Independent inquiry (formative assessment)
Choose a "contrasting country" to Venezuela in terms of continent, size, level of economic
development, or latitude.
Select a map that shows the pattern of population density at the national scale. (The map
should be relatively recent, allow for quantification and show some form of unequal population
distribution)
Write a paragraph that describes the pattern of population density (regions of high and low
densities)
Write a 2nd paragraph that gives some reasons to explain this pattern of unequal population
distribution. Try to refer to a range of physical and human factors in your explanations. You may
want to use additional sources or maps to support your explanations. The final part of the
paragraph should be a conclusion that evaluates to what extent human or physical factors are
more important in determining the pattern of population density in the country selected.
This map demonstrates the population density of the Russian Federation, which I chose
because it contrasts with Venezuela in terms of size and other factors. The map indicates that
the Central and the North Caucasus population is the highest compared to the other regions,
which are Volga, Northwestern, Urals, Siberian, and FarEastern. Out of these other regions,
FarEastern has the regions with the lowest population density in the country and Volga with the
highest density. The cities with the largest population density index are Saint Petersburg and
Moscow.
The cities which are the closest tend to have a large population density.
Firstly the main reason for the population density is that the Siberian, Urals, North Western and
far eastern part of Russia mainly consists of forests. Each of these parts tends to have large
cities with at least one million population like Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, Tyumen, and
Murmansk. The largest population density is in the Central part of Russia, which is located in
the West. That is because the capital is located there and is the second largest city. Most people
in Russia who aren’t from this part tend to try and move there as this part of Russia has the
biggest opportunities in terms of education and work. A separately located city called
Kaliningrad also tends to have quite a high population density, and that is due to its comfortable
location as it borders Lithuania, which is a European country. In conclusion, it’s possible to
determine that factors like employment, location, nature and infrastructure affect the population
density.