AP Human Geography : Rank-Size Rule

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for AP Human Geography

varsity tutors app store varsity tutors android store

Example Questions

Example Question #1 :Rank Size Rule

According to the rank-size rule, if the largest city in a country has a population of 1,000,000, then the fourth largest city in that country would have a population of approximately__________.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The rank size rule states that thelargest city in a given country will haveof the population of the largest city in that country. If the largest city has a population 1,000,000, and we want to know the population of the fourth largest city, it will haveof the population of the largest city.of 1,000,000 is 250,000 people.

Example Question #2 :Rank Size Rule

The rank-size rule is related to the size of which of the following answer choices?

Possible Answers:

The income-level of the different populations within cities

Ethnic populations within cities

Cities

All of these

Urban neighborhoods

Correct answer:

Cities

Explanation:

The “rank-size rule” is related to the relative size of cities. According to the rank-size rule, there should be a larger number of small cities than bigger cities. Also, this rule predicts that the larger a city’s population is then the fewer number of cities there should be in the surrounding area with a similar population.

Learning Tools by Varsity Tutors