Rank Size Rule and Primate City
The Rank Size
Rule notes the
relationship
between the
ranks of cities
and their
populations.
It was advanced by Zipf in 1941.
This is only used as a probability model.
For example, if the
largest town has a
population of x, the
second largest
town will have a
population of x/2,
the 3rd largest will
have a population
of x/3 and so on.
Largest cities in Texas
Metropolitan area
Houston – 2,000,000
*Dallas/Ft. Worth (Metroplex)
6,500,000
Dallas -- 1,100,000
Houston -- 5,900,000
San Antonio -- 1,100,000
San Antonio – 2,000,000
Austin -- 700,000
Austin – 1,700,000
El Paso -- 565,000
El Paso – 750,000
*Fort Worth – 535,000
McAllen/Edinburg – 740,000
*Arlington -330,000
Corpus Christi – 400,000
2000 census
2009 estimated pop.
The Law of the Primate City
The primate city is the largest most dominant city in
a region.
Write the largest city in:
The degree of
primacy refers to
the dominance of
the largest city
over the rest of
the country.
China
Egypt
Mexico
Australia
Factors that affect a
Primate City
Having an
underdeveloped
economy
Having an
agriculturally dominant
economy
A rapidly expanding
population.
Advantages of a Primate City
Agglomeration of
economic
activities
Large market for
goods and services
Centralized
transportation
system
Disadvantages of a Primate City
Unequal economic
distribution
“spoke and hub”
transportation
system prevents
equal access to all
regions
Negative
environment –
slums, pollution,
traffic congestion
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Most LDCs have a high degree of primacy while most
MDCs have a low degree of primacy. Exceptions?
Rank the top three cities (include population) of each country
below. Goodes page 259
Look up your country and find the three largest cities. Do they
show up on page 259?
The legend (key) is at the bottom of the first page of each unit.
1. Europe
3. Middle East
Poland
Saudi Arabia
Spain
Iraq
Greece
Israel
2. East Asia
4. Africa
South Korea
South Africa
Japan
Libya
Vietnam
Nigeria
11 lesson
RANK SIZE AND PRIMATE CITIES
1. Make two columns.
2. Group cities by countries.
3. Locate five examples of countries that match “Rank size” and
“Primate Cities.”
4. List the country and top four cities in population
5. Determine which countries fit the criteria for Rank Size or Primate.
6. Look for patterns within each category between countries
(peds/pings, population, industry, agriculture, location etc…)
7. What generalizations can you make about the Rank Size and
Primate cities on your list? (at least two)