WAEC Geography 2022 past questions and answers

The map is 1:50 000, so 1 cm stands for 50,000 cm = 0.5 km.

The two main roads of the district cross at NONSO, making it a nodal town that attracts trade and people.

The highest hill in the north has a small closed contour inside the 1100 m ring (the 1200 m contour), so its top is about 1250 m.

Only NONSO has a market (Mkt), so it is the commercial centre.

A watershed is the high ground that separates streams flowing in different directions; here it follows the crest of the ridges.

Halving the map makes each ground distance half as long on paper, so 1:50,000 becomes 1:100,000.

River Juth runs from the hills near Balu towards the 300 m land near Bukola in the north-west, so it flows north-westwards.

Contours are labelled 300, 400, 500, 600, 800, 900 and 1100 m with one line between each, so the interval is 100 m.

NONSO is a compact built-up settlement clustered round the road junction; the others are scattered huts.

Region R has the most dots (10 dots = 200,000 tonnes).

T has 7 dots and U has 3 dots: 4 dots × 20,000 = 80,000 tonnes.

R (10 dots) + T (7 dots) = 17 dots × 20,000 = 340,000 tonnes.

Stalactites hang down from the cave roof; stalagmites grow up from the floor.

1° of latitude ≈ 111 km, so 444 km = 4°. Q is 4° from P in the same (northern) hemisphere: 3° + 4° = 7°N (3° − 4° would be south of the equator).

Isonephs join places with the same cloudiness; isohyets join equal rainfall and isobars equal pressure.

One degree of latitude is about 111 km. 4 minutes is for 1° of longitude (1 hour for 15°), and on 22 December the sun is over the Tropic of Capricorn.

A beach is built from sand and pebbles deposited by waves; bays, cliffs and arches are carved by erosion.

In old age a river flows slowly over a flat plain, meandering widely and building levees and flood plains; waterfalls and fast flow belong to the youthful stage.

As the tilted earth revolves round the sun, each hemisphere leans towards or away from the sun, so the lengths of day and night change through the year. Rotation alone causes day and night, not their variation.

A barchan is a crescent-shaped sand dune deposited by wind in deserts.

Cumulonimbus clouds are tall, dark storm clouds that bring thunder, lightning and heavy rain.

Residual mountains are the remains of older highlands worn down by denudation.

Deflation is the removal of loose sand and dust by wind; saltation and traction are ways of transporting load.

Rainwater containing carbon dioxide dissolves limestone (carbonation-solution).

Land heats up faster than the sea by day, so statement C is wrong.

Pyroclastic ('fire-broken') material is ash, cinders and rock fragments blown out of a volcano.

Alternating layers of ash and lava build a composite (strato) cone.

Igneous rocks form when magma cools, so they are crystalline; stratification belongs to sedimentary rocks.

When the air is moist little water evaporates from the wet bulb, so it cools only slightly: a small difference means high relative humidity.

Equatorial regions get two rainfall peaks, after the two equinoxes.

A block mountain (horst) is a block of crust pushed up between two parallel faults.

Spits, beaches and tombolos are built by deposition (advancing shoreline); a stack is left by erosion.

Relative location describes where a settlement is compared with other places and features.

Little use of family planning keeps birth rates high while death rates fall.

Japan has few minerals or oil; its industry grew on a skilled, disciplined workforce.

Rapids and waterfalls interrupt navigation on most African rivers.

Removing trade barriers between members is meant to integrate their economies.

Population grows through births (and immigration); climate, relief and soil affect distribution.

Every settlement needs water, building land and usually farmland; mineral deposits attract only a few mining settlements, so they matter least.

75,000,000 ÷ 250,000 = 300 persons per km².

Investors avoid countries where coups, conflict and policy changes put their money at risk.

Combining road, rail, water and other modes spreads traffic and links them efficiently.

The Lagos-Ibadan (western Nigeria) industrial zone has the largest number and variety of industries in West Africa.

Textiles use light raw materials and machinery and produce consumer goods: a light industry.

(a) Road; rail; water (inland and ocean); air; pipeline; human porterage; animals; cable/ropeway.
(b) To carry bulky goods (minerals, cash crops) from the interior to the ports; to link major towns and regions; for administration and national unity; to open up new areas for development; to move people cheaply over long distances; to encourage trade and industry; for defence and security.
(c) Buy modern locomotives and coaches; replace narrow gauge with standard gauge; extend and double the tracks; maintain tracks and rolling stock regularly; train staff; improve management and funding (or private participation); improve signalling and security.

Five reasons, each a phrase.

(a) Urbanization is the growth in the proportion of a country's people living in towns and the growth of towns in size and number; population density is the number of people per unit area (e.g. per km²) of a place.
(b) Housing shortage and slums; unemployment; traffic congestion; pollution and poor waste disposal; overstretched water, power and health services; crime and social vices; spread of diseases.
(c) Build low-cost housing and upgrade slums; create jobs and develop rural areas to reduce migration; improve roads and mass transit; proper waste management and sanitation laws; expand water, power and health services; strengthen security; enforce town-planning laws.

Match solutions to the problems.

(a) Small scale, often in homes; use simple hand tools; use local raw materials; family or apprentice labour; small capital; low output for local markets; skills passed down generations (e.g. weaving, pottery, blacksmithing, carving).
(b) Low output and quality; little capital; simple tools and poor technology; competition from factory-made imports; small markets and poor packaging; young people not interested in learning crafts.
(c) Africa produces raw materials (cocoa, oil, minerals) needed by developed industries; Africa needs manufactured goods, machinery and technology from them; colonial ties and trade links; difference in climate and resources; foreign aid and investment tied to trade; good shipping links and ports; trade agreements (e.g. EU-ACP); African demand for foreign goods.

Explain each factor briefly.

(a) Outline of Nigeria with title and north arrow; Apapa seaport at Lagos on the south-west coast; Kainji dam on the River Niger in the west; Abuja in the centre (FCT).
(b) Electricity for homes and industries; water for irrigation; fishing in the reservoirs; navigation; flood control; tourism and recreation; employment; water supply to towns.
(c) Handle imports and exports, promoting international trade; earn revenue (duties, port charges); provide employment; encourage growth of industries and towns near the port; link Nigeria to other countries; serve landlocked neighbours.

Explain each advantage in a sentence.

(a) Yam; cassava; maize; guinea corn; millet; cocoyam; groundnut; beans.
(b) Land is cleared by slash and burn; farmed for a few years then left to rest (fallow) while another plot is used; the settlement is permanent; simple tools (hoe, cutlass); family labour; small farms; mainly food crops for subsistence; little or no fertilizer; low yields; needs plenty of land and low population density.
(c) Wastes land as much lies fallow; low output; burning destroys organic matter and soil organisms; exposes soil to erosion; cannot work where population is dense; difficult to mechanise; destruction of forest; low income for farmers.

Distinguish from shifting cultivation: the settlement stays.

(a) Outline of Nigeria with title and north arrow; Jos Plateau in the centre; a river such as the Niger, Ogun or Cross River flowing into the Atlantic; Lake Chad in the north-east; Port Harcourt in the Niger delta.
(b) Flooding and poor drainage of swampy land; coastal erosion; traffic congestion; slums and housing shortage; overcrowding; waste disposal and pollution; crime; shortage of land and high land prices.
(c) Build wider drains and dredge canals; build sea walls; integrated mass transit (BRT, rail, ferries) and better roads; low-cost housing and slum upgrading; effective waste management; better security; land reclamation and enforcement of planning laws.

Solutions must answer the problems given in (b).

(a) Three bars for 2001, 2002 and 2003, of equal width and spacing. Totals: 2001 = 150 (bar 15 cm), 2002 = 130 (13 cm), 2003 = 130 (13 cm). Each bar divided cumulatively: 2001 A 0-40, B 40-90, C 90-150; 2002 A 0-60, B 60-100, C 100-130; 2003 A 0-50, B 50-90, C 90-130. Different shading for each school with a key, labelled axes and a title.
(b)(i) 40 + 60 + 50 = 150 students.
(ii) 50 + 40 + 40 = 130 students.
(iii) A = 150, C = 60 + 30 + 40 = 130; difference = 20 students.
(c) A simple bar shows only one value (item) per bar, while a compound bar is divided into parts to show several components and their total in one bar.

Stack the values cumulatively.

(a) Mt Kilimanjaro (Tanzania); Mt Cameroon; Mt Fuji (Japan); Mt Vesuvius and Mt Etna (Italy); Mt Kenya; Mt Mayon (Philippines); Mt St Helens (USA).
(b) Diagram: cone with alternating layers of ash and lava, central vent, crater, side (parasitic) vents. Formation: magma rises through a vent from a magma chamber; violent eruptions throw out ash, cinders and bombs which settle round the vent; quieter eruptions pour out lava which covers the ash layer; repeated alternating eruptions build up a tall cone of layers with steep concave/convex slopes; side vents may form parasitic cones.
(c) Heavy or prolonged rainfall saturating slopes; earthquakes and volcanic tremors; undercutting of slopes by rivers, waves or road cutting; deforestation; steep slopes with weak or clay rock; mining and quarrying; overloading slopes with buildings.

Label the layers in the diagram.

(a) Suspension; saltation; surface creep (traction).
(b) Diagram: a shallow basin in the desert floor, sometimes reaching the water table with an oasis.
Characteristics: shallow or deep depression in a desert; may be very large (e.g. Qattara Depression); floor may reach the water table to form an oasis; gentle sides.
Formation: weathering loosens rock particles; strong winds blow away (deflate) the loose sand and dust; removal is repeated over a long time, lowering the land; deflation continues down to the water table, where moist ground stops further removal and water may collect as an oasis.

Name deflation as the process.

(a) The atmosphere is heated mainly from the ground by terrestrial radiation, so air far from the ground is cooler; air at height is thinner (lower density) and holds less heat; there is less water vapour and dust at height to absorb heat; rising air expands under lower pressure and cools; so temperature falls about 6.5°C per 1,000 m.
(b) Diagram: moist wind from the sea, a mountain, clouds and rain on the windward side, dry descending air on the leeward (rain shadow) side. Moist air is forced to rise over a mountain barrier; it cools as it rises; it reaches dew point and condenses into clouds; rain falls on the windward slope; the air descends the leeward side, warms and is dry, producing a rain shadow.

Label windward and leeward sides.

(a) Volcanic intrusion is the forcing of magma into the rocks of the earth's crust, where it cools and solidifies below the surface.
(b) Characteristics: steep sides (fault scarps); flat or gently sloping top; bounded by faults; e.g. Vosges, Black Forest, Ruwenzori. Formation: tension or compression in the crust produces two parallel faults; the block between them is pushed up, or the land on both sides sinks, leaving the middle block standing as a horst (block mountain).
(c) Batholith; laccolith; dyke; sill; lopolith; phacolith.

Mention the parallel faults.

(a)(i) Climate (temperature and rainfall); rock type and composition; rock structure (joints); relief; vegetation and organisms; human activities; time.
(ii) Loss of life and property; destruction of roads and farmland; blocking of rivers and flooding; deforestation; displacement of people.
(b)(i) Exfoliation: in deserts rocks heat strongly by day and cool at night; the outer layer expands and contracts more than the inside; stress causes cracks parallel to the surface; outer shells peel off like onion layers.
(ii) Frost action: water enters cracks in rock; at night it freezes and expands by about 10%; this pressure widens the cracks; repeated freezing and thawing breaks the rock into angular fragments (scree).

Describe the steps in order.

(a) An ecosystem is a community of living organisms interacting with one another and with their non-living (physical) environment.
(b) Abiotic (non-living) components: e.g. sunlight, water, air, soil, temperature. Biotic (living) components: producers (green plants), consumers (animals such as goats, lions) and decomposers (bacteria, fungi).
(c) Plants use sunlight, water and carbon dioxide to make food that animals eat; animals release carbon dioxide used by plants and plants release oxygen used by animals; decomposers break down dead matter, returning nutrients to the soil for plants; soil supports plants which protect it from erosion.

Give two examples for each component.