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Geography: read maps, compare places and explain migration

The parts of a map, latitude and longitude, map scale, population density, how people and places change each other, and why people move: push and pull factors, immigration and emigration, and cities growing. Includes six questions with worked answers.

By FinishHigh · Published 2026-10-28 · Updated 2026-10-28

Why this matters on the test

About 15 percent of the GED® social studies test is geography and the world, and maps show up across the whole test. Questions ask you to read a map's key, measure with its scale, compare places with numbers, or explain why people moved.

Read the title and the key before the colors. Most map mistakes come from skipping those two.

The parts of a map

Title: what the map shows. Legend, or key: what each color and symbol means. Compass rose: north, south, east and west. Scale: how map distance compares to real distance.

A physical map shows land and water, like mountains and rivers. A political map shows borders and cities. A thematic map shows one topic across places, such as rainfall or average income, often with darker colors for larger numbers.

Latitude, longitude and scale

Latitude lines run east and west and measure distance north or south of the equator. The equator is 0°, and the poles are 90° north and 90° south.

Longitude lines run north and south and measure distance east or west of the prime meridian, which is 0°. Longitude goes up to 180°.

A location is written latitude first, then longitude. For example, 40° N, 75° W is north of the equator and west of the prime meridian.

Scale worked: a map says 1 inch = 50 miles. Two towns are 3.5 inches apart on the map. The real distance is 3.5 × 50 = 175 miles.

Compare places with numbers

Population density = number of people ÷ land area. Worked: a county with 1,200,000 people on 400 square miles has 1,200,000 ÷ 400 = 3,000 people per square mile.

A place can have more people but a lower density, if its land area is much bigger. Always check which number a question asks about: the total, the density, or the change over time.

People and the environment

People adapt to places. They build homes on stilts in flood areas and irrigate dry farmland.

People also change places. They build dams, cut forests, cut terraces into hillsides for farming, and pave land for cities. Those changes can help people and also cause problems, such as erosion, lost habitat or water shortages downstream.

Sustainability means meeting today's needs without using up what future people will need, like pumping groundwater no faster than rain refills it.

Natural resources such as fertile soil, rivers, ports and minerals help explain where cities grew and how countries trade.

Why people move

Push factors drive people away from a place: war, danger, drought, few jobs or unfair treatment. Pull factors draw people to a place: jobs, safety, schools, freedom or family already living there.

Emigration means leaving your country. Immigration means moving into a new country. The same person is an emigrant from one country and an immigrant to another. A diaspora is a group living far from its homeland that keeps ties to it.

Urbanization is people moving from rural areas to cities, usually for jobs. In the Great Migration of the 1900s, millions of Black Americans moved from the rural South to cities in the North and West. They were pushed by segregation laws and violence, and pulled by factory jobs.

When people move, cultures spread. Food, music, words and religions travel with them. This is called cultural diffusion.

Where this comes from

GED Testing Service's Assessment Guide for Educators: Social Studies lists geography topics G.b (environment and society, including sustainability and natural resources), G.c (region and place, and geographic tools and skills) and G.d (migration, cultural diffusion, population trends, and rural and urban settlement). It says about 15 percent of the test is geography and the world. We checked the guide on October 28, 2026.

The explanations, made-up places and questions are original FinishHigh practice, not GED® test questions. GED® is a registered trademark of the American Council on Education. FinishHigh is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by it. This lesson teaches a few skills. It is not a full course or an official readiness result.

Next, try the questions below. Then open any map in a news story and name its title, key and scale.

Try this next: 6 questions ↓

ORIGINAL PRACTICE

Your turn.

Try each question before opening the explanation. These are FinishHigh practice examples, not GED® test questions.

A map's scale says 1 centimeter = 20 kilometers. Two lakes are 4.5 centimeters apart on the map. How far apart are they really?
Show the answer and why
90 kilometers. 4.5 × 20 = 90.
Town A has 60,000 people on 30 square miles. Town B has 90,000 people on 90 square miles. Which town is more densely populated?
Show the answer and why
Town A. Town A: 60,000 ÷ 30 = 2,000 people per square mile. Town B: 90,000 ÷ 90 = 1,000 people per square mile. Town B has more people, but they are more spread out.
A place is at 0° latitude. Where is it?
Show the answer and why
On the equator. Latitude measures north or south of the equator, and the equator itself is 0°.
A family leaves a farming region after three years of drought and moves to a city where a cousin found factory work. Name one push factor and one pull factor.
Show the answer and why
Push: the drought, which ruined farming at home. Pull: factory jobs and a family member already in the city.
Ravi moves from India to Canada. Is he an immigrant or an emigrant?
Show the answer and why
Both, depending on the view. To India he is an emigrant, because he left. To Canada he is an immigrant, because he arrived.
Farmers cut flat steps into a steep hillside to grow rice. What does this show about people and the environment?
Show the answer and why
People change the environment to meet their needs. The steps (terraces) make flat land for crops and slow rainwater, which reduces erosion.