1. Unit II: Population Density

2. Population Concentrations
Ecumene: portion of earth’s surface occupied by permanent human settlement
¾ world pop live on 5% of earth’s surface….Why?
2/3 of world population lives in 4 regions
1.) EAST ASIA (China, Japan, Taiwan, Koreas)
China has 20 large urban areas, but 2/3 pop is rural
China = world #1 Population
¾ Japan and Korea = urban

3. 4 Populous Regions
2.) SOUTH ASIA (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka)
India = world #2 World Population (within the next 50 years, India is predicted to surpass China’s population)
¾ rural
3.) EUROPE – Western and central Europe and extends eastward into the Ukraine…mostly urban
4.) SE Asia (islands of Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand)
Indonesia = world #4
Vietnam is quickly becoming one of the fastest growing countries in the world
Mostly rural

6. China and India expected to flip flop
Top 10 Populous Nations
1. China 6. Pakistan
2. India 7. Russia
3. U.S.A Bangladesh
4. Indonesia 9. Nigeria
5. Brazil Japan
China and India expected to flip flop
U.S. will stay #3 due to immigration
LDCs taking top spots from MDCs

7. Arithmetic Density: total # of people divided by total area of land
Population Density
Arithmetic Density: total # of people divided by total area of land
Can be misleading because this is an average
US = 78/sq mile, but Manhattan is 67,000/sq mile and Loving, TX .1/sq mile
Highest Density = Bangladesh, Japan, Netherlands
Remember high population (China) not necessarily high population density

8. Population Density
Physiological Density: ratio of people to a given unit of cultivable/arable land (suited for agriculture)
i.e. can you feed your population?
Can be high because of high population density or poor land
Ex: US 404/sq mile of arable land
Egypt 9,073/sq mile of arable land

9. In pairs, discuss the following questions
How does Arithmetic Density differ from Physiological Density?
How can both types of density measurements be helpful when studying demography?