WAEC Geography 1997 past questions and answers

Follow the road from Ogba north-east to Ohanre and then north-west to Ajigbe and measure it against the linear scale. The road is about 8 units of 1 km long, so the distance is about 8 km.

Ogba lies south-west of Oranre (Ohanre), so its bearing measured clockwise from north is a little over 225°, about 230°.

The innermost closed contour of the central hills is the highest one on the map, so the highest point is over that value (900 m).

The rivers are drawn as continuous lines (permanent rivers), so nothing on the map shows that most of them are seasonal.

Orile stands where the contours bend outwards from the higher ground, i.e. on a spur.

Z is a small, closed contour standing on lower ground, i.e. a small rounded hill or knoll.

The quarry is on the rocky hill slopes near Aru, where hard rock is broken into gravel and stones for building and roads.

Mercury is the planet nearest the sun, so its orbit is the shortest (88 days).

Lines of latitude are equally spaced, so one degree of latitude is always about 111 km; the other statements are false.

The earth is not a perfect sphere; it is flattened at the poles and bulges at the equator, a shape called a geoid.

Rocks changed by great heat and pressure are metamorphic, not sedimentary.

Most plateaux are not perfectly flat; their surfaces are often broken by hills and valleys.

Denudation is the combined work of weathering and erosion that wears down and lowers the land.

On the gentle lower course the river drops so much load that sandbanks form and split the channel into many braids.

In hot deserts the rock surface heats strongly by day and cools at night, so outer layers peel off: exfoliation.

A delta is built by river deposition at the mouth; the others are cut by erosion.

The shallow, sunlit continental shelf has plenty of plankton, so fish are most abundant there.

The air is warmed mainly from below by heat radiated from the earth's surface, so it gets colder the further it is from the ground.

Annual range = mean temperature of the hottest month minus that of the coldest month.

Insolation (incoming solar radiation) is the sun's energy reaching the earth's surface.

On clear, calm nights the ground loses heat quickly; the air above it cools to dew point and fog forms.

A hot wet season, a dry season, and tall grass with deciduous trees describe the savanna (tropical continental) climate.

Continuous darkness in mid-winter happens only inside the Arctic Circle, where the tundra climate is found.

In sheet erosion a thin, even layer of topsoil is washed off a whole slope by run-off.

A soil profile is the vertical section showing all the layers (horizons); one layer alone is a horizon.

Savanna woodland is mainly tall grass with trees scattered through it.

Overgrazing removes the plant cover and exposes the soil to erosion; the others protect the environment.

Carnivores eat other animals only, which keeps the numbers of plant-eaters in check.

Exfoliation is natural weathering of rock in hot deserts; it is not caused by mining.

Birth control is a way of reducing population growth, not a problem caused by it.

When the paper was set (1997) the world had close to 6 billion people.

India has a very large, dense population on limited farmland, so it is noted for population pressure.

Nucleated settlements depend on trade with surrounding areas for food and goods, so they are not self-sufficient.

When growing towns spread and join into one built-up area, it is a conurbation.

Floods mainly destroy crops, farmland, houses and roads.

The far north-west (Sokoto area) is remote from ports and has few factories compared with Lagos, the south-east and Kaduna-Kano.

The Niger-Benue trough is a sedimentary basin filled with young (Cretaceous and later) sandstones and clays, not crystalline basement rocks.

Kano lies on stable ancient rocks and is not an earthquake zone; the other pairs are real hazards.

Hausa traders and communities are found in towns all over West Africa, and Hausa is widely used as a trade language.

The Middle Belt was emptied by inter-ethnic wars, slave raids from both north and south, and tsetse and other diseases; river swamps are not a main cause.

East African savannas such as the Serengeti are famous for their game parks and wild animals.

In 1997 ECOWAS had 16 member states.

The south-western Cape around Cape Town has the Mediterranean climate and vegetation.

Cahora (Kabora) Bassa dam is on the Zambezi in Mozambique.

The fruits are grown mainly for export, so changes in world prices threaten farmers' incomes.

The Managil extension is part of the Gezira scheme in Sudan, on the Nile; the others are in Nigeria, Senegal and Somalia.

(a) Climate (moderate, well-watered areas attract people; deserts and very cold areas repel); relief (lowlands dense, rugged mountains sparse); soils (fertile soils attract farmers); minerals (mining towns); water supply; economic activities and jobs; transport; history, security and government policy.
(b) Rural-urban migration (villagers move to towns for jobs and amenities); urban-rural (return migration); seasonal migration/transhumance; international migration; rural-rural.
(c) e.g. rural-urban: overcrowding and slums in towns; unemployment and crime; pressure on amenities, traffic congestion; rural areas lose young labour so food production falls.

Explain each factor's effect, not just name it.

(a) Town: larger population and area; mainly non-farming jobs (trade, industry, services); more amenities (hospitals, banks, schools); planned layout and taller buildings; heterogeneous population; focus of routes. Village: small population; mainly farming; few amenities; unplanned; homogeneous people.
(b) Market for village produce and source of manufactured goods (e.g. Onitsha market); services such as hospitals, secondary schools, banks; jobs for villagers; administrative services (local government headquarters); transport links; news and new ideas.

Each difference should compare the two.

(a) To carry export crops and minerals to ports (e.g. Zambian copper via TAZARA to Dar es Salaam; Lagos-Kano for groundnuts; Enugu coal to Port Harcourt); to open up the interior; for colonial administration and troop movement; to link major towns; to carry imports inland.
(b) Narrow gauge and single tracks; old engines and coaches; slow and unreliable; lines run from ports inland with few links between countries; different gauges; poor maintenance and management; competition from roads; high cost.
(c) Standard gauge and double tracks; new rolling stock; better funding and management (or privatisation); linking national networks; improved maintenance and training.

Give African examples for each heading.

(a) Crafts: pottery, weaving, leather work, wood carving, blacksmithing. Manufacturing: textiles, cement, food processing, brewing, oil refining, vehicle assembly.
(b) Raw materials; power; market; transport; labour; capital; water; government policy; port location.
(c) Inadequate capital; erratic power supply; poor transport; shortage of skilled labour; small home market and low purchasing power; competition from imports; dependence on imported raw materials and spare parts; political instability.

Separate crafts (hand-made at home) from factory industry.

(a)(i) e.g. United Kingdom (or Germany, France, Netherlands). (ii) Nigeria exports crude oil, cocoa, rubber; UK exports machinery, vehicles, chemicals, textiles/drugs.
(b) Each obtains goods it cannot produce; foreign exchange; markets for industries; employment; better relations and exchange of technology; higher standard of living.
(c) Nigeria exports mainly raw materials with low prices; unfavourable balance of trade for Nigeria; fall in value of the naira; tariffs and trade restrictions; shortage of foreign exchange; poor quality of some exports; political problems.

Name a real European partner.

(a) Area below 100 cm: far north/north-east (Sokoto, Kano, Maiduguri, Nguru). Area of very high rainfall (over 300 cm): south-east coast/Niger Delta (Port Harcourt, Warri, Calabar, Bonny).
(b) High temperatures all year (about 26-27°C); small annual range (about 2-3°C); double maxima of rainfall; no month without rain / short dry season; high humidity; heavy convectional rainfall.
(c) Rain forest/mangrove swamp forest: dense evergreen trees; tall trees in layers with continuous canopy; many species mixed together; lianas and epiphytes; mangroves with stilt roots in the coastal swamps.

The question prints 'below 300cm' for (ii); the map answer should show the very wet south-east coast.

(a) Map showing the trough along the Niger (from Jebba) and the Benue valley, the two rivers meeting at Lokoja (confluence town), Bacita near Jebba on the Niger and Numan on the Benue.
(b)(i) Large estates (Bacita, Numan); land cleared and ploughed by machine; cane cuttings planted in rows; irrigation from the rivers in the dry season; fertilisers and weed control.
(ii) Harvested after about 12-18 months; fields sometimes burnt to remove leaves; canes cut close to the ground by machete or machine; carried quickly by truck or tractor to the factory before the sugar content falls.
(iii) Raw material for sugar factories; saves foreign exchange on sugar imports; employment; income for farmers and government; by-products (molasses, bagasse for fuel); growth of settlements and infrastructure.

Locate Bacita on the Niger and Numan on the Benue.

(a) Rain forest belt across the south; montane vegetation on the Jos Plateau, Mambilla or Obudu Plateau; lumber towns such as Sapele, Benin City, Ijebu-Ode, Ondo, Calabar.
(b) Heavy rainfall and high temperatures supporting big trees; valuable hardwood species (iroko, mahogany, obeche, abura); demand at home and abroad; rivers for floating logs; sawmills and ports (Sapele, Lagos); labour.
(c) Trees of one species scattered, making extraction costly; poor roads especially in the rainy season; depletion of forests and slow regeneration; heavy logs difficult to move; inadequate equipment and capital; illegal felling.

Mark the montane area clearly in a key.

Western Highlands: (a) Old basement rocks, 300-600 m, dissected plateau with inselbergs (Idanre Hills, Olumirin); highest parts in Ekiti; rivers flow south to the lagoons (Ogun, Osun, Oshun, Owena) and north to the Niger (Moshi, Oyi).
(b) Food crops (yam, cassava, maize, rice); tree crops (cocoa, kola, coffee, oil palm, citrus); some livestock (goats, sheep, poultry, Muturu cattle).
(c) Soil erosion; seasonal shortage of water; poor rural roads; pests and diseases; ageing cocoa trees; migration of youths to towns; flooding in valleys.
(Or Eastern Highlands: Obudu, Mambilla, Adamawa; source of Cross, Donga, Katsina Ala; cattle, tea; problems of remoteness and rugged relief.)

Choose one region and keep to it.

(a) River Imo in the south-east flowing to the Atlantic; River Kaduna flowing south-west to the Niger; HEP: Kainji, Jebba, Shiroro; thermal: Egbin (Ijora), Afam, Sapele, Ughelli, Oji River; refineries: Port Harcourt (Alesa-Eleme), Warri, Kaduna.
(b) Main source of foreign exchange and government revenue; employment; fuel and petrochemical raw materials; infrastructure development; growth of towns (Port Harcourt, Warri).
(c) Oil spills polluting land and water; gas flaring; destruction of farms and fishing grounds; neglect of agriculture; conflicts and unrest in producing communities; rural-urban migration; dependence on foreign companies.

Put each facility at its correct town.

(a) Land cultivated for 2-3 years then left fallow to regain fertility; farmer moves to another plot but stays in the same village; land cleared by slash and burn; simple tools (hoe, cutlass); family labour; mixed cropping of food crops; small plots, mainly subsistence.
(b) Soil fertility restored naturally without fertiliser; cheap, needs little capital; easy with simple tools; fallow land provides grazing and fuelwood; mixed crops reduce risk.
(c) Needs a lot of land; low yields; cannot support a growing population (fallow periods shorten); bush burning destroys humus and causes erosion; land fragmentation; does not allow mechanisation.

Contrast with shifting cultivation: the village stays put.

(a) Map with the Nile flowing north to the Mediterranean, Zaire (Congo) curving through central Africa to the Atlantic, Zambezi flowing east to the Indian Ocean; Mt Cameroon near the Gulf of Guinea, Drakensberg in south-east South Africa, Tibesti in northern Chad; the rift valley from Ethiopia through Kenya/Tanzania (with the western arm).
(b) Temperatures fall with height (cool East African highlands, Jos Plateau); windward slopes get heavy relief rain (Mt Cameroon, east side of Drakensberg); leeward sides are dry rain-shadow areas (west of the Drakensberg, Karoo).
(c) Cool climate for crops like tea and coffee and for settlement; minerals; sources of rivers and HEP; tourism; pasture for livestock; forests.

Use named African examples.

(a) Equatorial: Zaire (Congo) Basin (Kisangani) or Gabon (Libreville); desert: Sahara (e.g. Agadez, In Salah, Rabat is on the edge) or Kalahari/Namib.
(b) Equatorial: high temperatures all year (about 27°C) with small annual range (2-3°C); heavy rain all year (over 1500 mm) with double maxima; convectional thunderstorms in the afternoon; high humidity. (Desert: very low rainfall; very hot days and cold nights; clear skies.)
(c) Equatorial forest: broad leaves with drip tips to shed water; evergreen because there is no dry season; tall trees in layers competing for light; buttress roots; lianas and epiphytes. (Desert: thorny/small leaves, long roots, water storage.)

Adaptations must match the climate chosen.

(a) Rain forest in the Zaire Basin and along the Guinea coast; tropical grassland (savanna) in belts north, east and south of the forest; temperate grassland (veld) on the high plateau of South Africa.
(b) Tall evergreen trees (up to 45-60 m); three layers with a continuous canopy; many species mixed (not pure stands); hardwoods; buttress roots; lianas and epiphytes; little undergrowth where the canopy is thick.
(c) Timber and plywood (export and local use); food such as fruits, nuts, game; raw materials (rubber, oil palm, raffia, medicines); fuelwood; foreign exchange; tourism and wildlife; protects soils and water catchments.

Show the belts in their correct positions.

(a) Egypt: Aswan High Dam scheme, the Nile Delta perennial canals, Kom Ombo, Wadi Halfa/New Valley. Sudan: Gezira, Managil extension, Khashm el Girba, Kenana.
(b) e.g. Gezira: flat clay plain between the Blue and White Niles; gentle slope allowing gravity flow from the Sennar Dam; impervious clay soils holding water; low unreliable rainfall making irrigation necessary; hot climate suited to cotton; government and capital support; cheap labour; rail links to Port Sudan.
(c) Cotton for export and foreign exchange; food crops (wheat, sorghum, groundnuts); employment and settlement; government revenue; growth of industries (ginneries) and towns.
(d) Silting of reservoirs and canals; salinisation of soils; water-borne diseases such as bilharzia; high cost of maintenance; resettlement of displaced people; disputes over Nile water.

The question prints (c) twice; the last part is about problems.

Sketch of the earth's positions round the sun on 21 March, 21 June, 23 September and 22 December.
(a) Equinox: sun overhead at the equator; equal day and night everywhere; 21 March and 23 September. Solstice: sun overhead at a tropic (Cancer 21 June, Capricorn 22 December); longest/shortest days; midnight sun or polar night inside the polar circles.
(b) Rotation: earth spins on its axis west to east once in 24 hours; causes day and night, time differences and deflection of winds. Revolution: earth moves round the sun in 365¼ days; with the tilted axis it causes seasons, changing lengths of day and night and the leap year.
(c) Parallels: run east-west, parallel, measure 0-90° N or S, get shorter towards the poles, only the equator is a great circle. Meridians: run north-south from pole to pole, meet at the poles, measure 0-180° E or W of Greenwich, all equal in length, used to find time.

Each pair needs a sketch and clear contrasts.

(a) Planetary winds: NE trades drive the North Equatorial current westwards; westerlies drive the North Pacific Drift eastwards. Earth's rotation (Coriolis force) deflects currents to the right, giving a clockwise gyre (Kuroshio north, California current south). Shape of coastlines: Asia turns the current north as the Kuroshio; North America turns it south as the California current. Temperature and density differences: warm water moves poleward, cold water (Oyashio/Kamchatka) moves towards the equator. Salinity differences.
(b) e.g. California current: lowers coastal temperatures; winds over it are cooled so little rain falls (dry coast, Mexican/Californian desert); frequent fog along the coast (San Francisco); reduces the annual range. (Or Oyashio/Kamchatka current: cold, foggy coasts of north-east Asia and Japan, frozen harbours.)

Use named currents of the North Pacific only.

Rock pedestal: mushroom-shaped rock, wide top on a narrow base; formed in deserts by wind-borne sand abrading the lower part most (sand rarely lifted above 1-2 m), helped by softer lower layers.
Depression (desert): hollow scooped out by wind deflation, e.g. Qattara depression; wind removes loose sand down to the water table, where oases may form.
Barchan: crescent-shaped sand dune with horns pointing downwind, gentle windward slope and steep leeward slip face; formed where wind blows from one direction over a limited sand supply around an obstacle; moves forward slowly.
Inselberg: isolated steep-sided rocky hill rising abruptly from a plain, often granite (e.g. Idanre, Zuma Rock); formed when the surrounding land is worn down by weathering and erosion while the resistant rock remains.
Each with a labelled diagram.

Choose two and include a labelled diagram for each.

(a) Latitude; altitude; distance from the sea (continentality); ocean currents; prevailing winds; relief and aspect; pressure belts; vegetation cover.
(b) Type of clothing; type of houses and building materials; crops grown and farming activities; health and diseases (malaria in humid areas); transport (fog, floods, snow); human activity and energy; settlement and population distribution; tourism.

Give a short example for each point.

(a) Long droughts and low rainfall; overgrazing; deforestation and fuelwood cutting; bush burning; over-cultivation; climate change.
(b) Sahel belt bordering the Sahara (northern Nigeria: Sokoto, Katsina, Kano, Borno, Yobe; Niger, Chad, Mali); edges of the Kalahari.
(c) Loss of farmland and pasture; loss of vegetation and wildlife; drying of rivers and lakes; famine; migration of people; sandstorms and buried settlements.
(d) Afforestation and shelter belts; controlled grazing; laws against bush burning and tree felling; irrigation and water conservation; alternative fuels; public education.

Use the four headings in order.

(a) Exhaust fumes from vehicles (Lagos traffic); smoke and fumes from factories and power stations; gas flaring in the Niger Delta; bush burning; mining and quarrying dust; burning refuse; harmattan dust.
(b) Respiratory diseases and other health problems; acid rain damaging buildings, crops and forests; depletion of the ozone layer; global warming; poor visibility leading to accidents; smog.
(c) Laws and monitoring on emissions; filters and cleaner technology in factories; well-maintained vehicles and unleaded fuel; stopping gas flaring; tree planting; public education on waste burning.

Name real sources as examples.