Where Do People Live?
Chapter 3, Section 1

Reach Into Your Background
• Would you like to live in a city or in the country?
• List some interesting things you could do if you lived far from a city.
• List the things you would enjoy most about a city.

What is Population Distribution?
• The world’s population (total number of people) is spread unevenly over the Earth’s surface.
• New York City vs. Sahara Desert
• Population distribution  describes the way the population is spread out over the Earth
– The reasons population is distributed as it is may seem unclear.
• Demographers  study the populations of the world
– Examine birth, marriage, death
– Why do people choose to live in a certain area?

Uneven Population Distribution
• Landforms  affect where people live
• Few people can live in mountainous or hot deserts with dry land
• Many factors make a location a good place for people to live.
– Bodies of water  trade and travel; fresh water
(drinking and farming)
• Flat coastal areas
– Flat, fertile soil  grow food and build easily
• Plains and valleys

Uneven Population Distribution
• Other factors
– Climate  temperate; adequate rainfall
– Abundant natural resources  build houses and make products
• Maps on Pgs. 56-57 in textbook

Populous Continents
• Because of these factors, 81% of the Earth’s people (4.9 billion people) live in Asia,
Europe, and North America.
– These 3 continents = 53% of world’s land
– Fertile soil, plains, valleys, fresh water, rich in natural resources, good climates

Not Populous Continents
• Other continents have smaller populations partly because it’s hard to live there.
• Australia = 3 million square miles (size of the continental U.S.) but only 19 million people live there
– About the same number of people live in the state of New York
• Australia’s environment  mostly desert/dry grassland; few rivers/little rainfall
– Most people live along the coasts.

Not Populous Continents
• Africa  landforms and climate limit population
– 20% of the world’s land, but only 13% of world’s population.
– 2 of the world’s largest deserts (north and south)
– Broad bands of land with little rain
– Rainforest long the equator
– Many people live along narrow coasts

Not Populous Continents
• South Africa  population limited by landforms and climates
– 340 million people
– Live along the Atlantic coast
– Soaring mountains, vast dry plains, thick rain forests

World Population Distribution

Population Density
• Population Density  the average number of people who live in a square mile
• High density country = people crowded together
• Japan has one of the highest population densities in the world.
– Almost all of its 126 million people live on only 16% of the land.
– Tokyo  more than 25,000 people per square mile

Japan’s Population Density (2011)

Population Density
• Canada = low population density
– 9 people per square mile
• Canada is bigger than the United States, but only 31 million people live there.
– (Japan has 95 million more people.)
– Cool climate and short growing season affect population.

Canada’s Population Density (2002)

Studying Population Density
• Demographers divide the number of people living in a place by the number of square miles of that place.
• California
– Population = 33,871,648 people
– Land Area = 155,973 square miles
– Average Population Density = 217.2 people per square mile

California’s Population Density (2010)

Studying Population Density
• On a world population density map, different colors show areas with heavy population.
– Population Density Map vs. Physical Map worksheet
• Compare the landforms to the population density.
• Where do people tend to live?
• Some people do live in areas most of us would find uncomfortable – frozen Arctic regions; herders
– People have developed ways of life suited to their environment over many generations.