The Five Themes of Geography
AP HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
MS. ROTI
The Five Themes of Geography
1. Location
2. Place
3. Human-Environment Interaction
4. Movement
5. Region
1. Location – two types
Absolute Location
 A specific place on the
Earth’s surface
 Uses a grid system
 Latitude and longitude
 A global address
Relative Location
 Where a place is in
relation to another place
 Uses directional words to
describe
Examples:
Examples:
Chicago is 41.8369 North Latitude,
87.6847 West Longitude
Washington is located at 3535 East
114th street, Chicago, IL
Illinois is one of the Midwestern
states
Go 1 mile south on Avenue O and
turn left
Place – two types of characteristics
Physical Characteristics
 Land features
 Mountains, plains, and
plateaus
 Climate
 Bodies of water
Human Characteristics
 People
 Culture
 Language
 Religion
 Buildings and landmarks
 Cities
Human-Environment Interaction
People…
 Adapt to their environment

We adapt to the environment by wearing clothing suitable for
summer (shorts) and winter (coats), rain and shine
 Modify their environment
 We modify our environment by heating and cooling buildings
for comfort
 Depend on their environment
 We depend on the Chicago River/Lake Michigan for water and
transportation
Movement
Human Movement
 Trucks, trains, planes
Information Movement
 Phones, computer (email/social media), mail
Idea movement
 How do fads move from place to place? TV, Radio,
Magazines
Region
Formal Regions
 Regions defined by governmental or administrative boundaries
(i.e. states, countries, cities)
 Regions defined by similar characteristics (i.e. Midwest region,
Corn Belt, Rocky Mountain Region, Chinatown)
Functional Regions
 Regions defined by a function (i.e. newspaper service area, cell
phone coverage area)
Vernacular/Perceptual Regions
 Regions defined by people’s perception (i.e. middle east, the
south)
 If you can’t remembering what
they are just ask MR. HELP!!!
– Movement
R – Regions
HE – Human Environment interaction
L – Location
P - Place
M