Population Theories (Geography)

Population Theories (Geography)

Population Theories 


Population Concentrations

Four most important population clusters

East Asia

  • Eastern China, Japan, Korean Peninsula, and Taiwan all border the Pacific Ocean
  • These areas make up one fourth of the Earths population
  • China’s borders are filled with rural residencies, around half the people are farmers while the inside of China is practically inhabitable
  • Japan and Korea are a lot more urbanized and industrialized

South Asia

  • India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Nepal make up one fourth of the Earths population
  • Most people live near the Indus and Ganges rivers, along with the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal
  • Most people are farmers in rural areas

Southeast Asia

  • Six hundred million people live on islands in between the Indian and the Pacific Oceans
  • Indonesia had 13677 islands spread across the ocean and is the most populous country
  • The Philippines also has a high population and some people live on the southeastern tip of Asia, known as Indochina
  • Many people who live there make a living out of farming

Europe

  • Europe has over four dozen countries
  • Three fourth of the people who live in Europe live in urban and suburban areas, and less than ten percent of the population works as farmers
  • The population is spread out through coalfields, major rivers, and major cities

Two secondary population clusters

Eastern North America

  • Most people live in the United States of America and Canada
  • People live along the Atlantic from Boston to Virginia, and West towards the Great Lakes and Chicago

West Africa

  • Most people live along the Atlantic towards the South
  • Nigeria is the most populated country in Africa
  • Most of West Africa uses agriculture as its main source of economy

Sparsely populated land causes

Ecumene- uninhabited land

Nonecumene- land that has been settled upon and developed to some extent

Dryland

  • Land that is too dry for crops won’t have enough water in the soil to properly grow food
  • Drylands do contain natural resources such as oil reserves

Wetland

  • Land that has too much rain becomes too hard to settle on 
  • Rain and heat near the equator makes the soil unfertile 

Cold Land 

  • Land that is covered in ice is cold all year round and doesn’t have suitable soil for crops
  • The land is too cold for human survival

High Land

  • The land is covered in snow and is steep
  • The warmer high lands may more agriculturally rich


Population Density

Arithmetic Density

The total number of people to the total amount of land.

Physiological Density

The amount of usable land and how many people can actually use it.

Agricultural Density

The number of farmers to the amount of agriculturally available land.


Population Growth

Crude Birth Rate (CBR)

Crude birth rate is the total number of live births to every one thousand alive on Earth.

Crude Death Rate (CDR)

Crude death rate is the total number of deaths to every one thousand people alive on Earth.

Natural Increase Rate (NRI)

The percentage of which a population grows in a year. Subtract the CDR from the CBR. NRI excludes migration. The NRI peaked in 2012 and is currently 1.2% globally.

Doubling Time

How many years it will take to double the current population.

Total Fertility Rate (TFR)

How many children are made through the childbearing years of women.