AP Human Geography

Advanced Placement 'Human Geography' 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.
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. 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.

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:

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

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

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

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

Grade distribution

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

Final Score	1	2	3	4	5	% of scores 3 or higher	Mean score	Standard deviation	Number of students
2002	22.60%	15.70%	24.80%	20.50%	16.40%	61.70%	2.92	1.38	5,286
2003	20.30%	14.70%	24.10%	22.00%	19.00%	65.10%	3.05	1.39	7,329
2004	21.20%	17.10%	22.70%	22.20%	16.90%	61.80%	2.97	1.38	10,471
2005	24.50%	16.90%	23.20%	20.80%	14.70%	58.70%	2.84	1.38	14,139
2006	25.60%	16.00%	21.80%	19.70%	16.90%	58.40%	2.86	1.43	21,003
2007	32.90%	16.30%	21.80%	17.90%	11.20%	50.90%	2.58	1.39	29,005
2008	30.20%	18.30%	21.50%	17.90%	12.10%	51.50%	2.63	1.39	39,878
2009	33.20%	16.60%	21.90%	16.70%	11.60%	50.20%	2.57	1.39	50,730
2010	35.70%	17.40%	20.60%	16.50%	9.70%	46.90%	2.47	1.37	68,397
2011	31.50%	17.50%	21.20%	18.20%	11.70%	51.00%	2.61	1.39	83,841
2012	29.80%	17.80%	20.40%	19.50%	12.50%	52.40%	2.67	1.4	98,679
2013	28.30%	18.60%	20.70%	20.30%	12.00%	53.00%	2.69	1.38	114,361
2014	29.60%	18.40%	21.00%	20.00%	11.00%	52.00%	2.64	1.37	136,448
2015	29.50%	16.70%	21.10%	20.50%	12.20%	53.80%	2.69	1.39	159,609
2016	29.00%	19.10%	19.80%	20.10%	11.90%	51.80%	2.67	1.39	184,663
2017	33.90%	17.10%	21.00%	17.30%	10.70%	48.90%	2.54	1.38	199,756
2018	28.60%	17.00%	21.50%	19.80%	13.00%	54.40%	2.72	1.4	216,783
2019	34.10%	16.70%	20.10%	18.20%	10.80%	49.10%	2.55	1.39	225,235
2020	30.10%	10.90%	24.80%	22.40%	11.80%	59.00%	2.75	1.39	218,333
2021	32.40%	15.10%	18.30%	19.70%	14.40%	52.50%	2.69	1.46	211,735
2022	31.80%	15.00%	19.60%	18.70%	14.90%	53.20%	2.7	1.45	221,815
2023	31.60%	14.00%	18.40%	20.00%	16.00%	54.40%	2.75	1.48	247,043
2024	29.50%	14.30%	17.80%	20.50%	17.90%	56.10%	2.83	1.49	262,253
2025	9.90%	25.40%	22.50%	25.20%	17.00%	64.70%	3.14	1.25	282,781