M10/31/11
Population Concentration & Density
(Ch. 2.1; pp. 44-53)
I. Overview of Population
A. Demography
- demography” – scientific study of population,
focusing on specific characteristics
- demography impacts:
food supply
pollution
economic growth
agriculture
industry
urban growth
- 3 reasons to study population
1. world pop. larger than ever (almost 7 billion)
2. quickly increasing
3. most growth occurring in LDCs
- important to study population AND resources
II.
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Population Concentration
4 major regions of world population
East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia & Europe
2/3 of world pop.
most near ocean
fertile land
temperate, or comfortable climate
A. East Asia
- quarter of world’s pop.
- China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan
- 4 countries are traditional rivals
- most in China
- huge urban growth (ex. China – 25 cities 2+ mil., 61
cities 1+ mil.), but still rural
- ½ of China is rural
- Japan & S. Korea
- more urban – ¾ live near cities
- major cities – Tokyo (J), Osaka (J), Seoul (SK)
B. South Asia
- quarter of world’s pop.
- India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka (N.O.)
- formerly part of British Empire
- independent since 1947
- recent rivals
- religious split – Muslim vs. Hindu
-
India – ¾ of S. Asian pop.
¾ of India is rural
growing urban areas (similar to whom?)
18 cities 2+ mil., 46 cities 1+ mil.
C. Southeast Asia
- 1/10 of world pop.
- Indonesia, Philippines, Indochina (Vietnam,
Cambodia, Laos), Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore
- Indonesia is series of islands (over 13K)
- Java is largest & has most people
- largely rural
- 3 Asian area (E, S, SE)
- 50% of pop.
- concentrated on 10% of earth
D. Europe
- 1/9 of world pop.
- about 50 countries
- ¾ urban
- only 10% rural
- require food imports
- few natural resources
- earlier led to exploration & colonies
E. Other Population Clusters
1. North America
- NE U.S. & SE Can.
- 2% of world pop.
- mostly urban, few rural (2%)
2. Africa
- West Africa
- 2% of world pop.
- mostly rural, few urban
- only 5 cities 2+ mil; 11 cities 1+ mil.
- formerly “slave coast”
F. Sparsely Populated Regions (SPR)
- ecumene – portion of earth’s surface occupied by
permanent human settlement
- most of world is settled today
- however ¾ of world lives on 5% of Earth
- factors in SPR
1. dry lands – approx. 20% of Earth
2. wet lands – mostly near equator
3. cold lands
4. high lands – some exceptions
III. Population Density
- density – amount of people living in an area
- 3 main types of population density
agricultural, physiological, agricultural
1. arithmetic density (AD) – total number of people
divided by the total amount of land area
[Ex.1: NYC - 71,200 ppl./sq. mi.
Ex.2: Loving County, TX - 0.06 ppl./sq. mi.]
- important to note scale (local vs. state vs. national)
when comparing areas
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-
2. physiological density (PD) – number of people
per unit of area suitable for agriculture (sustainability
of pop.)
the higher the physiological density, the greater the
need to feed people (less land to produce the food to
sustain the population)
[Ex.1: USA – 453 ppl./sq. mi.
Ex.2: Egypt – 5,947 ppl./sq. mi.]
[What pressures does a country like Egypt face
compared to the USA?]
helps geographers w/ the relationship b/w size of
population & availability of resources
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3. agricultural density (AD) – number of farmers
per unit of farmland (enough food for people)
often explains differences b/w MDCs and LDCs
MDCs low AD [US – 1.6 farmers/sq km]
LDCs high AD [Egypt – 251 farmers/sq km]
[Why?
[usually more resources
[more ppl to work other jobs
countries w/ similar PD may vary in AD
lower AD has more efficient use of farmland