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International Baccalaureate IB Diploma Programme Geography

Syllabus DP Geography · First assessments 2019 · sourced from International Baccalaureate Organization, Geography guide (Diploma Programme), first teaching September 2017, first assessment May 2019 (published February 2017, updated to November 2022), verified 2026-09-17.

  1. 1. Option A: Freshwater

    • 1.1 Drainage basin hydrology and geomorphology
    • 1.2 Flooding and flood mitigation
    • 1.3 Water scarcity and water quality
    • 1.4 Water management futures

  2. 2. Option B: Oceans and coastal margins

    • 2.1 Ocean-atmosphere interactions
    • 2.2 Interactions between oceans and coastal places
    • 2.3 Managing coastal margins
    • 2.4 Ocean management futures

  3. 3. Option C: Extreme environments

    • 3.1 The characteristics of extreme environments
    • 3.2 Physical processes and landscapes
    • 3.3 Managing extreme environments
    • 3.4 Extreme environments futures

  4. 4. Option D: Geophysical hazards

    • 4.1 Geophysical systems
    • 4.2 Geophysical hazard risks
    • 4.3 Hazard risk and vulnerability
    • 4.4 Future resilience and adaptation

  5. 5. Option E: Leisure, tourism and sport

    • 5.1 Changing leisure patterns
    • 5.2 Tourism and sport at the local and national scale
    • 5.3 Tourism and sport at the international scale
    • 5.4 Managing tourism and sport for the future

  6. 6. Option F: Food and health

    • 6.1 Measuring food and health
    • 6.2 Food systems and spread of diseases
    • 6.3 Stakeholders in food and health
    • 6.4 Future health and food security and sustainability

  7. 7. Option G: Urban environments

    • 7.1 The variety of urban environments
    • 7.2 Changing urban systems
    • 7.3 Urban environmental and social stresses
    • 7.4 Building sustainable urban systems for the future

  8. 8. Unit 1: Changing population

    • 8.1 Population and economic development patterns
    • 8.2 Changing populations and places
    • 8.3 Challenges and opportunities

  9. 9. Unit 2: Global climate – vulnerability and resilience

    • 9.1 Causes of global climate change
    • 9.2 Consequences of global climate change
    • 9.3 Responding to global climate change

  10. 10. Unit 3: Global resource consumption and security

    • 10.1 Global trends in consumption
    • 10.2 Impacts of changing trends in resource consumption
    • 10.3 Resource stewardship

  11. 11. Unit 4: Power, places and networks

    • 11.1 Global interactions and global power
    • 11.2 Global networks and flows
    • 11.3 Human and physical influences on global interactions

  12. 12. Unit 5: Human development and diversity

    • 12.1 Development opportunities
    • 12.2 Changing identities and cultures
    • 12.3 Local responses to global interactions

  13. 13. Unit 6: Global risks and resilience

    • 13.1 Geopolitical and economic risks
    • 13.2 Environmental risks
    • 13.3 Local and global resilience

  14. 14. Fieldwork (internal assessment)

    Subtopics for this topic are not listed here yet; check the official document for the full content.