POPULATION
POPULATION DISTRIBUTION
LESSON OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson students will be able to:
1.
Define the terms population distribution and population density;
2.
identify the different factors that affect population distribution;
3.
Assess the different factors that affect population distribution;
4.
Calculate population density for specific areas;
5.
Show tolerance for the opinions of others which may arise from discussion.
WHAT IS POPULATION
DISTRIBUTION?
★
Population distribution is a description of how a population is spread out.
★
Population distribution is the pattern of how people settle.
FACTORS INFLUENCING POPULATION
DISTRIBUTION
People settle in areas where they are able to live because of a number of reason.
These reasons include:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
The relief of the land;
Climate and weather;
Fertile areas- agricultural land;
Location of mineral resources;
Developed areas;
Types of vegetation
LAND RELIEF
Flat land is easy to build on, as a result of this human settlements
tend to develop quickly in these areas. Where there are steep slopes,
development is much harder and more expensive; as a result these
areas are usually sparsely developed.
CLIMATE AND WEATHER
The climatic and weather condition of any area can make it
difficult or easy for people to settle. Areas that have a lot of:
● Very heavy rainfall;
● Very low temperatures;
● Very long periods of drought.
Are usually sparsely populated.
FERTILE AREAS- AGRICULTURAL LAND
Areas that are Fertile serve as an attraction to people who are
looking for places to settle. This is so because fertile lands make it
easy for settlers to grow food for consumption and economic
purposes and for rearing animals. Fertile areas are usually found in
alluvial plains of rivers or bottoms of river valleys.
LOCATION OF MINERAL
RESOURCES
Mineral resources are those which can be extracted from the
earth and use for economic purposes. This extraction of
resources provides employment and acts as a contributing
factor to the development of settlements, this factor often
overrides the other factors which contribute to settlement,
because of the potential benefits.
DEVELOPED AREAS
As areas develop and expand, so will the the number of facilities
and amenities that will become available to settlers. The more
developed an area is, the more social, economic and educational
institutions it will have and the more it will attract people to settle.
This then leads to a process of continued growth.
VEGETATION
It is believed that densely forested areas serve as
barriers to human settlements. In other situations
forested areas are destroyed in an attempt to develop
settlements for human habitation.
POPULATION
DENSITY
POPULATION
DENSITY
POPULATION DENSITY
Population density is the concentration of people living
in a given area.
CALCULATING POPULATION DENSITY
Population density is calculated by finding out the total population of an area and then
dividing it by the size of the area.
Total population =48000
Size of the area = 600 square kilometre
MAP WORK
WHAT IS A MAP?
A map is a diagrammatic representation of an area of
land or sea showing physical features, cities, roads etc.
What are the elements of a map?
The elements of a map include:
●
●
●
●
●
The title
The legend
Compass direction
Scale
Grid lines
MAPS USED TO REPRESENT POPULATION
DISTRIBUTION
The maps used to represent population distribution
and density are:
● The choropleth map
● Dot map
Choropleth Maps
Choropleth maps use shading or colors to show the population density.
Dotted Map
A dotted map uses dots to represent population distribution.
Population
269 000
Area (km2)
22 960
Guyana
767 500
214 970
Suriname
433 700
163 820
Dominica
71 200
750
Jamaica
2 635 400
10 991
St Vincent & the
109 200
388
Trinidad &Tobago
1 282 400
5128
Barbados
270 800
431
Bermuda
2 100
55
Country
Belize
Grenadines
Density (km2)