Rank Size Rule And Primate Cities
AP HUG
Objective
• To understand what the Rank Size Rule is and
the pattern that it tries to outline
Directions
• Independently: read Ch 13 H 294-295 in your
books and complete a Concepts and Notes
Sheet
• Independently: Review the Notes Section of
these PPT slides to review what you have read
in the book.
• Independently or in Partners: Complete the
practice slides found in this packet.
NOTES SLIDES
Rank Size Rule
• This is an attempt to find a numerical
relationship between population size of
settlements within an area such as a country
or county
• Settlements are ranked in descending order of
population size, with the largest city first
Assumptions
• The 2nd ranked city will have 1/2 the
population of the 1st
• The 3rd ranked city will have 1/3 population of
the 1st
• The 4th ranked city will have a ¼ population of
the 1st ranked city
Example
•
•
•
•
•
The largest city has a population of 1,000,000
The 2nd largest city: 1,000,000/2= 500,000
The 3rd city: 1,000,000/3= 333,333
The 4th city: 1,000,000/4= 250,000
And so on….
Formula
• This allows us to express the rank size rule as:
• Pn= Pl /n (or R)
• Pn= The population of the City
• Pl= The population of the largest city
• N (or R)= The rank size of the city
Primate City
• This is found where the largest city (often the
capital) completely dominates a country or
region
• The population size will be many times greater
than that of the 2nd or 3rd city
Example of Primate City: Buenos Aires,
Argentina
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Populations in thousands:
Buenos Aires: 10,990
Cordoba:
1198
Rosario: 1096
Mendoza:
775
La Plata:
640
San Miguel de Tucuman: 622
Binary Distribution
• Occurs where there are 2 very large cities of
almost equal size within the same country.
One may be the capital and the other a major
port or industrial centre
• Examples: Spain- Barcelona and Madrid
Exceptions to the rule
• Rank size rule is more likely to operate in a country
that is developed or urbanized for a long time and is:
– Large in size
– Stable economic and political organisation
• Primate distribution is likely to occur in countries
that are small, less developed and only recently
urbanised
Work on your own or in partners to
practice what you have learned
Practice Slides
practice
• If a country conforms to Rank Size Rule, fill in
the population chart below:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
City A 250,000
City B
?
City C
?
City D
?
City E
?
__________________
__________________
__________________
__________________
Primate City or Rank Size Rule?
Austria (Circle One)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Vienna
Linz-Wels-Steyr
Graz
Linz
Salzburg
1,691,468
286,000
222,326
181,162
150,269
Primate City or Rank Size Rule?
Egypt (Circle One)
1. Cairo
2. Alexandria
3. Al Jīzah
7,734,614
3,811,516
2,443,203
Rank Size Rule or Primate City?
(Circle One)
France
1 Paris
11,293,200
2 Lyon
1,665,700
3 Marseille 1,532,400
4 Toulouse 975,000
5 Nice 943,000
Rank Size Rule or Primate City?
(Circle One)
England
1 London
2 Birmingham
3 Leeds
4 Glasgow
5 Sheffield
7,172,091
970,892
715,404
577,869
513,234
Rank Size Rule or Primate City?
(Circle One)
Spain
1 Madrid
2 Barcelona
3 Valencia
4 Sevilla
5 Zaragoza
5,078,100
3,871,400
1,406,600
1,135,600
607,000
Rank Size Rule or Primate City?
(Circle One)
Japan
1 Tokyo
8,027,500
2 Yokohama 3,552,300
3 Osaka
2,647,000
4 Nagoya 2,258,000
5 Sapporo 1,779,700
Rank Size Rule or Primate City?
(Circle One)
South Korea
Seoul
10,349,312
Pusan 3,678,555
Inch’ŏn
2,628,000
Taegu 2,566,540
Taejŏn
1,475,221
Rank Size Rule or Primate City?
(Circle One)
Libya
Tripoli
Banghāzī
Mişrātah
Tarhūnah
Al Khums
1,150,989
650,629
386,120
210,697
201,943
Rank Size Rule or Primate City?
(Circle One)
Thailand
Bangkok
5,104,476
Samut Prakan
388,920
Mueang Nonthaburi 291,555
Udon Thani
247,231
Chon Buri
219,164
Rank Size Rule or Primate City?
(Circle One)
Mexico
Mexico City
Iztapalapa
Ecatepec
Guadalajara
12,294,193
1,820,888
1,806,226
1,640,589