a mixed record of success
Migration, Identity and SovereigntyConnections
Topic overviewGlobalisation and the growth of migrationWhat changes migration patterns, and flow-line mapsVaried and complex causes of migrationConsequences of international migrationNation states and their varied historiesNationalism in the development of the modern worldTax havens, new state forms and alternatives to capitalismThe UN and its interventionsThe IMF, World Bank, WTO and other IGOsMigration in a globalised worldOpen borders, deregulation and migrant integrationNation states, borders and contested territoryNationalism, decolonisation and low-tax regimesIGOs managing environmental problemsNational identity as an elusive and contested conceptChallenges to national identityConsequences of disunity within nations
Migration, Identity and Sovereignty
- 17 subtopics
- 51 things to know
- Paper 2
- Global Development and Connections option, one of two
What Migration, Identity and Sovereignty covers
Covers movement, nationhood and the limits of state control: why migration has grown, how nation states and their borders came about, the organisations that manage global problems, and what national identity means when people move.
Where it is assessed
Paper 2
Human Geography. Optional content is not drawn on by the synoptic paper.
Check the Pearson Edexcel specification ↗The 17 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- Globalisation and the growth of migrationHow globalisation changed labour demand and encouraged rural-urban and international migration, China and EU-Schengen as examples, the share of people living outside their country of birth, and how migration policy and engagement with the global economy explain variation, compared through Singapore, Japan and Australia.Open →
- What changes migration patterns, and flow-line mapsRecall questions on how environmental, economic and political events redirect migration, and on constructing a flow-line map.Open →
- Varied and complex causes of migrationWork and family reunification as the main reasons for migration, conflict and poverty displacing refugees as with migrants crossing the Mediterranean, the economic theory of deregulated markets and open borders, free labour movement within the UK and the EU, push and pull factors, and qualitative and quantitative data on causes.Open →
- Consequences of international migrationHow migration changes the ethnic and cultural mix of nation states, why integration varies between and within nations, disputed social, economic, cultural and demographic impacts behind political tensions at the Mexico-US border and within the EU, how skills, income and borders shape who can migrate, and why the same data supports different conclusions.Open →
- Nation states and their varied historiesHow ethnic, cultural and linguistic unity varies between nation states with population history, isolation and migration, borders shaped by physical geography and colonial rule and the sovereignty and legitimacy problems they cause, contested borders such as Ukraine and Russia, unrecognised states such as Taiwan, and mapping unity and borders.Open →
- Nationalism in the development of the modern worldRecall questions on nineteenth-century nationalism and empire, decolonisation and its costs, and colonial migration links.Open →
- Tax havens, new state forms and alternatives to capitalismHow globalisation and deregulated capital markets produced tax havens as a new state form used by TNCs and wealthy individuals, their link to inequality, responses from governments, the OECD and NGOs, the 2021 global minimum tax and the Panama Papers, and alternative models in Bolivia under Evo Morales and Ecuador under Rafael Correa.Open →
- The UN and its interventionsThe growth of the UN since 1945, why the Security Council stalls, UN sanctions such as those on Iran and military intervention in the DRC, interventions outside UN authority by the USA and UK, how the IMF, World Bank and WTO shaped the global economy, and Structural Adjustment Programmes and the HIPC initiative, with Jamaica as a contested example.Open →
- The IMF, World Bank, WTO and other IGOsThe near-universal membership of the IMF, World Bank and WTO, regional blocs such as USMCA, ASEAN and the EU, and IGOs formed to manage environmental problems, including the Montreal Protocol, CITES, UNCLOS, the Helsinki Water Convention, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and the Antarctic Treaty System.Open →
- Migration in a globalised worldHow globalisation shifted labour demand and encouraged rural-urban migration in China and international migration in the EU-Schengen area, why foreign-born populations vary between countries such as Singapore, Japan and Australia, how environmental, economic and political events change source areas and destinations, economic migrants and refugees, and displacement across the Mediterranean.Open →
- Open borders, deregulation and migrant integrationThe economic theory that free trade, deregulated finance and open borders maximise efficiency, unrestricted labour movement within the UK and the EU but not globally, why migrant integration is uneven, perceived impacts behind political tensions at the Mexico-US border and within the EU, and how income affects migration opportunities.Open →
- Nation states, borders and contested territoryHow isolation and migration affect ethnic, cultural and linguistic unity, with Iceland and Singapore compared, how physical geography, historical development and colonial history set borders, Iraq and Rwanda as borders drawn without regard to their peoples, and the Ukraine and Russia border as a contested case leading to conflict and population movement.Open →
- Nationalism, decolonisation and low-tax regimesRecall questions on the wave of independence after 1945 and its costs, and on the growth of tax havens.Open →
- IGOs managing environmental problemsHow IGOs coordinate action on shared environmental problems, the mixed record of global environmental governance with the Montreal Protocol as a success, unequal power in negotiations and the disadvantage of developing countries, tensions with national sovereignty and economic development, and quantitative indicators for evaluating international agreements.Open →
- National identity as an elusive and contested conceptRecall questions on what national identity rests on and why it is hard to define.Open →
- Challenges to national identityWhy 'Made in Britain' has become complex as companies operating in the UK such as EDF and Jaguar Land Rover are foreign owned, US-led westernisation through retail and entertainment corporations, non-national ownership of London property by Qatar and Russia and of TNCs by the USA, India and China, and analysing and mapping foreign ownership.Open →
- Consequences of disunity within nationsNationalist movements in Catalonia and Scotland seeking independence while keeping EU membership, tensions in BRIC nations from the uneven costs and benefits of globalisation, and weak national identity in fragile states divided between elites, foreign investors and the wider population, with Somalia as the example.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
Evaluation
Why has international migration grown as globalisation has advanced?
Evaluation
What tension exists between environmental interdependence and national sovereignty?
Study
Is the proportion of foreign-born population consistent across all countries?
Evaluation
What is the most common reason why migrants move internationally?
Key term
Name a global region where the logic of free labour movement applies between member states.
Key term
How do skill levels affect a person's ability to migrate across national borders?
Evaluation
How does the presence or absence of border controls affect migration opportunities?
Process
How does linguistic unity vary across different sovereign states?
Evaluation
Which continent experienced the 'wind of change' during the 1960s, and what did this involve?
Evaluation
How does Sudan demonstrate the costly nature of independence from colonial rule?
Evaluation
What types of data might be analysed to understand challenges to the dominant capitalist system?
Key term
Which intergovernmental organisation was the first to be established after the Second World War?
Study
What is a regional trading bloc?
Evaluation
In what way do economic events influence international migration patterns?
Key term
Define an economic migrant.
Evaluation
How does income level affect migration opportunities?
Key term
How can physical geography influence the location of national borders?
Evaluation
Name two countries where the transition to independence involved costly conflicts.
Process
How have methods of governance historically been tied to national identity?
Study
Which French energy company operates in the UK as an example of foreign ownership of British infrastructure?
Study
Which three countries are identified as having significant ownership of transnational corporations that impacts national identity in other nations?
Key term
From which country has Scotland's nationalist movement sought independence?
Evaluation
Explain how globalisation affects different groups within emerging nations.
Key term
What is an economic migrant?
Key term
Define the term refugee in the context of international migration.
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How does a nation's history of population growth influence its ethnic, cultural and linguistic unity?
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Define the term 'tax haven'.
Numbers
How has the UN's role in global governance changed since its founding in 1945?
Key term
How do deregulated financial markets theoretically contribute to economic efficiency?
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What is the theoretical outcome when goods, capital and labour can all move freely across international borders?
Key term
Name a case study that exemplifies 19th-century nationalism driving empire development.
Process
What mechanisms have intergovernmental organisations developed to address shared global environmental challenges?
Key term
How do education systems reinforce nationalism within a country?
Key term
What proportion of the global population currently lives outside their country of birth?
Key term
When constructing a flow-line map of international migration, what three types of events should be considered as drivers of pattern changes?
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Besides work, what is another major cause of migration related to personal connections?
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How does international migration affect the cultural and ethnic composition of nation states?
Key term
Explain how a country's degree of isolation affects its ethnic, cultural and linguistic composition.
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What was the British Raj, and how does it illustrate the effects of 19th-century nationalism?
Evaluation
How do transnational corporations take advantage of low-tax regime states?
Key term
Why does the UN Security Council sometimes struggle to take decisive action on global issues?
Key term
How many countries belong to the IMF, the World Bank and the WTO?
Key term
Why has globalisation encouraged international migration between countries?
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Does the logic of unrestricted labour movement for efficient resource allocation apply at a global level?
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How does a nation's degree of isolation affect its ethnic, cultural and linguistic unity?
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What happened to European empires after 1945?
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Identify one example of a successful IGO environmental initiative and one that has struggled to achieve its goals.
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In what way does international sport reinforce nationalism?
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Explain how foreign ownership of major UK companies challenges traditional notions of national economic identity.
Key term
What is Catalonia's position regarding EU membership in relation to its independence movement?
Take Migration, Identity and Sovereignty further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Refugee vs Asylum seeker
Refugee: person outside their country with a well-founded fear of persecution. Asylum seeker: person requesting international protection whose claim awaits determination.
Sovereignty vs Territoriality
Sovereignty: supreme authority exercised over a territory. Territoriality: attempt to control people and activity within bounded space.
Diaspora vs Transnational community
Diaspora: population dispersed from an ancestral homeland. Transnational community: social network operating across national borders.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What major impact has globalisation had on the global economic system in relation to employment?
Model answer
It has reshaped where work is done, so the demand for workers has moved between countries and between sectors.
- 2
How have changes in labour demand resulting from globalisation affected migration within countries?
Model answer
Changes in labour demand from globalisation have encouraged rural-urban migration within countries, as people move from agricultural areas to cities where manufacturing and service jobs are concentrated.
- 3
Explain how globalisation-driven changes in labour demand have influenced migration between countries.
Model answer
Changes in labour demand from globalisation have encouraged international migration between countries, as workers move to nations where jobs are available in growing industries.
- 4
Why is China used as a case study for internal migration linked to globalisation?
Model answer
China demonstrates large-scale rural-urban migration as workers have moved to coastal cities and special economic zones where globalisation has created manufacturing employment opportunities.
- 5
What serves as a case study for international migration driven by globalisation?
Model answer
EU-Schengen.
- 6
Why is the EU-Schengen area an appropriate case study for globalisation-driven international migration?
Model answer
The EU-Schengen area demonstrates how the removal of border controls and free movement of labour allows workers to migrate internationally in response to labour demand across member states.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Migration, Identity and Sovereignty revision questions
- What does Migration, Identity and Sovereignty cover in Edexcel A-Level Geography?
- 17 subtopics: globalisation and the growth of migration, what changes migration patterns, and flow-line maps, varied and complex causes of migration, consequences of international migration, nation states and their varied histories, nationalism in the development of the modern world, tax havens, new state forms and alternatives to capitalism, the un and its interventions, the imf, world bank, wto and other igos, migration in a globalised world, open borders, deregulation and migrant integration, nation states, borders and contested territory, nationalism, decolonisation and low-tax regimes, igos managing environmental problems, national identity as an elusive and contested concept, challenges to national identity and consequences of disunity within nations. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Migration, Identity and Sovereignty organised?
- By the Edexcel 9GE0 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Migration, Identity and Sovereignty, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
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