Unit 2 Flashcards
(113 cards)
Over the course of history, population density has (increased/decreased/stayed the same), population distribution has (increased/decreased/stayed the same)
increased
stayed the same because humans all need basic necessities for life (food, water, shelter) so they gathered where these resources were easily available. People today share these necessities so population remained pretty similar.
What is Population Density?
The measure of average population per sq mile or kilometer of an area. Measures how crowded a space is with people.
What is Population Distribution?
The pattern of human settlement, the spread of people across Earth. Can be described as either crowded, sparsely settled, or empty.
Where are attractive regions where people settle (moderately high population distribution) / Physical factors
Midlatitudes: moderate climate and richer soil. Northern region includes more land (30N and 60S)
Low-lying areas: better soil to raise crops than high altitudes. Also, generally closer to the ocean which offers transportation, food, and temperature regulation.
Lakes and Rivers: drinkable water, irrigation, transportation, food.
Where are unattractive regions where people settle (low population distribution) / Physical factors
Where people find it difficult to live, like high altitude and cold climate (difficult agriculture) tropics (disease and poor soil) and polar regions.
Give an example of how changing the scale of analysis affects the relevance of factors for settlement.
In a local scale like a city, climate variation is too small to affect settlement.
What are some human factors on population distribution?
Safety, job opportunity, to be with family and friends, transportation networks.
Political decisions
While polluted air is bad for health, people may choose to live near their sources because it is more affordable/sign of industrialization, economic development, job offerings.
What is Social Stratification?
Hierarchical division of people into groups based on economic status, power, and/or ethnicity.
How does human factors for population distribution result in social stratification?
Cities are characterized by regions/neighborhoods where the local population share a distinctive characteristic, based on wealth for most countries. Sometimes policies and cultural beliefs limit areas where certain people live.
What is Arithmetic Population Density?
Average number of people per unit of land. Says little about population distribution.
Area’s population / Total Area
What is Physiological Population Density?
Average number of people per unit of arable land. Useful to determine region’s carrying capacity.
Area’s population / Total arable land
What is Agricultural Population Density?
Average number of farmers per unit of arable land. Shows the efficiency of the region’s farmers. Developed counties have lower agricultural densities because resources and technology allows them to have fewer farmers. In less developed countries, farmers often can’t afford technology, so they are dependent on labor.
Number of farmers / total arable land
Give an example of how time influences population density
On a national scale, populations in warm-weather states would become denser as “snowbirds” from northern states move to flee from harsh weather.
At a local scale, commuters change the population density, making the city center more crowded and denser.
Define sparsely settled areas
Areas with low population density; human activities will affect the environment to a lesser degree than densely settled areas.
Define densely settled areas
Areas with high population density, human activities will have higher impact on the environment than sparsely settled areas.
How does Population Distribution/Density affect Economy?
Businesses earn more profit when located near a large customer base and manufacturing plants want to be close to a large labor force. So most business are in densely settled towns/cities.
People also live in cities to take advantage of the economic, social, and educational opportunities.
How does Population Distribution/Density affect Politics?
State legislature create electoral districts of reasonably equal population sizes so that each representative serve similar number of people. And Constitution requires adjustments to district boundaries every 10 years based on census data.
Because urban area population is continually increasing and rural areas decreasing, this results in physically smaller urban districts and larger rural districts.
How does Population Distribution/Density affect Society (social)?
Facilities (schools, police stations, hospitals) are usually positioned near concentrations in population. They have nodes and have surrounding functional region. Urban areas have more facilities and many overlapping functional regions. Rural areas lack basic services and residents need to travel large distances or live without them.
What is Redistricting?
Boundary adjustment for electoral districts in US. Constitution requires adjustment every 10 years based on census data.
What is Infrastructure?
Facilities and structures that allow people to carry out typical activities (sewer systems, electrical grids, roads/bridges, etc.) the larger the city, the more demands it will have on infrastructure.
Providing infrastructure is (more/less) cost-effective in high-density areas than low.
More. Because it takes less labor, money, and time spent trying to dig up land, connecting pipes, etc.
What is Overpopulation?
Having more people than a region can support.
What is Carrying Capacity?
Number of people/animals/plants a region can support without damaging the environment.
Can change over time (technological advancements in agriculture and climate change). Regions with favorable attributes will have higher carrying capacity.
Historically most cities are built on lands with high carrying capacity.
What are some problems areas with high population density face?
Environmental - pollution -> diseases, depletion of resources. Many lakes and rivers no longer provide drinkable water due to sewage and industrial wastes, so water may need to be purified/piped from far away.
