Part 1

Population

Where in the World do People Live and Why?

Many Ways of Measuring Population: Population Density – measure of total population relative to land size (arithmetic population density).

World Population Density

Physiologic Population Density – number of people per unit area of agriculturally productive land (takes this map into account).

Physiologic Population Density Luxor, Egypt Egypt’s arable lands are along the Nile River Valley. Moving away from the river a few blocks, the land becomes sandy and wind-sculpted.

Population Distribution – Descriptions of locations on the Earth’s surface where individuals or groups (depending on the scale) live. Dot Map of World Population – On this map, one dot represents 100,000 people

World Population Distribution and Density East Asia - ¼ of world population here South Asia - bound by the Himalayas and a desert in Pakistan Europe - population is concentrated in cities North America - megalopolis

Why do Populations Rise or Fall in Particular Places?

Approximately 80% of the world’s population lives in the less- developed countries All of Africa, Asia (excluding Japan), Latin America, and the island nations of the Caribbean and Pacific

China and India each have over a billion people and together hold 1/3 of the world’s current population 1990s- approximately 80 million people were being added to the population each year 95% lived in the less-developed world

Growth rates Growth rates currently exceed 3% in parts of sub-Saharan and tropical Africa, the Middle East, and Central America. Population growth is compounded… Example: country with 1 million people this year. Next year add 3% = 1,030,000. The next year add 3% again = 1,060,900. The time it will take for a country’s population to double is less than 25 years! Doubling time..

Current growth rates Rank Country Growth rate (%) 1 Qatar 9.56 2 Liberia 4.17 3 Niger 3.91 4 Belize 3.39 5 Burkina-Faso 3.38 6 Uganda 3.27 7 Timor-Leste 3.16 8 Benin 3.10 9 Singapore 3.02 10 Eritrea 2.93

A Population Bomb? Malthus (early 1800s) worried about population growing exponentially and resources growing linearly. Ehrlich (1960s) warned of a population bomb because the world’s population was outpacing food production.

The domestication of plants and animals and the industrial revolution had dramatic impacts on the number of people the earth could sustain… However… 1300s- Black Plague wiped out 30-40% of entire European continent 1845- Irish Potato Famine eliminated half of the country’s population in just 50 years from starvation or fleeing Natural disasters- earthquakes, floods, hurricanes Epidemic disease- smallpox introduced by European explorers in the Americas AIDS1999- 23.20 million people living with AIDS in sub-Sarahan Africa, with 4 million people becoming infected each year