Read pages 182-189 in Global Connections.
The purpose of this lab is to understand how the distribution of people in a country differs from the population density. As well, students will compare arithmetic densities to physiologic densities in order to
understand population pressures on the land.
1.
What is the difference between population distribution and population density?
2.
Explain what Canada’s population distribution looks like. Does Canada have a high or low population density?
3.
Explain how the physical characteristics of Egypt and Bangladesh have influenced their population distribution patterns.
4.
Create a formula to explain the difference between arithmetic population density and physiologic population density.
5.
Complete the chart. Round to one decimal place.
Country
Population
(1998)
Total Area
(km 2 )
Cultivated
Area (km 2 )
Arithmetic
Density
Physiologic
Density
Botswana 1400000 566730 4200
Chad 7400000 1259200 32560
Egypt 65500000 995450 32650
Kenya 28300000 569140 45200
France 58800000 550100 194880
Iceland 300000 100250 60
Italy 57700000 294060 111430
Switzerland 7100000 39550 4340
United Kingdom 59100000 241600 59490
Ukraine 50300000 579350 343570
Canada 30600000 9220970 455000
United States 270200000 9159120 1877760
Mexico 97500000 1908690 247300
Argentina 36100000 2736690 272000
Japan 126400000 376520 44220
Israel 6000000 20620 4340
Nepal 23700000 143000 27430
Vietnam 78500000 325490 67580
India 988700000 2973190 1697000
China 1242500000 9291000 957820
6.
Which 2 countries have the lowest physiologic densities? Give a reason for each to explain why they have such a small proportion of cultivated land.
7.
What do you notice about all the physiological density values in your chart compared with their corresponding arithmetic density values?
8.
With the arithmetic and physiologic density values graphed in order of smallest total population to largest total population (see graph below), what trends or patterns can be found solely on the basis of small or large populations? What explanation can you give for the presence or absence of a trend based on total population?

9.
Explain why countries such as Egypt, Iceland, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Japan, Israel and China have a special challenge in trying to provide sufficient amounts of food for their populations. Suggest one strategy that these countries might use to keep their populations well fed.
10.
When we think of countries where there is chronic hunger, African countries such as Chad and
Botswana come to mind, yet the number of people depending on each square kilometer of cultivated land in these countries is not nearly as high as in question 6. What does this say about the quality of land in the African countries?
11.
Based on the physiologic densities suggest at least 2 countries in the world that might be food exporters.
12.
Find an example of a country with a high population but a relatively low physiologic population density.
13.
Find an example of a country with a low population but a relatively high physiologic population density.
14.
Does a high population necessarily lead to a high physiologic density?
15.
Explain one problem in only using arithmetic population density to determine how dense the population of a country is.
Answer all questions on looseleaf. For those using a notebook computer, please print a copy of your answers.