Download POPULATION CONCENTRATIONS

POPULATION CONCENTRATIONS
AND DENSITIES
Where’s E’r-body At? Yo.
MACROCULTURAL
REGIONS
First, a reminder about the macrocultural regions (there are eleven on here, but we’ll use ten)
POPULATION
AGGLOMERATIONS
Now, some facts…
A population agglomeration is an area of population composed from a
number of relatively close locations
2/3 of world’s population are located in four regions (East, South, Southeast
Asia and Western Europe)
Those regions display some common site features:
• Near an ocean (or river with access to one)
• Low-lying
• Fertile soil
• Temperate climate
• Northern Hemisphere between 10°N and 55°N
POPULATION
AGGLOMERATIONS
Concentration 1: East Asia
Includes Eastern China, Japan, Korean Peninsula, Taiwan
20% of world population
5/6 of the concentration live in Eastern, lowland China (2/3 of which are rural)
1/6 in Japan and Koreas (3/4 of which are Urban… 1/3 in Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul alone)
East Asia
POPULATION
AGGLOMERATIONS
Concentration 2: South Asia
20% of world population
Includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka (¾ of agglomeration are in India)
Most are rural farmers
Only ¼ live in Urban areas
South Asia
POPULATION
AGGLOMERATIONS
Concentration 3: Europe
Includes Western Europe, Central Europe and European Portion of Russia
11% of world population
¾ of concentration live in urban areas
Highest concentrations are near English, German and Belgium’s coalfields
Scarce resources in the region
Europe
POPULATION
AGGLOMERATIONS
Concentration 4:
Southeast Asia
Includes Indochina peninsula and islands between Indian and Pacific oceans
High percentage of farmers living in rural areas
Southeast Asia
POPULATION
AGGLOMERATIONS
Concentration 5&6:
North America & Western Africa
2% of world population
clustered on North
America’s Eastern
Seaboard (95% Urban)
5 North America
6 West Africa
2% of world population
clustered in Western Africa
(most are rural farmers)
½ of concentration in
Nigeria
Compare:
Population
And
Climate
THE TWO
EARTHS
Ecumene:
The settled Earth (29%)
Non-Ecumene:
The unsettled Earth (71%)
CLIMATE
REGIONS
Dry Lands
20% of Earth’s surface
Generally lack sufficient water to grow
crops
CLIMATE
REGIONS
Wet
Lands
Receive very high levels of precipitation
Combination of rain and heat rapidly depletes soil
nutrients and hinders agriculture
CLIMATE
REGIONS
Cold
Lands
Permanently covered with ice or permafrost
Receive very little precipitation and is
unsuitable for planting or livestock
South Polar Area Not Shown
CLIMATE
REGIONS
High
Lands
Steep, snow covered and sparsely settled
Some exceptions in Latin America and Africa
Population Densities
No Pressure, Guys.
A QUICK
REVIEW
Distribution is the arrangement
of a feature in space
Density is the number of items
occupying a given area.
Concentration is the extent of a
feature’s spread over space.
Items are clustered (more
concentrated) if they are tightly
packed in space.
Items are dispersed (less
concentrated) if they are widely
spread over space.
Demographic geographers
typically focus on three types of
density.
ARITHMETIC
DENSITY
Total population / total land area
Good for comparing countries
Data is easy to find
Highs…
Bangladesh (1141)
Singapore (7197)
Bahrain (1213)
Mids…
Cuba (101)
Slovenia (101)
Ghana (101)
Lows
Mongolia (1.7)
Iceland (3.1)
Canada (3.4)
PYSIOLOGICAL
DENSITY
total population / total arable land
high number indicates high pressure on farm land to feed the population
Highs…
Belgium 3604
Puerto Rico 29,411
Gaza 92307
Mids…
Greece 1,110
Mexico 1151
Congo 1067
Lows…
Finland 55
Australia 107
Kazakhstan 128
Provides insight into :
Relation between pop and resources
Capacity of land to yield enough food
AGRICULTURAL
DENSITY
Number of farmers / total arable land
Illuminates economic disparity MDC v. LDC
MDCs (low density) v. LDCs (high density)
Highs…
Mids…
Lows