Chapter 2 Population

Key Issues 1. Where is the worlds population

distributed? 2. Where has the worlds population

increased 3. Why is population increasing at different

rates in different countries? 4. Why might the world face an over

population problem?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8dkWQVFAoA

Key Issue 1- Where is the Population Distributed?

– Pg 40 cartogram

• demography - The study of population characteristics

• Geographers look at – where– Why– the scale of population in different

regions,

– Why could this be a problem?

Three Reasons for Studying Population

1. There is more people alive today then any other time in history

2. The population rate has increased more then any other time

3. Almost all population growth can be found in LDC

Earth’s Population History

1 billion reached circa 1830

2 billion reached 1930 (100 years later)

3 billion reached 1959 (29 years later)

4 billion reached 1974 (15 years later)

5 billion reached 1987 (13 years later)

6 billion reached 1999 (12 years later)

Source: Kuby, HGIA

7 billion reached 2011 (12 years later)

•

http://www.greenberg-art.com/.Toons/.Toons,%20Environ/PopulationTrain.html

The study of population is important for three reasons

Population Distribution

• Distribution- the pattern of people across the earths surface– Unevenly and around water

• ¾ of the pop lives on 5% of the earths surface • Ecumene- sustained population

The World Today: More Than Seven Billion

People

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Distribution by Latitude

Source: http://paul.kedrosky.com/archives/2010/08/world_populatio.html

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Distribution by Longitude

Source: http://paul.kedrosky.com/archives/2010/08/world_populatio.html

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Global Population: 2/3 of the World in 4 Major Clusters

• East Asia– More than 1.5 billion people– More than 20% of humanity– About 20% of humanity in

China– About 50% rural

• South Asia– More than 1.5 billion people– About 20% of humanity– Nearly 20% of humanity in

India– About 60% rural

• Southeast Asia– About ½ billion

people– 8% of humanity– More than 2/3 rural

• Europe– About ¾ billion

people– 11% of humanity– About ¾ urban

• East Asia – ¼ the earth population live here

• China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan – Of this 5/6 of these people live in China

» Over 3/4ths of these inhabitants live in rural areas – Japanese and Taiwanese 3/4ths live in urban areas

• South Asia – 1/5th the population lives in India, Pakistan,

Bangladesh, Sri Lanka • Along the Indus River and the Ganges

– 3/4ths of these people live in rural settings

• Southeast Asia – 4th largest area of population, Java, Sumatra,

Borneo, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines

– The three Asian regions consist of over half the worlds population

• Europe – 3rd largest population cluster, 18th the people

on earth • 3/4ths these people live in the cities

– England, Germany and Belgium hold the highest population

– They do not produce enough agriculture to support their population where do they get their food?

• Eastern North America– 2% of the population, located along the

eastern U.S.A. and the southeast Canada • 95% of these people live in the cities

• Sparsely Populated Regions – Ecumene- portion of the earth that

permanently populates an area • People avoid certain areas, Why? What are

some examples?

ECUMENE

• Dry Lands – 20% of the earth surface, the largest include the

Sahara, Arabian, Thar, Takla Makan, Gobi • Lack of natural resources, such as what? • What natural resource do they have?

• Wet Lands – 50 inches of rain a year, high heat and rain deplete the

soil • Southeast Asia, South America

• Cold Lands – North and South poles covered in Permafrost

• Cant grow right? • High lands

– Steep snow covered, Mexico is an exception living about 7,360 ft above sea level

Arithmetic Population Density

Fig. 2-4: Arithmetic population density is the number of people per total land area. The highest densities are found in parts of Asia and Europe.

• Population Density – Number of people occupying land

• Arithmetic Density – Total # of people divided by land mass

• U.S. has 77 persons per sq. Mile – This number adjust as you measure

different aspects, Manhattan has about 55,400 per sq. mile, why?

– This explains the where question

Fig. 2-5: Physiological density is the number of people per arable land area. This is a good measure of the relation between population and agricultural resources in a society.

Physiological Density

• Physiological Density – Arable land- Farm Land

• # of people supported by Arable land – U.S. 404 persons per sq mile, Egypt 9073 per sq,

shows us that Egypt must feed more people with this land

Agricultural Density

• Agricultural Density – Two places can be similar but their Farming

Density could be different • The ratio between farmers and the amount of farms

– U.S. has 4 per sq kilo, Egypt has 1401 per sq Kilo» What can this tell us about technology and where

production is being made