POPULATION AND

RESOURCES
Objectives
To understand the link between
population and resources
OPTIMUM POPULATION
The optimum population of an area is a theoretical
state in which:
 the number of people, when working with all
available resources,
 will produce the highest standard of living /
quality of life

What could influence the optimum population for an area – for example,
the North East of England?
OPTIMUM POPULATIONS
An ‘optimum population’ is never a static scenario,
rather dynamic, in that it will change with time:

If the size of the population should increase or

decrease from the optimum, the output per capita and
standard of living will fall.
The optimum population will also be influenced by
developments in technology, demographic structure
changes, as trade opportunities develop/falter, and as
new raw materials are discovered to replace old ones
which are exhausted or whose values change over time
STANDARD OF LIVING
The standard of living of an individual / population
is determined by the interaction between physical
and human resources:

Standard = Natural Resources (minerals, energy,soils) X Technology

of living Population
OVERPOPULATION
Occurs when there are too many people relative
to the resources and technology available (locally)
to maintain an adequate standard of living
Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and parts of China, Brazil and
India are said to overpopulated as they have
insufficient food, minerals and energy resources to
sustain their populations

All suffer from localised famines, natural hazards

(drought/flood) and are characterised by low incomes,
poverty, poor living conditions & high levels of
emigration
UNDERPOPULATION
Underpopulation occurs when there are far more
resources in an area/country (food, energy & minerals
etc) than can be used by the total population living
there.

Canada and Australia are good examples of countries

that are underpopulated. Both have surplus amounts
of food, energy and mineral resources that are
exported. Their populations have high incomes, good
living conditions, high levels of technology and
immigration.
Standards of living would probably rise further if
populations increased, as greater volumes of
resources would be produced and exploited!
 Is there a
link between
calorie
consumption
and
population
density?
Task
Attempt the Spearman’s Rank exercise for GNP
and population Density
Case study research
Look into the background for the following places;
Britain – ageing population – page168 to 9 of Redfearn and
Skinner
Zimbabwe – Youthful population
What are their;
Overall populations/Industries/population densities/GNP/ Calorie
consumption per person/food production capacities (e.g. Do they
export more than they import)?
Have they had famine or other overpopulation related catastrophes?
What is the population distribution like?
In your opinion are they under or overpopulated?
Discuss – “Britain is overpopulated”.
Key points arising from discussion:

Now consider the discussion points from activity 21 on

page 169 0f your text book