Name_____________________________
Period_______
Population Density
Date___________
What is Population Density?
Population density is the number of people living on a certain area of land (usually per square kilometer or per square mile).
Imagine if your family lived in a very rural area. Rural areas are places where people live very far apart
from each other, for example Wyoming is a very rural state and most people who live there live far
away from other people. Imagine if in your rural area there wasn’t another family for a few miles
Suppose your family lived on a farm in that rural area. Your family’s farm covered an area of three
square miles. Do you think you would be living in a densly populated area?
Now, imagine your family moved to New York City. The farm was sold and now your family is
living in a large apartment complex. The apartment complex takes up about one square mile. But now
there are 25,000 other people living in the apartment complex with your family. Do you think you
would be living in a densly populated area?
To figure out population density, we take the number of people living in a certain place like a city or
state and divide that number by the land area of the place (in square kilometers or square miles). Let’s
try figuring out the population density of Cheltenham Township. In the year 2000 (at the last U.S.
Census), Cheltenham Township had a population of 36,875. Cheltenham Township covers an area of 9
square miles. So we start by taking the population (36,875) and dividing it by the area:
36,875
9 square miles
=
4,097 people per square mile
Try one on your own. Figure out the population density of New York City:
Population: 8,214,426 people
New York City’s population density =
Area: 303 square miles
Next, let’s try Philadelphia:
Population: 1,448,394 people Philadelphia’s population density =
Area: 350 square miles
Now, let’s compare. Answer the questions below:
people per square mile
people per square mile
1. Which has the highest population density, New York City, Philadelphia, or Cheltenham Township?
2. Which is more densly populated Philadelphia or Cheltenham Township?
Name_____________________________
Period_______
Date___________
Population Density Worksheet
Directions: Now that you understand the concept of population density, use a calculator to figure out
the population density of the places below. Answer all the questions below to the best of your ability.
1. What is the population density of China? _____________ people per square mile
Population: 1,321,851,888
Area: 5,795,162 square miles
2. What is the population density of the U.S.? _____________ people per square mile
Population: 305,117,947
Area: 5,692,955 square miles
3. What is the population density of Monaco? _____________ people per square mile
Population: 32,671
Area: 1.2 square miles
4. What is the population density of Canada? _____________ people per square mile
Population: 33,056,500
Area: 3,854,085 square miles
5. Which of the four countries above has the highest population density? Which has the lowest?
Highest Lowest 6. Which country has the largest land area? Which has the smallest?
Largest Smallest -
7. What is the population density of Wyoming ? _____________ people per square mile
Population: 493,782
Area: 97,818 square miles
8. What is the population density of Pennsylvania ? _____________ people per square mile
Population: 12,432,792
Area: 46,055 square miles
9. Which state has a higher population density? Pennsylvania or Wyoming?
10. In general, cities have higher population densities than suburban or rural areas. How do you
think areas with high population density differ from areas with low population density?