What is population distribition ?

People are not spread out evenly throughout the World. Some areas have many people and other areas very few people.

Places with a large number of people in a small area are said to be densely populated

Places with a few people in a large area are said to be sparsely populated.

The population density is the number of people per square kilometre.

What factors affect population distribution ?

As we all know, we need certain things to survive, let alone be comfortable. A basic list would include;

• Food
• Water
• Shelter
• Clothing in cold climates

Without these basic provisions, people could not survive for any length of time in a place.

Planet Earth is very varied and some areas will provide many of these basic items quite easily, others will not. It will not come as any great surprise to realise that areas which provide these items (make life easier) have higher populations than those which do not.

In summary

Very hot or cold areas tend to have lower population densities, as do very dry or mountainous places.