POPULATION DISTRIBUTION

POPULATION DISRIBUTION
This reflects how people are spread / spaced over the land surface
Some areas have a few people while others have a lot of people.
Population Density
This refers to the number of people per square kilometre.

Population density = total population ÷ total land area in km²

POPULATION DISTRIBUTION
POPULATION DISTRIBUTION
• METHODS OF PRESENTING POPULATION DISTRIBUTION
• CHOROPLETH SHADING/ DENSITY SHADING
• Places with a high population density have a darker shading whereas areas with
a low population density have a light shading.
• PROPORTIONAL CIRCLES
• Areas with a high population density will have large circles, however, areas with
a low population density will have small circles
• DOT MAPS
• One dot represents a certain value. A dot can represent 500 people hence an
area with many dots has a high population density compared to a place with
few dots.
POPULATION DISTRIBUTION
POPULATION DISTRIBUTION
FACTORS INFLUENCING POPULATION DISTRIBUTION
PESTS AND DISEASES
Areas that have diseases have a very low population density
Tsetse flies spread sleeping sickness and mosquitoes spread malaria.
CLIMATE
Areas that hot and dry like deserts have a low population density eg Botswana is
a hot country.
People avoid very cold areas eg Arctic and Antarctic
Areas with very high rainfall throughout the year are not favoured by people.
• WATER
• In areas where water is a problem there is a low population density.
• People tend to crowd around sources of water.
POPULATION DISTRIBUTION
• MINERALS
• People move into areas with minerals, such areas end up having a high
population density and also developing into towns.
• For example Johannesburg started off as a mining town but its now one of the
largest cities in South Africa.
• GOVERNMENT POLICY
• The government can transfer people through resettlement from one area to
another and changes population distribution
• The government can also create national parks and private farms . This causes
some areas to have low population density.
• FERTILE SOILS
• Areas with fertile soils like the Nile Valley have high population density as
opposed to areas with poor soils.