World Geography / Unit 3: Human Geography
3.1 Population Distribution and Density
Notes
Population density is the average number of people per unit of area: $\displaystyle \text{density} = \frac{\text{population}}{\text{area}}$.
- Worked example: 600,000 people in 200 square miles gives $\displaystyle \frac{600{,}000}{200} = 3{,}000$ people per square mile.
- People cluster where there is fresh water, flat fertile land and a mild climate: East Asia, South Asia, Europe, the eastern United States, the Nile Valley.
- Sparsely populated areas include deserts (Sahara), polar regions, high mountains and dense rainforests.
- Density is an average, so it hides differences inside a country. Egypt has most people packed along the Nile.
- Most people live in the Northern Hemisphere and within a short distance of the coast or a river.
Practice
A region has 90,000 people in 300 square miles. What is its population density?
$90{,}000 \div 300 = 300$.
Which area is most likely to have a very low population density?
Deserts have little water and farmland, so few people live there.
Egypt is mostly desert, but nearly all its people live along the Nile. What does this show?
People cluster near water, so the country-wide average is misleading.
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