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AP Human Geography › Unit 7

AP Human Geography Unit 7: Industrial and Economic Development Patterns and Processes

12 to 17% of the exam · 180 practice questions · 5 free-response questions

The final unit asks why some places are richer than others. You will study the spread of industry, economic sectors, measures like GDP per capita and the Human Development Index, gender and development, and theories such as Rostow's stages and Wallerstein's world-system theory. Trade and sustainable development close the unit. Expect to interpret development data and explain a theory's strengths and limits. Students often treat GDP per capita as a complete measure of well-being. Another error is labeling countries core or periphery without explaining the economic relationships behind the labels.

Practice this unit

White belt · 60 questionsRegular · 60 questionsBlack belt · 60 questionsFree response

White belt covers core terms and foundational ideas, Regular is set at exam level, and Black belt has harder multi-step questions.

Topics in this unit

Free-response questions

Sample questions

These are taken from the Regular set, with the answer and explanation shown.

Topic 7.2 Economic Sectors and Patterns

Weber · least-transport-cost triangle and isodapanes
Panel A is a location triangle with raw-material sources S1 (5 tons per unit of output) and S2 (3 tons) at the two top corners and the market M (4 tons of finished output per unit) at the bottom corner. The least-cost factory site P lies inside the triangle, nearest S1 and closer to S1 and S2 than to M, and is circled by two dashed isodapanes at 6% and 15% above the lowest total transport cost. Panel B is a table: S1 5.0 tons, 29 km to P, 145 ton-km; S2 3.0 tons, 63 km, 189 ton-km; total inputs 8.0 tons, 334 ton-km; M 4.0 tons, 73 km, 292 ton-km. Notes say the freight rate is uniform per ton-kilometer, that 8.0 tons of inputs yield 4.0 tons of output, and that the dashed rings are lines of equal total transport cost (isodapanes) used to evaluate alternative labor or agglomeration sites.

Original Practice Dojo drawing of Alfred Weber’s (1909) least-transport-cost model with hypothetical weights and distances: 5 tons from S1 and 3 tons from S2 (8.0 tons in all) make one unit of output weighing 4.0 tons; uniform freight rate per ton-kilometer; P is the computed point of lowest total ton-kilometers; other location forces held equal. Source & details

Enlarge source
Panel A is a location triangle with raw-material sources S1 (5 tons per unit of output) and S2 (3 tons) at the two top corners and the market M (4 tons of finished output per unit) at the bottom corner. The least-cost factory site P lies inside the triangle, nearest S1 and closer to S1 and S2 than to M, and is circled by two dashed isodapanes at 6% and 15% above the lowest total transport cost. Panel B is a table: S1 5.0 tons, 29 km to P, 145 ton-km; S2 3.0 tons, 63 km, 189 ton-km; total inputs 8.0 tons, 334 ton-km; M 4.0 tons, 73 km, 292 ton-km. Notes say the freight rate is uniform per ton-kilometer, that 8.0 tons of inputs yield 4.0 tons of output, and that the dashed rings are lines of equal total transport cost (isodapanes) used to evaluate alternative labor or agglomeration sites.

1. Suppose freight costs $1 per ton-kilometer. Using Panel B, a site with cheaper labor lies on the +15% isodapane. What is the smallest labor saving per unit of output that would make that site cheaper than P?

  1. AAbout $15 per unit
  2. BAbout $94 per unit
  3. CAbout $44 per unit
  4. DAbout $50 per unit
  5. EAbout $626 per unit

Answer: B. Total transport cost at P is 334 + 292 = 626 ton-km, or $626 per unit. A site on the +15% isodapane costs 0.15 × $626, about $94, more. Labor savings must exceed about $94 per unit for the move to pay off.

Common trap: Students take 15 percent of only the output cost (292) and get about $44. The isodapane measures total transport cost, so include the inputs too.

Topic 7.5 Theories of Development

2. Which statement describes a strength of Rostow's stages of economic growth model?

  1. AIt explains how colonialism shaped the economies of poor countries
  2. BIt shows how the core profits from its trade with the periphery
  3. CIt accounts for every country's unique culture and history
  4. DIt gives a clear sequence for comparing economic change
  5. EIt proves that all countries will reach high mass consumption

Answer: D. Rostow's model is simple and describes the path taken by early industrializers such as Britain and the United States. It gives geographers a shared set of stages for comparing countries. Explaining colonialism and core profits are strengths of dependency and world-systems theory instead.

Common trap: Students pick 'proves all countries will reach mass consumption.' A model cannot prove the future, and that assumption is a common criticism, not a strength.

Topic 7.7 Changes as a Result of the World Economy

3. In Pittsburgh, once a steel capital, a hospital system and universities are now among the largest employers, and most of the region's big steel mills have closed. Which change in the economic landscape does this show?

  1. AService and knowledge sectors grew as heavy industry declined
  2. BThe primary sector grew as the former mill sites became farmland
  3. CManufacturing grew as hospitals began to produce steel
  4. DFordist mass production returned to the city's mills
  5. EAgglomeration ended as firms spread evenly across the region

Answer: A. As steel jobs disappeared, Pittsburgh's economy shifted toward health care, education, and research. These tertiary and quaternary jobs now anchor the region. The CED names the emergence of service sectors as one of the changes transforming the economic landscape.

Common trap: Students pick the Fordist option. Most mills closed rather than reviving. The growth came in services, not in factory production.

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