Advanced Placement Human Geography Comprehensive Study Notes

Geographic Tools and Spatial Thinking

• Types of Maps: Reference maps show locations; thematic maps show data patterns. Types include:     * Cartogram: Distorts land area based on value.     * Choropleth: Uses colors/shades to represent data ranges.     * Dot: One dot represents a specific value; density indicates concentration.     * Graduated Symbol: Size of symbol corresponds to data value.     * Isoline: Connects points of equal value.
• Spatial Concepts:     * Absolute Distance: Exact measurement in standard units (e.g., $5.9\,miles$).     * Relative Distance: Qualitative measurement (e.g., $25\,minutes$).     * Absolute Location: Exact coordinates (e.g., $38.2527^{\circ}N, 85.7585^{\circ}W$ for Louisville).     * Distance Decay: Interaction decreases as distance increases.     * Time-Space Compression: Shrinking relative distance due to technology/transportation.
• Map Projections (Distort SADD: Shape, Area, Distance, Direction):     * Mercator: Preserves direction/shape; distorts area at poles; used for sea navigation.     * Gall-Peters: Preserves area; distorts shape/continents look elongated.     * Robinson: Compromise projection; distorts all aspects slightly for visual balance.     * Polar (Azimuthal): Preserves direction from center; used for airline routes.
• Geospatial Technology:     * GIS (Geographic Information Systems): Layers of data for spatial analysis.     * Remote Sensing: Satellite/aircraft imagery gathering data without physical contact.     * GPS (Global Positioning System): Satellite-based navigation and precise location.

Population and Migration

• Population Density:     * Arithmetic: $\frac{\text{Total Population}}{\text{Total Land Area}}$.     * Physiological: $\frac{\text{Total Population}}{\text{Arable Land}}$ (measures pressure on land).     * Agricultural: $\frac{\text{Total Farmers}}{\text{Arable Land}}$ (indicates development level).
• Growth Measurements:     * Rate of Natural Increase (RNI): $\text{RNI} = \text{CBR} - \text{CDR}$.     * Doubling Time (DT): $\text{DT} = \frac{70}{\text{RNI}}$ (Inverse relationship between RNI and DT).
• Theories:     * Malthusian Theory: Population grows geometrically while food grows arithmetically; predicts famine/checks.     * Ester Boserup: Possibilist view; population growth drives agricultural innovation.
• Demographic Transition Model (DTM):     * Stage 1: High CBR/CDR; low growth.     * Stage 2: CDR drops; high growth (Periphery).     * Stage 3: CBR drops; moderate growth (Semi-Periphery).     * Stages 4 & 5: Low CBR/CDR; stable or declining (Core).
• Migration:     * Push Factors: Negative (war, lack of jobs).     * Pull Factors: Positive (peace, jobs).     * Ravenstein’s Laws: Most migrants move short distances (step migration) or to large cities.     * Types: Forced (Refugees, IDPs, Asylum Seekers) vs. Voluntary (Transnational, Chain, Internal).

Cultural Patterns and Processes

• Cultural Traits: Tangible (architecture, food) and intangible (values, language) characteristics.
• Cultural Landscape: Human modification of the environment (e.g., Sequent Occupance).
• Diffusion:     * Relocation: Spread through physical movement.     * Expansion: Hierarchical (top-down), Contagious (proximity), and Stimulus (modified idea).
• Language: Indo-European is the largest family; Sino-Tibetan is the second largest.
• Religion:     * Universalizing: Seek converts (Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism).     * Ethnic: Born into, tied to place (Hinduism, Judaism).

Political Geography

• Entities: States (countries), Nations (cultural groups), Nation-States (Japan), and Stateless Nations (Kurds).
• Boundaries:     * Superimposed: Forced by outsiders (e.g., Berlin Conference in Africa).     * Relic: No longer functional but visible (e.g., Berlin Wall).     * Geometric: Straight lines following latitude/longitude.
• United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS):     * Territorial Waters: Up to $12\,nautical\,miles$ (state sovereignty).     * Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ): Up to $200\,nautical\,miles$ (resource rights).
• Internal Governance: Unitary (centralized power, e.g., China) vs. Federal (shared power, e.g., US).
• Redistricting: Census leads to Reapportionment, then Redistricting, which can lead to Gerrymandering (Packing/Cracking).

Agriculture and Rural Land Use

• Agricultural Revolutions:     * Second: Industrialized tools (Steel Plow, Mechanical Reaper); moved labor to factories.     * Third (Green Revolution): High-yield seeds (GMOs), chemical fertilizers, and mechanized irrigation.
• Farming Types:     * Intensive: High labor/capital on small plots (Market Gardening, Plantation).     * Extensive: Low labor/capital on large plots (Shifting Cultivation, Ranching, Nomadic Herding).
• Von Thünen Model: Explains land use based on transportation costs relative to the market.     * Order: Market (center) → Dairying/Market Gardening → Forest → Extensive Grains → Ranching.
• Bid-Rent Theory: Land cost decreases as distance from the CBD increases.

Cities and Urban Land Use

• Site and Situation: Site is the physical land; Situation is the relative connectivity/location.
• Urban Hierarchy: Megacities (> 10\,million) and Metacities (> 20\,million).
• Internal Structure Models:     * Burgess (Concentric Zone): Based on walking/horseback.     * Hoyt (Sector): Based on streetcars/transportation wedges.     * Harris-Ullman (Multiple Nuclei): Based on car use; multiple nodes.     * Galactic (Edge City): Based on highways/beltways.
• Urban Challenges: Redlining (lending discrimination), Blockbusting (panic selling), Gentrification (renovation displacing low-income residents), and Urban Sprawl.

Industrial and Economic Development

• Economic Sectors:     * Primary: Extraction (Mining, Farming).     * Secondary: Manufacturing/Processing.     * Tertiary: Services (Retail, Banking).     * Quaternary: Knowledge/Research.     * Quinary: High-level decision making.
• Development Measures:     * HDI (Human Development Index): Composite of Life Expectancy, Education, and GNI per capita.     * GII (Gender Inequality Index): Measures reproductive health, empowerment, and labor market participation.
• Theories:     * Rostow's Stages: 5-step path from Traditional Society to High Mass Consumption.     * Wallerstein’s World System Theory: Division of Core, Semi-Periphery, and Periphery based on exploitation/trade.
• Industrial Location: Weber’s Least Cost Theory focuses on minimizing Transportation, Labor, and Agglomeration costs.