AP Human Geography Practice Exam: Full-Length Multiple Choice

Topic 1.1 · Concept check

A student wants a world map on which every country is shown with its true area relative to the others, for comparing the land area of Africa and Greenland. Which projection is the best choice?

Topic 1.1 · Data analysis

A choropleth map shades each U.S. state by its total population: the darkest colour for states with more than 15 million people and the lightest for states with fewer than 1 million.

Which is the most important limitation of using this map to compare how crowded the states are?

Topic 1.3 · Apply it

After a hurricane, volunteers add newly blocked roads and damaged buildings to an open online map that relief agencies use. Which concept does this best illustrate?

Topic 1.4 · Apply it

Most customers of a small bakery live within two kilometres, and very few come from more than ten kilometres away. Which concept best explains this pattern?

Topic 1.5 · Concept check

Which of the following is an example of sustainability in human–environmental interaction?

Topic 1.7 · Apply it

The area served by a city's airport, from which people regularly drive to catch flights, is best classified as which type of region?

Topic 2.1 · Concept check

Which physical factor best explains why very few people live in the interior of Australia?

Topic 2.2 · Apply it

A country's population is crowded into one coastal region while its interior is nearly empty. Which consequence is most likely?

Topic 2.3 · Data analysis

Which is the most likely consequence of the age structure shown?

Topic 2.4 · Concept check

A total fertility rate (TFR) of about 2.1 is described as replacement level. What does that mean?

Topic 2.5 · Apply it

Which change most directly explains why birth rates fall in stage 3 of the demographic transition model?

Topic 2.7 · Concept check

Which is an example of a pronatalist population policy?

Topic 2.8 · Apply it

In many countries, total fertility rates fell as more girls finished secondary school. Which explanation best connects these trends?

Topic 2.10 · Apply it

A young nurse leaves a rural town with few jobs to work in a large city hospital that pays much more. Which pair correctly identifies a push factor and a pull factor?

Topic 2.11 · Apply it

Thousands of people flee fighting in one region of their country and settle in camps in another region of the same country. They are best described as:

Topic 3.1 · Concept check

Which is the best example of a cultural trait?

Topic 3.2 · Data analysis

A photograph of a street shows a Spanish colonial church on the main plaza, shop signs in both Spanish and English, a fast-food restaurant chain, and murals of local Indigenous history.

What does this landscape best illustrate?

Topic 3.3 · Apply it

Signs in a neighbourhood of a large city are mostly in Vietnamese, and stores sell Vietnamese food and goods. What does this pattern best show?

Topic 3.4 · Apply it

A fast-food chain sells vegetarian burgers in India instead of beef burgers, adapting its menu to local religious practice. Which type of diffusion is this?

Topic 3.5 · Apply it

English and Spanish are official languages in many countries far from England and Spain. Which historical process best explains this?

Topic 3.6 · Apply it

A song by a South Korean group becomes popular worldwide within weeks through streaming and social media. Which contemporary cause of diffusion does this show?

Topic 3.7 · Apply it

Buddhism began in South Asia but today has most of its followers in East and Southeast Asia, while Hinduism remains concentrated in South Asia. Which difference best explains this pattern?

Topic 3.7 · Apply it

In a busy international port, traders who speak different languages develop a simplified language that combines words from several of them to do business. This is best described as:

Topic 3.8 · Apply it

In parts of Latin America, festivals combine Catholic saints' days with Indigenous rituals to create new traditions. This is an example of:

Topic 4.1 · Concept check

Which group is the best example of a stateless nation?

Topic 4.2 · Apply it

At the Berlin Conference of 1884–85, European powers set rules for claiming African territory and later drew many boundaries with little regard for African ethnic groups. What is a long-term consequence?

Topic 4.5 · Concept check

A country claims fishing rights up to 200 nautical miles from its coast under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. This zone is its:

Topic 4.4 · Apply it

The former boundary between East and West Germany no longer divides two states, but traces such as watchtowers and a memorial strip remain. This is an example of:

Topic 4.5 · Apply it

An oil field lies under the border between two states, and both drill into it from their own side. A disagreement over how to share the oil is:

Topic 4.7 · Concept check

Which describes a federal state?

Topic 4.8 · Apply it

Scotland gained its own parliament with powers over education and health within the United Kingdom. This is an example of:

Topic 4.9 · Apply it

Which development most directly challenges state sovereignty from outside a state's borders?

Topic 4.10 · Apply it

In a multinational state, the national government invests heavily in roads and rail linking every region to the capital and supports teaching of several regional languages. How are these policies most likely to affect the state?

Topic 5.1 · Apply it

In a humid, monsoon climate with dense rural populations, which type of agriculture is most common?

Topic 5.2 · Apply it

On a map of rural Ohio, roads and property lines form a regular grid of square-mile sections. Which survey system produced this pattern?

Topic 5.3 · Concept check

Which region is widely recognised as a hearth of the first agricultural revolution, where wheat and barley were domesticated?

Topic 5.5 · Apply it

Which was a major positive effect of the Green Revolution in countries such as India and Mexico?

Topic 5.6 · Apply it

In the dry interior of Mongolia, families move their herds of sheep, goats and horses between seasonal pastures. Which agricultural type does this describe?

Topic 5.7 · Apply it

A large company owns farms, processing plants and supermarket brands, and controls each step from seed to store. This structure is an example of:

Topic 5.8 · Apply it

In von Thünen's original model, why was forestry placed in the second ring, close to the city?

Topic 5.9 · Apply it

What is the main goal of fair-trade certification for crops such as cocoa?

Topic 5.11 · Apply it

A low-income urban neighbourhood has no supermarket within walking distance, and residents rely on convenience stores that sell little fresh food. This area is an example of:

Topic 6.1 · Apply it

A city grew on a hill inside a river bend that made it easy to defend. This description refers to the city's:

Topic 6.2 · Apply it

Which trend best describes urbanization in the world since 1950?

Topic 6.3 · Apply it

London, New York and Tokyo host the headquarters of many global banks and media companies and are linked by heavy flows of money, information and people. They are best described as:

Topic 6.4 · Concept check

In central place theory, which statement is correct?

Topic 6.5 · Apply it

A city's high-income housing extends outward from the CBD in a wedge along a main boulevard, while industry follows a wedge along a railway. Which model best fits?

Topic 6.6 · Apply it

Which pattern of land use and density is typical of suburban sprawl in North America?

Topic 6.10 · Data analysis

Which process do these data most clearly indicate?

Topic 6.10 · Apply it

In the mid-20th century, banks refused mortgages in certain mostly Black neighbourhoods of U.S. cities, shading them red on maps. What was a long-term effect?

Topic 6.11 · Apply it

Which is an example of an urban sustainability challenge caused by sprawl?

Topic 7.1 · Concept check

Where did the Industrial Revolution begin in the late 18th century?

Topic 7.2 · Concept check

A worker who codes software for a bank is employed in which economic sector?

Topic 7.2 · Apply it

According to Weber's least cost theory, a factory that turns heavy, bulky raw materials into a much lighter product (a bulk-reducing industry, such as copper smelting) should locate:

Topic 7.3 · Concept check

Which of these is NOT one of the dimensions of the Gender Inequality Index?

Topic 7.4 · Data analysis

Which conclusion about women and economic development in Country Q is best supported?

Topic 7.5 · Apply it

In Wallerstein's world-systems theory, a country that exports raw materials, has low wages and depends on manufactured imports from wealthy countries is part of the:

Topic 7.7 · Apply it

A country creates an area near its ports where foreign companies get tax breaks and relaxed rules if they manufacture goods for export. This area is:

Topic 7.7 · Apply it

Many electronics firms cluster in one region to share skilled workers, suppliers and research, even where land costs more. This is best explained by:

Topic 7.8 · Apply it

A developing country builds solar farms to bring electricity to rural villages instead of building new coal power plants. How does this best reflect sustainable development?