Population Concepts
Population Density
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Population density indicates the
average number of people living in a
particular unit of land (square
kilometre/km2 or square mile/m2 )
Population density can be expressed
in two ways:
• Arithmetic
• physiologic
Arithmetic Population Density
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This is a simple formula:
• number of people/amount of land
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In Canada this looks like this
• 34 409 066 people divided by 9 220 970
km2
• this means that the population density
of Canada is 3.73 people/ km2
Problems with Arithmetic Density
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Arithmetic Density can be very
misleading
This number makes it seem like all of
Canada has very few people.
• This is clearly not true when the
population of Canada is over 80%
urban/lives in cities.
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The majority of Canada’s population
lives in a narrow strip of land just
north of the US border while the rest
of the country is relatively empty.
Physiographic Population Density
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Arithmetic density presents a false
picture of any country that has large
areas of uninhabited land.
For this reason most geographers
use physiographic population
density.
• This is the number of people per
kilometre of cultivated land.
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Cultivated land has soil which is able
to produce food.
Traditionally people could only live in
areas where they could grow/find
sufficient food
In Canada we have huge areas of
poor soil or very cold climate,
• this means that these area CANNOT
support many inhabitants
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In reality Canada has about 455 000
km2 of cultivable land
This translates into a more realistic
population density of 75.6
people/km2
Various population densities/km2
http://www12.statcan.ca/mobile/92-591/index-eng.cfm
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Shelburne Town: 208.7
Shelburne Municipality: 2.7
Halifax Regional Municipality: 67.9**
• This includes all of Halifax county rural
and urban areas combined.
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Toronto: 3,972.4
Population Distribution
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This refers to the location of a
population-how they have arranged
themselves on the the land.
Geographers want to understand
why many people live very close
together in certain areas and not in
others.
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Population distribution is closely
related to physical geography.
• People settle first where they can
survive and prosper.
• These include areas with a source of
drinking/potable water AND good
agricultural land, hunting or fishing
grounds, mineral deposits and good
transportation opportunities
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Political and economic factors can
also affect population density.
Economic and political centres tend
to reinforce each other.
People move to central areas→ central areas
get a greater population →bigger population
means more political and economic power
→more power draws in more people …
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These central areas are called
HEARTLANDS and
The smaller rural areas that provide
them with food and other staple
good are known as the
HINTERLANDS
Global Population Density
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The world's population is 6.9 billion and Earth's
total area (including land and water) is 510
million km2
Therefore the worldwide human population
density is 6.9 billion ÷ 510 million = 13.5 per
km²
If only the Earth's land area of 150 million km² is
taken into account, then human population
density increases to 46 per km²
This calculation includes all continental and island
land area, including Antarctica.
If Antarctica is also excluded, then population
density rises to 51 people per km²
Websites
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http://www.breathingearth.net/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9
_9SutNmfFk