Last Updated on June 30, 2024
AP Human Geography Practice Test 2024 with Study Guide [PDF].Prepare for the Advanced Placement (AP) Human Geography (APHG) exam with our 2024 practice test and study guide. Try our free AP Human Geography review questions and answers to enhance your understanding and test-taking skills.
You can also download the study guide in PDF format for convenient offline preparation. Use these resources to ensure you are well-prepared for the AP Human Geography exam and increase your chances of achieving a high score.
In 1955, the College Board introduced the Advanced Placement program to allow high school students to earn college credit while still in high school. The AP program now serves over 2.4 million enterprising high school students.
Table of Contents
AP Human Geography Practice Test 2024
This AP Human Geography Practice Test contains a diagnostic exam very similar to the actual AP Human Geography exam you will take in May. This diagnostic exam will let you know what you’re up against and help you identify the areas of human geography you need to concentrate on during your review.
Give yourself exactly 60 minutes to complete the 75 multiple-choice questions of Section I and 75 minutes to write the three free-response essays of Section II.
Unit Wise Practice Tests
- Unit 1: Thinking Geographically
- Unit 2: Population and Migration Patterns and Processes
- Unit 3: Cultural Patterns and Processes
- Unit 4: Political Patterns and Processes
- Unit 5: Agriculture and Rural Land-Use Patterns and Processes
- Unit 6: Cities and Urban Land-Use Patterns and Processes
- Unit 7: Industrial and Economic Development Patterns and Processes
Multiple Choice Questions
- AP Human Geography Questions and Answers (35 MCQs)
Fill Lenght Practice Tests PDF
APHG Practice Test PDF | Author |
| APHG Practice Test 1 | PrincetonReview |
| APHG Practice Test 2 | PrincetonReview |
| APHG Practice Test 3 | PrincetonReview |
APHG FRQ Free-Response Questions
Starting with the May 2020 exam, the three free-response questions will contain nine parts (a–g). The format includes one question without a stimulus, one with one stimulus (such as a graph, map, chart, picture, or reading), and one with two stimuli. Each question will be worth 7 points, with 1 point awarded per part, regardless of the difficulty of the part. The nine parts will typically use one of the following five task verbs:
COMPARE: Explain or describe the similarities and/or differences between two things.
- Example: Compare a country that conforms to the rank-size rule of urban areas to one with a primate city pattern.
DEFINE: Provide a specific meaning for a given word, concept, or idea.
- Example: Define the concept of distance decay.
DESCRIBE: Provide the relevant characteristics of a specified process or trend.
- Example: Describe how the opening of China’s economy led to demographic shifts within China.
EXPLAIN: Provide information on how or why a pattern, process, or relationship occurs, using evidence or reasoning to support your explanation.
- Example: Explain how a strict population policy, such as China’s former one-child-per-couple law, affects a country’s population pyramid.
IDENTIFY: Provide information on a specific pattern, process, or concept without elaboration or explanation.
- Example: Identify one specific example of an effect of agribusiness on food production patterns in the United States.
View Answer
COMPARE: Compare a country that conforms to the rank-size rule of urban areas to one with a primate city pattern.
Answer: A country that conforms to the rank-size rule, such as the United States, has a hierarchical distribution of cities where a city’s population is inversely proportional to its rank in the hierarchy. For example, the second-largest city is half the size of the largest city, the third-largest city is one-third the size of the largest city, and so on. In contrast, a country with a primate city pattern, like France, has one dominant city, Paris, that is disproportionately larger and more influential than any other city. This primate city is the economic, political, and cultural hub, overshadowing smaller cities.
DEFINE: Define the concept of distance decay.
Answer: Distance decay is the geographical concept that describes the effect of distance on cultural or spatial interactions. The principle states that the interaction between two locales declines as their distance increases. Essentially, the farther apart two places are, the less likely people will interact frequently.
DESCRIBE: Describe how the opening of China’s economy led to demographic shifts within China.
Answer: The opening of China’s economy in the late 20th century, marked by economic reforms and the introduction of market-oriented policies, led to significant demographic shifts. These reforms spurred rapid urbanization as people moved from rural areas to cities for better economic opportunities. The urban population grew significantly, leading to major city expansion and the development of new urban areas. This migration also resulted in family structure and lifestyle changes, with increased access to education, healthcare, and employment opportunities in urban centers.
EXPLAIN: Explain how a strict population policy, such as China’s former one-child-per-couple law, affects a country’s population pyramid.
Answer: China’s one-child policy, implemented in 1979 to control population growth, profoundly affected the country’s population pyramid. By limiting most families to a single child, the policy decreased the birth rate, leading to a narrower base in the population pyramid. Over time, this created an aging population, with a higher proportion of elderly people than younger generations. This demographic shift has led to potential challenges such as a shrinking workforce, increased pressure on social services, and a possible imbalance in the sex ratio due to cultural preferences for male children.
IDENTIFY: Identify one specific example of an effect of agribusiness on food production patterns in the United States.
Answer: One specific example of the effect of agribusiness on food production patterns in the United States is the increase in monoculture farming. Large agribusinesses often focus on the mass production of a single crop, such as corn or soybeans, due to economies of scale and the demand for these crops in global markets. This practice has reduced agricultural biodiversity, increased use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and transformed vast farmland areas into single-crop production zones.
AP Human Geography Exam
The AP Human Geography exam is written by high school, college, and university instructors who teach introductory-level human geography in their schools.The Test Development Committee meets to select and refine exam questions.
The questions are finally field-tested before being included in the AP Human Geography exam. The multiple-choice questions on the AP Human Geography exam are scored electronically; the free-response questions are scored by a group of high school, college, and university instructors who meet in a central location in June following the May administration of the exam.
| Test Name | Advanced Placement Exam |
| Subject | Human Geography (APHG) |
| Total Sections | Two Section I and Section II |
| Section I | 75 MCQs – 60 minutes |
| Section II | FRQs – 75 minutes |
| break | 5-minutes |
| Fees | $94 and $124 |
| Negative Marking | NO |
The exam consists of two sections—multiple-choice and free-response questions (FRQs). There are 75 multiple-choice questions in Section I of the exam and three free-response questions in Section II. Each of these two sections accounts for half of your exam grade. You should expect to interpret both exam sections’ maps, graphs, charts, photographs, and tables.
The exam is two hours and 15 minutes long and is timed. You will be given 60 minutes to answer the 75 multiple-choice questions in Section I and 75 minutes to answer the three free-response questions in Section II. There will be a 5-minute break between exam sections.
Tip: Points are not deducted for incorrect answers, and no points are awarded for unanswered questions.
Exam Content
The test questions will be divided among the different topics in the following percentages:
Exam Weighting
| Unit | MCQs Section |
| Unit 1: Thinking Geographically | 8%-10% |
| Unit 2: Population and Migration Patterns and Processes | 12%–17% |
| Unit 3: Cultural Patterns and Processes | 12%–17% |
| Unit 4: Political Patterns and Processes | 12%–17% |
| Unit 5: Agriculture and Rural Land-Use Patterns and Processes | 12%–17% |
| Unit 6: Cities and Urban Land-Use Patterns and Processes | 12%–17% |
| Unit 7: Industrial and Economic Development Patterns and Processes | 12%–17% |
Multiple-Choice Section
There are 75 multiple-choice questions in the first section of the exam. Your score is based on the total number of multiple-choice questions you answer correctly. That means that you should take a guess and try not to leave any answers blank! Your goal is to get as many correct answers as possible. There is no longer any penalty for guessing as in previous years. Correcting at least 50 of the 75 multiple-choice answers will help you score 4 or 5 on the exam.
Free-Response Questions
The three free-response essay questions on the exam will be worth 6 to 12 points each. However, you will not know how many points each question is worth. Your goal is to carefully read each word in each sentence of the questions and answer the questions thoroughly and in detail. When the essays are scored, the readers will look for specific concepts, explanations, and descriptions in your answers.
You will not receive points if you do not give the correct information. If you provide the correct information in excellent detail, you will receive the maximum points allowed for that part of the essay question. A “somewhat correct but not complete” response will earn you fewer points. The reader grading your exam will add up your points. The total points you earned on all three essays must add up to at least 60 percent of the total available points to earn a four or a five on the overall exam.
These scores mean:
- 5–Extremely well qualified
- 4–Well qualified
- 3–Qualified
- 2–Possibly qualified
- 1–No recommendation
Resources to Prepare for the Exam
The College Board has provided extra online resources to help you prepare for the AP exam! Go to https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-human-geography/exam/past-exam-questions
to find resources such as sample questions and responses, exam practice tips, and scoring guidelines for past free-response questions (FRQs).
If you would like additional information on AP Human Geography or want to register for the exam, contact:
College Board intends all communication to come via their website:
Phone: 888-225-5427
International callers: 212-632-1780
Fax: 610-290-8979
Email: apstudents@info.collegeboard.org
Web: https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/home
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