Changing population - Population distribution + density Flashcards

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1
Q

Where is the explosion in population growth happening?

A

Up to 95% of population growth is happening in developing countries

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2
Q

How many people are born each second and each year?

A
  • 2 extra people each second
  • 80 million new births per year
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3
Q

Where will the greatest increases take place?

A

In the least developed nations:
- Afghanistan’s population will double
- Niger’s population will triple

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4
Q

What are the temporal + Spatial patterns of population?

A

-Temporal = change over time
- Spatial = change or variation over space (across a geographical area)

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5
Q

What is population distribution?

A

A description of the way in which people are spread out across the earth’s surface
- Where people live
- Even/uneven distribution

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6
Q

What is population density?

A

The number of people occupying a specific area (people per sq km)
- Sparse/dense population

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7
Q

Why is the global population described as unevenly distributed?

A

Because over 50% of people are on just 5% of the land

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8
Q

Why is this trend of uneven distribution of the population increasing?

A

Because more and more people are living in urban areas, over half the world’s population
- 21 megacities
- 2008 tipping-point urban-rural

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9
Q

Why are there large unpopulated areas?

A

Due to their climate
- continental interiors = often extreme environments -> too hot, dry, cold, wet, steep

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10
Q

Where are three major concentrations of populations found?

A
  • S.E. Asia
  • W. Europe
  • N.E. USA
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11
Q

Where are three other types of areas where large population concentrations are found?

A
  • Coastal areas (75% within 1000km of sea)
  • 80% in N. Hemisphere (most in temperate zone, between 20-60 degrees north)
  • 85% live in low-lying areas (0-500m above sea level)
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12
Q

What are the physical factors that affect population density?

A
  • Physical accessibility
  • Relief + soils
  • Climate
  • Vegetation
  • Water supply
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13
Q

How does the physical factor of physical accessibility affect population density

A
  • Sparse population: Rugged mountains (Alps) or High plateaux (Tibet)
  • Dense population: Flat lowlands (Netherlands or Nile valley)
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14
Q

How does the physical factor of relief + soils affect population density?

A
  • Sparse population: Frozen soils (Siberia) or Eroded soils (Sahel)
  • Dense populations: Deep humus (Paris basin) or River silt (Ganges delta)
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15
Q

How does the physical factor of climate affect population density?

A
  • Sparse population: Low temperatures (Canada or Alaska)
  • Dense population: Longer growing season (tropical Asia)
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16
Q

How does the physical factor of vegetation affect population density?

A
  • Sparse population: Dense forest which restricts human activity
  • Dense population: Grassland ecosystems (Eastern Europe)
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17
Q

How does the physical factor of water supply affect population density?

A
  • Sparse population: Insufficient or unpredictable supply (Australian desert)
  • Dense population: Mostly reliable all-year supply (Western Europe)
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18
Q

What are the human factors that affect population density?

A
  • Economic factors
  • Political factors
  • Technological factors
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19
Q

How does the human factor of an economic factor affect population density?

A
  • Sparse population: Extensive agriculture (few workers needed per unit area)
  • Dense population: Ports (Singapore) or Intensive farming (China)
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20
Q

How does the human factor of a political factor affect population density?

A
  • Sparse population: Low levels of state investment (interior of Brazil)
  • Dense population: Forced movements (Soviet settlement of Siberia)
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21
Q

How does the human factor of a technological factor affect population density?

A
  • Sparse population: Lack of technology needed to increase water availability
  • Dense population: Irrigation and desalinisation technologies available
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22
Q

What is chloropleth mapping?

A

Shading areas according to a prearranged key, each colour/shade representing a range of values

23
Q

What is are dot density maps?

A

Where dots are placed where the value and location are known
- the key identifies the dot size value

24
Q

What are the positives and negatives of a chloropleth map?

A

+ Gives good visual impression of change over space
+ Widely understood method of presentation
- Large data ranges may reduce detail
- Give false impression of abrupt change at boundaries
- Can be difficult to distinguish between different shades
- Quantity that is assumed to be of uniform density throughout any shaded area

25
Q

What are the positives and negatives of dot density mapping?

A

+ More accurate representation of spatial data, such as density (e.g. low population in California’s Mojave desert)
+ Easy to read and is a visual representation of data
- Much more complicated to construct
- Requires more additional data
- Limitations include difficulty of counting large numbers of dots in order to get a precise value
- Also the need to have a large amount of initial information before drawing the map

26
Q

What is an alternative way of representing population distribution?

A

Isopleth/Isoline maps = lines connect points of equal value

27
Q

What is the general population distribution of the USA?

A
  • 80% live in urban areas
  • 20% live in rural areas
  • Over half of the population live within 50 miles of the coast
  • Half of the population live within just 9 states
28
Q

How are physical factors linked to the population distribution and density in the USA?

A
  • Altitude = Above 400m you get a much lower population density (too steep/cold)
  • Precipitation = Large areas of West USA get less than 4000mm per year (often less than 600) which causes lower density of people –> 600-1500mm/yr = Eastern US states which leads to higher population density
29
Q

What is the average population density of the USA and what is the distribution?

A

Uneven distribution and an average of 33 people per square km

30
Q

What are the highest density areas in the USA and why?

A

The Eastern coast (e.g. New York, Philadelphia + Baltimore) because of the way Europeans funded new settlements along the Eastern seaboard in the 1600s and 1700s

31
Q

Where else are there clusters of high population density in the northern USA?

A

There are clusters of high population density around the great lakes (e.g. Cleveland, Detroit, etc.)

32
Q

What is the typical density in the interior of the USA?

A

Normally fewer than 20 people per square km

33
Q

Where and why can you find large areas of less than 1 person per square km

A

You can find areas with such a low density in many areas West of the Rocky Mountains
- this is because of the aridity of the Western desert (including large part of Texas, New Mexico, Nevada and Arizona).

34
Q

Which city with high population density is an anomaly in these areas with such a low population density (>1 person per square km)?

A

Phoenix (Arizona) - has gained a population thanks to irrigation + water transfer schemes

35
Q

What does the population density on the West coast of the USA look like, and why?

A

The West coast has a higher density, especially in areas surrounding cities like Los Angeles or San Francisco.
- this is due to many migrants being attracted here on account of its hot, dry climate + the opportunities provided by the Pacific coastline for trade with Asia
- (Los Angeles - entertainment industry hub on global scale –> Hollywood)

36
Q

Why can the USA be said to have a binary settlement plan?

A

Because the world cities of New York and Los Angeles are equally powerful magnets for migrants + investors alike
- and the Great Lake area likewise has a coal + mining industry

37
Q

How many people have moved in history’s largest internal migration in China in the last 25 years, and from where to where?

A

Over 200 million people moved from rural areas in the Interior - central + western China to urban areas in the east –> e.g. Beijing + Shanghai
- Interior to coast
- West to East
- Rural to urban

38
Q

What does the internal migration reflect in China?

A

It reflects the inequalities in wealth and levels of development in China
–> (internal migration) Contributed to the uneven population distribution across the country

39
Q

How is China an example of uneven population distribution?

A
  • 1.4 billion people
  • Less than 1 person per km sq
  • Some very high densities = 1000 people per km sq
  • Average = 146 people per km sq (compared to 33 in USA)
40
Q

What is the Hu Huanyong line, and what does it depict?

A

A line that splits China in two (NE to SW)
- West of the line = 57% of the land + only 6% of the population
- East of the line = 43% of the line + 94% of the population

41
Q

How does surface elevation affect population distribution in China?

A

East of the Hu Huanyong line = mainly 0-400 m above sea level
- more hospitable climate + better soils

42
Q

How does precipitation affect population distribution in China

A
  • West of the Hu Huanyong line = Arid region + mainly less than 400mm in the SW and desert areas of less than 200mm in the NW
  • East of the Hu Huanyong line = large areas of more than 800mm per year –> wheat and wet rice farming possible
43
Q

How does cultivated land affect population distribution in China?

A

Vast majority of cultivated land is to the east of the Hu Huanyong line because of the physical factors such as relief, soil, temperatures + rainfall
- Predominantly wheat to North of the East of HH line
- Predominantly rice in the South to the East of the HH line

44
Q

What are 3 of the biggest cities in China?

A
  • Beijing (Capital economic zone)
  • Shanghai ( Yangtze river delta)
  • Macau (Pearl river delta)
45
Q

Where are the two main sparsely populated areas in China?

A
  • Southwest = Tibetan plateau
    –> 4000m above sea level –> -40’C in winter
    –> low rainfall: less than 400m/yr (‘Rain Shadow’ of Himalayas)
    –> poor soils
  • Northwest = Arid regions such as the Gobi + Taklimakan deserts (less than 200mm rain per year)
46
Q

How does the rain shadow of the Himalayas affect the Tibetan Plateau + Gobi desert (in China)?

A

The air isn’t able to absorb moisture anymore because the mountains block the warm, moist air, and the air is forced to compress and evaporate on the other side (Tibetan plateau) and turns into warm dry air

47
Q

Where are the main densely populated areas in China?

A
  • East coast mega regions include:
    –> Beijing = Capital economic zone (400+ per km sq)
    –> Jiangsu = Yangtze River Delta + Shanghai (800+ per km sq)
  • Southeast China:
    –> Pear River Basin + Delta (mega-region of 120 million) - includes Shenzhen, Hong Kong + Macau (600+ per km sq)
48
Q

What do the East coast mega regions + Pear River Delta benefit from (China)?

A
  • Highly fertile, well-watered farmland (alluvial deposits from river flooding + rainfall of 800mm+ per year)
  • Ports + Special Economic Zones (SEZs)
49
Q

What are Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in China?

A

Areas designated for industrialisation + trade, which have attracted FDI + seen rapid economic development + job creation

50
Q

What type of factors determined China’s uneven population distribution in the past?

A

Physical factors

51
Q

When did China start establishing Special Economic Zones (SEZs) on the east coast?

A

In the 1980s and 1990s

52
Q

What has China establishing Special Economic Zones (SEZs) along the eastern coast led to?

A
  • Increasing trade
  • FDI
  • Industrialisation
  • Jobs
  • Wealth creation
53
Q

What has the economic growth (through SEZs) in eastern regions led to and what has this reinforced?

A
  • Led to internal migration of 200 million people to these areas
    –> has reinforced uneven distribution already present due to physical factors in China