5.2.1—Land as finite resource
- Syllabus
- First assessment 2026
- Objective
- 5.2.1
- Level
- HL
Separate Land Categories Before Planning Food
Ice-free land is the broadest set; agricultural land is smaller; arable cropland is the subset suited to repeated crop cultivation.
About 70% of ice-free land is used for agriculture and forestry, but agricultural land is not all arable: steep slopes or nutrient-poor soils may support livestock while remaining unsuitable for repeated crop cultivation.
Population growth increases food demand while the land area remains finite, so expanding cropland can compete with forestry, grazing, settlements and ecosystem conservation.
Plan from the arable subset and its soil, slope and water limits—not from total ice-free land.
Agricultural land is not synonymous with arable cropland.