POPULATION DISTRIBUTION

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POPULATION DISTRIBUTION
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POPULATION DISTRIBUTION

• The way people are spread out across the earth

FACTORS INFLUENCING POPULATION DISTRIBUTION

• Physical conditions of place
• Level of development of people

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Greenland
Western Europe
Ganges Valley
Sahara Desert
Amazon Forest
POPULATION DENSITY OF THE WORLD
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The world is UNEVENLY DISTRIBUTED.

• ? Densely populated
• (gt 100 persons per sq km)
• Moderately populate
• Sparsely populated
• (lt 10 persons per sq km)

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Population density

• Number of people living in a square kilometres of
  land (unit area of land)
• Total Population
• Total Area
• Will help to determine how crowded a place is.

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Would you like to live in such an environment?
Why?
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The Saigon Delta
Why is this place so densely populated?
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Would you like to live here? Why?
Amazon River
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Would YOU like to live here?
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Factors affecting population density

• Relief
• Climate
• Soils
• Mineral and energy resources
• Vegetation cover
• Accessibility

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Factors affecting population density

• Densely populated areas
• Relief
• Low-lying, flat land good for growing crops,
  build houses, roads, etc
• Example Nile Delta, Ganges Delta (India)

• Sparsely populated areas
• Relief
• High mountainous poor difficult for
  agriculture and housing
• Example Mt Everest (Himalayas)

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Factors affecting population density

• Densely populated areas
• Climate
• Temperate sufficient temperature and rainfall
  allow crops to grow
• Eg Western Europe, most parts of Asia

• Sparsely populated areas
• Climate
• Harsh conditions eg too hot (like desert)
• Too cold (like Antarctica)
• Does not allow cultivation

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Factors affecting population density

• Densely populated areas
• Soils
• Fertile, well-drained soils good for crops
• Eg in deltas of
• Chang Jiang (China)
• Huanghe (China)
• Ganges (India)

• Sparsely populated areas
• Soils
• Poor, frozen soil
• cannot grow crops
• Eg Tundra regions

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Factors affecting population density

• Densely populated areas
• Vegetation cover
• Less dense forest easier to clear for
  agriculture

• Sparsely populated areas
• Vegetation cover
• Thick forest eg Amazon Basin
• Difficult to clear

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Factors affecting population density

• Densely populated areas
• Mineral resources
• Eg coal in Western Europe
• Eg oil in Brunei

• Sparsely populated areas
• Mineral resources
• Lack of minerals / energy resources

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Factors affecting population density

• Densely populated areas
• Accessibility
• Good transport system
• Encourages trade, tourism, settlement, etc

• Sparsely populated areas
• Accessibility
• High mountains, thick forest hinders accessibility

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Factors affecting population density

• Level of development
• Low level few people
• eg poor farming methods few factories
• High level more people
• eg offices, high-tech factories generate
  more jobs more people

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Other factors affecting population density

• Government decisions
• Examples?