Rank Size Rule

Settlement
 Learning outcomes
 Tounderstand what the rank Size
rule is and the pattern that it tries to
outline
 Rank Size Rule
 This is an attempt to find a numerical
relationship between population size
of settlements within an area such as
a country or county
 Settlements are ranked in
descending order of population size,
with the largest city first
 Assumptions
 The 2nd ranked city will have 1/2 the
population of the 1st
 The 3rd ranked city will have 1/3
population of the 1st
 The 4th ranked city will have a ¼
population of the 1st ranked city
 Example
 The largest city has a population of
1,000,000
 The 2nd largest city: 1,000,000/2=
500,000
 The 3rd city: 1,000,000/3= 333,333

 The 4th city: 1,000,000/4= 250,000

 And so on….
 Formula
 This allows us to express the rank size
rule as:
 Pn= Pl /n (or R)

 Pn= The population of the City

 Pl= The population of the largest city
 N (or R)= The rank size of the city

 See graph Page 404/405 Brazil e.g.

Variations from the Rank Size Rule
 Itis rare to find a close correlation
between the city size of a country
and the rank size rule
 Primate City
 This is found where the largest city
(often the capital) completely
dominates a country or region
 The population size will be many
times greater than that of the 2nd or
3rd city
 Example of Primate City: Buenos
Aires
 Populationsin thousands:
 Buenos Aires: 10,990

 Cordoba: 1198
 Rosario: 1096
 Mendoza: 775
 La Plata: 640
 San Miguel de Tucuman: 622
 Binary Distribution
 Occurs where there are 2 very large
cities of almost equal size within the
same country. One may be the
capital and the other a major port or
industrial centre
 Examples: Spain- Barcelona and
Madrid
 Exceptions to the rule
 Rank size rule is more likely to operate in
a country that is developed or urbanised
for a long time
 Large in size

 Stable economic and political organisation

 Primate distribution is likely to occur in

countries that are small, less developed
and only recently urbanised