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Quizzes > Geography

AP Human Geography midterm review quiz

Quick, free APHG practice quiz to test key concepts. Instant results.

Editorial: Review CompletedCreated By: Janina HimmenUpdated Aug 26, 2025
Difficulty: Moderate
2-5mins
Learning OutcomesCheat Sheet
Paper art illustration for AP Human Geography midterm practice quiz on golden yellow background

This AP Human Geography midterm quiz helps you check key concepts across population, migration, cities, and culture. See what you know, spot gaps fast, and get instant feedback. If you want more practice in social studies, try an AP Gov review quiz, refresh with APUSH semester 1 review, or explore AP Psychology practice quizzes.

What term describes the number of people living per unit of area?
Physiological density
Arithmetic density
Spatial density
Agricultural density
Arithmetic density is the total number of people divided by total land area, providing a basic measure of population distribution. Physiological and agricultural densities consider arable land or farmland, not the total land area. Understanding arithmetic density is key to gauging spatial pressure on landscapes.
Which map element shows the ratio between map distance and real-world distance?
Inset map
Scale
Compass rose
Legend
Map scale indicates the relationship between distances on the map and actual ground distances, which can be expressed as a ratio, bar scale, or verbal statement. The legend explains symbols, while the compass rose shows orientation. Recognizing scale is essential for interpreting map distances accurately.
What is a 'hearth' in human geography?
The origin point of a cultural practice
A rural settlement
A large urban center
An agricultural zone
A cultural hearth is the geographic origin of a mainstream cultural practice, trait, or idea before it diffuses outward. Examples include the Nile River valley for early agriculture. Understanding hearths helps explain diffusion patterns of culture traits.
Which map projection preserves shape but distorts area, especially near the poles?
Robinson projection
Mercator projection
Peters projection
Azimuthal projection
The Mercator projection preserves local shapes and angles (conformal) but greatly distorts area at high latitudes. Its shape preservation made it useful for navigation, although landmasses near the poles appear oversized.
What type of map uses dots to represent the frequency of a variable?
Choropleth map
Cartogram
Dot distribution map
Isoline map
Dot distribution maps place dots in approximate locations to show the presence, quantity, or value of a phenomenon, making spatial patterns visible. Choropleth maps use shaded areas, while isoline maps use lines, and cartograms distort area.
Total Fertility Rate (TFR) measures what?
Annual birth rate per 1,000 people
Infant mortality per 1,000 live births
Population growth rate
Average number of children a woman will have
TFR estimates the average number of children a woman would have during her childbearing years, based on current age-specific fertility rates. It provides a snapshot of fertility independent of age distribution.
In which stage of the Demographic Transition Model are both birth and death rates high?
Stage 1
Stage 3
Stage 2
Stage 4
Stage 1 characteristics include high birth rates and high death rates, resulting in slow population growth. Improved healthcare and sanitation later reduce death rates, leading to Stage 2. Few regions remain in Stage 1 today.
What does the infant mortality rate measure?
Total infant deaths per year
Deaths of infants under one year per 1,000 live births
Average lifespan of infants
Births per year per 1,000 people
Infant mortality rate is calculated as the number of deaths of infants under one year old per 1,000 live births in a given year. It reflects healthcare quality, nutrition, and living conditions.
According to Ravenstein's laws of migration, most migrants move:
Between continents
Only for education
Short distances
Primarily by air
Ravenstein observed that the majority of migrants relocate over short distances and move in steps rather than long continuous journeys. Long-distance migrants tend to move to major urban centers.
What is a 'push factor' in migration studies?
A government policy on immigration
A condition that drives people away from a location
An incentive that attracts people to a location
A cultural similarity
Push factors are unfavorable conditions—like war, famine, or persecution—that encourage people to leave their homes. Pull factors, by contrast, are attractive features of a destination. Analysts use both to explain migration flows.
Which language family includes English, Spanish, and Hindi?
Indo-European
Niger-Congo
Sino-Tibetan
Afro-Asiatic
The Indo-European family is the largest language family, encompassing most languages of Europe and parts of Asia, including English, Spanish, and Hindi. It split into several major branches over millennia.
What does 'cultural assimilation' refer to?
The spread of culture via trade
The preservation of traditional cultural practices
When a culture completely isolates itself
When a minority group adopts the traits of a dominant culture
Cultural assimilation occurs when individuals or groups of differing ethnic heritage are absorbed into the dominant culture of a society, losing unique cultural traits. This process can be voluntary or coerced.
Which religion is an example of a universalizing religion?
Shinto
Christianity
Hinduism
Judaism
Universalizing religions seek to spread globally and appeal to people across cultures. Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism are prime examples. Ethnic religions, like Hinduism or Shinto, are more clustered spatially.
What percentage of a country's population living in urban areas denotes its level of urbanization?
Number of megacities only
Proportion of population in cities
Rate of rural-to-urban migration
Urban land area as a percent of total land
Urbanization is quantified by the share of a nation's population residing in urban settlements. It reflects socio-economic transformation and is tracked by international agencies.
Which term refers to the physical characteristics of a place, like soil, climate, and water sources?
Situation
Hinterland
Locale
Site
Site describes the internal physical attributes of a location, including topography, soil, and water resources. Situation refers to a place’s relationship to other locations. Both are essential in urban geography.
Which economic sector involves manufacturing and processing goods?
Secondary sector
Tertiary sector
Quaternary sector
Primary sector
The secondary sector includes industries that transform raw materials into finished goods, such as factories and manufacturing plants. The primary sector extracts resources; the tertiary provides services; the quaternary deals with information.
What demographic phenomenon occurs when a population continues to grow despite falling birth rates due to a youthful age structure?
Demographic momentum
Age dependency
Population implosion
Population inversion
Demographic momentum refers to continued population growth that occurs even after fertility rates decline, because a large segment of the population is in or entering reproductive age. This effect delays the impact of fertility reductions.
Which concept describes migration to a specific location because relatives or members of the same nationality previously migrated there?
Step migration
Forced migration
Chain migration
Circulation
Chain migration occurs when migrants move to join friends or family members in a new location, creating a chain of migration links. Step migration involves moving in stages, often from rural to urban centers.
Zelinsky’s migration transition model correlates migration patterns with what other model?
Von Thünen Model
Urban Revolution Model
Demographic Transition Model
Gravity Model
Zelinsky linked migration patterns to the stages of the Demographic Transition Model, suggesting that countries in different stages exhibit distinct migration behaviors. For example, Stage 2 countries see high rural?to?urban migration.
What is an ethnic enclave?
A tourist district
A region with no permanent population
A neighborhood where a single cultural or ethnic group is concentrated
An area with multiple mixed cultures
Ethnic enclaves are areas within a city where residents share a common cultural or ethnic background, often providing mutual support and preserving cultural traditions. Examples include Chinatown or Little Italy.
Which theory explains the size and spacing of cities as central places providing goods and services to surrounding areas?
Central place theory
Gravity model
Rank-size rule
Urban realms model
Central place theory, developed by Christaller, describes how settlements of different sizes serve as 'central places' that provide goods and services to surrounding hinterlands. It predicts hexagonal market areas based on consumer range and threshold.
What is redlining?
Subsidizing mortgages in low-income areas
Encouraging urban redevelopment
Denying services to residents of certain areas based on race or ethnicity
Zoning for high-income housing
Redlining is the discriminatory practice where financial institutions refuse to lend or insure in certain neighborhoods, often based on racial or ethnic composition. It has long-term impacts on socioeconomic inequality.
Which agricultural land-use model is organized by rings around a central market?
Von Thünen model
Boserup hypothesis
Central place theory
Carl Sauer model
The von Thünen model depicts concentric rings of agricultural activity around a central market city, based on land rent and transportation costs. Products with high transportation costs occupy nearer rings.
What does the rank-size rule predict about city populations in a region?
All cities are equal in size
City populations decline exponentially
The nth-largest city is 1/n the size of the largest city
The largest city has double the population of the second largest
The rank-size rule states that in a region, the population of a city is inversely proportional to its rank (e.g., the 3rd-ranked city has 1/3 the population of the largest). It often holds in developed countries.
What term describes investment in the improvement of a neighborhood, often displacing lower-income residents?
White flight
Smart growth
Urban sprawl
Gentrification
Gentrification occurs when middle- or upper-income residents move into and renovate urban neighborhoods, driving up property values and displacing lower-income families and small businesses.
What is a hinterland in geographic terms?
An international border zone
A remote rural village
The area served by a central place
A densely populated city core
A hinterland is the rural or less-developed area surrounding a central place (city) that relies on it for goods, services, and administrative functions. It defines the reach of a city’s economic influence.
Which concept refers to a region caught between stronger, opposing external cultural-political forces?
Choke point
Shatterbelt
Perforated state
Exclave
A shatterbelt is a region under persistent stress and fragmented by competing external powers, leading to instability. Examples include cultural and geopolitical tensions in parts of Eastern Europe.
What is a forward capital?
An exiled government center
A capital city deliberately positioned to achieve national objectives
The oldest city in a nation
A financial district
A forward capital is intentionally located in a contested or underdeveloped area to assert control or promote growth, like Brasilia in Brazil’s interior. It can symbolize political intention.
What is supranationalism?
A state controlling another territory
Cooperation among three or more states for mutual benefit
Cultural homogenization
Exclusive economic zone rights
Supranationalism involves countries delegating authority to an organization transcending national borders to make collective decisions, as seen in the European Union. It enhances cooperation on shared issues.
Which geopolitical theory emphasizes the strategic importance of controlling the 'World-Island' to dominate global politics?
Mahan's Sea Power theory
Spykman’s Rimland theory
Mackinder's Heartland theory
Ratzel’s Organic theory
Sir Halford Mackinder proposed that the 'Heartland' of Eurasia (the World-Island) was pivotal for global domination due to its size and resources. Controlling it would enable power projection inland and outward.
What does the dependency ratio measure in a population?
Ratio of immigrants to emigrants
Percentage of unemployed adults
Number of dependents (young and old) per 100 working-age people
Ratio of rural to urban population
The dependency ratio compares dependents (ages 0–14 and 65+) to the working-age population (15–64), indicating the economic burden on productive members. High ratios can strain social services and economies.
What is neo-Malthusian theory?
A focus on population aging issues
The idea that population always stabilizes naturally
The view that population growth can outpace food supply leading to crisis
The theory that urbanization reduces fertility
Neo-Malthusians update Malthus’s concerns about population growth outstripping resources, emphasizing environmental degradation and carrying capacity. They advocate for population control measures.
Which stage of the epidemiological transition is characterized by a decline in pandemic outbreaks and a rise in degenerative diseases?
Stage 4
Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3
Stage 3 of the epidemiological transition sees a shift from infectious diseases to chronic degenerative diseases like heart disease and cancer, as sanitation and medical technology improve.
What is step migration?
Migration to a distant destination that occurs in stages
Seasonal movement of livestock
Daily commuting
Forced relocation by a government
Step migration involves a migrant moving first to a nearby place, then gradually to more distant destinations, often following a rural-urban path. This pattern reflects cost and information constraints.
What is spatial autocorrelation in geography?
The degree to which a set of spatial features correlate with each other
The slope of the land surface
The spread of cultural traits
The random distribution of phenomena
Spatial autocorrelation measures how similar or dissimilar values at different locations are relative to distance; positive autocorrelation indicates clustering of similar values. It’s fundamental in spatial analysis.
Which term describes the visible imprint of human activity on the landscape?
Cultural landscape
Abiotic landscape
Biotic environment
Ecumene
Cultural landscapes are geographical areas modified by human activity, reflecting cultural values and practices. They can include buildings, roads, farms, and other features shaping the environment.
What describes a state with a fragmented shape, including disconnected territories?
Fragmented state morphology
Perforated state
Elongated state
Compact state
Fragmented states include discontinuous pieces of territory, such as the U.S. with Alaska, or Indonesia’s archipelago. This morphology poses challenges for governance and connectivity.
What is an exclusive economic zone (EEZ)?
A marine protected area
A territorial sea of 12 nautical miles
Area up to 200 nautical miles where a state controls resources
A military exclusion zone
Under UNCLOS, an EEZ extends 200 nautical miles from a state's coast, granting exclusive rights to marine resources. Other states may transit but cannot exploit resources without permission.
What is the bid rent curve?
A model showing how land value decreases with distance from city center
A demographic transition graph
A curve representing population density
A line showing transportation costs
The bid rent curve illustrates that land users are willing to pay higher rent for locations closer to the central business district, with willingness to pay decreasing farther out. It explains urban land use patterns.
What is a microstate?
A city-state in antiquity
A very small sovereign country
A state with microeconomic policies
A subdivision of a federal state
Microstates are sovereign states with very small land areas and populations, like Monaco or Liechtenstein. They often have specialized economies and high human development indices.
What is the urban heat island effect?
Acid rain in industrial areas
Flooding in coastal cities
Higher temperatures in urban areas compared to rural surroundings
Dust storms in desert cities
Urban heat islands occur because built surfaces absorb and re-emit solar energy more than natural landscapes, raising city temperatures. It impacts energy use, air quality, and health.
What does Tobler’s First Law of Geography state?
All spatial patterns are random
Geography is the study of mapmaking
Human behavior is unaffected by distance
Everything is related, but near things are more related than distant things
Tobler’s First Law emphasizes that spatial interaction decreases with distance, implying that closer phenomena have stronger relationships than those farther apart. It underpins spatial analysis and modeling.
What is time-space compression?
The difference in time zones across space
A measure of population density over time
The gap between physical and human geography
The reduction in travel time and cost between places due to technology
Time-space compression refers to how innovations in transportation and communication effectively shrink distances by reducing travel time and costs, altering perceptions of space and connectivity.
Which geopolitical thinker emphasized the importance of sea power over land power?
Nicholas Spykman
Friedrich Ratzel
Halford Mackinder
Alfred Thayer Mahan
Alfred Thayer Mahan argued that naval supremacy and control of maritime trade routes are crucial to national power. His sea power theory influenced naval strategy worldwide.
What is an edge city?
The historical core of a metropolis
A significant urban center located on the outskirts of a larger city
A rural town that lost its population
A coastal port city
Edge cities are large nodes of office and retail activities on the urban fringe that emerged since the 1960s, like Tysons Corner near Washington, D.C. They concentrate jobs and services outside traditional downtowns.
Which model divides a metropolitan area into separate realms tied together at the edges?
Sector model
Gravitational model
Concentric zone model
Urban realms model
The urban realms model conceptualizes cities as linked but functionally independent realms—residential, commercial, industrial—reflecting decentralization and suburban growth in late 20th-century metropolitan areas.
What is spatial autocorrelation's common statistic used to measure clustering or dispersion?
Pearson’s r
Kuznets curve
Moran’s I
Gini coefficient
Moran’s I is a global measure of spatial autocorrelation, indicating whether similar values cluster (positive), disperse (negative), or are random. It’s widely used in spatial statistics and GIS.
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Study Outcomes

  1. Analyze Population Distribution Patterns -

    Interpret the factors that influence population density and spatial patterns to enhance your ap human geography midterm review.

  2. Explain Migration Processes -

    Describe different migration types and assess push - pull factors using scenarios from our ap hug practice exam.

  3. Apply Geographic Models -

    Use key models such as the Demographic Transition Model and central place theory to solve problems on the ap human geography midterm practice test.

  4. Interpret Spatial Data Visualizations -

    Read and analyze maps, charts, and graphs to deepen your understanding of geographic data in preparation for your ap human geo midterm.

  5. Assess Exam Readiness -

    Review your quiz results to pinpoint strengths and areas for improvement before tackling the ap human midterm.

  6. Develop Test-Taking Strategies -

    Adopt effective time-management and question-analysis techniques to boost your confidence on test day.

Cheat Sheet

  1. Demographic Transition Model (DTM) -

    The DTM outlines five stages of population change based on birth and death rates, with NIR (natural increase rate) calculated as CBR - CDR (e.g., 20‰ - 8‰ = 12‰). According to the United Nations Population Division, recognizing each stage's patterns helps you nail population questions on your ap human geography midterm review. Use the mnemonic "Every Stage Makes People Divided" to recall Early High, Late High, Early Low, Late Low, and Decline stages.

  2. Population Distribution & Density Metrics -

    Master arithmetic density (total people ÷ land area) and physiologic density (people ÷ arable land) from U.S. Census Bureau data to compare regions' carrying capacities. Spotting high physiologic density areas on your ap hug practice exam signals agricultural stress and potential food security issues. Remember: "A over A" for arithmetic = area, "P over A" for physiologic = productive land.

  3. Ravenstein's Laws & Zelinsky's Model of Migration -

    Ravenstein's Laws predict most migrants move short distances and by steps, while Zelinsky's Migration Transition links migration to DTM stages (e.g., Stage 2 sees rural-to-urban moves). These frameworks, endorsed by the International Organization for Migration, appear frequently on an ap human geography midterm practice test. Think "RLZ" (Ravenstein, Laws, Zelinsky) to recall the duo of theories quickly.

  4. Von Thünen's Agricultural Land-Use Model -

    This model explains concentric rings of land use around a market city - dairy closest, forests next, then grains, and ranching on the periphery - based on transport costs (source: Johann Heinrich von Thünen's work). When you face an ap human midterm map question, draw rings and label C (dairy), F (forest), G (grains), R (ranching) clockwise. Use the phrase "Dairy Firms Grow Ranches" to sequence the rings.

  5. Urban Structure Models -

    Compare the Concentric Zone (Burgess), Sector (Hoyt), and Multiple Nuclei (Harris & Ullman) models to explain urban land-use patterns, using Chicago as the classic case study from the University of Chicago's Geography Department. In your ap human geo midterm answers, cite key features: CBD, transition zone, commuter zone, and specialized districts. Remember the acronym "C - S - M" (Concentric, Sector, Multiple) to differentiate them swiftly.

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