All AP Human Geography Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #541 : Ap Human Geography
Which of these is not an official national language of Switzerland?
Italian
French
German
Spanish
All of these are official national languages of Switzerland.
Spanish
Switzerland, which has an ethnically and linguistically diverse population, recognizes four official national languages - French, German, Italian, and Romansh. Spanish is not an official or widely used language in Switzerland. Romansh is spoken by a very small number of Swiss people but is still recognized by the Swiss government for a variety of historical reasons.
Example Question #21 : Cultural Differences & Regional Patterns
Which of these language families is spoken by the most people in the world?
Polynesian
Niger-Congo
Afro-Asiatic
Sino-Tibet
Indo-European
Indo-European
Indo-European, the language family that includes all European languages (which are widely spoken in Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Australasia) and Indian and Iranian, is spoken by slightly over fifty percent of the world’s population. The next largest is Sino-Tibet which is spoken by close to a quarter of the world’s population.
Example Question #542 : Ap Human Geography
The most linguistically diverse regions of the world are found in which two continents?
North America and South America
Europe and South America
Europe and Africa
Asia and Africa
Europe and Asia
Asia and Africa
The most linguistically diverse regions, with the notable exception of a few nations in Oceania, are found in Africa and Asia. More specifically they are generally found in Sub-Saharan Central Africa and South and Southeast Asia. It is worth noting that in recent years the rate of linguistic diversity is declining even in these regions, as languages like English, French, Hindi, and Chinese extend their influence and wipe out local languages.
Example Question #543 : Ap Human Geography
Language is one of the most significant factors in cultural identity and unity. Which language is spoken by more people around the world than any other language?
Mandarin Chinese
Arabic
English
French
Spanish
Mandarin Chinese
Chinese is spoken by more people around the world than any other language. Spanish and English are well behind in second and third respectively.
Example Question #541 : Ap Human Geography
There are over 6,000 languages spoken in the world today. Geographers categorize these many languages into 147 different groups, called "Language Families". Of these 147 language families, there are 9 families that are considered the most popular due to the fact that they have over 100 million native speakers. These 9 most popular language families are:
Afro-Asiatic, Indo-European, Altaic, Niger-Congo, Dravidian, Sino-Tibetan, Japanese, Austro-Asiatic, and Austronesian.
Although there are a plethora of language families in the world today, there are two specific language families that alone are used by two-thirds of the world's population, making them the most used and spoken language families. Which two language families are these?
Indo-European and Afro-Asiatic
Niger-Congo and Austro-Asiatic
Indo-European and Sino-Tibetan
Sino-Tibetan and Austro-Asiatic
Sino-Tibetan and Afro-Asiatic
Indo-European and Sino-Tibetan
The Indo-European language family is the world's most widely spoken family. There are eight distinct branches of the Indo-European languages, four of which each have relatively large numbers of speakers. The four most spoken language branches of the Indo-European family are Germanic, Indo-Iranian, Romance, and Balto-Slavic. The Germanic branch itself is the most widely spoken language branch based on number of speakers, largely due to the fact that English is a part of this branch.
The second most widely spoken language family in the world today is the Sino-Tibetan family. This language family encompasses the languages of China. With China's high population along with its global influence, it is not surprising that this language family is so widely spoken today.
Example Question #542 : Ap Human Geography
Part of the cause for the world having over 6,000 languages spoken in the world today is that new languages were formed by the merging of two different languages during the period of colonization. This happened as the colonizer's language mixed with the indigenous language of the people being dominated. Often the languages naturally merged parts of each together to form a new unique dialect. Sometimes this new dialect grows to a status of being so unique from either original language that it can now be classified as its own language, unable to be completely understood by native speakers of either original language. Languages that develop in this way are called a "creole" or "creolized language". There are many different creole languages spoken throughout the world today, some more popular than others.
Which of the following languages is not a "creole" or "creolized language?"
Haitian Creole
Canadian French
Papiamento
Bislama
Portuguese Creole
Canadian French
Canadian French is not a creole which combines French with any other language. It is simply the French language itself. It is often referred to as "Canadian French" rather than just "French" to emphasize that due to the regional separation of Canada from France, this form of the spoken language has a different accent and some different terminologies. This is the same distinction as American English from British English. While they are the same language, there are distinctly different accents and terminologies used in each.
For more understanding, here is a breakdown of each of the incorrect answers:
Bislama is a creole language of Vanuatu, an island nation in the South Pacific. The language of Bislama is comprised mostly of English but also combines many words from French and other Vanuatu languages.
Haitian Creole is one of two national languages of the Caribbean country of Haiti. The other national language of Haiti is French. Haitian Creole is comprised mostly of French words, but also makes use of terminology from Portuguese, Spanish, Taino, and a number of West African tribal languages. Often Haitian Creole is simply referred to as Creole, or Kreyol. This reference is deceiving and has deluded many people to think that Creole is a specific language rather than the fact that it is a type of language which many languages in the world are categorized as.
Papiamento is a creolized form of the Spanish language spoken in Netherlands Antilles, also known as the West Indies. Papiamento is mostly comprised of Spanish, but combines elements of Portuguese, Dutch, English, French, Arawakan, and other tribal African languages and dialects. There are approximately 300,000 speakers of Papiamento in Curacao, Bonaire, and Aruba combined.
Portuguese Creole is also referred to as Cape Verdean or Cape Verdean Creole. This language is spoken throughout the Cape Verde Islands which are located off the north west coast of Africa. Portuguese Creole is the oldest creole language which is still spoken today. Portuguese Creole is comprised of mostly terminology from Portuguese, but also a mix of terminology from various Western African languages, English, French, and Latin.
Example Question #31 : Language & Communications
The commonalities between various Balkan languages are best described by the theory of __________.
creolization
language replacement
language divergence
language convergence
language convergence
When various languages become more similar, and even coalesce into one language, due to their use within the same geographical region, it is called language convergence. Language divergence is the opposite of increasing similarity, while language replacement suggest that one language will be overtaken by another, and Creolization describes the process by which what was originally a dialect composed of simplified forms of various languages, becomes a native language.
Example Question #543 : Ap Human Geography
Which of the following countries is least influenced by multilingualism?
Venezuela
United States of America
Africa
Belgium
Cyprus
Venezuela
Venezuela has one national language, Spanish. There are a few dialects of Spanish and some tribal creole languages using Spanish, but overall this country is not influenced by multilingualism.
Belgium is a country which has three national languages; French, Dutch, and German. The people of this country are very much influenced by multilingualism, having to use all three national languages in the government's affairs.
The United States is a "melting pot" of language. With immigrants from all over the world, multilingualism is a growing influence in the country.
Cyprus is a country that has two national languages, Greek and Turkish. The country is divided by the two language groups. Multilingualism in Cyprus influences many conflicts for the country.
Africa is not a country. Also, the continent of Africa has a plethora of languages and often has conflicts due to the influence of multilingualism in the region.
Example Question #34 : Cultural Differences & Regional Patterns
A Linguistic Refuge area is most likely to be located
in a mountain region
in a city
in the United States
on a riverbank
at a seaport
in a mountain region
A Linguistic Refuge area is an area in which a specific language or dialect has survived because of the area being protected by isolation. These areas are going to be where there is not much influence from outside culture or language due to the landscape or the region. The mountain regions of the world are hard to transverse through and are less likely to have outside influence, allowing languages to survive for long periods of time.
In a city there is a constant flow of different languages and cultural influences coming in and out of the area. This does not allow the language or dialect of a particular city to survive, but rather causes it to conform to the lingua franca, perhaps maintaining unique characteristics, but most definitely adapting other linguistic forms. An example of this is how most major cities in the world use the term "okay" ("ok", or "k" for short), which is an English term. Even in Tokyo, Japan, people are familiar with this phrase and use it on a daily basis as it has bled into their linguistic culture from the western world.
In the United States, there is a mixing of all sorts of languages as the people of the country are immigrants from all over the world. Instead of maintaining one particular language, there is a melting together of all languages represented in a region of the country. For example, even though not all people of Chicago are from a Spanish speaking country, most of the people in the city understand certain Spanish phrases. This is influenced by the large amount of Spanish-speaking immigrants who have settled in the Chicago area. Today, the English dialect spoken in the Chicago area uses Spanish phrases seamlessly on a regular basis, understood by the majority of the people in the area.
On a riverbank, anywhere in the world, it is hard to preserve a particular language or dialect as rivers are traditionally and modernly used to transport goods. As a trade marketplace, riverbanks are constantly influenced by the outside cultures and languages of the world.
At a seaport, the same constant influence occurs as it does on the riverbanks, and for the same reason. Seaports are trade marketplaces. Ships come in and go out from all around the world, using the various languages of the ships' homelands. This influences the dialects of seaport towns to be influenced by international terminology.
Example Question #1 : Religion
The adherents of which religion live primarily in Japan, where it was formerly the official state religion?
Sikhism
Buddhism
Shinto
Confucianism
Taoism
Shinto
The adherents of Shinto reside primarily in Japan, where the religion was formerly the state religion. The citizens of Japan currently have full religious freedom guaranteed by the Constitution of Japan.