AP Human Geography

What the course covers

7 units, with exam weights

1. Unit 1

   Thinking Geographically

   8-10% of examFree
   The geographer's toolkit that every later unit uses: map types and projections, how spatial data are collected and used to make decisions, the core spatial concepts (location, place, space, flows, distance decay, time-space compression), human-environment interaction, the scales of analysis, and how regions are defined.
   7 topics

   1. 1.1Introduction to Maps
   2. 1.2Geographic Data
   3. 1.3The Power of Geographic Data
   4. 1.4Spatial Concepts
   5. 1.5Human-Environmental Interaction
   6. 1.6Scales of Analysis
   7. 1.7Regional Analysis

2. Unit 2

   Population and Migration Patterns and Processes

   12-17% of exam
   Where people live and why, how density is measured, how age and sex structure are read from population pyramids, what drives growth and decline (fertility, mortality, migration), the demographic and epidemiological transitions, Malthus and his critics, population policies, the changing role of women, aging populations, and the causes, types, and effects of migration.
   12 topics

   1. 2.1Population Distribution
   2. 2.2Consequences of Population Distribution
   3. 2.3Population Composition
   4. 2.4Population Dynamics
   5. 2.5The Demographic Transition Model
   6. 2.6Malthusian Theory
   7. 2.7Population Policies
   8. 2.8Women and Demographic Change
   9. 2.9Aging Populations
   10. 2.10Causes of Migration
   11. 2.11Forced and Voluntary Migration
   12. 2.12Effects of Migration

3. Unit 3

   Cultural Patterns and Processes

   12-17% of exam
   What culture is and how geographers study it without judging it, how cultural landscapes record beliefs and identities, the regional patterns of language, religion, ethnicity, and gender, the types of diffusion, the historical and contemporary forces that spread culture, the hearths and diffusion of languages and religions, and the effects of diffusion (acculturation, assimilation, syncretism, multiculturalism).
   8 topics

   1. 3.1Introduction to Culture
   2. 3.2Cultural Landscapes
   3. 3.3Cultural Patterns
   4. 3.4Types of Diffusion
   5. 3.5Historical Causes of Diffusion
   6. 3.6Contemporary Causes of Diffusion
   7. 3.7Diffusion of Religion and Language
   8. 3.8Effects of Diffusion

4. Unit 4

   Political Patterns and Processes

   12-17% of exam
   How space is organized politically: states, nations, and the entities in between; sovereignty, self-determination, colonialism, and devolution; power and territoriality; the types and functions of boundaries on land and at sea; voting districts and gerrymandering; federal versus unitary states; and the devolutionary, supranational, and technological forces that challenge sovereignty, with the centrifugal and centripetal forces that pull states apart or hold them together.
   10 topics

   1. 4.1Introduction to Political Geography
   2. 4.2Political Processes
   3. 4.3Political Power and Territoriality
   4. 4.4Defining Political Boundaries
   5. 4.5The Function of Political Boundaries
   6. 4.6Internal Boundaries
   7. 4.7Forms of Governance
   8. 4.8Defining Devolutionary Factors
   9. 4.9Challenges to Sovereignty
   10. 4.10Consequences of Centrifugal and Centripetal Forces

5. Unit 5

   Agriculture and Rural Land-Use Patterns and Processes

   12-17% of exam
   How climate and economics shape farming (intensive versus extensive, subsistence versus commercial), rural settlement and survey patterns, the hearths and diffusion of domestication, the second agricultural revolution and the Green Revolution, the von Thünen model and bid-rent, commodity chains and the global food system, the environmental and social consequences of agriculture, the debates of contemporary food production, and the role of women in agriculture.
   12 topics

   1. 5.1Introduction to Agriculture
   2. 5.2Settlement Patterns and Survey Methods
   3. 5.3Agricultural Origins and Diffusions
   4. 5.4The Second Agricultural Revolution
   5. 5.5The Green Revolution
   6. 5.6Agricultural Production Regions
   7. 5.7Spatial Organization of Agriculture
   8. 5.8Von Thünen Model
   9. 5.9The Global System of Agriculture
   10. 5.10Consequences of Agricultural Practices
   11. 5.11Challenges of Contemporary Agriculture
   12. 5.12Women in Agriculture

6. Unit 6

   Cities and Urban Land-Use Patterns and Processes

   12-17% of exam
   Why cities arise and grow (site, situation, transport, migration, policy), megacities, metacities, and new suburban forms, world cities and global networks, the size and spacing of cities (rank-size, primate city, gravity, central place theory), the internal-structure models from Burgess to the Latin American, Southeast Asian, and African city, density and land use, infrastructure, sustainable urban design, urban data, and the challenges of urban change and sustainability.
   11 topics

   1. 6.1The Origin and Influences of Urbanization
   2. 6.2Cities Across the World
   3. 6.3Cities and Globalization
   4. 6.4The Size and Distribution of Cities
   5. 6.5The Internal Structure of Cities
   6. 6.6Density and Land Use
   7. 6.7Infrastructure
   8. 6.8Urban Sustainability
   9. 6.9Urban Data
   10. 6.10Challenges of Urban Changes
   11. 6.11Challenges of Urban Sustainability

7. Unit 7

   Industrial and Economic Development Patterns and Processes

   12-17% of exam
   How the Industrial Revolution spread and reshaped societies, economic sectors and the factors that locate industry (least cost theory, break-of-bulk, labor, markets), how development is measured (GNI per capita, HDI, GII and more), women and development, the theories that explain uneven development (Rostow, Wallerstein, dependency, commodity dependence), trade and the world economy, deindustrialization and new manufacturing zones, and sustainable development.
   8 topics

   1. 7.1The Industrial Revolution
   2. 7.2Economic Sectors and Patterns
   3. 7.3Measures of Development
   4. 7.4Women and Economic Development
   5. 7.5Theories of Development
   6. 7.6Trade and the World Economy
   7. 7.7Changes as a Result of the World Economy
   8. 7.8Sustainable Development

The exam, part by part

4 parts, 2 h 15 min in all.

• Section I: Multiple Choice

  Questions

  60

  Time

  1 h

  Weight

  50%

  Format details

  Five answer choices (A-E), no penalty for guessing. A mix of individual questions and sets of 2-3 questions sharing one stimulus. About 30-40% of questions reference a stimulus (map, table, chart, graph, image, infographic, or landscape), split roughly evenly between quantitative and qualitative sources. Skill-category share: Concepts and Processes 25-36%, Spatial Relationships 16-25%, Data Analysis 13-20%, Source Analysis 13-20%, Scale Analysis 13-20%. Digital exam in Bluebook.

• Section II, Question 1: No Stimulus

  Questions

  1

  Time

  25 min

  Weight

  16.7%

  Format details

  Task types: No Stimulus

  Section II is 75 minutes for all three questions; about 25 minutes each is the suggested pace, including up to 5 minutes to plan.

• Section II, Question 2: One Stimulus

  Questions

  1

  Time

  25 min

  Weight

  16.7%

  Format details

  Task types: One Stimulus

  One data set, image, or map. Suggested 25 minutes within the 75-minute Section II.

• Section II, Question 3: Two Stimuli

  Questions

  1

  Time

  25 min

  Weight

  16.7%

  Format details

  Task types: Two Stimuli

  Two stimuli (data, images, and/or maps). Suggested 25 minutes within the 75-minute Section II.

Skills the exam scores

• 1.AConcepts and Processes: describe

  Describe geographic concepts, processes, models, and theories.

• 1.BConcepts and Processes: explain

  Explain geographic concepts, processes, models, and theories, including how and why they work.

• 1.CConcepts and Processes: compare

  Compare geographic concepts, processes, models, and theories, naming relevant similarities and differences.

• 1.DConcepts and Processes: apply in context

  Describe the concept, process, model, or theory that is relevant to a given real-world context.

• 1.EConcepts and Processes: strengths and limits of models

  Explain the strengths, weaknesses, and limitations of geographic models and theories in a given context.

• 2.ASpatial Relationships: describe

  Describe spatial patterns, networks, and relationships.

• 2.BSpatial Relationships: explain in a region

  Explain spatial relationships in a given context or world region using geographic concepts, processes, models, or theories.

• 2.CSpatial Relationships: likely outcome

  Explain the likely outcome of a geographic scenario using geographic concepts, processes, models, or theories.

• 2.DSpatial Relationships: significance of differences

  Explain why geographic similarities and differences among places, or across time, matter.

• 2.ESpatial Relationships: degree of explanation

  Explain how well a geographic concept, process, model, or theory accounts for effects in different contexts and world regions.

• 3.AData Analysis: identify data types

  Identify the kinds of data shown in maps and in quantitative and geospatial data.

• 3.BData Analysis: describe patterns

  Describe spatial patterns shown in maps and in quantitative and geospatial data.

• 3.CData Analysis: explain trends

  Explain patterns and trends in maps and quantitative data to draw conclusions.

• 3.DData Analysis: compare data

  Compare patterns and trends across maps and quantitative data to draw conclusions.

• 3.EData Analysis: implications

  Explain what maps or data imply or illustrate about geographic principles, processes, and outcomes.

• 3.FData Analysis: limitations

  Explain the possible limitations of the data provided.

• 4.ASource Analysis: identify information

  Identify the kinds of information shown in visual sources such as photographs, satellite images, cartoons, maps, and landscapes.

• 4.BSource Analysis: describe patterns

  Describe the spatial patterns shown in visual sources.

• 4.CSource Analysis: explain trends

  Explain patterns and trends in visual sources to draw conclusions.

• 4.DSource Analysis: compare sources

  Compare patterns and trends across visual sources to draw conclusions.

• 4.ESource Analysis: illustrate principles

  Explain how maps, images, and landscapes illustrate or relate to geographic principles, processes, and outcomes.

• 4.FSource Analysis: limitations

  Explain the possible limitations of the visual sources provided.

• 5.AScale Analysis: identify scale

  Identify the scale of analysis (global, regional, national, local) shown by maps, data, images, and landscapes.

• 5.BScale Analysis: explain across scales

  Explain spatial relationships across geographic scales using geographic concepts, processes, models, or theories.

• 5.CScale Analysis: compare scales

  Compare geographic characteristics and processes at different scales.

• 5.DScale Analysis: degree across scales

  Explain how well a geographic concept, process, model, or theory accounts for effects across different scales.