Where Do People Live?

Chapter 3, Section 1

Reach Into Your Background

• Would you like to live in a city or in the country?

• List some interesting things you could do if you lived far from a city.

• List the things you would enjoy most about a city.

What is Population Distribution?

• The world’s population (total number of people) is spread unevenly over the Earth’s surface.

• New York City vs. Sahara Desert• Population distribution describes the way the

population is spread out over the Earth– The reasons population is distributed as it is may seem

unclear.• Demographers study the populations of the

world– Examine birth, marriage, death– Why do people choose to live in a certain area?

Uneven Population Distribution

• Landforms affect where people live• Few people can live in mountainous or hot

deserts with dry land• Many factors make a location a good place

for people to live.– Bodies of water trade and travel; fresh water

(drinking and farming)• Flat coastal areas

– Flat, fertile soil grow food and build easily• Plains and valleys

Uneven Population Distribution

• Other factors– Climate temperate; adequate rainfall– Abundant natural resources build houses

and make products

• Maps on Pgs. 56-57 in textbook

Populous Continents

• Because of these factors, 81% of the Earth’s people (4.9 billion people) live in Asia, Europe, and North America.– These 3 continents = 53% of world’s land– Fertile soil, plains, valleys, fresh water, rich in

natural resources, good climates

Not Populous Continents

• Other continents have smaller populations partly because it’s hard to live there.

• Australia = 3 million square miles (size of the continental U.S.) but only 19 million people live there– About the same number of people live in the state

of New York

• Australia’s environment mostly desert/dry grassland; few rivers/little rainfall– Most people live along the coasts.

Not Populous Continents

• Africa landforms and climate limit population– 20% of the world’s land, but only 13% of

world’s population.– 2 of the world’s largest deserts (north and

south)– Broad bands of land with little rain– Rainforest long the equator– Many people live along narrow coasts

Not Populous Continents

• South Africa population limited by landforms and climates– 340 million people– Live along the Atlantic coast– Soaring mountains, vast dry plains, thick rain

forests

World Population Distribution

Population Density

• Population Density the average number of people who live in a square mile

• High density country = people crowded together

• Japan has one of the highest population densities in the world.– Almost all of its 126 million people live on only

16% of the land.– Tokyo more than 25,000 people per square mile

Japan’s Population Density (2011)

Population Density

• Canada = low population density– 9 people per square mile

• Canada is bigger than the United States, but only 31 million people live there.– (Japan has 95 million more people.)– Cool climate and short growing season affect

population.

Canada’s Population Density (2002)

Studying Population Density

• Demographers divide the number of people living in a place by the number of square miles of that place.

• California– Population = 33,871,648 people– Land Area = 155,973 square miles– Average Population Density = 217.2 people per

square mile

California’s Population Density (2010)

Studying Population Density

• On a world population density map, different colors show areas with heavy population.– Population Density Map vs. Physical Map

worksheet• Compare the landforms to the population density.• Where do people tend to live?

• Some people do live in areas most of us would find uncomfortable – frozen Arctic regions; herders– People have developed ways of life suited to their

environment over many generations.