POPULATION DENSITY
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Consider the country in which you live. Are there lots of people
crowded into a small area? Or is it quite sparsely populated, with
people spread over a large area?
To obtain a measure of how crowded a region is, we can calculate
its population density.
CALCULATING POPULATION DENSITY
The population density of a region is found by dividing its population by its area:
Population density =
population
area (km2 )
Population density is measured in people per square kilometre.
For example, the population of Romania is approximately 22 250 000, and its land area is approximately
237 500 km2 .
22 250 000
So, the population density of Romania ¼
¼ 93:7 people per square kilometre.
237 500
DISCUSSION
If two countries have the same population but one country is larger than the other, will the larger country or the
smaller country have a higher population density?
What to do:
1 Use the internet to find the population and area of each of the countries listed below. Use these figures to
calculate the population density of each country.
Country
Population
Area (km2 )
Population Density
France
Kenya
China
USA
Australia
Brazil
Hungary
Japan
Egypt
Kazakhstan
2 Rank the countries in 1 according to population density, from the most crowded to the least crowded.
3 Calculate the population density of your own country.
Population density
2
4 Consider an area of a square kilometre around where
you live. Estimate the number of people who live in this
area. Is it higher or lower than the value you calculated
in 3? Why do you think this is?
1 km
RESEARCH
² Which country has the highest population density in the world?
² Which country has the lowest population density in the world?
POPULATION DENSITY OF CITIES
In many countries a large percentage of the land is uninhabitable, and the majority of the population live in one
of the major cities.
For this reason, when we are trying to measure how crowded a region is, it often makes more sense to consider
the population density of a city rather than a whole country.
What to do:
5 Find the population and area of the major cities listed below. Calculate their population densities.
City
Population
Area (km2 )
Population Density
Los Angeles
Cairo
Sydney
Budapest
Rio de Janeiro
Paris
Shanghai
Astana
Nairobi
Tokyo
6 Which of the cities in 5 is the most densely populated?
7 Each of the cities in 5 is a city of one of the countries listed in 1. Compare the population density of each
city with the population density of its country.
APPLICATIONS OF POPULATION DENSITY
Population density is often used to establish rules to prevent overcrowding. For example, in most countries there
are laws which limit the number of people that nightclubs can hold. These limits are usually expressed in terms
of people per square metre of floor area.
Population density
3
DISCUSSION
What are some of the hazards associated with an overcrowded nightclub?
What to do:
8 A local law states that nightclubs must not hold more than 1:2 people per square metre.
a A nightclub has a floor area of 200 m2 , and currently holds 180 people.
i What is the maximum capacity of the nightclub?
ii Is the nightclub breaking the law?
b Another nightclub in the area has two storeys, and each storey measures 15 m by 10 m. Find the
maximum capacity of this nightclub.
RESEARCH
² Research other applications of population density.
² What level of population density could indicate that a city is in danger of being overcrowded?