AP Human Geography Guide

5 Themes of Geography

• Location:
  • Relative location and absolute location (latitude and longitude).
• Place:
  • Distinctive physical and human characteristics.
• Human-Environment Interaction:
  • How humans interact with their environment.
• Movement:
  • Mobility of individuals, goods, and ideas. Patterns, accessibility, and connectivity.
• Regions:
  • Areas with distinctive characteristics.

Physical vs. Human Geography

• Physical Geography: Topography, climate, flora/fauna, soil.
• Human Geography: Culture, population, economy, politics, urban agriculture.

Maps and Projections

• Distortion Types: Shape, direction, distance, size.
• Thematic Maps:
  • Isoline, choropleth, graduated symbol, dot, cartogram.
• Map Projections:
  • Goodes Interrupted, Conic, Planar, Mercator, Robinson, Gall-Peters, Fuller, Winkel Tripel.

LACEMOPS

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

Migration

• Patterns: Rural to urban, economic reasons, gender differences in migration.
• Eras in U.S. Immigration: Colonial settlement, mass European immigration, Asian/Latin American migration.

Economic Terms

• Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, Quaternary Countries.
• MDC, NIC, LDC: Examples given.

Demographic Transition Model (DMT)

• Stages 1-5:
  • Stage 1: Low growth
  • Stage 2: High growth
  • Stage 3: Moderate growth
  • Stage 4: Low growth
  • Stage 5: Decline

Language

• Language Families, Branches, Groups.
• Major Languages in Specific Regions.
• Dialect Regions and Language Conflict: U.S., Belgium, Switzerland, Nigeria.

Religions

• Universalizing Religions: Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism.
• Ethnic Religions: Hinduism, Judaism, Animism, Chinese Religions.

Urban Geography

• City Models: Central place theory, sector model, multiple nuclei model.
• Urban Changes and Challenges: Suburbanization, gentrification, urban change.

Agricultural Geography

• Revolutions, Practices, and Challenges:
  • Impact of agricultural revolutions
  • Modern techniques and issues like GMOs
• Types of Agriculture: Subsistence, commercial, intensive, extensive.

Political Geography

• State Shapes and Boundaries: Compact, elongated, perforated, fragmented.
• Geopolitical Theories: Heartland, Rimland.
• Devolution and Supranational Organizations: EU, UN, NATO.

Development and Economic Theories

• Wallerstein’s World System Theory: Core, periphery, semi-periphery.
• Rostow’s Stages of Economic Growth.
• Dependency Theory and Economic Risks.