WORLD: DISTRIBUTION AND DENSITY OF POPULATION

  WORLD: DISTRIBUTION AND DENSITY OF POPULATION

Region of low density (less than 50 persons / km²)

·         Hot deserts: Sahara, Kalahari (Africa), Atacama (South America) Iranian (Asia) and Great Australian desert etc.

·         Cold desert: Tundra lands of North America and Eurasia, ice caps of Antarctica and Greenland, Arctic and sub –arctic cold deserts.

·         Hot-wet regions: Equatorial forest of Amazon, Congo and some islands of Indonesia.

·         High mountains and dissected plateau.

Regions of moderate density (50-70 persons/ km²)

·         Coastal lowlands of mid latitude of South America and South Africa.

·         Central and Eastern Europe. Russia (European part)

·         River valleys of South – east Asia

·         South eastern Australia.

Regions of high density (<100 persons / km²)

·         East Asia comprising the world’s most populous countries China, Japan, and Korea.

·         South Asia comprising India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

·         Countries of North Western Europe.

·         Regions between the Great Lakes and Atlantic coast of North – Eastern United States.

·         Singapore (world’s most densely populated country), Nile valley in Africa, Eastern Coast of Brazil, Sri Lanka and islands of Java in Indonesia are other small regions of high density.

SOME FACTS ON POPULATION

·         80% of the world’s population is concentrated in only 20% of the world’s total area.

·         One fourth (23%) population is confined to developed regions like North America, 

Europe, CIS (former USSR), and Japan, Australia and New Zealand countries.

·         Three fourth (77%) population is confined to less developed regions and Asia contributes more than half of the world’s population

·         90% of the world’s population lives in the northern Hemisphere

·         Latitudinal distribution of population within Northern Hemisphere: i.e., 0 to 20˚ to 40˚N – 50%, 40˚ to 60˚N -30% and north of 60˚N is less than 1%