AP Human Geography



PROJECT: CENTRAL PLACE THEORY

Research on central place theory was conducted by Brian Berry in the U.S. Midwest, especially in Iowa. The purpose of this project is to determine the extent to which the hierarchy of settlements in Iowa still conforms to central place theory.

• Below is a list of the 25 largest cities in Iowa. The population is for the county in which the city is located, from the 1990 Census.

|Rank |City |County |Population |

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|1 |Des Moines |Polk |327,140 |

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|2 |Cedar Rapids |Linn |168,767 |

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|3 |Davenport |Scott |150,973 |

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|4 |Waterloo |Black Hawk |123,798 |

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|5 |Sioux City |Woodbury |98,276 |

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|6 |Iowa City |Johnson |96,119 |

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|7 |Dubuque |Dubuque |86,403 |

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|8 |Council Bluffs |Pottawattamie |82,628 |

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|9 |Ames |Story |74,252 |

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|10 |Clinton |Clinton |51,040 |

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|11 |Mason City |Carro Gordo |46,733 |

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|12 |Burlington |Des Moines |42,614 |

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|13 |Fort Dodge |Webster |40,342 |

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| 14 |Muscatine |Muscatine |39,907 |

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|15 |Keokuk |Lee |38,687 |

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|16 |Marshalltown |Marshall |38,276 |

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|17 |Indianola |Warren |36,033 |

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|18 |Ottumwa |Wapello |35,696 |

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|19 |Newton |Jasper |34,795 |

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|20 |Knoxville |Marion |30,001 |

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|21 |Sioux |Orange |29,903 |

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|22 |Boone |Boone |25,186 |

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|23 |LeMars |Plymouth |23,388 |

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|24 |Waverly |Bremer |22,813 |

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|25 |Spencer |Clay |17,585 |

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1. On the map of Iowa draw a circle around the dots representing settlements with a population over 80,000. How many are there? __________

2. Divide the state into 8 irregularly shaped circles, with the 8 largest cities as close as possible to the center of the circle. The 8 irregularly shaped circles should not overlap each other. These represent the market areas for the 8 largest cities.

3. Measure the approximate distance in miles of the radius of the circle drawn around Des Moines. _________

4. Are the irregularly shaped circles about the same size throughout the state, or do the sizes differ in different parts of the state? ___________________

5. Why are the market areas in the eastern part of the state smaller?

________________________________________________________________________

6. To what extent do cities in Iowa follow the rank-size distribution? ____________________

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