6.4: The Size and Distribution of Cities 16. Describe rank-size rule. 17. Define higher-order services. 18. Define lower-order services. 19. Describe and identify a primate city.

16. The rank-size rule is a statistical relationship between the size of a city and its rank in a hierarchy of cities. It states that the size of a city is inversely proportional to its rank. For example, the second-largest city is approximately half the size of the largest city, the third-largest city is approximately one-third the size of the largest city, and so on.<br /><br />17. Higher-order services are services that are specialized and require a larger population to support them. These services are typically found in larger cities and include functions such as universities, research institutions, and specialized hospitals.<br /><br />18. Lower-order services are services that are more basic and can be found in smaller cities or towns. These services include functions such as grocery stores, schools, and local government offices.<br /><br />19. A primate city is a city that is significantly larger than the next largest city in a country or region. It is often the capital or largest city and has a disproportionately large share of the total population, economic activity, and cultural significance. Examples of primate cities include Paris in France, Tokyo in Japan, and Bangkok in Thailand.