Population Density and Distribution What do we mean

Population Density and Distribution What do we mean by and what are the factors affecting, population distribution and density? Describe and explain the density and distribution of populations

Population Density and Distribution The World’s population is now over 6 billion people One in six people in the world live in China 50% of people live on 5% of the land 80% of the world live in LEDCs

Population Density and Distribution • A large number of people crammed into a small area is said to be densely populated. These tend to be urban areas • A small number of people spread out over a wide area is said to be sparsely populated. These tend to be rural areas • Population density is calculated using the following Number of people Area

Population Density and Distribution For people to live somewhere , their needs have to be met. These could be as simple as a food supply There may be special economic reasons for people living in a place. Why, for example would people bother with extreme desert temperatures in Kuwait if there not huge reserves of oil there?

Population Density and Distribution In the UK, London, the capital city is situated in the south east of the country. Being the capital, it attracts a large number of people because it is a commercial and administrative centre with a large concentration of goods and services.

Population Density and Distribution However, its location means that people are hemmed into a small area and it is thus very densely populated

Population Density and Distribution Environmental concerns are by far the largest reasons for populations being where they are. The primary reasons for this is the need to grow food to live on. 45% of the world’s working population are farmers. Food is only grown on 11% of the planets land area. Therefore areas of fertile land such as river deltas and flood plans will always be densely populated especially in LEDCS such as Bangladesh

Population Density and Distribution Too hot (over 30 C) Too dry <200 mm High evaporation Few attracted to the area so a low population density No water = no crops Salty soil = no crops Isolated Could build wells and pumps to produce water and desalinated soil BUT Costly; not enough could be grown leading to shortages There would little grass for grazing as most would be commercial agriculture

Population Density and Distribution The distribution population is the degree to which it is spread out across the country. From this map of the UK we can see that the distribution is significantly concentrated in the south east of the country

Population Density and Distribution Once can also link distribution and density to other geographical factors such as relief. It is n coincidence that the more mountainous parts of the UK are much more sparsely populated. The UKs population is concentrated into urban areas where 89% of the population live, of that number 50% live in major conurbations, that originally grew up as industrial centres close to coals fields for their power supply.

Population Density and Distribution When describing and/or explaining population density and distribution, you need to remember a lot of key factors • Relief • Economic activity • Climate • Quality of farmland • Aspect • Communication (roads and railways)