Population & Urban
Geography




Earths population hit the one billion mark in the
early 1800’s
By 1930 2 billion people
In 2007 over 6 billion people
In 2011 hit 7 billion
Population Growth
To understand population growth, geographers
study the following:
 Birthrate- number of live births per thousand
 Fertility Rate- average number of children a
woman of childbearing years would have in her
lifetime
*The world’s average fertility rate is about 3.0

Population Growth Cont.



Mortality rate- number of deaths per thousand
Infant mortality rate- number of deaths among
infants under age one per thousand births
Rate of natural increase- the rate at which a
population is growing
Birthrate – Mortality rate = rate of natural increase
Population Distribution



The billions of people in the world are not
distributed equally
Some lands are not suitable for human
habitation
Almost 90% of the worlds population lives in
the Northern Hemisphere
Habitable lands



Almost two-thirds of the worlds population lives
in the zones between 20°N and 60°N latitude
The highly populated areas are warm and wet
enough to make agriculture possible
The lightly populated areas are in the polar
regions, heavily mountainous regions, and desert
regions
Urbanization

The dramatic rise in the number of cities and
changes in lifestyle
Urbanization



1.
2.
3.
More people are moving into cities
26 giant cities, called megacities, are home to a
total of more than 250 million people
The largest city is Tokyo, with a population of
over 28 million people
Tokyo
Mexico City
New York
Population Density

The average number of people who live in a
measurable area, such as a square mile
Number of people / the total amount of land they occupy =
population density
Singapore- 16, 714 people per square mile
Monaco - 45, 333 people per square mile
Urban Geography



The study of how people use space in cities
Cities- center of business and culture and has a
large population
An urban area develops around an area called
the central business district
Suburbs-political units touching the borders of
the central city or touching other suburbs that
touch the city
 Within commuting distance
Central Business District




Also called CBD
It is the core of a city, which is almost always
based on commercial activity
Very expensive housing can be found there; land
value is very high in the CBD
As you move away from the CBD, other
functions become more important (housing
begins to dominate land use)
Migration



Reasons for migrating are referred to as pushpull factors
Push factors- those that cause people to leave
their homeland
Pull factors- draw or attract others to a region
Factors Influencing Where
People Settle


Both physical and human factors affect where people
settle.
¾ of the world’s population now live on less than 5%
of Earth’s surface.

Most of the world’s population is concentrated in five areas,
with more than half in the first two.





East Asia, including China, Korea, Japan, and Taiwan
South Asia, with India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka
Southeast Asia
Europe
North America
Factors Influencing Where
People Settle

Physical Factors

Population tends to cluster around seaports and
fresh water sources

2/3 of the world’s population today live within 500 miles
of the ocean
Population is typically sparse in extremely dry, wet,
cold, or mountainous areas
 People tend to settle in low-lying areas with fertile
soil and a temperate or mild climate.

Factors Influencing Where
People Settle

Human Factors
The need to establish a capital city at a central
location
 The need to establish new transportation routes
 As technology improves, people are able to explore
and settle in new areas despite physical barriers
 Economic activities:


Discovery of valuable resources like gold, diamonds, or oil