AP Human Geography - AP Test Review

AP Human Geography

AP Human Geography is a college-level course that explores the patterns and processes that shape human societies. It covers a wide range of topics, including:

• Population and migration
• Cultural patterns and processes
• Political organization of space
• Agriculture, food production, and rural land use
• Industrialization and economic development
• Cities and urban land use
• Environmental issues

Exam Format

The AP Human Geography exam consists of two sections:

1. Multiple Choice: 60 questions, 1 hour and 15 minutes
2. Free Response: 3 questions, 1 hour and 30 minutes

The multiple-choice section tests your knowledge of key concepts and skills, while the free-response section requires you to apply your knowledge to real-world scenarios.

Study Tips

To succeed in AP Human Geography, it's important to:

• Read the textbook and take notes
• Watch videos and documentaries to supplement your learning
• Practice map skills and memorize key terms and concepts
• Take practice exams to get familiar with the format and timing of the test
• Participate in class discussions and ask questions when you don't understand something

By following these tips, you can prepare yourself for success on the AP Human Geography exam.

• Human geography is the study of human activity and its relationship to the earth's surface.
• It examines the patterns and processes of human settlement, migration, and cultural change.
• The field is divided into several sub-disciplines, including economic, political, and cultural geography.
• Key concepts in human geography include globalization, urbanization, and environmental sustainability.
• Human geographers use a variety of research methods, including fieldwork, surveys, and remote sensing.
• The study of human geography is important for understanding the complex relationships between people and their environment.

Key vocab

• Human geography: The study of human activity and its relationship to the earth's surface.
• Spatial distribution: The arrangement of a phenomenon across space.
• Globalization: The increasing interconnectedness of the world's economies, cultures, and populations.
• Cultural landscape: The visible imprint of human activity on the landscape.
• Migration: The movement of people from one place to another.
• Demography: The study of human populations, including their size, growth, density, and distribution.
• Urbanization: The process by which people move from rural areas to cities.
• Industrialization: The process by which a society transforms from an agricultural-based economy to a manufacturing-based one.
• Environmental determinism: The belief that the physical environment determines human behavior and culture.
• Possibilism: The belief that the physical environment sets limits on human behavior and culture, but that people have the ability to adapt and change their environment.
• Regionalization: The process of dividing an area into smaller segments based on shared characteristics.
• Spatial interaction: The movement and flow of people, goods, and ideas across space.
• Place: A specific point on the earth's surface with unique physical and human characteristics.
• Scale: The level of analysis used to study a phenomenon, ranging from local to global.
• Cartography: The science of mapmaking.
• GIS (Geographic Information System): A computer system that captures, stores, analyzes, and displays geographic data.

Terms To Know :

acculturation

animism

assimilation

centrifugal forces

centripetal forces

colonialism

contagious diffusion

creolization

custom dialect

diaspora

endangered language

ethnic religion

ethnicity

ethnocentrism

expansion diffusion

fundamentalism

monotheism

multiculturalism

nationality

culture

culture hearth

globalization

Hierarchical diffusion

culture trait

culture complex

culture region

culture realm

imperialism

nativist

neolocalism

official language

pidgin language

polytheism

popular culture

religion

relocation diffusion

sense of place

sequent occupance

cultural convergence

cultural divergence

cultural diffusion

cultural landscape

cultural relativism

indigenous

Isogloss

isolated languages

language

language families

language tree

lingua franca

slang

stimulus diffusion

syncretism

Taboo

Theocracy

toponyms

asylum seeker

brain drain

brain gain

immigration policies

internal migration

internally displaced person (IDP)

push factors

quotas (quota laws)

Ravenstein's Laws

chain migration (migration ladder)

international migration

refugee

circulation

interregional migration

remittances

counter migration

intraregional migration

return migration

counterurbanization

diaspora

intervening obstacle/opportunity

Lee's model of migration

slavery

distance decay

step migration time-contract workers

emigration

migration migration selectivity

transhumance

ethnic enclaves

migration stream

transnational

expatriate

mobility

unauthorized immigrants

forced migration

gender patterns

net in/net out-migration

periodic movement

urbanization

voluntary migration

gravity model

immigration

xenophobia

guest worker

pull factors

Zelinsky's migration transition

agricultural density

Cantinatalist policy

arable land

arithmetic density

baby boom

baby bust

birth deficit

Cairo Conference

Carrying capacity contraception

crude death rate (CDR)

demography

demographic equation

demographic momentum

demographic transition

dependency ratio

dependent population

doubling time

ecumene

census

child mortality rate

cohort

crude birth rate (CBR))

epidemiological transition

epidemiology

epidemic

graying population

industrial revolution

population concentrations

infant mortality rate (IMR)

population distribution

J-curve/ S-curve

population density

life expectancy (longevity rate)

population explosion

Thomas Malthus

population pyramid

maternal mortality rate

potential workforce

medical revolution

pronatalist policies

neo-Malthusians

redistricting

natural increase rate (NIR)

replacement fertility

rate of natural increase (RNI)

sex ratio (gender ratio)

non-ecumene

social stratification

overpopulation

pandemic

physiological density

total fertility rate (TFR))

underpopulation

zero population growth (ZPG)

Absolute location

relative location

accessibility

aerial photography

built environment

cartography

cartographic scale

concentration

connectivity

cultural ecology

cultural landscape

density diffusion

distance

distance-decay

distortion

distribution

elevation

environmental determinism

longitude/meridian

field observation

formal/uniform region

friction of distance

functional/nodal region

geographic scale

GIS

GPS

human geography

Human-environment interaction

International Date Line

landscape analysis

latitude/parallel

location

map

mental map

patterns

physical geography

place

possibilism

Prime Meridian

processes

projection

proximity

qualitative data

quantitative data

reference maps

region

regionalization

remote sensing

scale

scale of the data

sense of place

site

situation

spatial approach

spatial association

spatial interaction

spatial data

subregions

sustainability

thematic maps

time-space compression

topographic maps

toponym

vernacular/perceptual region

African Union (AU)

annexation

apartheid

ASEAN

Arctic Council

autocracy

autonomous region balance of power

balkanization

border landscapes

poundary

Boundary disputes

boundary types

buffer state

capital

centrifugal force

centripetal force

choke point

city-state

civil divisions

Cold War

colonialism

Colony

commonwealth

confederation

Conference of Berlin

consequent boundary

core

decolonization

delimitation

demarcation

democracy

democratization

devolution

domino theory

EEZ

electoral region

enclave

ethnic cleansing

ethnic conflict

ethnicity ethnocentrism

federal state

forward-thrust capital

frontier

genocide

geometric boundary

gerrymandering

immigrant state

imperialism

independence movements

international organization

iron curtain

irredentism

landlocked state

Manifest destiny

Median-line principle

microstate/ministate minority

multinational state (multi-state nation)

NAFTA nation

nation-state

nationalism

nationality

INATO

OPEC

periphery

physical boundaries

political map

race

racism

reapportionment

redistricting

regionalism

relic boundary

reunification

satellite

states

self-determination

semi-autonomous region

shatterbelt

sovereignty

stateless nation

subsequent boundary suffrage

superimposed boundary

supranational organizations

supranationalism

territorial waters

territoriality

terrorism

theocracy

UNCLOS ("Law of the Sea”)

unitary state

United Nations (UN)

agrarian

agribusiness

agricultural landscape

aquaculture (aquafarming)

blue revolution

biodiversity

biotechnology

capital-intensive agriculture

carrying capacity

cash crop

cereal (staple) grain

collective farm

Columbian Exchange

commercial agriculture

commodity chain

Community-supported agriculture (CSA)

comparative advantage

conservation

crop rotation

dairying (dairy farming)

deforestation

desertification

dietary shifts

domestication

double-cropping

economies of scale

enclosure acts

export commodities

extensive agriculture

fair trade

fallow

farm-to-table

farm subsidy

feedlot (CAFO)

Fertile Crescent

fertilizers

First Agricultural Revolution

food chain

food desert

food security

forestry

genetically modified organism

grain farming

Green Revolution

Greenbelt

herbicide

high yield seeds

horticulture

hunting and gathering

husbandry

Indus River Valley

intensive farming

intensive subsistence farming

intercropping (milpa)

intertillage

irrigation

isotropic

labor-intensive

livestock ranching

local food movement

long lot system

luxury (specialty) crops

market gardening mechanization

Mediterranean agriculture metes & bounds system milkshed

mixed crop & livestock monoculture (monocropping)

neocolonialism nomadic herding nonrenewable resource organic farming overfishing

overgrazing paddy farming pastoral nomadism plantation pesticides ranching ridge-tillage salinization

Second Agricultural Revolution shifting cultivation slash-and-burn

spring/winter wheat belt subsistence agriculture suitcase farm

supply chain sustainable agriculture swidden terrace farming

Third Agricultural Revolution topsoil loss (erosion)

township & range

"tragedy of the commons" transhumance truck farming urban farming value-added specialty crops wet rice wetlands

People & Theories bio-rent curve

Ester Boserup's Theory (Thesis)

Carl Sauer

Derwent Whittlesey

Koppen Climate Classifications von Thunen's model of agriculture

African city model

annexation bid-rent theory

blockbusting

boomburbs

Borchert's Model (Epochs)

brownfields

built area (landscape)

central business district (CBD)

central place theory

census tract

city state

concentric zone model

conurbation

density gradient

disamenity zones

edge city

eminent domain

exurbanization (exurbs)

filtering (filter process)

food desert

galactic (peripheral) model

reurbanization

gateway city

sanitation

gentrification

sector model

gravity model

segregation

greenbelts

slum (favela)

infiling

infrastructure

smart growth

Southeast Asia city model

Latin American city model

squatter settlement

Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)

(urban) sprawl

megacities

suburbanization

megalopolis

threshold

metacities

transit-oriented development

mixed-use neighborhoods

urban growth boundaries

multiple nuclei model

urban heat island

new urbanism

urban hierarchy

planned community

urban renewal

primate city

urbanized area

public housing

white flight

range

world (global) city

rank-size rule

zones of abandonment

redlining

zoning ordinance

agglomeration

ancillary activities

backwash effect

break-of-bulk points

brownfield

bulk-gaining industry

bulk-reducing industry

capital

commodity dependence

comparative advantage

complementarity

conglomerate

core

core-periphery model

deindustrialization

dependency theory

development

developed country (MDC)

developing country (LDC)

economies of scale

ecotourism

export processing zone (EPZS)

fair trade

free trade agreement

footloose(firm) industry

Fordist vs. Post-Fordist

foreign (direct) investment

fossil fuels

Gender Inequality Index (GIl)

Greenhouse effect

purchasing power parity (PPP)

gross domestic product (GDP)

quaternary sector

gross national product (GNP)

quinary sector

gross national income (GNI)

Human Development Index (HDI)

right-to-work laws

Rostow's "Stages of Development"

import substitution

Rust Belt

industrial inertia

secondarv sector

Industrial Revolution

Inequality-adjusted HDI

semi-periphery

spatially fixed costs/variable costs

infrastructure

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

structural adjustment program

subsistence economy

just-in-time delivery

sustainable development

labor-intensive industry

UN's Sustainable Development

literacy rate

Goals

location theory

manufacturing region

tariffs

technopoles (growth poles)

maquiladora

technology transfer

microfinance (microcredit)

tertiary sector

multiplier effect

transition economies

natural capital

transnational corporation

neo-colonialism

uneven development

New international division of labor

value added

newly industrialized countries (NICs)

vertical integration

nonpoint-source pollution

Wallerstein's World-Systems Theory

outsourcing

Weber's least-cost theory

World Bank

periphery

point-source pollution

World Trade Organization (WTO)

primary sector

productivity

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