Population

Population Growth• In the last half of the

twentieth century the world’s population has increased dramatically

1800 – 1 billion1930 – 2 billion1960 – 3 billion1976 – 4 billion1988 – 5 billion1999 – 6 billion2012 – 7 billion2014 – 7.125 billion

Reasons for Rapid Population Growth

1. Death Rate (Number of deaths each year per 1,000 people) has decreased

Better farming techniques New medicines

Vaccines to prevent diseaseBetter living conditionsImprovements in health care

2. Birth Rate (Number of live births each year per 1,000 people) has increased in some areas of the world.

Asia, Africa, and Latin America – families are traditionally large because children work on the farms.

Challenges from Population Growth

1. Shortage of foodfamine – lack of food

2. Shortage of water

3. Shortage of resources

4. Shortage of housing

Demand for housing outstrips supply

Tent cities

5. Shortage of jobs

Unemployment lines

Why People Settled Where They Did

(Historically)

1. Near fertile soil

2. Where water is plentiful

3. Climate is mild

4. Near natural / industrial resources

We either move resources to the people

Or the people move to the resources

Population Density• Average number of people in a square mile or a

square kilometer– Divide the total population by the land area of a

country or region

Example: EgyptOverall population density – 173 people per sq. mi.Within 20 miles of the Nile River – 5,500 people per sq. mi.

Example: Afghanistan and NepalPopulation of both about the sameNepal much smaller in area than AfghanistanNepal – 447 people per sq. mi.Afghanistan – 103 people per sq. mi.

Population Distribution• People live on a small

fraction of the earth’s surface.

•Population is not distributed,

or spread, evenly.

Where People Live

• The densest clusters of people are in four regions:– East Asia

• China

– South Asia• India

– Europe– Eastern North America

• New York, Boston, Washington DC

Population Patterns• Urban - city

– ½ of world population lives in cities

– In many countries, urban populations are growing twice as fast as rural

• Rural– Agricultural countryside

Population patterns• Metropolitan areas

– Central cities surrounded by suburbs

• Urbanization– Growth of city

populations

Population MovementEmigrate – people leave the country where they were

born and move to another

Known as emigrants in their homeland and immigrants in their new country

Refugees –people who flee to another country to escape war, food shortages, political unrest, or persecution

Refugees fromKosovo