AP Human Geography › Unit 2
Why do people live where they do, and why do they move? This unit covers population distribution and density, population pyramids, the demographic transition model, Malthus, population policies, aging populations, and the push and pull factors behind migration. Exam questions often give a population pyramid or a data table and ask you to explain what it shows. A common mistake is using arithmetic density to judge crowding when physiological density says more about pressure on farmland. Students also describe the demographic transition model as a path every country must follow.
These are taken from the Regular set, with the answer and explanation shown.
1. A health ministry assigns two clinics to a crowded 5-square-mile urban ward and two clinics to a thinly settled 4,000-square-mile desert district. Why might equal clinic counts still produce unequal access?
Answer: E. Access depends on how people are spread out. In the dense ward, many people share each clinic, so waits are long. In the desert, people are spread out, so trips are long.
Common trap: Students assume sparse settlement means easy access. Fewer people does not mean shorter trips. Distance usually rises as density falls.
| Country | Crude birth rate (per 1,000) | Crude death rate (per 1,000) | Total fertility rate | Median age (years) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Niger | 42 | 9 | 6.1 | 15.3 |
| Mexico | 16 | 6 | 1.9 | 28.9 |
| Germany | 9 | 12 | 1.4 | 45.1 |
| Japan | 6 | 12 | 1.2 | 49.0 |
UN DESA, World Population Prospects 2024, estimates for 2023, rounded for classroom calculation. Source
2. The table shows that Germany and Japan both had more deaths than births in 2023. Yet Germany's total population grew slightly that year, while Japan's shrank. Which policy difference best explains this?
Answer: A. Population change is natural increase plus net migration. Germany's more open immigration policy brought in several hundred thousand more people than left in 2023, which outweighed its natural decrease. Japan has long admitted few immigrants.
Common trap: Students pick Japan's 'antinatalist laws.' Japan has pronatalist policies that try to raise births. Its low birth rate comes from social and economic factors.
3. When war began in Syria, millions of families first fled to safer provinces inside Syria. Later, more than five million crossed into Türkiye, Lebanon, and Jordan. How did the classification of these families change?
Answer: A. While they stayed inside Syria, they were IDPs. Once they crossed an international border fleeing war, they became refugees.
Common trap: Students reverse the order. Refugee status requires leaving your country, so it comes after the move across the border.