AP Human Geography
Advanced Placement Human Geography aligned with the College Board CED: seven units covering geographic perspectives, population and migration, cultural patterns, political geography, agricultural and rural land use, urban geography, and industrial and economic development.
Ämne: Geografi · Nivå: Gymnasium (16–19) · 469 kort
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- Human geography is the study of how humans interact with their environment and how cultural, political, and economic patterns vary across space. It is one of the two main branches of geography, alongside physical geography.
- Geography asks three core questions: where things are located, why they are there, and what consequences follow from that location. Spatial perspective — thinking about space, place, and scale — is the defining method of the discipline.
- A map is a two-dimensional representation of all or part of Earth's surface. All maps distort reality in at least one of four ways: shape, area, distance, or direction — because projecting a sphere onto a plane is mathematically impossible without compromise.
- The Mercator projection (1569) preserves direction and shape at the cost of grossly exaggerating area near the poles — Greenland appears larger than Africa, though Africa is about 14 times larger. Designed for nautical navigation because straight lines on the map are constant compass bearings (rhumb lines).
- The Robinson projection (1963) is a compromise projection that distorts area, shape, distance, and direction slightly so no single property is severely warped. National Geographic adopted it from 1988 to 1998, making it familiar to textbook readers.
- The Goode homolosine projection (1923) is an interrupted equal-area projection: oceans are sliced apart so the continents can be shown with accurate area and minimal shape distortion. Useful for showing global distributions like biomes or agricultural regions.
- The Gall-Peters projection (popularized 1973) is an equal-area cylindrical projection that preserves area at the cost of severe shape distortion — land near the equator looks elongated, land near the poles looks squashed. Marketed as a 'fairer' alternative to Mercator because it does not shrink the developing world.
- The Winkel Tripel projection (1921) is a modified azimuthal projection that minimizes all three forms of distortion (area, direction, distance) simultaneously — hence 'tripel.' National Geographic adopted it in 1998 to replace Robinson and it remains a standard reference map.
- Reference maps show locations of geographic features — borders, cities, roads. Thematic maps display the spatial distribution of one or more variables — election results, population density, language families. The two categories serve different purposes and a map is usually one or the other.
- A choropleth map uses shades or colors over predefined areas (counties, states, countries) to show statistical data such as population density or median income. The viewer's eye should read darker = more and lighter = less, but choropleths can mislead when units differ in size.
- A dot density map (or dot distribution map) places one dot per fixed quantity (e.g., one dot = 1,000 people). Clusters of dots reveal spatial concentration without the boundary effect of choropleths, but precise location is approximated.
- An isoline (or isarithmic) map uses contour lines to connect points of equal value — elevation contours on topographic maps, isobars on weather maps, isotherms for temperature. Closely spaced lines indicate rapid change; widely spaced lines indicate gradual change.
- A cartogram distorts the size of geographic units to represent a statistical variable — a population cartogram inflates dense states and shrinks sparse ones until area = population. Powerful for political and economic data but breaks the familiar shape of borders.
- A graduated (or proportional) symbol map uses symbols of varying size to represent quantitative data — a circle three times larger represents three times the value. Effective for comparing magnitudes across cities or regions on a single map.
- Scale on a map can mean two things: cartographic scale (the ratio of map distance to ground distance, e.g., 1:24,000) and geographic scale (the level of analysis — local, regional, national, global). 'Large-scale' maps show small areas in detail; 'small-scale' maps show large areas with less detail.
- Absolute location is a precise position on Earth's surface, usually expressed in latitude and longitude (e.g., 40° N, 74° W). Relative location describes a place's position with reference to other places (e.g., 'across the river from Manhattan').
- Site refers to the physical characteristics of a place — climate, topography, vegetation, water access. Situation refers to a place's location relative to other places — trade routes, neighboring markets, accessibility. Singapore's site is small and tropical; its situation along the Strait of Malacca makes it a global trade hub.
- Density describes how many things occupy an area. Three types: arithmetic density (people per total land area), physiological density (people per arable land), and agricultural density (farmers per arable land). The same population can have very different densities depending on which measure is used.
- Distribution describes how phenomena are spread out across space. Three patterns: clustered (concentrated in one area), dispersed (spread evenly apart), and random (no obvious pattern). Patterns vary by scale — a city dispersed at neighborhood level may be clustered at country level.
- Spatial diffusion is the spread of an idea, innovation, or trait from a hearth (origin) outward across space. Diffusion shapes the spread of language, religion, technology, disease, and culture — understanding its types is central to AP Human Geography.
- Relocation diffusion occurs when people physically move and carry a trait with them — European immigrants brought Christianity to the Americas, the African diaspora carried musical traditions across the Atlantic. The trait survives at the destination even if it weakens at the origin.
- Expansion diffusion spreads outward from a hearth while remaining strong at the origin. Three subtypes: contagious (everyone adjacent adopts — like a virus), hierarchical (jumps between major nodes first — like fashion trends from New York to Paris), and stimulus (only the underlying idea spreads, the form adapts — like McDonald's serving paneer in India).
- Contagious diffusion spreads through close contact between adjacent populations — viral videos, epidemics, and rumors all spread contagiously. The pattern looks like ripples expanding outward, with adoption proportional to proximity.
- Hierarchical diffusion spreads from prominent nodes (large cities, influential people) to less prominent ones, skipping the periphery initially. Hip-hop diffused from New York's Bronx to Los Angeles, London, and Tokyo before reaching small towns within the United States.
- Stimulus diffusion spreads an underlying idea while the form adapts to local culture. McDonald's serves McAloo Tikki burgers in India because Hindus do not eat beef — the fast-food concept (idea) diffused, but the menu (form) changed. Buddhism in China absorbed Daoist imagery for similar reasons.
- GIS (Geographic Information Systems) layers spatial data — roads, demographics, elevation — in a digital map so analysts can run queries (e.g., 'find all hospitals within 5 km of a flood zone'). GPS provides location data; remote sensing supplies imagery. Together they revolutionized geography after 1980.
- Remote sensing acquires data about Earth's surface from satellites or aircraft without direct contact. Applications include monitoring deforestation, urban sprawl, crop health, and ice sheets. Landsat (since 1972) and Sentinel (since 2014) are the major civilian programs.
- A formal region (or uniform region) has a shared trait throughout — the Corn Belt grows corn, the Francophone world speaks French. Functional regions (nodal regions) are organized around a focal point — a metro area, a newspaper's circulation. Vernacular (perceptual) regions exist in collective imagination — 'the South,' 'the Middle East.'
- Time-space compression describes the shrinking 'distance' between places as transportation and communication speed up. A trip that took six weeks by sailing ship in 1800 takes six hours by jet in 2026, and a video call is instant. Distance decay weakens — places far apart can interact almost as easily as neighbors.
- Environmental determinism argued that climate and physical environment dictate human culture and development — a 19th-century theory used to justify European colonialism. Modern geographers reject it as racist pseudoscience. Possibilism, by contrast, holds that environment sets limits but humans choose responses within them.
- World population reached approximately 8.1 billion in 2026, having grown from 1 billion in 1804 and 2.5 billion in 1950. The growth rate peaked around 1968 at 2.1% per year and has since slowed to about 0.9% — the demographic transition is well underway.
- Crude birth rate (CBR) is the annual number of live births per 1,000 people in a population. Niger leads with around 45/1,000; South Korea is below 6/1,000. CBR is 'crude' because it does not adjust for age structure — a country with many young women shows a higher CBR even at constant fertility.
- Crude death rate (CDR) is the annual number of deaths per 1,000 people. CDR varies less than CBR globally — most countries fall between 6 and 14 per 1,000. Aging countries like Japan have high CDR (~12) not because life is hard but because the population is old.
- Rate of natural increase (RNI or NIR) is the annual percentage growth from births minus deaths, excluding migration: RNI = (CBR − CDR) / 10. A country at 30 CBR and 10 CDR has 2.0% natural increase — doubling time roughly 35 years (using the rule of 70).
- Total fertility rate (TFR) is the average number of children a woman would bear if current age-specific birth rates persisted throughout her life. Replacement level is approximately 2.1 in low-mortality countries. As of 2026 the global TFR is about 2.2 and falling; South Korea is below 0.8 — the lowest on record.
- Infant mortality rate (IMR) is the annual number of deaths of children under one year old per 1,000 live births. Strongly correlated with healthcare access, sanitation, and female education. Singapore: ~2; Sierra Leone: ~75 — a 40-fold gap that captures development disparities.
- Life expectancy at birth is the average number of years a newborn can expect to live under current mortality conditions. Global average is about 73 (2026); Japan ~84, Nigeria ~55. Gender gap: women outlive men by 5–7 years in most countries for reasons that are partly biological and partly behavioral.
- The demographic transition model (DTM) describes how birth and death rates change as a country industrializes. Five stages: (1) high CBR and CDR — pre-industrial, (2) CDR falls — explosive growth, (3) CBR falls — growth slows, (4) low CBR and CDR — stable, (5) CBR below CDR — decline. Originally based on European data 1750–1950.
- DTM Stage 1 (pre-industrial) features CBR and CDR both around 35–40 per 1,000 — high fertility offsets famine, disease, and infant mortality. No country has been in Stage 1 since the early 20th century. Pre-contact indigenous societies and Europe before 1750 fit this profile.
- DTM Stage 2 (early industrial) features rapid population growth: CDR drops sharply because of improved sanitation, vaccination, and food supply, while CBR remains high. Europe entered Stage 2 around 1800; sub-Saharan African countries like Niger and Chad are arguably still in Stage 2 in 2026.
- DTM Stage 3 (late industrial) features falling CBR as urbanization, female education, and access to contraception reduce desired family size. Growth continues but decelerates. India, Mexico, and Indonesia are widely classified as Stage 3 in the mid-2020s.
- DTM Stage 4 (post-industrial) features low CBR and CDR — both around 10–12 per 1,000 — and roughly stable population. The United States, Canada, France, and Australia are classic Stage 4 countries, often relying on immigration to maintain growth.
- DTM Stage 5 (population decline) is a proposed extension where CBR falls below CDR and population shrinks. Japan, South Korea, Italy, Germany, and Russia exhibit this pattern in 2026 — Japan's population has fallen every year since 2011 and is projected to drop from 125 million to ~88 million by 2065.
- The epidemiological transition model parallels the DTM and tracks causes of death. Stage 1: pestilence and famine. Stage 2: receding pandemics. Stage 3: degenerative and human-created diseases (heart disease, cancer). Stage 4: delayed degenerative diseases. Some scholars add Stage 5: reemergence of infectious disease (e.g., antibiotic resistance, COVID-19).
- A population pyramid (age-sex pyramid) plots age cohorts vertically with males on the left and females on the right. A wide base indicates high fertility (Stage 2); a column-like shape indicates stable replacement (Stage 4); an inverted pyramid with a narrow base and wide top indicates aging (Stage 5).
- The dependency ratio compares the dependent population (under 15 plus over 65) to the working-age population (15–64). High youth dependency strains schools and creates a 'demographic dividend' if the cohort enters the workforce productively. High elderly dependency strains pensions and healthcare.
- Thomas Malthus (1798) argued in 'An Essay on the Principle of Population' that population grows geometrically (1, 2, 4, 8...) while food supply grows arithmetically (1, 2, 3, 4...), leading inevitably to famine, war, or disease unless population is checked. Malthus underestimated agricultural innovation.
- Neo-Malthusians (mid-20th century) updated Malthus by adding non-food limits: water, fossil fuels, and ecological capacity. Paul Ehrlich's 'The Population Bomb' (1968) predicted mass starvation in the 1970s–80s — a prediction that did not materialize, partly because of the Green Revolution.
- Ester Boserup (1965) argued the opposite of Malthus: population pressure drives agricultural innovation. As farmers face more mouths to feed, they intensify cultivation, adopt new tools, and shorten fallow periods. Boserupian logic explains why the Green Revolution emerged when it did.
- China's one-child policy (1980–2015) is the most aggressive pronatal/anti-natal experiment in modern history. It is credited with averting an estimated 400 million births but produced unintended consequences: severe sex-ratio imbalance (around 117 boys per 100 girls in 2000s), rapid aging, and the 'little emperor' generation. Replaced by a two-child policy in 2016 and a three-child policy in 2021.