Population Density Population density The number of humans

Population Density

Population density: The number of humans who live in an area, per square mile (or kilometer) Country A has an area of 10, 000 square miles There are 1 million people who live in Country A # of people ÷ # of square miles = density 1, 000÷ 10, 000 = 100 people per square mile

BUT WAIT! • Not all of an area’s land area is inhabitable – people can’t live in some places! (Examples: Deserts, water, ice caps, etc)

• The Earth has a total area of 197 million square miles, and a population of about 7 billion. This equals about 36 people per square mile.

• If we only use the LAND area of Earth (take away the oceans), we come up with 117 people per square mile.

• If we then take away Antarctica, where no one lives, we come up with 130 people per square mile. We could also take away deserts, high mountains, etc, the number grows even higher!

• A good example of how this affects people is Egypt. • It has a land area of 387, 000 square miles, and about 90 million people.

• This should mean it has 198 people per square mile. • But since everyone lives crowded along the banks of the Nile River, the REAL density is about 7, 136 people per square mile!

• The world’s most densely populated nation is Monaco, in Europe. It has 45, 781 people per square mile. • It is also very small (less than one square mile in area) but has over 36, 000 people.

• The world’s most sparsely populated nation is Mongolia, in Asia. • It has 5 people per square mile. It is also large (more than 604, 000 square miles) but has about 1. 5 million people.

The United States • The USA has an average population density of 87 people per square mile.

• The most densely populated state is New Jersey, with 1, 189 people per square mile. • The most sparsely populated state is Alaska, with less than 1. 5 people per square mile.

New Hampshire = 147 people per square mile Gilsum 52/m 2 Keene 620/m 2 Swanzey 160/m 2 Roxbury 19/m 2 Troy 120/m 2 Richmond Fitzwilliam 31/m 2 67/m 2