WAEC Syllabus For Geography 2024

The West African Examination Council (WAEC) has made available the newly authorized geography area of specialization (WAEC geography syllabus) for the 2024/2025 examination.

On that basis, we have made the option to provide all the geography subject areas and suggested books that have been approved by WAEC.

The main goal of the syllabus is to give students taking the WAEC examination in 2024 or 2024 the opportunity to study for it and not be surprised by the questions.

Going through this WAEC syllabus for geography will give you a better understanding of different topics which serve as an extension before your examination.

The fact that students in SS1, SS2, and even WAEC GCE candidates can utilize this syllabus should also be mentioned.

We shall present the most recent WAEC syllabus for geography, suggested geography textbooks, and their authors in this article.

Aims and Objectives

The exam will gauge the candidates’ proficiency in

1. Elucidate the ideas of differential character and the spatial linkages between the earth’s surface features;

2. Describe the principles of man-environment relationships (i.e., examine how man lives within his physical and cultural settings and describe how they interact);

3.  Exhibit a basic understanding of the nature and operation of both the physical and human contexts, in particular, a comprehension of their interactions and the difficulties they give rise to;

4. Organize and formulate principles according to acquired geographical concepts and then apply these principles to interpret and analyze spatial problems in the immediate and wider environments;

5. Exemplify the abilities and methods required to conduct precise, systematic, and unbiased geographic inquiries both in the classroom and in the immediate world;

6. Effectively convey geographic concepts using reports, graphs, charts, sketches, diagrams, and maps;

7. Describe the cultural, social, and economic conditions of individuals in both their local surroundings and those of other sub-regional nations.

Scheme of Examination

In this section, we will give a rundown of the points on the WAEC geography marking system and how points are assigned to each segment. It also displays how much time is given to each paper. (theory, essay, and practical). Go slowly when reading.

Three papers will be given; Papers 1, 2, and 3 must all be taken. The first and second papers will be combined into a single exam.

PAPER 1: Will include 50 objective questions that must be answered correctly in one hour to receive 50 points. The syllabus’s common subjects for all of the member nations will be used to generate the questions. All of the questions must be answered by candidates.

PAPER 2: Will include nine essay-style questions in it, and candidates must respond to four of them in two hours to receive 80 points.

It will have two sections for candidates from Nigeria (Sections A and B) and three sections (Sections A, B, and C) for candidates from Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia.

Applicants in Nigeria are expected to be required to answer four questions in all, deciding on two questions from Sections A and B, respectively. Students in Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia will need to answer four questions in total, picking at least one from Sections A, B, and C.

The categories in which the questions will be allocated are as follows:

Section A: Economic and Human Geography

Three questions about economic and human geography will be in the form of essays. Nigerian applicants must attempt any two of the questions, whereas those from Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia must attempt at least one of the questions.

Section B: Regional Geography of Candidate’s Home Country

In Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia, there will be a set of three essay-style questions on regional geography.

Candidates in Nigeria will be expected to respond to two questions about their country, while candidates in other countries will be needed to respond to at least one set of questions about their respective nations.

Section C: Regional Geography of Africa

Candidates from Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and The Gambia will each be given three essay-style questions, with the expectation that they will each respond to at least one of them.

PAPER 3: Elements of Practical and Physical Geography

This section is made up of eight essay-based questions and students are to attempt four questions within 1 hour and 50 minutes for 70 marks. Compulsory questions may likely be on map reading and interpretation which will carry 25 marks while the other questions will carry 15 marks each.

Candidates are advised NOT to spend more than 35 minutes on Question 1.

Students are expected to make available certain materials like graduated rulers (both metric and imperial), a complete mathematical set, a piece of string, and a simple non-programmable calculator for use during the writing of the paper.

WAEC Syllabus for Geography 2024/2025

Any topic in the syllabus that is marked with one asterisk (*) will be for candidates in Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and The Gambia. Topics that are marked with two asterisks (**) will be for candidates in Nigeria only.

The topics without an asterisk are for all member countries.

Elements of Practical and Physical Geography

1. Map work

2. *Principles of elementary surveying

3. **Geographic Information System (GIS)

4.  Statistical maps and diagrams

5. Elements of Physical Geography

6. *Hydrosphere

Rocks

Tectonic processes

Denudational processes

Weather and climate

Climate

Elements

Classification

** Climate change

*Vegetation

*Soil

The environment

Environmental resources

Environmental problems/hazards

Environmental conservation

Economic and Human Geography

1. World Population

2. Settlement

3. Transportation

4. Industry

5. Trade

6. Tourism

Aspects of Regional Geography Peculiar to Member Countries

1. REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY OF NIGERIA

1. Nigeria on the broad outline

2. Physical setting

3. Population

4. Resources

5. Agriculture

6. Transportation

7. Communication

8. Industry

9. Trade

10. Tourism

11. Issues on development and environmental concerns

2. ECOWAS

Geo-political issues

3. REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY OF GHANA

1. Ghana on the broad outline

2. Physical setting

3. Population

4. Settlement

5. Primary economic activities

Agriculture

Fishing

Lumbering

Mining

Manufacturing

Trade and commerce

Tourism

Energy and Power

Issues on development and environmental concerns

4. REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY OF SIERRA LEONE

Sierra Leone on the broad outline

Primary economic activities

Agriculture

Fishing

Lumbering

Mining

Manufacturing

Transport and communication

Trade

Population

Tourism

5. REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY OF LIBERIA

Liberia on the broad outline

Physical setting

Population

Resources

Agriculture

Transportation

Communication

Industry

Trade

Tourism

Fishing

Mining

6. REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY OF SENEGAMBIA

Senegambia on a broad outline

Physical setting

Population

Resources

Agriculture

Transportation

Communication

Industry

Mining

Fishing

Issues on development and environmental concerns

Trade

Tourism

Location, position, size, distance, and political divisions.

Relief, drainage, climate, vegetation, and soil.

Size, distribution, structure, population quality, population movement, population data ( sources, problems &solutions)

Mineral, power, water, and vegetation resources, the importance of resources for development.

Types of agricultural practices, food and cash crops, importance, problems, and solutions.

Mode, advantages and disadvantages, the influence of transportation on human activities, problems, and solutions.

Communication networks, advantages and disadvantages, importance, problems, and solutions.

Definition, types, major industrial zones, factors of location, importance, problems, and solutions.

Types, distribution, methods of extraction, problems, and solutions

Meaning of fishing, Inland and ocean (in-shore/offshore), methods, types of fish, storage, and marketing, problems, and solutions.

Issues of Development and Environmental Conservation: Rural and regional development, resource management and conservation, environmental pollution e.g. air, water, soil, noise, waste disposal, etc.

Meaning, types (national and international), forex, major commercial areas, the importance of commercial activities, problems, and solutions.

Meaning, centers, reasons for tourism, importance, problems, and solutions

7. REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY OF AFRICA

1.  Africa on a broad outline

2.  Selected topics

(i) Irrigation agriculture

(ii) Plantation agriculture

(iii) Oil production

(iv) Lumbering

(v) Gold Mining

(vi) Copper mining

(vii) Population

(viii) ECOWAS

8. WAEC Syllabus For Geography | FIELD WORK

Location, size, position, political divisions, and associated islands, physical features and their economic importance (relief, drainage, climate, and vegetation), distribution of minerals.

Irrigation agriculture in the Nile Basin and the Niger Basin.

Plantation agriculture in West and East Africa.

Oil production in Nigeria, Ghana, and Libya.

Lumbering in Equatorial Africa (with particular reference to
Cote d’Ivoire and Zaire).
Gold mining in South Africa.

Copper mining in Zambia and Zaire

Population distribution in West Africa.

Meaning, member countries, purposes/mandate, advantages/benefits, disadvantages, problems, and solutions

Fieldwork on any one of the following topics should be based on the local geography of the 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. ) urban crop farming mining (e.g. coal, tin, petroleum, etc.), fishing. urban – commercial activities, ports, factories, recreational, etc. (ii) Market survey – rural or urban. (iii) Traffic flow – rural or urban. (iv) Patterns of the journey to work – rural or urban. (v)

WAEC Recommended Textbooks For Geography 2024/2025

These textbooks contain the topics outlined in the WAEC syllabus for geography.