AP Human Geography
Advanced Placement course and exam
Logo of AP Human Geography as of 2025

Advanced Placement (AP) Human Geography (also known as AP Human Geo, APHG, APHuG, or AP Human) is an Advanced Placement social studies course in human geography for high school, usually freshmen students in the US, culminating in an exam administered by the College Board.[1]

The course introduces students to the systematic study of patterns and processes that have shaped human understanding, use, and alteration of Earth's surface. Students employ spatial concepts and landscape analyses to analyze human social organization and its environmental consequences while also learning about the methods and tools geographers use in their science and practice.

Exam

The AP Human Geography Exam consists of two sections. The first section consists of 60 multiple choice questions and the second section consists of 3 free-response questions, the first with no stimulus, the second with one stimulus, and the third with two stimuli. To receive full points, students must interpret the stimuli, if included with the question. Common stimuli are data, images, or maps.[2] The sections are 60 and 75 minutes long, respectively. It is not necessary to answer the free-response questions in essay form; instead, points are awarded for keywords, examples, and other responses. As of May 2025, the AP Human Geography Exam will be online.[3]

Curriculum and course outline

The curriculum consists of informational book-related homework, which often requires students to strive to learn information independently. The curriculum teaches about diffusion, human traits, religion, and population clusters.

The topics covered by the exam are as follows:[4]

Topic Percent
Thinking Geographically 8-10%
Population and Migration Patterns and Processes 12-17%
Cultural Patterns and Processes 12-17%
Political Patterns and Processes 12-17%
Agriculture and Rural Land-Use Patterns and Processes 12-17%
Cities and Urban Land-Use Patterns and Processes 12-17%
Industrial and Economic Development Patterns and Processes 12-17%

Course Outline

Unit 1 - Thinking Geographically
Topic Number Topic
1.1 Introduction to Maps
1.2 Geographic Data
1.3 The Power of Geographic Data
1.4 Spatial Concepts
1.5 Human-Environmental Interaction
1.6 Scales of Analysis
1.7 Regional Analysis
Unit 2 - Population and Migration Patterns and Processes
Topic Number Topic Description
2.1 Population Distribution
2.2 Consequences of Population Distribution
2.3 Population Composition
2.4 Population Dynamics
2.5 The Demographic Transition Model
2.6 Malthusian Theory
2.7 Population Policies
2.8 Women and Demographic Change
2.9 Aging Populations
2.10 Causes of Migration
2.11 Forced and Voluntary Migration
2.12 Effects of Migration
Unit 3 - Cultural Patterns and Processes
Topic Number Topic Description
3.1 Introduction to Culture
3.2 Cultural Landscapes
3.3 Cultural Patterns
3.4 Types of Diffusion
3.5 Historical Causes of Diffusion
3.6 Contemporary Causes of Diffusion
3.7 Diffusion of Religion and Language
3.8 Effects of Diffusion
Unit 4 - Political Patterns and Processes
Topic Number Topic Description
4.1 Introduction to Political Geography
4.2 Political Processes
4.3 Political Power and Territoriality
4.4 Defining Political Boundaries
4.5 The Function of Political Boundaries
4.6 Internal Boundaries
4.7 Forms of Governance
4.8 Defining Devolutionary Factors
4.9 Challenges to Sovereignty
4.10 Consequences of Centrifugal and Centripetal Forces
Unit 5 - Agriculture and Rural Land Use Patterns and Processes
Topic Number Topic Description
5.1 Introduction to Agriculture
5.2 Settlement Patterns and Survey Methods
5.3 Agricultural Origins and Diffusions
5.4 The Second Agricultural Revolution
5.5 The Green Revolution
5.6 Agricultural Production Regions
5.7 Spatial Organization of Agriculture
5.8 Von Thünen Model
5.9 The Global System of Agriculture
5.10 Consequences of Agricultural Practices
5.11 Challenges of Contemporary Agriculture
5.12 Women in Agriculture
Unit 6 - Cities and Urban Land Use Patterns and Processes
Topic Number Topic Description
6.1 The Origin and Influences of Urbanization
6.2 Cities Across the World
6.3 Cities and Globalization
6.4 The Size and Distribution of Cities
6.5 The Internal Structure of Cities
6.6 Density and Land Use
6.7 Infrastructure
6.8 Urban Sustainability
6.9 Urban Data
6.10 Challenges of Urban Changes
6.11 Challenges of Urban Sustainability
Unit 7 - Industrial and Economic Development Patterns and Processes
Topic Number Topic Description
7.1 The Industrial Revolution
7.2 Economic Sectors and Patterns
7.3 Measures of Development
7.4 Women and Economic Development
7.5 Theories of Development
7.6 Trade and the World Economy
7.7 Changes as a Result of the World Economy
7.8 Sustainable Development

Grade distribution

The exam was first held in 2001. Grade distributions for the Human Geography scores since 2002 were:

Score 2002[5] 2003[6] 2004[7] 2005[8] 2006[9] 2007[10] 2008[11] 2009[12] 2010[13] 2011[14] 2012[15] 2013[16] 2014[17] 2015[18] 2016[19] 2017[20] 2018[21] 2019[22] 2020[23] 2021[24] 2022[25] 2023[26] 2024[27] 2025[28]
5 16.4% 19.0% 16.9% 14.7% 16.9% 11.2% 12.1% 11.6% 9.7% 11.7% 12.5% 12.0% 11.0% 12.2% 11.9% 10.7% 13.0% 10.8% 11.8% 14.4% 14.9% 16.0% 17.9% 17%
4 20.5% 22.0% 22.2% 20.8% 19.7% 17.9% 17.9% 16.7% 16.5% 18.2% 19.5% 20.3% 20.0% 20.5% 20.1% 17.3% 19.8% 18.2% 22.4% 19.7% 18.7% 20.0% 20.5% 25%
3 24.8% 24.1% 22.7% 23.2% 21.8% 21.8% 21.5% 21.9% 20.6% 21.2% 20.4% 20.7% 21.0% 21.1% 19.8% 21.0% 21.5% 20.1% 24.8% 18.3% 19.6% 18.4% 17.8% 23%
2 15.7% 14.7% 17.1% 16.9% 16.0% 16.3% 18.3% 16.6% 17.4% 17.5% 17.8% 18.6% 18.4% 16.7% 19.1% 17.1% 17.0% 16.7% 10.9% 15.1% 15.0% 14.0% 14.3% 25%
1 22.6% 20.3% 21.2% 24.5% 25.6% 32.9% 30.2% 33.2% 35.7% 31.5% 29.8% 28.3% 29.6% 29.5% 29.0% 33.9% 28.6% 34.1% 30.1% 32.4% 31.8% 31.6% 29.5% 10%
% of Scores 3 or Higher 61.7% 65.1% 61.8% 58.7% 58.4% 50.9% 51.5% 50.2% 46.9% 51.0% 52.4% 53.0% 52.0% 53.8% 51.8% 48.9% 54.4% 49.1% 59.0% 52.5% 53.2% 54.4% 56.1% 65%
Mean 2.92 3.05 2.97 2.84 2.86 2.58 2.63 2.57 2.47 2.61 2.67 2.69 2.64 2.69 2.67 2.54 2.72 2.55 2.75 2.69 2.70 2.75 2.83
Standard Deviation 1.38 1.39 1.38 1.38 1.43 1.39 1.39 1.39 1.37 1.39 1.40 1.38 1.37 1.39 1.39 1.38 1.40 1.39 1.39 1.46 1.45 1.48 1.49
Number of Students 5,286 7,329 10,471 14,139 21,003 29,005 39,878 50,730 68,397 83,841 98,679 114,361 136,448 159,609 184,663 199,756 216,783 225,235 218,333 211,735 221,815 247,043 262,253

References

  1. ^ "Stuyvesant High School - AP Human Geography". Archived from the original on 2021-06-05.
  2. ^ "AP Human Geography Exam – AP Central | College Board". apcentral.collegeboard.org. Retrieved 2025-05-22.
  3. ^ "28 AP Exams Go Digital in May 2025 – AP Central | College Board". apcentral.collegeboard.org. Retrieved 2024-11-18.
  4. ^ AP Human Geography:
  5. ^ "AP Human Geography Student Grade Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  6. ^ "2003: Grade Distributions". Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  7. ^ "2004: Grade Distributions". Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  8. ^ "2005: Grade Distributions". Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  9. ^ "2006: Grade Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  10. ^ "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  11. ^ "AP Human Geography Student Grade Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  12. ^ "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  13. ^ "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  14. ^ "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  15. ^ 2012 AP Scores Distribution
  16. ^ 2013 AP Scores Distribution
  17. ^ 2014 Student Score Distributions
  18. ^ "AP Human Geography 2015 Score Distribution" (PDF). collegeboard.org. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
  19. ^ Total Registration. "2016 AP Exam Score Distributions". www.totalregistration.net. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
  20. ^ "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  21. ^ "Student Score Distributions, AP Exams - May 2018" (PDF). The College Board. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
  22. ^ "STUDENT SCORE DISTRIBUTIONS" (PDF). Retrieved July 23, 2022.
  23. ^ "STUDENT SCORE DISTRIBUTIONS" (PDF). Retrieved June 9, 2021.
  24. ^ "STUDENT SCORE DISTRIBUTIONS" (PDF). Retrieved July 23, 2022.
  25. ^ "AP Human Geography Student Score Distributions – Global AP Exams – May 2022" (PDF). Retrieved 2022-11-28.
  26. ^ "Student Score Distributions" (PDF). Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  27. ^ "2024 AP Score Distributions". Retrieved July 8, 2024.
  28. ^ "2025 AP Score Distributions – AP Students | College Board". apstudents.collegeboard.org. Retrieved 2025-07-05.
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