A complete set of case studies for revision. Made by Theo Dick, Alex Haji, and Nick Gwin. Edited by me.

1. Case Studies v2
GEOGRAPHY CIE IGCSE
By Theo Dick
Aided by Alex Haji and Nick Gwynne
Edited by Ethan Sarif-Kattan

2. Namibia – Sparse and Dense Population
Background
 LEDC in Southern Africa split into various regions
 Population of 2.5 million
 825,000 km2
Sparse Population e.g. Karas & Hardap regions density under 5 people per km2 – Causes
 Desert Regions – not enough rain for crops, land is too dry so hard to build on
 Mountainous land – hard to build on steep surfaces, limited transport
 Lack of jobs – people move to areas where jobs available
 Lots of land is prone to flooding – limited space to live
Dense Population e.g. Oshana & Ohangwena regions density over 15 people per km2 – Causes
 Not in desert – easy to build on land and grow crops
 Diamond areas – attracts people as jobs for mining e.g. 3% of population employed here
 More transport links – easy to commute for work and visit regions
 Better access to shops – people not put off by idea of walking miles for water
 Fertile soil for farming – attracts farmers to live in region
 Near coast for exports – business and job opportunities
 Services available – schools and hospitals of better quality available

3. Niger – Population explosion
Background
 Landlocked LEDC in West Africa
 One of world’s poorest countries
 Hot and dry climate
 Population increased by 12 million in 50 years
Causes – High birth rates
 Highest fertility rate – 7.1 births per women
 2.9% growth rate
 Preference for a male child – keep having children until male
 Lack of contraception – many unplanned or unwanted babies
 More children available to help work on farms
 Religious beliefs – abortion is wrong
 Ensures protection against high infant mortality rate
Causes – Decreasing death rates
 Life expectancy increased to 44.3 years
 Clean water and improved diet – lower deaths by diseases and lower infant mortality
 More hospitals – medical care and testing for disease
 Government want to increase family planning from 5-20% by 2015, educate women and religious
leaders on its importance, and raise marriage age from 15-18.

4. Nigeria - Overpopulation
Background
170 million people
70% live on less than $1 a day
920,000 km2
Impacts of overpopulation
 Not enough housing - e.g. Abuja
 High crime rates
 Pollution - litter and no proper sewage system
 Shortage of food and water - 28% of children underweight
 Not enough health care and education
 Congested roads - e.g. Lagos

5. Australia - Underpopulation
Background
 23 million people
 7.7 million km2
 6th largest nation
Impacts of underpopulation
 Vast open spaces – e.g. town of Perth
 Foreign immigrant – threatens native population
 War – less army so worse defence
 Desertification – few people to cultivate land
 Less workers – both skilled and unskilled
 Public transport might close – e.g. Canberra
 Schools and hospitals might close

6. China – Anti-Natalist Government policy
Background
 1.4 billion people – worlds highest population
 Population was 830 million in 1980
Causes
 1960’s – 1970’s, Chairman Mao of the communist government condemned birth control and banned
imports of contraceptives
 He wanted to strengthen China and its army
 He then realised he could not provide food and jobs to entire population
Consequences
 The one child policy was introduced in 1979, forcing abortions and sterilisation and fining families
thousands of dollars, this prevented 250 million births
 Originally the officials pushed the slogan ‘later, longer, fewer’; the population growth dropped by half
from 1970-76 but then levelled off, officials wanted more drastic measures
 Massive gender imbalance – 32 million more boys than girls
 In 2007, there were six working age adults to every retiree, but in 2040, it is predicted to reach 2:1 (too
few children to care for them, elderlies will suffer neglect)
 Contraception was made more available
 Increase in health care meant that abortions were used more
 1.7 children now per women
 Population growth dropped from 2.4% to 1%

7. Russia – Falling Birth Rate & HIV/AIDS
Background
 Population projected to decline from 143 million to 111 million by 2050
 17 million km2
Causes
 High death rate and low birth rate
 Low immigration
 Many emigrants to Western Europe
 Life expectancy was 65 in 2004
 Male life expectancy is 59 - related to alcoholism
 Women do not want more children
 1.1% of adults aged 15-49 have AIDS (more than 1 million people)
 1.1 fertility rate

8. Italy – Ageing Population
Background
 Dying Italian village – Vastogirardi
 Mayor has decided to tax singles in hope this will lead to more children
 In last 30 years, population has dropped from 3,000 to 823
 Baby crisis - few people wanting to have children, population decreasing, low birth
rate of 1.2 children per woman, ageing population
Causes
 Developing country - more self-sufficient
 Education - more people want careers
 ‘Mammoni’ - bachelors living with parents
Impact
 Loss of commerce - no bank, plumber, shoemaker, priest
 Increase tax for those not wanting kids
 3 :1 funerals to weddings
 No schools or secondary school
 People have become self-sufficient
 Increased dependency ratio

9. Uganda – Youthful population
Background
 7 fertility rate
 Half the population is under 15
 38 million population
 Fastest growing country in the world
 Only 1 in 5 have access to contraception
 30% illiteracy rate
Impacts
 Increased competition for scarce resources, land and conflict is likely to increase
 Government doesn’t see it as a problem, they see it as their biggest resource
 Cost of contraception is not the problem, the problem is access – a lack of clinics in most parts
and need an economic boost to prioritise schemes in order to lower fertility rate
 More money has been put into health and education
 Child care must be provided so that parents can work

10. Rio di Janerio – Internal Rural to Urban Migration
Background
 BRIC country
 200 million people
 Recently held world cup
Causes – Push factors – from rural
 Drug gangs have occupied 20 slums/favela
 Deadly gunfights
 Unreliable rainfall
 Poor education
 Wealth inequality
 Malaria
 Poor soil for farming
 Lack of materials
Causes – Pull factors – to urban
 Higher wages and more jobs
 Provision of water, electricity
 Good education
 Urban areas have better population control
 Protection from conflict

11. Favelas in Rio – Types of housing
Background
 Rio is the largest city in Brazil
 Over 1 million people live in Rio’s favelas
Problems
 Landslides caused by deforestation
 Risk of eviction - land built on is illegally occupied
 No proper electricity connections
 Housing vulnerable to flooding
 No clean water supply – leads to diseases
 No toilets, showers, or proper sewer systems
 No proper rubbish collections
Consequences
 High unemployment,
 Crime rates increase - gangs, drugs, murders
 Self-help schemes have now been introduced - residents given ownership and materials provided by government, local labour is used and they learn new skills)
Advantages of self-help schemes – local
 Improved housing
 Legal ownership of their house/land
 Better water supply and sewers
 Reliable electricity supply
 Locals health should improve
Advantages to self help schemes – government
 Residents now paying taxes
 Less health problems for government to pay for
 Crime rates reducing
 Labour is free

12. Poland to UK – International & voluntary migration
Background
 Poland has one of the highest unemployment rates out of EU countries
 62% of the 600,000 EU migrants to UK were polish in 2004
 This is because EU permits free immigration to other EU countries
 UK attracts Poland because of high average income and low unemployment
Advantages – UK
 Jobs filled that UK workers don’t want
 Can pay lower wages to them
 Polish workers will work for longer hours
 More money spent on local economy form increased population
Disadvantages – UK
 Few unskilled jobs available for UK workers
 Polish may return to Poland once they’ve made money – leaves gap in workforce
 Anti-immigration issues and racism
 Strain on services such as hospitals and schools
Advantages - Poland
 Job opportunity with better pay
 Save up money to return to Poland
 Chance to earn money to send back home
Disadvantages – Poland
 Family left behind in Poland
 Hostility encounter in UK
 Language difficulties
 Struggle to find housing
 Cost of moving is high

13. Iraq – Forced Migration
Background
 American invaded in 2003
 2.5 million have emigrated mainly to Syria and Jordan
 33 million population
Causes – Push factors
 Religious persecution
 Safety concerns
 No education
 Loss of housing, jobs, money
 Famines and drought, food shortages, diseases
 Political persecution
 Isis
Problems of receiving country
 Cost of maintaining new population – food, education
 Pollution and racial tension
 Unemployment increase

14. Stevenage, UK– housing shortages
Background
 Demand for housing 210,000 but only 154,000 are being built
 Area of 26 km2
 84,000 population
Causes
 More divorces – more singles needing houses
 Leave home younger
 Migrants are single
 Married later
 Old people living on their own
 Some houses are uninhabitable
Impacts
 Rising homelessness
 Soaring house prices
Solutions
 New town – planned urban centre with government sponsorship
 Abercrombie plan – Victorian houses replaced by apartment blocks
 Stevenage is now more attractive to businesses

15. London – CBD & Traffic Congestion
Background
 9.8 million population
Causes
 Increase in car usage
 Limited amount of public transport usage
 Many roads not designed for cars - for horses
 Population growth – more cars
 Movement of lorries and containers onto lorries stops traffic
Impacts
 Social – pollution causes disease e.g. asthma, leaving home earlier, more frequent road deaths and accidents
 Environmental – air and noise pollution destroys wildlife and leads to acid rain, more roads destroys green areas,
 Economic – roads are expensive to maintain and build, longer deliveries from lorries costs money, workers are late to work, reliance on
oil for transport
Solutions
 Congestion charge - £12
 Public transport Transport for London improved and increased
 Trams and underground extension
 Pedestrianized areas – discourage car use
 Websites to encourage car sharing
 Car tax, bus lanes, park and ride (parking near public transport)
 Barclays bikes
 Reurbanisation – people encourages to move closer to CBD so less car usage

16. Urban Sprawl – Atlanta
Background
 5.1 million population
 Fastest growing city in the USA
Impacts
 Hotlanta - Deforestation increases temperature as more CO2 in
atmosphere
 Agricultural land filled with shops and other developments
 Traffic Congestion – 90% drive to work, air pollution
 Water contamination with pollutants and litter
 Flash floods for impermeable surfaces such as roads and
concrete
 Cultural loss – Atlanta well known for battlefields
 Black and poor population stay in poorer areas in south, north
has more middle class and whites

17. Cairo – Urbanisation
Background
 Largest city in Middle East
 9 million population
 Capital of Egypt
Problems
 Lack of housing – 80% of Cairo filled with illegal self-built homes, 2.3 million set up homes near tombs,
500,000 people live in homemade huts
 Traffic congestion – 1 million cars a day
 Lack of Jobs – unskilled jobs hard to find, graduates get government jobs on low salaries
 Pollution – cars and fumes from homes and factories, leaking sewers pollute water courses
Solutions
 New satellite/dormitory town built around the city e.g. Tanta
 Ring road built around city - goes through Abbasyia
 People with donkey carts licensed to collect and recycle garbage
 Better waste water project, extended and repaired sewage systems
 Modern metro built
 Homes and public services upgraded in most run down part of the city

18. Baltimore, USA – Urban redevelopment
Background
 620,000 population
 240 km2
 Largest city in Maryland
Problems
 Less demand for manufacturing and shipbuilding industries meant, in the 1970s, it
declined in importance
 Run down land and abandoned warehouses
Solutions
 100 hectares of run down land made into a mix of business - retail, recreational,
housing
 Development of modern, urban, retail complex - previous power plants turned into
a retail leisure building
 National aquarium built
 Investors attracted to Baltimore due proximity to Washington DC - 45 minutes by
train, over 30 trains to Washington a day on the Baltimore-Washington
expressway
 Cost of living has decreased but standard of living has increased

19. Chaiten, Chile – Volcano eruption
Background
 Small, cauldron-like volcano which erupted in May 2008
 Locate in Chaiten, Southern Chile and Argentina, South America
 Oceanic to continental margin (destructive margin), denser Nazca
plate subducted under the less dense continental South America
plate
Impacts
 Social – 4000 evacuated, 8,000 fled, only 200 returned
 Economic – No water or electricity, 85% of town damaged
 Environmental – Ash blocked rivers, forest fires

20. Christchurch – MEDC earthquake
Background
 7.1 magnitude earthquake in South Island of New Zealand
 4:35 am on 4th September 2010
 New Zealand GDP of $115.3 billion
 Country has some of world’s top experts in earthquake engineering
Impacts
 Two residents seriously injured, one died of heart attack,100 people treated for minor bumps and bruises
 Powers out in northwest of city (area called the ‘Groynes’), water and sewage affected in several regions
 86 staff of supermarket lost their jobs
 Up to 500 homes badly damaged
 Government will pay workers ($7.5m to social services)
 Government says it will cost $4bn (NZ has about 100-150 earthquakes a year)
 Fatalities avoided due to strict building codes
 Building standards, materials used, quality of construction
 Construct used ductile materials (light timber frames)
 Earthquake commission checked buildings were safe
 National crisis management centre was quick
 Ordinary people helped rescue others
 Long term – red Cross helped and $900 billion in building claims, sewage restored

21. Haiti – LEDC earthquake
Background
 Tuesday, 12 January 2010 - magnitude 7 earthquake
 Poorest country in the Western hemisphere
 Struck Haiti’s most populated area (Port au Prince – Capital)
Impacts
 3 million people affected - 230k died, 300k injured, 1m homeless
 2/3 population (9million) unemployed
 Roads blocked with debris
 4,000 inmates escaped
 1 in 5 lost jobs
 Looting and crime due to slow distribution of resources
Recovery
 Short term - $100 million by USA, 800,000 in Aid camps, lack of aid due to poor plan
 Long term – 98% rubble remains, 1 million with no housed, water sanitation for 2 million

22. Mozambique - Rivers
Background
 9th Feb – 27th Feb 2000
 40 million population
 Zambezi was 2.5 m over flood level
Hazards
 Destroy infrastructure
 Death
 Destroy services
 Disease
 Damage to field
 Damage to communication
Opportunities
 Fertile land (alluvium)
 LEDCs make money from subsistence farming
 Water for irrigation
 Transport - Travel by boat along river
 Flat land for building
 River source of fish (food)
Impacts
 Social – 180,000 fled, 81 dead, 150,000 in danger from starvation, 23,000 lost everything they had
 Economic – Roads and bridges destroyed, transport links cut off
 Environmental – 7,000 trapped in trees

23. Great Barrier Reef – Coasts & tourism
Background
 Great Barrier Reef (off the coast of Australia) is largest coral reef in the world.
 2,300 metres long.
 Supports 25% of marine species
 Humans benefit via – tourism ($4 billion), employment, income and mining .
 Non-human contribution - erosion protection, raw materials, medicine, formation of beaches.
Under Threat by
 Tourism,
 Mining - oil + gas are harmful
 Climate change - sea level rise causing coral bleaching
 Water pollution - decline in fish quality
 Air pollution - dirty air, polyps more likely to die
Solutions
 Educate tourists
 Ten patrol boats check for illegal activity
 Management of reef is controlled by Marine Park Authority

24. Amazon Rainforest - ClimateBackground
 Either side of the equator in South America, covers 7.3 million km2
 68% of Brazil (parts of Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana)
 80% of Amazonia is rainforest
Climate
 Hot and wet - mean temp. between 25-27 and 2677mm rain per year
 Rain well distributed in western parts, but south and east experience a short dry season
 Biome is most biologically diverse ecosystem in the world
 Tropical soils or latosals are deep as warm, wet conditions encourage intense weathering of bed rock and heavy rain causes intense leaching of soluble minerals leaving soil acidic
Vegetation Adaptations
 Canopy trees have umbrella shaped crowns – maximise light exposure
 Canopy leaves – large to maximise photosynthesis
 Tree bark thin – protection against low temp. unnecessary
 Understorey trees produce fruit right on trunk – better chance for germination
 Plank buttress occurs at base – support
 Epiphytes – plants that use tree branches for support but don’t feed off them
 Lianas are large vines – use trees to gain access to sunlight and flower in canopy
Human Impact
 In the 60s, Brazilian government encouraged large scale project to exploit resources
 Since then, 17% of original forest has been lost
 Main causes: Cattle Ranching (80%), Soya Bean agriculture, colonisation, hydroelectric power generation, logging, hunting birds, reptiles, mammals
Consequences
 Loss of certain species – disrupts ecosystems and food chains
 Reduction of biodiversity
 Complex interdependent relationships between animal and tree species breaking down as well as variations in microclimate
 Vegetation may be unable to grow as nutrients and energy on ground is disrupted
 Lead to surface run off and flooding
 Deforestation – loss of ‘lungs of the earth’ (carbon store)
Solutions
 Full establishment over properties – so that land grabbing and illegal logging is reduced
 4.5% paid so that owners do not cut down trees
 Encourage markets to buy forest products
 Monitoring deforestation e.g. satellites
 Expanding areas e.g. National Parks
 Ecotourism – protects rainforests from hunting and logging

25. Sahel - Drought
Background
 zone across Northern Africa
 Goes through countries such as Niger
 5,400 km long
 Average Rainfall between 300-900mm per year and when it does rain, up to 90% of moisture evaporates
Causes
 Highly erratic rainfall, droughts can last for decades
 Change in temperature of surrounding oceans – monsoons weaken and thunderstorms reduced
 Less rain means less vegetation - weakening monsoons
 Overgrazing
Impacts
 Environmental – Fall in water table, more wildfires, dust storms, vegetation dies, desertification
 Human – water shortages, famine, reduced crop yield, emigration, death of livestock
Solutions
 Giant shelter break called the Green Wall
 Population control
 Alternatives to firewood – solar cookers
 Improved farming techniques to reduce grazing

26. Hurricane Katrina – Natural Hazards
Background
 23rd August 2005, most deadly hurricane for over 75 years – 80 mph
 Formed south east of Bahamas, 12th tropical storm of season
Formation
 Local thunderstorms off coast of Africa draw heat energy and moisture from warm ocean water
 Warm, moist air rises and cools forming tall cumulonimbus storm clouds
 Spin of Earth causes air in storms to spiral clockwise around area of low pressure
 System is a tropical depression
Impacts
 1,300 deaths
 Ran out of food, water, medicine
 People homeless and crime levels rose
 $75 billion worth of damages
 Many left unemployed
 Huge areas flooded
Response
 Government declared state of emergency
 Hurricane warning on the radio
 Schools closed, shelters opened, evacuation orders and police on standby.
 Still lots of rebuilding needed and lots of rubble – surprising for an MEDC

27. Brazil – Subsistence farming
Background
 Supports 300-500 million people worldwide
 Brazil in particular has 200 million people
 Confined to the humid tropics
 68% of amazon rainforest is in Brazil
 Vegetation can take 30 years to recover
Process
1. Stone axes and matches clear forest
2. Fallen trees are dried and then burnt (slash and burn) - weeds
removed and fertiliser used
3. Manioc is planted along with pumpkins and beans.
4. Once forest is cleared, nutrient cycle is broken. Leaching
5. Now they must move – cycle continues

28. Sri Lanka – commercial farming
Background
 19kg is carried a day by workers
 2p is earned for every £1.70 bag of tea
 Very poor working conditions and long hours
 Very hot climate and land is uneven
 20 million population
Inputs
 Physical – high temperature, little rain, uneven relief
 Human – few workers, poor transport
 Capital – pesticides, weed killers
Processes
 Weeding
 Spraying
 Planting
Outputs
 Tea
 Profits
 Crop Waste

29. Dafur – Food shortages
Background
 Sudan is the largest African country
 River Nile provides water but there is no rainfall (250 mm)
 Civil war in 2003 leaves many starving
Causes
 Physical - Rainfall decline, flooding, degradation
 Social – 3% population growth, AIDS, illiteracy 65%
 Agriculture – low fertiliser use, unpredictable food production, falling crop yield
 Economic – dependant on farming, dependant on imports, high military spending, limit access to
market
Consequences
 Livestock deaths
 Crop failures
 Illness
 Death
 Conflict
 Loss of education
 Loss of income

30. Plumpy Nut in Niger – Food Aid
Background
 LEDC, landlocked country in West Africa
 One of the world’s poorest countries
 Hot and dry climate
 Increased population by 12 million in 50 years
 Highest fertility rate – 7.1 births per women
 2.9% growth rate
Plumpy nut advantages
 Prevents malnutrition,
 Tastes nice
 Children can feed themselves
 Rich in vitamins
 Cheap
Impacts
 Children are being treated at home
 Children are happier and their appetite improves
 Can focus on education instead of starvation
 Parents can work and earn money as they have time instead of finding food for children

31. Pakistan – Siting industry (secondary)
Background
 182 million people
 First steel factories built in 1973
 Took 12 years to be completed
 20 plants were built at Pipri in 1973
Why they choose Karachi
 Close to Arabian Sea – easy for imports and exports
 Surrounded by N5 nation highway – good communication links
 Lots of housing for workers to live in
 Jinnah airport nearby for international imports and exports
 Engineering industry to the east for buying and selling
Why they choose Pipri
 Flat and cheap, unused land
 USSR provided economic assistance
 Plenty of skilled workers who had low wages
 Connected to main railway

32. Cambridge Science Park – High tech industry
Background
 1.6 million square ft of buildings
 Home to roughly 66 companies
 Established by Trinity College in 1970
Choice of location
 Companies – 66 on site e.g Worldpay, provides multi-currency
internet 1 card payment systems
 Amenities – Landscaped and has facilities e.g health and fitness
centre
 Infrastructure – used to be farmland, space for car parks and
expansion
 Location – on rural-urban fringe, easily accessible on M11, not far
from Stanstead Airport

33. Machu Picchu Inca Trail - Tourism
Background
 Machu Picchu lies in Peruvian Andes, Peru
 700,000 tourists every years - plans to go to 2 million
 Roughly 2,500 a day
Causes
 Human – jobs, interest in geographical factors, adventurous, Local Quechua culture
 Physical – beautiful Andean mountain scenery, Inca nature trail, Spanish colonial buildings
Advantages
 Social & cultural – cross cultural links, tourist education
 Economic – Hotels, airports, Orient express in Puno, more jobs, $600 million a year
 Environment – more respected, cable car system to reduce soil erosion
Disadvantages
 Social & cultural – litter, crime, racial tension
 Economic – raised prices from $17 to $50, still poor country, pressure on infrastructure, dependant on one
industry, GDP only $2000, dilution of Quechua culture
 Environment – Soil erosion so removal of vegetation and rain washes it away, landslides, human waste
impacting beauty

34. Sizewell – Nuclear Power
Background
 Located near Suffolk, in the village of Sizewell
 Near North Sea
 Sizewell A is being shut down but a new one is being built
Factors influencing site
 Close to North sea so seawater can be used for cooling
 Close to the coast so uranium can be imported and waste exported
 Away form major population centres who fear nuclear power impacts,
Ipswich is closest town – Not in my back yard
 Nearby rail links and road links where waste can be transported to
Sellafield (a different nuclear site)
 Flat ground with plenty of extra land for expansion
 Connection to national grid

35. Qatar – energy and water shortages - NIC
Background
 In 1940, 11,000 people
 No water or energy and life expectancy was short.
 Oil was discovered and rapid urbanisation occurred
Present
 Now there is 1.7 million people and 16% economic growth
 Only have 2 days of potable water reserves and vulnerable to
terrorism
 90% of Qatar food is imported
 1% of land is cultivated
 180mW of solar energy is being used

36. Useful Linkshttps://greenfieldgeography.wikispaces.com/Geography+IGCSE
https://quizlet.com/class/1507128/ - all glossaries
https://quizlet.com/75763672/geography-glossary-population-flash-cards/
https://quizlet.com/74293097/geography-settlement-glossary-flash-cards/
https://quizlet.com/76292237/geography-glossary-plate-tectonics-flash-cards/
https://quizlet.com/75559180/geography-rivers-glossary-flash-cards/
https://quizlet.com/76301282/geography-glossary-marine-processes-part-2-
flash-cards/
https://quizlet.com/75560832/geography-glossary-weather-climate-and-natural-
vegetation-flash-cards/
https://quizlet.com/75564804/geography-glossary-weathering-flash-cards/
https://quizlet.com/75562534/geography-glossary-agriculture-systems-flash-
cards/
https://quizlet.com/76297705/geography-glossary-industrial-systems-flash-
cards/
https://quizlet.com/75563774/geography-glossary-tourism-flash-cards/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/