POPULATION DISTRIBUTION AND DENSITY:

Terms:

1. What is population distribution:

It is the way the people are dispersed or spread across the landscape or
where people live.

2. What is population density:

• Densely populated means very high density or many people living in

an area.

• Sparsely populated means very low density or a few people living in an

area.

LOOK AT THE MAP BELOW CAN YOU FIND OUT WHICH COUNTRIES DENSELY
POPULATED AREAS AND WHICH ARE SPARSELY POPULATED. GIVE REASONS
WHY?
 1. High population density of over 100 per square kilometer are in South
and East Asia, Europe and the north east of N. America.

These areas include regions with high living standards as in USA and
the UK and densely populated areas of India and south-east China.

2. About 25 and 100 per square kilometer are in areas of California in the
USA, coastal Brazil, the Nile Valley, West Africa, South-east Australia,
France, Turkey and Mexico.

3. Areas with low population density of between 2 and 25 people per

square kilometer include Norway, New Zealand, Canada, North Africa
and Patagonia in southern Argentina.

4. Between 35% and 40% of the land area is uninhabitable and includes
the Himalayas, the hot and cold deserts and areas with rainforest.

Densely populated areas: Environmental advantages such as low-lying,

coastal etc.

Sparsely populated areas: Environmental disadvantages such as desert,

rainforest, mountainous areas etc.

Except for country like Bangladesh with low living standards and low levels of
economic development but has a high population density.
Physical and human factors affecting population distribution and density:

Physical factors:

1. Water supply, fertile soils for crops, wood for fuel, land not liable to
flooding.

2. Two third of world population can be found in coastal areas because of

accessibility, trading and climate.

3. Sparsely populated areas found in mountainous areas with steep

slopes, rugged terrain and exposure to cold, wet windy climates
restrict access, settlement and cultivation.

4. Densely populated areas found in lowland areas e.g. N. European plain,

the Nile valley and Ganges Delta.

5. Low population densities can be found areas like Amazon Basin where
rainforest limits settlement, Siberia which is a barren, cold wasteland
and interior Prairies in Canada where the remote location hindered
settlement.

6. Only 0.4% of world population can be found in desert areas because of

lack of water. The people live close to oases, aquifers and rivers such
as the River Nile.

Human factors:

1. Economic potential-the ability of people to earn a living in an area.

2. Low-lying areas especially temperate zone, areas capable of producing

high yield crops are densely populated area such as Ganges Delta.

3. Different agricultural systems will produce different population

distributions;

(i) Shifting-disperse and sparsely populated

(ii) Intensive market gardening-more concentrated

4. When industrialization and urbanization begins, populations tend to

become concentrated in urban area.
Changes in population distributions tend to be a result of:

(i) Technological advances: the Industrial Revolution in Britain that

fuelled urbanization and the concentration of people into urban
areas.

(ii) Political factors, in 1917, during the Russian Revolution, Russians

were force to move eastwards to open up and develop Siberia.
*Read the case study, Population in Peru and write down the answer to
the following questions:

1. Explain the difficulties posed for people in the three regions of Peru.

2. Explain why the Sierra can support higher densities of population

than the eastern region.

3. Explain why the population is concentrated in small nuclei separated

by large areas of empty land.