AP Human Geography uses a spatial perspective to analyze human patterns and processes. The FRQ tests your ability to apply geographic concepts and models to real-world scenarios. These notes focus on the models and vocabulary most frequently tested.
Units 1–2: Geographic Methods and Population
GIS, remote sensing, GPS — tools for spatial data collection. Map types: reference, thematic (choropleth, cartogram, dot). Demographic transition model: 4 (or 5) stages from high birth/death rates to low both. Ravenstein's laws of migration: most migrants travel short distances, step migration (rural → small city → large city), counter-streams exist. Push/pull factors; refugees vs. economic migrants; Zelinsky model of migration transition.
Units 3–4: Cultural and Political Geography
Cultural landscape (Sauer): visible imprint of human culture on land. Acculturation, assimilation, syncretism, cultural imperialism. Language families: Indo-European most widespread; lingua franca; creolization. Ethnic vs. universalizing religions. Nation-state, stateless nation, multinational state. Centripetal vs. centrifugal forces. Heartland (Mackinder) and Rimland theories; Wallerstein's world-systems theory (core/periphery/semi-periphery).
Units 5–6: Agriculture and Industry
Von Thünen model: concentric rings of land use around a market city (dairying and horticulture → forests → grains → ranching). First Agricultural Revolution (domestication), Second (crop rotation/new crops), Third (Green Revolution — hybrid seeds, irrigation, fertilizers). Weber's least-cost theory: industry locates to minimize transportation + labor + agglomeration costs. Just-in-time manufacturing, commodity chains, special economic zones.
Unit 7: Urbanization
Christaller's Central Place Theory: hexagonal market areas; threshold and range. Rank-size rule vs. primate city. Urban models: Burgess concentric zone, Hoyt sector, multiple nuclei (Harris and Ullman), galactic/peripheral model, Latin American city model (Griffin-Ford). Suburbanization, edge cities, gentrification, redlining, blockbusting. Squatter settlements/informal housing in the Global South.
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