- Define and explain Population Distribution in your own words
- Use key terms such as population density accurately
- Apply what you have learned to new examples and questions
- Avoid the common mistakes learners make with this topic
Human geography is the geography of people: where we live, why we move and how we connect. In this chapter you will explain uneven population distribution, apply the push–pull model to migration, account for urban growth, and trace the global connections that tie economies together.
This lesson focuses on Population Distribution: explain why people cluster in some places and avoid others.
Explain why people cluster in some places and avoid others.
Key ideas
Distribution is uneven for good reasons
People cluster where conditions suit them: fertile plains, navigable rivers, coasts and mineral resources attract settlement, while deserts, high mountains and frozen lands stay sparsely populated. In the UK, the south-east is densely settled while the Scottish Highlands are sparse — relief, climate and economic history all play a part.
Migration is driven by push and pull factors
Push factors drive people away — unemployment, low wages, poor services, conflict or natural disasters. Pull factors attract them — jobs, higher wages, better schools and healthcare, or family already there. Most migration is economic, and most migrants move from rural areas to cities within their own country.
Key term — population density: The average number of people per square kilometre — high density means crowded, low density means sparse.
Define population density.
The average number of people per square kilometre.
Answer: The average number of people per square kilometre.
- Confusing population density with total population A country can have a huge population but low density if it is vast, like Canada. Density is people per square kilometre, not the total headcount.
- Mixing up urbanisation and urban growth Urban growth is cities getting bigger in absolute terms; urbanisation is the rising proportion of people living in urban areas. A country's cities can grow without it urbanising if the rural population grows too.
Practice
A push factor — it forces people to leave.
Positive: fewer people competing for jobs; remittances sent home. Negative: loss of young, able workers — a 'brain drain' from rural areas.
Any two: mountainous relief, desert climate, extreme cold, dense forest, poor soils.
Rural–urban migration and natural increase.
Quick check
Which of these best defines "population density"?
What is the difference between internal and international migration?
- Population Distribution: explain why people cluster in some places and avoid others.
- Distribution is uneven for good reasons: People cluster where conditions suit them: fertile plains, navigable rivers, coasts and mineral resources attract settlement, while deserts, high mountains and frozen lands stay sparsely populated.
- migration: The movement of people from one place to another to live, either within a country or between countries.
- Watch out for: confusing population density with total population