AP Human Geography Guide

Unit 1: Introduction to Geography

5 Themes of Geography

• Location
  • Relative and absolute location (latitude and longitude).
• Place
  • Physical and human characteristics.
• Human-Environment Interaction
  • How humans interact with their environment.
• Movement
  • Mobility of individuals, goods, and ideas, and their spatial interactions.
• Regions
  • Areas defined by one or more distinctive characteristics.

Types of Geography

• Physical Geography: Topography, Climate, Flora and Fauna, Soil.
• Human Geography: Culture, Population, Economic, Political, Urban Agriculture.

Map Distortions

• Distortion: Shape, direction, distance, and size can be distorted.

Thematic Maps

• Isoline Maps: Use lines to represent data.
• Choropleth Maps: Use shading patterns or colors.
• Graduated Symbol Maps: Symbol size represents data intensity.
• Dot Maps: Dots represent frequency.
• Cartogram: Uses size to display data value.

LACEMOPS (Climate Factors)

• Latitude, Air Masses, Continentality, Elevation, Mountain Barriers, Ocean Currents, Pressure Cells, Storms.

Migration Patterns

• Women are more migratory within countries; Men between countries.
• Migration increases with commerce and transportation improvements.

Map Projections

• Goodes, Conic, Planar, Mercator, Robinson, Gall-Peters, Fuller, Winkel Tripel.

Economic Descriptions

• Primary: Resource extraction.
• Secondary: Manufacturing.
• Tertiary: Services.
• Quaternary: Information and management.
• MDC, NIC, LDC: Levels of development.

Vocabulary

• Cartography, Map scale, Absolute distance, Relative distance, Meridians, Parallels, GMT, GPS, GIS, Site, Situation, Regions.

Unit 2: Population and Migration

Population Clusters

• East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe.

Demographic Transition Model (DMT)

• Stages 1 to 5 ranging from low growth to potential decline.

Epidemiologic Transition Model (ETM)

• Stages include pestilence, receding pandemics, degenerative diseases, possible virus evolution.

Migration Types and Patterns

• Ravenstein's Laws and major U.S. immigration eras.

Vocabulary

• Ecumene, Colonialism, Imperialism, Carrying capacity, Arithmetic density, Physiological density.

Unit 3: Culture

Culture Types

• Folk Culture: Isolated, localized, slowly diffused.
• Popular Culture: Rapid, widespread diffusion.

Language Families

• Indo-European, Sino-Tibetan, Afro-Asiatic.

Universalizing Religions

• Christianity, Islam, Buddhism.

Ethnic Religions

• Hinduism, Judaism, Chinese religions.

Vocabulary

• Culture appropriation, Assimilation, Lingua franca, Universalizing vs. Ethnic religions.

Unit 4: Political Geography

State Shapes and Boundaries

• Compact, Elongated, Prorupted, Perforated, Fragmented, Landlocked.

Political Organizations

• UN, NATO, EU, ASEAN, OPEC.

Vocabulary

• Sovereignty, Nation, State, Colony, Decolonization, Supranationalism.

Unit 5: Agriculture

Agricultural Revolutions

• Plant Domestication, Plantation Agriculture, Industrial Agriculture.

Vocabulary

• Subsistence vs. Commercial Agriculture, Crop Rotation, Intensive vs. Extensive Agriculture.

Unit 6: Industrial and Economic Development

Sector Categories

• Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, Quaternary, Quinary.

Development Theories

• Rostow’s Stages, Wallerstein’s World Systems Theory.

Vocabulary

• GNI, GDP, Industrial location theories, Economic indicators.

Unit 7: Urban Geography

Urban Models

• Central Place Theory, Sector Model, Multiple Nuclei Model.

Urban Issues

• Gentrification, Suburbanization, Counter-urbanization.

Vocabulary

• CBD, Edge cities, Megacity, Urban hierarchy, Primate city.