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Countries in which the population is unevenly distributed. Population distribution on planet earth

Video tutorial 2: Population placement and migration

Lecture: Geographical features of population distribution. Uneven distribution of the world's population: main features and factors

Population distribution

The population of the Earth in 2017 is 7.5 billion people. The total population density is 45 people. per 1 sq. km. The main feature of population distribution is its unevenness. 70% of the population occupies only 7% of the territory. There are densely populated areas and places where there is no population. The bulk of the planet's inhabitants are located in the equatorial, subequatorial, tropical, subtropical and temperate zones. Even in these zones, there are countries with a population density of about 16,400 people per 1 sq. km. (Monaco). Northern Canada has a population of 1 person per 25 km. Greenland and the South Pole are not inhabited; mountainous regions, deserts, tundras, and equatorial forests remain uninhabited. Of every 100 people, 80 live on flat land, which makes up 28% of the land. The population is concentrated in developed countries, in places of developed industrial production with developed infrastructure. Here the population density is up to 1,500 people per 1 sq. km. In places with the most favorable climate for the development of agriculture and human life, there is high density. The islands, the coastal zone of the equatorial and tropical zones, are densely populated due to good climatic conditions and water transport routes. 30% of the world's population is concentrated here.

Uneven population distribution

The root cause The uneven distribution of the population are historical factors. Ancient human settlements are still the most densely populated areas today. First of all, people developed lands along the banks of rivers and lakes; water played a primary role in people’s lives. River water was used for drinking and household needs; fish were caught in rivers and lakes; water bodies served as transport routes and protection from external enemies.

The second reason– these are climatic conditions. For a long time, the basis of the people's economy was agriculture: crop production and livestock raising. Favorable climatic conditions contributed to the prosperity of agriculture. Therefore, areas where it was possible to grow crops and raise livestock were developed and settled.

Third reason is the population size for individual countries. Today, there are countries where there is a large increase in population.

Fourth reason– socio-economic. Areas with fairly well-developed industrial production “attract” people. Large urban agglomerations are the most populated areas. In addition to manufacturing jobs, infrastructure is being developed to provide additional jobs.

Analysis of population distribution is an important task in population geography. Most often it is determined by the number of inhabitants per 1 square kilometer.

Topic: Man on planet Earth

Lesson: Population Distribution on Planet Earth

How people are located on the earth's surface.

What reasons influence the distribution of people on the planet? .

People are distributed extremely unevenly on the planet (see Fig. 1). About 1/10 of the land is still uninhabited (Antarctica, almost all of Greenland, and so on).

The main indicator characterizing the distribution of the population is population density. The average population density of the Earth is 40 people/km 2 . However, the uneven distribution of population in different regions and countries of the world is enormous. The population density indicator ranges from tenths to 2000 people/km 2 .

Population density is the number of inhabitants per 1 km² of territory.

The population density of Foreign Europe and Asia is more than 100 people/km2, in North and South America - about 20 people/km2, and in Australia and Oceania - no more than 4 people/km2.

According to other estimates, about half of the land has a density of less than 1 person per square kilometer; for 1/4 the density ranges from 1 to 10 people per 1 square kilometer. km, and only the rest of the land has a density of more than 10 people per 1 square kilometer. On the populated part of the Earth (ecumene), the average population density is 32 people per square meter. km.

80% live in the eastern hemisphere, 90% live in the northern hemisphere, and 60% of the total population of the Earth lives in Asia.

Rice. 1. Countries that hold the record for population density

Obviously, there is a group of countries with a very high population density - over 200 people per square kilometer. It includes countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Israel, Lebanon, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Republic of Korea, Rwanda, El Salvador, etc.

In a number of countries, the density indicator is close to the world average - in Ireland, Iraq, Colombia, Malaysia, Morocco, Tunisia, Mexico, etc.

Some countries have lower density rates than the world average - in them it is no more than 2 people per 1 km 2. This group includes Mongolia, Libya, Mauritania, Namibia, Guiana, Australia, Greenland, etc.

People are unevenly distributed across the planet's hemispheres. Most of them live in the northern (90%) and eastern (85%) hemispheres. The distribution of the population varies among individual continents, their parts, and especially among countries of the world.

The uneven distribution of population on the planet is explained by a number of factors.

Warmth and moisture, topography and soil fertility, and sufficient air are of great importance for human life. Therefore, cold and dry areas, as well as high mountains, are sparsely populated.

Rice. 2. City on the plain

Firstly, it is the natural environment. For example, it is known that 1/2 of the world's population is concentrated in lowlands (see Fig. 3).

Since ancient times, humanity has gravitated towards the sea (see Fig. 2). The proximity to it made it possible to obtain food and conduct economic activities related to marine fishing. Sea routes opened up the possibility of communication with other regions of the Earth. Although they make up less than 30% of the landmass; 1/3 of the people live at a distance of no more than 50 kilometers from the sea (the area of this strip is 12% of the land), - the population seems to be shifted towards the sea. This factor has probably been the leading one throughout human history, but its influence weakens with socio-economic development. And although vast areas with extreme and unfavorable natural conditions (deserts, tundras, highlands, tropical forests, etc.) are still poorly populated, natural factors alone cannot explain the expansion of ecumene areas and those huge shifts in the distribution of people who have occurred over the last century.

Rice. 3. City by the ocean

Secondly, the historical factor has a fairly strong influence. This is due to the duration of the process of human settlement on Earth (about 30-40 thousand years).

Thirdly, the distribution of the population is affected by the current demographic situation. Thus, in some countries the population is growing very quickly due to high natural growth.

In addition, within any country or region, no matter how small, the population density is different and varies greatly depending on the level of development of the productive forces. It follows that average population density indicators provide only an approximate idea of the population and economic potential of the country.

Homework

Read § 12. Answer the questions:

Why is the average population density of the Earth constantly increasing?

What reasons influence the placement of people?

Bibliography

MainI

1. Geography. Land and people. 7th grade: Textbook for general education. uch. / A.P. Kuznetsov, L.E. Savelyeva, V.P. Dronov, series “Spheres”. - M.: Education, 2011.

2. Geography. Land and people. 7th grade: atlas, “Spheres” series.

Additional

1. N.A. Maksimov. Behind the pages of a geography textbook. - M.: Enlightenment.

Literature for preparing for the State Exam and the Unified State Exam

1. Tests. Geography. 6-10 grades: Educational and methodological manual / A. A. Letyagin. - M.: LLC "Agency "KRPA "Olympus": Astrel, AST, 2007. - 284 p.

2. Textbook on geography. Tests and practical assignments in geography / I. A. Rodionova. - M.: Moscow Lyceum, 1996. - 48 p.

3. Geography. Answers on questions. Oral examination, theory and practice / V. P. Bondarev. - M.: Publishing house "Exam", 2009. - 160 p.

4. Thematic tests to prepare for the final certification and the Unified State Exam. Geography. - M.: Balass, ed. House of RAO, 2011. - 160 p.

2. Russian Geographical Society ().

4. Textbook on geography ().

5. Gazetteer ().

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The world's population has already exceeded 6.6 billion people. All these people live in 15–20 million different settlements - cities, towns, villages, hamlets, hamlets, etc. But these settlements are distributed extremely unevenly across the earth's landmass. Thus, according to available estimates, half of all humanity lives on 1/20 of the inhabited land area.

The uneven distribution of population on the globe is explained by four main reasons.
The first reason is the influence of natural factors. It is clear that vast areas with extreme natural conditions (deserts, ice expanses, tundra, highlands, tropical forests) do not create favorable conditions for human life. This can be demonstrated by the example of table 60, which clearly shows both general patterns and differences between individual regions.
The main general pattern is that 80% of all people live in lowlands and hills up to 500 m high, which occupy only 28% of the earth's land, including in Europe, Australia and Oceania, more than 90% of the total population live in such areas, in Asia and North America - 80% or so. But, on the other hand, in Africa and South America, 43–44% of people live in areas exceeding 500 m in altitude. Such unevenness is also typical for individual countries: the most “low-lying” include, for example, the Netherlands, Poland, France, Japan , India, China, USA, and the most “exalted” are Bolivia, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Mexico, Iran, Peru. At the same time, most of the population is concentrated in the subequatorial and subtropical climate zones of the Earth.
The second reason is the impact of historical features of the settlement of the earth's land. After all, the distribution of population across the Earth’s territory has evolved throughout human history. The process of formation of modern humans, which began 40–30 thousand years ago, took place in South-West Asia, North-East Africa and Southern Europe. From here people then spread throughout the Old World. Between the thirtieth and tenth millennia BC, they settled North and South America, and at the end of this period, Australia. Naturally, the time of settlement to some extent could not but affect the population size.
The third reason is differences in the current demographic situation. It is clear that the number and density of population is increasing most rapidly in those countries and regions where its natural growth is highest.
Table 60

Bangladesh can serve as a striking example of this kind. This country with a small territory and very high natural population growth already has a population density of 970 people per 1 km2. If the current level of birth rate and growth here continues, then, according to calculations, in 2025 the country's population density will exceed 2000 people per 1 km2!
The fourth reason is the impact of the socio-economic living conditions of people, their economic activities, and the level of production development. One of its manifestations may be the “attraction” of the population to the coasts of the seas and oceans, or more precisely, to the land-ocean contact zone.
The zone located at a distance of up to 50 km from the sea can be called the zone of immediate coastal settlement. It is home to 29% of all people, including 40% of all urban residents of the world. This share is especially high in Australia and Oceania (about 80%). This is followed by North America, South America and Europe (30–35%), Asia (27) and Africa (22%). The zone, located 50-200 km from the sea, can be considered as indirectly connected with the coast: although the settlement itself here is no longer coastal, in economic terms it feels the daily and significant influence of the proximity of the sea. Approximately 24% of the total population of the Earth is concentrated in this zone. The literature also notes that the share of the population living at a distance of up to 200 km from the sea is gradually increasing: in 1850 it was 48.9%, in 1950 – 50.3, and now reaches 53%.
The thesis about the uneven distribution of population across the globe can be concretized using many examples. One can compare in this regard the Eastern and Western Hemispheres (80 and 20% of the population, respectively), and the Northern and Southern Hemispheres (90 and 10%). It is possible to distinguish the least and most populated areas of the Earth. The first of these include almost all the highlands, most of the giant deserts of Central and South-West Asia and North Africa, and to some extent tropical forests, not to mention Antarctica and Greenland. The second group includes the historically established main population clusters in East, South and Southeast Asia, Western Europe, and the Northeast of the United States.
To characterize the distribution of the population, different indicators are used. The main one - the population density indicator - allows us to more or less clearly judge the degree of population of the territory. It determines the number of permanent residents per 1 km2.
Let's start with the average population density for all inhabited land on Earth. As one might expect, during the twentieth century. – especially as a result of the population explosion – it began to increase especially rapidly. In 1900, this figure was 12 people per 1 km2, in 1950 - 18, in 1980 - 33, in 1990 - 40, and in 2000 already about 45, and in 2005 - 48 people per 1 km2.
It is also interesting to consider the differences in average population density that exist between parts of the world. Populous Asia has the highest density (120 people per 1 km2), Europe has a very high density (110), while in other large parts of the Earth the population density is lower than the world average: in Africa about 30, in America - 20, and in Australia and Oceania - only 4 people per 1 km2.
The next level is a comparison of the population density of individual countries, which allows for Figure 47. It also provides the basis for a three-member grouping of countries in the world according to this indicator. A very high population density for a single country can obviously be considered to be over 200 people per 1 km2. Examples of countries with such population density are Belgium, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Germany, Japan, India, Israel, Lebanon, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Republic of Korea, Rwanda, and El Salvador. The average density can be considered an indicator close to the world average (48 people per 1 km2). As examples of this kind, let us name Belarus, Tajikistan, Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire, Ecuador. Finally, the lowest density indicators include 2–3 people per 1 km2 or less. The group of countries with such a population density includes Mongolia, Mauritania , Namibia, Australia, not to mention Greenland (0.02 people per 1 km2).
When analyzing Figure 47, it is necessary to take into account that very small, mostly island, countries could not be reflected in it, and it is precisely they that are distinguished by particularly high population densities. Examples include Singapore (6450 people per 1 km2), Bermuda (1200), Malta (1280), Bahrain (1020), Barbados (630), Mauritius (610), Martinique (350 people per 1 km2), not not to mention Monaco (16,900).
In educational geography, consideration of contrasts in population density within individual countries is quite widely used. The most striking examples of this kind include Egypt, China, Australia, Canada, Brazil, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan. At the same time, we should not forget about the archipelagic countries. For example, in Indonesia, the population density on the island. Java often exceeds 2000 people per 1 km2, and in the interior of other islands it drops to 3 people per 1 km2. It should be noted in passing that, if appropriate data are available, it is better to analyze such contrasts on the basis of comparing the density of the rural population.
Russia is an example of a country with a low average population density of 8 people per 1 km2. Moreover, this average hides very large internal differences. They exist between the Western and Eastern zones of the country (4/5 and 1/5 of the total population, respectively). They also exist between individual regions (population density in the Moscow region is approximately 350 people per 1 km2, and in many regions of Siberia and the Far East - less than 1 person per 1 km2). That is why geographers usually distinguish in Russia the Main Zone of Settlement, stretching in a gradually narrowing area through the European and Asian parts of the country. About 2/3 of all residents of the country are concentrated within this band. At the same time, Russia has vast uninhabited or very sparsely populated territories. They occupy, according to some estimates, approximately 45% of the country's total area.