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About WAEC Syllabus
WAEC Syllabus is a subject outline that contains topics that a candidate intending to seat for an examination for that particular subject is required to cover prior to the exam in order to stand a chance of performing excellently in the exam.
Speaking of WAEC Syllabus for Geography, It therefore means that it’s an outline that contains all the topics for Geography that each candidate who enrol for Geography is expected to cover prior to the examination date. If you intend to sit for JAMB, checkout JAMB Syllabus for all Subjects here.
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WAEC Syllabus For Geography
Without wasting much time, the syllabus for Geography are as follows:
Aims And Objectives / Preamble
PREAMBLEThis examination syllabus is based on the assumption that not less than four teaching periods
or 2 hours 40 minutes per week will be allocated to the subject during the Senior Secondary
School Course.AIMS AND OBJECTIVESThe examination will test the candidates’ ability to(i) understand the concepts of differential character and the spatial relationships of the surface features of the earth;
(ii) understand the concept of man-environment relations (i.e. to examine the life of man within his physical and cultural environments and to explain their interactions);
(iii) acquire a basic knowledge of the nature and functioning of physical and human environments, particularly an understanding of their inter-relationships and the resulting issues;
(iv) organize and formulate principles according to acquired geographical concepts and to apply these principles to interpret and analyse spatial problems in the immediate and wider environments;
(v) develop skills and techniques for accurate, orderly and objective geographical investigations to be carried out both in the classroom and in the immediate environment.
RUBRICS AND EXAMINATION SCHEME
There will be two papers; Paper 1 and Paper 2, both of which must be taken.
PAPER 1: GENERAL GEOGRAPHY, ELEMENTS OF PRACTICAL AND PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. This will be a 2-hour and 40 minutes paper, consisting of two
sections; A and B.
SECTION A: General Geography
This will be a fifty (50) minutes multiple-choice (objective) test consisting of fifty (50) questions drawn to cover the entire Geography syllabus (except elementary surveying). Candidates will be required to attempt all the questions.
SECTION B: Elements of Practical and Physical Geography
This will be a 1 hour and 50 minutes paper, consisting of eight (8) questions, of which candidates are expected to answer four. Question 1 will be a compulsory structured question on map reading and interpretation. Candidates are advised not to spend more than 30 minutes on this question.
Candidates will be expected to bring graduated rulers (both metric and imperial), a complete mathematical set, a piece of string and a simple non- programmable calculator.
PAPER 2: HUMAN AND REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY
This will be a 2-hour essay-type paper, consisting of three sections A, B, and C. Candidates will be required to attempt four questions out of nine, choosing at least one from each section.
SECTION A: Human Geography
This will consist of three essay-type questions. Candidates will be required to
attempt at least one of them.
SECTION B: Regional Geography of Candidates’ Home Country
This will consist of three essay-type questions. Candidates will be required to
attempt at least one of them.
SECTION C: Geography of Africa
This will consist of three essay-type questions. Candidates will be required to
attempt at least one of them.
WEST AFRICAN SENIOR SCHOOL CERTIFICATE EXAMINATION
GEOGRAPHY
DETAILED SYLLABUS
CONTENTS NOTES
ELEMENTS OF PRACTICAL AND
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
Map Work
Elementary Surveying
Statistical Maps and Diagrams
Elements of Physical Geography
(i) Rocks
(ii) Major landforms
(iii) Oceans
(iv) Weather and climate
Map reading and interpretation based on a contoured survey map of part of West Africa: scale, measurement
of distances, direction and bearing, map reduction and enlargement, identification of physical features such as
spurs, valleys, etc. and cultural features such as city walls, settlements, communication routes etc.; measurement of gradients, drawing of cross profiles, inter-visibility, description and explanation of drainage, pattern of communication, settlement and land use.
Chain and Prismatic compass, open and closed traverse, avoiding obstacles in the field.
Graphical representation of statistical data: bar graphs, line graphs, flow charts, pie charts, dot maps, proportional circles, density maps, isopleth maps.
The earth as a planet in relation to the sun. Latitude, longitude and time. Structure of the earth (internal and
external).
Types, characteristics, formation and uses.
Mountains, plateau, plains, karst and coastal landforms.
Agencies modify landforms such as weathering, running
water, underground water, wind and waves.
Fieldwork covering local landforms such as coastal
features, drainage features, gullies, etc.
Ocean basins, salinity, ocean currents (causes, types and
effects on the climates of coastlands), water as an
environmental resource.
Simple weather study based on local observation,
description of the Stevenson’s screen and uses of basic
weather instruments e.g. rain gauge, thermometer,
barometer, and wind vane, etc.
CONTENTS NOTES
(v) Elements of climate
(vi) Soils
(vii) Vegetation
(viii) Aspects of Environmental
Interaction
(ix) Environmental hazards
HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
(i) World Population
(ii) Settlement
(iii) Transportation
Temperature, pressure, wind and precipitation and the
factors affecting them e.g. altitude, latitude, ocean
currents, land-and-sea breezes, continentality and aspect.
Interpretation of climatic charts and data. Classification
of climate (Greek and Koppen’s). Major types of climate
(Hot climate – equatorial, tropical and desert, temperate
climate – warm and cool). The atmosphere as an
environmental resource.
Definition, local types and characteristics. Factors and
processes of soil formation and soil profile. Tropical soil
types. Importance to man and the effects of human
activities on soil.
Major types (tropical rain-forest, cool temperate
woodland, tropical grassland and temperate grassland);
characteristics, distribution, factors affecting their
distribution, plant communities. Vegetation as an
environmental resource.
Land ecosystem, environmental balance and intervention
within the natural environment.
Soil erosion, drought, desert encroachment, deforestation
and pollution, causes, effects and prevention of each.
Factors and patterns of growth, distribution and
movement; growth rate problems (e.g. Amazon Basin,
N.E. of U.S.A., India, Japan, West Coast of South
Africa).
Types (rural and urban); patterns and factors affecting
location; growth and size; functions of rural and urban
settlements (e.g. Western Europe, the Middle East and
West Africa).
Types (roads, railways, water, air). Transportation and
economic development (movement of people and
commodities, national and international trade, diffusion
of ideas and technology, national integration); problems
of transportation.
CONTENTS NOTES
(iv) Manufacturing Industry
(v) World Trade
REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY OF NIGERIA
REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY OF GHANA
Types (heavy and light industry); Factors of industrial
location; contributions to Gross National Product
(G.N.P.) and problems.
Factors, major commodities (agricultural, manufactured
goods and mineral products); world trade routes, with
special emphasis on trade between the candidate’s home
country and the outside world.
Nigeria on broad outlines (location, position, size,
political divisions, physical setting, population,
distribution of mineral and power resources, agriculture,
industry and commerce, transportation).
Geographical Regions of Nigeria (Eastern Highlands,
Eastern Scarplands, North-central Highlands, Western
Highlands, Sokoto Plains, Chad Basin, Niger-Benue
Trough, Cross River Basin and Southern Coastlands).
Each of these geographical regions should be treated
under the following sub-headings:-
(i) physical setting;
(ii) peoples and population;
(iii) resources and economic activities;
(iv) transportation;
(v) problems of development.
(a) Size and location (within West Africa),
administrative structure.
(b) Physical environment (geology, relief, drainage,
climate, vegetation and soils).
(c) Population: Size, growth, distribution and density;
age/sex structure; fertility, morbidity and mortality,
migration.
(d) Settlements: Origin, types (rural – urban),
characteristics, hierarchy, landuse, urbanisation
processes problems and attempts at solving some
of the problems).
(e) Agriculture: Subsistence (intensive and extensive),
commercial (vegetable, livestock, dairying,
commercial grain); plantation, problems and
prospects.
CONTENTS
NOTES
REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY OF SIERRA
LEONE
(f) Fishing: Inland and ocean (in-shore/off-shore),
methods, types of fish, storage and marketing,
problems and prospects.
(g) Lumbering: Sources of timber, methods of
exploitation, types of species (for internal use and
for export), problems and prospects, conservation.
(h) Mining: Types, distribution, methods of
extraction, problems and prospects.
(i) Manufacturing: Types, distribution, factors
influencing location of industries, problems of
industrialization.
(j) Trade and Commerce: Services, transport
and communication, recreation and tourism,
administration.
(k) Energy and Power: Water (Akosombo and
Kpong Hydro-electric Power projects – benefits
and effects), fuelwood and charcoal, Petroleum
and Natural gas (Saltpond), Solar, Wave, Wind
energies (Donkokrom and Kokrobite), Biogas e.g.
cow dung.
(l) Issues of Development and Environmental
Conservation: Rural and regional development,
resource management and conservation,
environmental pollution e.g. air, water, soil,
noise, waste disposal.
Sierra Leone on Broad Outlines
Size and location, physical environment, population and
settlements.
Primary Economic Activities
Agriculture, fishing, lumbering, mining and quarrying,
relative importance of each activity, problems, prospects
and conservation.
Manufacturing
Location of industry, types of industry, problems of
manufacturing industry, Energy and Power, water,
fuelwood and charcoal, biogas (e.g. cow-dung), hydro-
electric power projects e.g. Dodo, Guma, Bumbuna
(under construction).
CONTENTS NOTES
REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY OF
SENEGAMBIA
FIELDWORK
Transport and Communication
Roads, water, air, the role of transport and
communication in economic development (i.e. movement
of people and commodities) internal and external trade,
diffusion of ideas and technology): problems of transport
and communication.
Trade and Tourism
Major commodities of trade (agricultural, manufactured
goods, minerals, etc.): pattern of trade (internal and
external): problems of trade; development of tourism,
problems of tourism, socio-economic effects of tourism.
(a) Size and location, physical environment – relief,
drainage, climate and vegetation.
(b) Economic activities – Farming (subsistence and
cash crops), fishing, livestock rearing, mining,
problems and prospects.
(c) Population – Size, growth, distribution and
migration.
(d) Manufacturing – Types, location, factors
influencing location, problems of industrialization.
(e) Transport and Communication – road, water, rail
and air transport – their roles in economic
development.
(f) Tourism – Main tourism areas, factors responsible
for its development, problems and economic
importance.
Fieldwork on any one of the following topics should be
based on local geography of candidate’s home country
(This aspect of the syllabus should be examined by
schools as part of the continuous assessment and should
account for 25% of the total mark allotted to continuous
assessment):
(i) Land use (rural or urban):
rural – crop farming (e.g. rice, cocoa, etc).,
mining (e.g. coal, tin, petroleum,
etc.) fishing.
CONTENTS
NOTES
GEOGRAPHY OF AFRICA
SELECTED TOPICS
urban – commercial activities, ports,
factories, recreational, etc.
(ii) Market survey – rural or urban.
(iii) Traffic flow – rural or urban.
(iv) Patterns of journey to work – rural or urban.
(v) Rate of erosion in the locality, etc.
Africa on broad outlines – location, size, position,
political divisions and associated islands, physical setting
(relief, drainage, climate and vegetation); distribution of
major minerals.
(a) Lumbering in equatorial Africa (with particular
reference to Cote d’Ivoire and Zaire).
(b) Irrigation agriculture in the Nile Basin and the Niger
Basin.
(c) Plantation agriculture in West and East Africa.
(d) Fruit farming in the Mediterranean Regions of
Africa.
(e) Gold mining in South Africa.
(f) Copper mining in Zaire and Zambia.
(g) Oil production in Nigeria, Algeria and Libya.
(h) Population distribution in West Africa.
(i) International Economic Co-operation in West Africa
(e.g. ECOWAS).
WEST AFRICAN SENIOR SCHOOL CERTIFICATE EXAMINATION
GEOGRAPHY
T.E. HILTON
D.A. NIMAKO
A. OGUNSEYE & A. FANIRAN
MONKHOUSE, F.J. & H.R. WILKINSON
BYGOTT JOHN & D.C. MONEY
PRITCHARD, J.M.
GOSS, W.E.
DOTSE, J. M.
J. WILLMER & OKOYE
R.B. BUNNETT & P.O. OKUNROTIFA
B. O. ADELEKE & G.C. LEONG
A. FANIRAN & O. OJO
STRAHLER, A.N.
MONKHOUSE, F. J.
GATES
SMALL, R. J.
Practical Geography in Africa
Map Reading for West Africa
Map Reading and Interpretation
for West Africa
Maps and Diagrams
An Introduction to Mapwork &
Practical Geography
Practical Geography for Africa
Surveying
Practical Geography (Mapwork)
Map Reading and Interpretation
General Geography in Diagrams
for West Africa
Certificate Physical and Human
Geography (West African
Edition)
Man’s Physical Environment
Introduction to Physical
Geography
Principles of Physical
Geography
Climatology and Meteorology
The Study of Landforms
Longman
Longman
Methuen & Co. Ltd.
University Tutorial
Press
Longman
Macmillan
Univ. of Cape Coast
African University
Press
Longman
Oxford
Heinemann
Wiley International
Ed.
University of London
Cambridge Univ.
Press
WEST AFRICAN SENIOR SCHOOL CERTIFICATE EXAMINATION
GEOGRAPHY
257
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AUTHOR
TITLE
PUBLISHER
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
PATTON CLYDE et AL
ALISTAIR F. PITTY
DICKSON, J.P. et AL
ADEJUMO, J. C.
GILMOR, D. A.
UDO, REUBEN K.
UDO, REUBEN K.
UDO, REUBEN K.
N. P. ILOEJE
M. A. ABEGUNDE et AL
P. O. OKUNROTIFA & MICHAEL
SENIOR
BARBOUR K. M., OGUNTOYINBO J.S.,
ONYEMELUKWEI, J., & NWAFOR, J.C.
DICKSON K.B. & BENNEH G.
ENGMANN, E.V.T.
DICKSON & ACHEAMPONG
OBOLI, H.O.N.
Physical Geography
Introduction of Geomorphology
A Geography of the Third World
An Introduction to the
Geography of the Tropics
Socio-Economic Geography
The Human Geography of
Tropical Africa
Comprehensive Geography of
Tropical Africa
Geographical Regions of Nigeria
A New Geography of Nigeria
(New Edition)
Senior Secondary Geography
Series (1 – 3)
A Regional Geography of Africa
(New Edition)
Nigeria in Maps
New Geography of Ghana
A population Geography of
Ghana 1850 – 1960
Geography for Senior Secondary
Schools in Ghana
An Outline Geography of West
Africa
Wadworth Publishing
Co.
Methuen and Co. Ltd
Longman
Nelson & Sons Ltd.
Gil and Macmillan
Ltd.
Educational Books,
Nigeria
Longman
Longman
Longman
Longman
Longman
Hodder & Stoughton
Ghana Univ. Press
Ghana Univ. Press
Ghana Education
Service
Harrap & Company
WEST AFRICAN SENIOR SCHOOL CERTIFICATE EXAMINATION
GEOGRAPHY
258
S/N
AUTHOR
TITLE
PUBLISHER
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
J. I. CLARKE
GWYN-JONES
PRITCHARD, J. M.
M. DUZE & AFOLABI OJO
COLLINS
PHILIPS
CLARY AUDREY N.
MOORE, W. E.
HAYWARD, & OGUNTOYINBO J.S.
Sierra Leone in Maps
A New Geography of Sierra
Leone
Africa
Macmillan Senior School Atlas
New Secondary Atlas
World Atlas
Longman Dictionary of
Geography (Human and
Physical)
A Penguin Dictionary of
Geography
Climatology of West Africa
Hodder & Stoughton
Longman
Longman
Macmillan
Longman
Longman
