Barnaby Bear's Glossary of geographical terms

Here, Barnaby Bear has collected a list of general words used in geography. Click on the first letter of the word you want to find it in the dictionary.

For words about rivers, go to Barnaby Bear's River Glossary

A B C D E F G H L M N O P S T U V W

A

B
Bog - a type of wetland that has lots of peat, is usually covered in moss and might have trees and water plants growing in it.
Boundary - an invisible line that shows where one person's land ends. This is often shown by a line on a map, or marked by a wall or river in real life.

C
Contour lines - lines on a map that connect up points where the ground is the same height. Click here for a 3D example (opens in Microsoft Excel)
Cultivated - land that has been developed by humans for use, usually for growing crops

D

E
Erodes - wears away
Eroded - has been worn away
Export - goods (food, electricity, clothes etc.) that are moved to another country to be sold.

F

G
Gulf Stream - a warm current in the Atlantic Ocean - it starts somewhere on the equator, and runs past the carribean islands, into the Gulf of Mexico (where it gets its name), past Florida and Newfoundland, across the Atlantic and up the west side of the UK.

H
Human feature - a feature of the landscape that is not natural, or was put there by humans. This includes forestry areas, and plantations.
Humid - warm and damp - a humid climate has a lot of rain, but is still quite hot

I
Import - goods (food, electricity, clothes etc.) that are brought into the country.
Indigenous - In-dij-in-uss people are people whose ancestors lived in that place, like Native Americans or Aborigines in Australia.

J

K

L
Landmark - a large feature in a landscape. This could be a statue, or something as large as a wood or hill.
Landscape - the scenary

M
Mainland - The nearest large land to an island - Cornwall or the UK is the mainland for the Scilly Isles; Scotland is the mainland for the Orkneys.
Marsh - a type of wetland that has mostly soil (not peat) and has lots of grasses, rushes and other plants, but not many trees.

N
Natural feature - a feature of the landscape that is natural, or that wasn't made by people. This includes rivers, springs, and hills.

O

Ordnance Survey Triangulation Point - Barnaby Bear is in front of an 'Ordnance Survey Triangulation Stone'. This stone has map coordinates on it.

P
Peak - top (of a hill, tor or mountain)
Peat - a type of soil that is made up of fibres from sphagnum moss and other decomposing plants.
Peat is a very dark - black colour.
Population - the people who live in an area.
Predator - an animal that 'preys' on other animals: it hunts and eats other animals

R
Rural - country side area, not many houses or large roads

S
Species - a group of animals that can have young who can also have young (this word should really be in a science glossary)
Stories - the number of floors in a building - a house with an upstairs and downstairs has two stories

T
Tor - a lot of rock or granite on top of a hill. Often found in Cornwall or Devon

U
Urban - area that is very built-up: lots of houses or factories around.

V
Valley - a 'v' shaped gap between hills. Click here for an example . (Opens in Excel)

W
Wetland - land that is constantly waterlogged - it is always wet and doesn't drain well. Wetlands are often found by the coast, near rivers or in valleys.

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