WAEC Geography 1995 past questions and answers

On the linear scale each 1 km division measures about 2 cm, and 2 cm to 1 km is 1 cm to 0.5 km, i.e. 1:50,000.

The high ground in the centre is long and narrow, with closely spaced contours on both sides, running north to south: that is a ridge.

Baku lies far to the west-north-west of Ase, so measuring clockwise from north at Ase gives a bearing a little over 300°, closest to 315°.

X is the low point between two higher parts of the ridge, where the road crosses: a gap or pass.

Measure the route along the road with a string and compare it with the linear scale; it comes to just under 5 km.

The rivers flow outwards in different directions away from the central high ground, which is a radial pattern.

Rivers flow from high to low ground; the river draining the north-eastern slope of the ridge flows away from it towards the north-east.

The main road crosses the ridge through the pass at X and keeps to lower ground, so the routes take advantage of low relief.

Doba's buildings are strung out along the main road, which is a linear pattern.

Low valley floors that flood and stay wet suit rice, which grows in waterlogged soil.

The moon is the earth's only natural satellite; it revolves round the earth.

Taking the times as local times: P at 45°W is 3 hours behind Greenwich, so the match began at 1900 GMT; Q's time of 2200 is 3 hours ahead of GMT, and 3 × 15° = 45°E.

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the sun; the planet next to the Earth (outwards) is Mars, so statement A is false.

Igneous rocks form when molten magma cools, and the minerals set as crystals; fossils and strata belong to sedimentary rocks.

An active volcano is one that still erupts from time to time.

Running water (rain and run-off) and wind remove most topsoil.

Soil erosion removes fertile topsoil, so yields fall; it never increases them.

A watershed is the high ground or divide that separates rivers flowing in different directions.

A spring is where underground water comes out naturally at the surface.

Rock must first be broken down (weathering), then carried away (erosion), and finally laid down elsewhere (deposition).

A yardang is a ridge of hard rock left standing after wind abrasion wears away softer bands; a barchan is a deposition feature.

The rush of water up the beach after a wave breaks is the swash; the water running back is the backwash.

Dunes are built by deposition of sand; bays, platforms, stacks and geos are cut by wave erosion.

A stalactite hangs down from the roof (c for ceiling); a stalagmite grows up from the floor.

Lacustrine means 'of a lake'; these plains are old lake beds exposed when the lake dries up or drains.

Having to move a settlement after a flood is a harm caused by rivers, not a use.

Hot deserts have a fairly large annual range of temperature because of clear skies and dry air; a very low annual range belongs to the equatorial climate.

Sun angle, sunshine hours, altitude and cloud all control temperature strongly; plant transpiration has little effect.

The Greek classification, based on temperature, had three zones: torrid, temperate and frigid.

Thorny leaves are an adaptation to drought found in dry savanna and desert plants, not in the wet rainforest.

Cork oak and cedar are typical trees of the Mediterranean forests.

Humus is spongy organic matter that holds water, so soils rich in humus keep more moisture.

Heavy rain washes bases such as calcium and potassium down and out of the soil (leaching), leaving it acidic.

In an ecosystem plants, animals and the environment depend on each other.

Gas flaring, oil spills, industrial waste and vehicle exhaust are major pollution sources; domestic cooking is a minor one.

Settlements are classified by pattern (arrangement), size (population), function (main occupation) and density; the type of people living there is not a basis.

A conurbation is formed when growing towns spread until they join.

Furniture making uses light materials and small machines, so it is a light industry.

Most developing countries have plenty of natural resources; their problems are shortage of capital, skills, transport and infrastructure.

Moist south-west winds are forced to rise over the Jos Plateau, cool and give relief (orographic) rain.

Lumbering is concentrated in the high forest belt of the south, stretching from Ibadan through Benin to the Port Harcourt area.

All three towns stand on the River Niger and handle river traffic, so they are river ports.

Most Nigerian factories make consumer goods such as food, drinks, soap and textiles for the home market.

Bush burning, overgrazing, deforestation and poor farming leave the soil bare, so rain and wind carry it away.

The Gezira scheme in Sudan, the largest in Africa, gets its water from the Blue Nile at the Sennar Dam.

The tropical continental (savanna) climate with a long dry season supports savanna grassland, typically the Sudan savanna.

Lake Tana lies on the Ethiopian Plateau and was formed by lava damming, not by rifting; Turkana, Tanganyika and Mobutu (Albert) lie in the rift valleys.

(a) Less pressure on food, housing, schools and health care; higher income per head and better living standards; more savings and investment; less unemployment; less pressure on land and the environment.
(b) Ageing population; shortage of labour in future; smaller domestic market; fewer people for defence; heavier burden of caring for the old; possible decline of the population.
(c) Incentives such as child allowances and tax relief; free education and health care for children; maternity leave and benefits; discouraging family-planning campaigns; encouraging early marriage; improving housing.

Each part needs four separate points explained.

(a) Market for rural produce; supply of manufactured goods; services such as hospitals, schools and banks; jobs for rural migrants; administrative services; transport and communication centre; source of information and new ideas.
(b) Poor roads and transport; distance between town and villages; high cost of services; inadequate facilities in the towns (overcrowding); poverty of rural people; poor information flow.

Think of what villagers go to town for.

(a) Cheapest way to carry bulky goods over long distances; carries the largest volume of world trade; links continents; handles heavy goods like oil, ores and grain; supports ports and jobs.
(b) Slow; restricted to waterways and coasts; seasonal low water, rapids and ice; silting of channels and ports; storms and piracy; needs costly port facilities.
(c) Dredging channels; building canals and locks; building dams to regulate flow; modern faster ships and containerisation; improved navigation aids and weather forecasts; better port facilities and security.

The stem's 'transpiration' is a misprint for transportation.

(a) Nearness to raw materials (limestone, clay, gypsum); power supply; water supply; market; transport; capital; labour; government policy; land.
(b) Shortage of spare parts and machinery breakdowns; erratic power supply; poor transport for distribution; high cost of production and imported inputs; competition from imported cement; dust pollution; poor management.

Limestone is bulky and heavy, so factories are sited near it.

(a) Colonial ties and common language; Nigeria exports raw materials (crude oil, cocoa, rubber) Britain needs; Britain exports manufactured goods (machinery, vehicles, chemicals) Nigeria needs; Commonwealth membership; established banking and shipping links.
(b) Fall in prices of primary products; trade restrictions and tariffs; foreign exchange shortages; competition from other countries; political problems; poor quality of some exports.
(c) Trade agreements and lower tariffs; diversifying and processing exports; improving quality of goods; trade fairs and missions; stable policies.

Interdependence means each country needs what the other produces.

(a) Map: Chad Basin (north-east); Niger Delta (south); Kainji Lake (or Shiroro/Jebba) on the Niger; Lokoja at the Niger-Benue confluence; title, key and frame.
(b) Seasonal fall in water level in the dry season; rapids and waterfalls; sandbars and silting; floating vegetation (water hyacinth); meandering courses; rocky beds.
(c) Dredging; building dams and locks; clearing weeds; canalisation; building good river ports.

Mark each feature in its correct position on the map.

(a) Map showing Guinea savanna (e.g. Ilorin, Minna, Makurdi), Sudan savanna (e.g. Kano, Sokoto) and Sahel savanna (e.g. Nguru, Maiduguri area) from south to north.
(b) e.g. Guinea savanna: tall grasses up to 3 m; scattered trees with umbrella crowns; deciduous trees; gallery forests along rivers; thick bark and long roots.
(c) Rainfall decreases northward, so vegetation becomes shorter and sparser; tall grass and more trees where rain is heavier; short grass and thorny shrubs where rain is low; length of dry season decides how long the grass stays green.

Show the belts as bands across the map from south to north.

(a) Large market for vegetables; produce is perishable so must be near consumers; high prices make small plots profitable; good transport; water from streams/wells.
(b) Large stands of valuable hardwood trees (mahogany, iroko, obeche); heavy rainfall supports tall trees; rivers for floating logs; sawmills and ports nearby.
(c) Wide flood plains of the Niger and Benue; fertile alluvial soils; adequate water for irrigation; irrigation schemes (e.g. Bida, Badeggi); large market.
(d) Grass for pasture; freedom from tsetse fly; dry climate; Fulani pastoral tradition; open land; markets.

Answer any three; give three or four reasons for each.

(a) Map placing the North-Central (Jos) Highlands in the centre, Western Highlands in the south-west, Adamawa Highlands on the eastern border, Udi Hills in the south-east; rivers Sokoto (north-west), Gongola (north-east), Oshun (south-west), Anambra (south-east).
(b) Tin and columbite mining around Jos; cool climate for tourism and temperate crops (potatoes, vegetables); source of rivers for HEP and irrigation; cattle rearing free of tsetse; hill resorts.
(c) Soil erosion and mining pits; rugged relief making transport hard; poor soils; decline of tin mining; shortage of water in the dry season; inadequate capital.

Locate each item accurately; then give economic uses and problems.

(a) Eastern Highlands along the eastern border (Obudu, Mambilla), river Cross/Donga, town Obudu; Eastern Scarplands (Udi-Nsukka), river Anambra/Imo, town Enugu; Chad Basin (north-east), river Yobe, town Maiduguri.
(b)(i) Sparse population; small dispersed and hill-top settlements; denser on the plateaux tops.
(ii) Forest and grassland, waterfalls and rivers, cool climate, scenery, some minerals.
(iii) Crop farming (tea on Mambilla, food crops); cattle rearing on Obudu and Mambilla; tourism (Obudu Cattle Ranch); lumbering.

Keep regions in the right positions: highlands on the eastern border.

(a) Map with e.g. Nigeria (Abuja), Ghana (Accra), Senegal (Dakar).
(b) Promote trade among members; free movement of people, goods and services; economic co-operation and development; common external tariff; improved transport and communication links; raise living standards.
(c) Different currencies; language barriers (English, French, Portuguese); similar products limiting trade; political instability; poor transport links; loyalty to former colonial powers; smuggling.

Name real ECOWAS members and their present capitals.

(a) Map: Fouta Djallon (Guinea) with R. Niger (or Senegal, Gambia); Cameroon Highlands with R. Benue (or Sanaga); inland basin e.g. Chad Basin or Okavango; artificial lake e.g. Volta, Kariba, Kainji, Nasser; lagoon coast e.g. Lagos to Abidjan stretch of the Gulf of Guinea.
(b) Fertile soils for farming and irrigation; water supply; HEP; fishing; transport; sites for settlement.
(c) Smooth with few indentations; few natural harbours; narrow continental shelf; sandbars and lagoons in West Africa; deltas (Nile, Niger); steep coasts where plateaux reach the sea.

Place highlands and rivers correctly; Niger rises in Fouta Djallon, Benue in Cameroon.

(a) Africa lies mostly within the tropics so temperatures are high; near the equator sun is overhead twice a year giving high heat and rain all year; climates change towards the north and south (savanna, desert, Mediterranean).
(b) Warm currents (Guinea, Mozambique, Agulhas) raise coastal temperatures and bring rain; cold currents (Canary, Benguela) cool coasts, give fog and dry air, helping form the Sahara and Namib deserts.
(c) Coastal areas have moderate temperatures, smaller ranges and more rain/humidity; interior places have extreme temperatures, bigger ranges and less rain (continentality).

Give examples for each factor.

(a) e.g. Petroleum: Niger Delta, Nigeria (Port Harcourt); Hassi Messaoud, Algeria; or coal at Enugu and Wankie. Metallic mineral: copper in the Zambian Copperbelt (Kitwe) and Katanga/Shaba, DR Congo (Lubumbashi); or gold at the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg) and Obuasi, Ghana.
(b) Shortage of capital; lack of skilled labour; poor transport; fluctuating world prices; foreign control; environmental damage; political instability; exhaustion of deposits.

Name the mineral and towns correctly.

(a) Fertile volcanic soils; cool highland climate with good rainfall; large areas of land; cheap labour; capital and skills from European settlers/companies; railway and ports (Mombasa); world demand.
(b) Foreign exchange from tea, coffee, sisal; employment; raw materials for industry; government revenue; development of infrastructure; settlement growth.
(c) Pests and diseases; fluctuating world prices; labour shortages and disputes; soil exhaustion; poor transport in some areas; foreign ownership and land disputes.

Examples: tea in Kericho, coffee in Kenyan Highlands, sisal in Tanzania.

(a)(i) Diagram: concentric layers labelled crust (lithosphere), mantle, outer core and inner core; crust shown thin; title and labels.
(ii) e.g. Crust: thin outer layer 5-70 km thick; continental part (SIAL, granite, silica and aluminium, density about 2.7) and oceanic part (SIMA, basalt, silica and magnesium, density about 3.0); solid; holds all landforms. (Or mantle / core with thickness, composition, state, temperature.)
(b) Hydrosphere: water for domestic, industrial and farm use; fish and other food; water transport; HEP; minerals and salt from the sea; moderates climate; recreation.
Or Biosphere: food from plants and animals; timber and fuel; raw materials (rubber, cotton); medicines; oxygen; soil fertility; tourism.

Draw the layers in correct order from the outside in, then describe one layer fully.

(a) Ocean transport for world trade (e.g. Atlantic routes); fishing (e.g. North Sea, Grand Banks); minerals such as petroleum on the continental shelf (Niger Delta, North Sea) and salt; tourism and recreation; employment; moderating coastal climates; source of rainfall.
(b) e.g. Gulf Stream / North Atlantic Drift: driven by the prevailing winds (trade winds push water west, westerlies push it north-east); deflection by the earth's rotation (Coriolis force) to the right; differences in temperature and density between warm and cold water; differences in salinity; shape of coastlines turning the current.

Name one warm current (Gulf Stream, North Atlantic Drift) and link each factor to its direction.

(a)(i) Torrid, temperate and frigid zones. (ii) Temperature (latitude/sun's heat).
(b) Torrid: hot all year, between the tropics. Temperate: warm summers and cool/cold winters, marked seasons. Frigid: very cold all year, polar regions.
(c) Koppen uses both temperature and rainfall; it uses measured numerical values; it has many more types and sub-types so it is more detailed; it relates climate to vegetation; it is widely used.

Remember the Greek system used temperature alone.

Tropical continental (savanna): (a) mainly tall grasses (elephant grass in the wetter parts, shorter tufted grass in the drier parts); scattered trees such as baobab, shea butter and acacia; deciduous trees that shed leaves in the dry season; long tap roots, thick bark, thorny or small leaves; grass dries up in the dry season and grows again in the rains.
(b) Seasonal rainfall (about 500-1500 mm) with a long dry season; high temperatures all year; frequent bush burning and grazing; soils that are lateritic and leached.
Cool temperate eastern margin: deciduous and mixed forest (oak, beech, maple), leaves shed in winter, few species per area; factors: rain all year, warm summers, cold winters.

Choose one climate and match each vegetation feature to a climate cause.

(a) Very heavy or long-lasting rainfall; blocked or poor drainage channels (refuse dumping); building on flood plains and waterways; clearing of vegetation so run-off increases; collapse or release of water from dams; rising sea level / storm surges along coasts; melting snow.
(b) Building dams and reservoirs; dredging and channelising rivers; building good drainage and culverts; planting trees (afforestation); banning building on flood plains; levees and embankments; public enlightenment on refuse disposal.

Give five causes and four distinct control measures.

(a) Source of fuel and power (petroleum, coal, gas); raw materials for industry (limestone for cement, iron ore); foreign exchange from exports; government revenue; employment; growth of towns and infrastructure (e.g. Jos, Enugu); jewellery and ornaments (gold).
(b) Pollution of land, water and air (oil spills, dust); destruction of farmland and vegetation; land degradation such as mining pits and erosion; health hazards and accidents; displacement of people.

Point (a) is about uses; point (b) about harm to the environment and people.