---
title: "Township and Range — AP Human Geography Definition"
description: "Township and range is the US grid survey system from the Land Ordinance of 1785, dividing land into 6-mile-square townships. A core survey method in APHG Topic 5.2."
canonical: "https://fiveable.me/ap-hug/key-terms/township-and-range-survey-method"
type: "key-term"
subject: "AP Human Geography"
unit: "Unit 5"
---

# Township and Range — AP Human Geography Definition

## Definition

The township and range survey method is a rectangular grid system created by the Land Ordinance of 1785 that divides US land into six-mile-square townships, each split into 36 one-mile-square sections. In AP Human Geography, it's one of three rural survey methods in Topic 5.2, alongside metes and bounds and long lot.

## What It Is

[Township and range](/ap-hug/key-terms/township-and-range "fv-autolink") is the survey method that explains why the American Midwest looks like graph paper from an airplane window. Established by the Land Ordinance of 1785, it divides land into townships measuring six miles by six miles. Each township is cut into 36 sections of one square mile (640 acres), and those sections get subdivided further into halves, quarters, and smaller parcels for individual farmers.

The whole point was efficiency. The young US government needed a fast, standardized way to sell off western land, and a uniform grid made every parcel easy to describe, map, and sell sight unseen. Compare that to metes and bounds in the eastern states, where property lines follow streams, trees, and rocks. The CED (EK PSO-5.B.3) lists township and range as one of three rural survey methods you need to recognize, and it's the one tied to [dispersed settlement](/ap-hug/unit-5/settlement-patterns-survey-methods/study-guide/HBG78za13bxNMphXDHd3 "fv-autolink"), since each family lived on its own square of land rather than [clustering](/ap-hug/unit-1/intro-maps-types-maps/study-guide/5yjxIwMtQuImgNT0QdaT "fv-autolink") in a village.

## Why It Matters

This term lives in **Topic 5.2 (Settlement Patterns and Survey Methods)** in **[Unit 5](/ap-hug/unit-5 "fv-autolink"): Agriculture and Rural Land-Use Patterns and Processes**. It directly supports learning objective **5.2.A**, which asks you to identify [rural settlement patterns](/ap-hug/key-terms/rural-settlement-patterns "fv-autolink") and the methods used to survey rural land. The essential knowledge here (EK PSO-5.B.2 and PSO-5.B.3) pairs the three survey methods with the three settlement patterns, and township and range is the textbook driver of a *dispersed* pattern. It's also a great example of a bigger APHG theme, which is that the cultural landscape records history. A satellite image of Iowa is basically a 1785 government policy still visible on the ground 240 years later.

## Connections

### [Metes and Bounds (Unit 5)](/ap-hug/key-terms/metes-and-bounds)

[Metes and bounds](/ap-hug/key-terms/metes-and-bounds "fv-autolink") is the older, irregular survey method township and range replaced. It uses natural landmarks like rivers and boulders to mark property lines, so eastern US fields look like puzzle pieces while Midwestern fields look like a checkerboard. The exam loves asking you to tell these two apart from a map or photo.

### Land Ordinance of 1785 (Unit 5)

This is the law that created the [township and range system](/ap-hug/key-terms/township-and-range-system "fv-autolink"). Knowing the origin matters because it shows survey methods aren't natural, they're government policy. The grid you see across the Midwest is federal land-sale strategy stamped onto the landscape.

### [Clustered Settlement Pattern (Unit 5)](/ap-hug/key-terms/clustered-settlement-pattern)

Township and range is the opposite force. Because every farm family bought its own square parcel, settlement spread out into a dispersed [pattern](/ap-hug/unit-1/spatial-concepts/study-guide/OwAXsmuGQP2yjp71tEM5 "fv-autolink") with isolated farmsteads. Clustered villages are more common where land was held communally or surveyed differently, so survey method and settlement pattern get tested as a matched pair.

### [Christaller's Central Place Theory (Unit 6)](/ap-hug/key-terms/christallers-central-place-theory)

The flat, gridded Midwest is the closest real-world match to Christaller's assumptions of a uniform plain with evenly spread customers. Dispersed farms created by township and range needed market towns at regular intervals, which is why small towns in Iowa and Nebraska are spaced so evenly.

## On the AP Exam

Township and range shows up mainly in multiple choice for Topic 5.2. Typical stems ask you to identify the primary purpose of the method (organized land division and sale), pick which scenario describes it, or match a description to the right survey method. A classic question describes a Midwestern area divided into six-mile-square blocks subdivided into one-mile squares and asks you to name the system. You should also be ready for image-based questions where you identify township and range from an aerial photo of a rectangular field grid. No released FRQ has used the term verbatim, but it works well as evidence in any FRQ about rural land use, settlement patterns, or how government policy shapes the cultural landscape. The skill to practice is matching each survey method (metes and bounds, township and range, long lot) to its region, its origin, and its visual pattern.

## Township and Range Survey Method vs Metes and Bounds

Both are rural survey methods in EK PSO-5.B.3, but they look nothing alike. Metes and bounds uses natural features and physical landmarks to define irregular property boundaries, and it dominates the eastern US where land was claimed before 1785. Township and range uses a uniform mathematical grid of squares, and it dominates land west of the Appalachians sold after the Land Ordinance of 1785. Quick test on a map question is shape. Irregular blobs mean metes and bounds, perfect squares mean township and range, and long thin strips along a river mean long lot.

## Key Takeaways

- Township and range divides land into six-mile-square townships, each containing 36 one-mile-square sections of 640 acres.
- It was created by the Land Ordinance of 1785 so the US government could survey and sell western land quickly and systematically.
- It is one of three rural survey methods in EK PSO-5.B.3, along with metes and bounds (irregular, eastern US) and long lot (river strips, French areas).
- Township and range produced a dispersed rural settlement pattern, with isolated farmsteads instead of clustered villages.
- On the exam, you identify it from descriptions or aerial images of rectangular grid landscapes, especially in the Midwest and Great Plains.

## FAQs

### What is the township and range survey method in AP Human Geography?

It's a rectangular survey system from the Land Ordinance of 1785 that divides US land into six-mile-square townships, each split into 36 one-mile sections. It appears in Topic 5.2 as one of three rural survey methods you need to identify.

### How is township and range different from metes and bounds?

Township and range uses a uniform grid of squares, while metes and bounds uses natural landmarks like rivers and trees to draw irregular boundaries. Township and range dominates the Midwest and West, metes and bounds dominates the eastern US settled before 1785.

### Is township and range still used today?

Yes, in the sense that the grid is still the basis for property lines, roads, and county boundaries across much of the US west of the Appalachians. That's why the Midwest still looks like a checkerboard from the air.

### Does township and range create clustered settlements?

No, it does the opposite. Because each family purchased and lived on its own square parcel, township and range produced a dispersed settlement pattern of isolated farmsteads, which is exactly the pairing EK PSO-5.B.2 and 5.B.3 want you to know.

### How big is a township and a section?

A township is six miles by six miles (36 square miles), and it contains 36 sections of one square mile each. One section equals 640 acres, which could be split into halves and quarters for individual farms.

## Related Study Guides

- [5.2 Settlement Patterns and Survey Methods](/ap-hug/unit-5/settlement-patterns-survey-methods/study-guide/HBG78za13bxNMphXDHd3)

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