Key Issue Number One

Where is the world's population distributed?

• Humans are unevenly distributed across planet earth. There is no uniform number in every one area. Concentration and density are the two key properties used to understand how population is distributed.
• Below is a link to an article about world population distribution.
• http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.e9ed97c612dc7ca852d192a455906383.5a1&show_article=1

Population Concentrations

• Four regions contain the majority clusters of two-thirds of the world inhabitants.
• East Asia
• One-fifth of the world population are inhabited in East Asia.
• This includes eastern China, the islands of Japan, the Korean peninsula, and the island of Taiwan.
• South Asia
• One-fifth of the world population are inhabited in South Asia.
• This includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the island of Sri Lanka.
• Southeast Asia
• One-third of the Asian population are inhabited in Southeast Asia. (The world's fourth largest population cluster).
• This includes the islands of Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Sulawesi, and the Philippines. (A series of islands which lie between the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean)
• Europe
• The world's third-largest population cluster.
• This includes all population of Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and the European portion of Russia.
• Cartograms display the size of countries according to population rather than land area.
• The northeastern area of the United States and southeastern Canada creates the largest population concentration in the Western Hemisphere.
• Ecumene - the portion of Earth's surface occupied by permanent human settlement.

This is the ecumene of China.

• Types of Lands
• Dry lands - land too dry for farming.
• Wet lands - land which receives high levels of precipitation.
• Cold lands - land covered in ice or land which has permanently frozen ground.
• High lands - land which has high elevation.

Population Density

• The number of people who occupy an area of land.
• Types of Density
• Arithmetic Density
• The total number of people divided by total land area.
• Used to compare conditions in different countries.
• Physiological Density
• The number of people supported by a unit area of arable land.
• The higher the physiological density, the greater pressure that people place on the land to produce food.
• Agricultural Density
• The ration of the number of farmers to the amount of arable land.