Physical Landforms:
Areas with high population densities tend to be broad, flat plains in lowland areas (such as the North China Plain, Bangladesh and the Netherlands), fertile river valleys (such as the Ganges River in India, the Chao Phraya in Thailand, the Mekong River in Vietnam, or the Nile River in Egypt), or volcanic areas with rich soils (such as the island of Java in Indonesia).
Areas with low population densities tend to be steep, rugged mountains where soils are thin and air pressure is low (such as the Andes Mountains of South America) or high plateaux (such as Tibet). Climate:
People are attracted to temperate areas with adequate, evenly distributed rainfall and a lengthy growing season for crops (such as western Europe) and to monsoonal climates (such as south-east Asia). On the other hand, people avoid areas with extreme climates,
such as areas that are very dry (such as the Sahara Desert), very cold (such as northern Canada and Greenland), very wet with high humidity (such as the Amazon Basin or the lowlands of New Guinea), or which have irregular rainfall or long droughts (such as the Sahel region of Africa). Soils:
From the early days of human farming, people have been attracted to areas with rich, fertile soils, which are of vital importance to ensuring a reliable supply of food. Areas
with rich, humus-filled soils have high population densities (such as areas of western Europe). Other areas with high population densities include places with silt deposited by rivers in flood, with in valleys (such as Yangtze River in China, the Ganges River in India or the Nile River in Egypt), or the deltas of large rivers (such as the Ganges in Bangladesh or the Nile in Egypt). Areas with soils that make cultivation difficult usually have sparse populations. Soils may be
unsuitable for cultivation because they are frozen (the permafrost soils of Siberia), they are leached and therefore low in minerals and nutrients (rainforest soils in the Amazon Basin of Brazil or the Congo River in central Africa), they are thin and poorly developed (mountainous areas of the Himalayas in Asia and the Rocky Mountains of North America), or they are heavily degraded or eroded as a result of over-grazing or deforestation (such as the Sahel region of Africa).
Vegetation:
Higher
population densities are found in areas with extensive grasslands, such as East Africa and south-western Russia, than in areas where the vegetation makes cultivation and settlement difficult. Areas with sparse populations include dense rainforests (such as the Congo Basin in Africa and the Amazon Basin in Brazil), coniferous forests (such as eastern Russia), and areas with sparse vegetation due to aridity (such as the Arabian peninsula, central Asia and Mongolia). Water:
A
reliable water supply is essential for human survival, and people are attracted to areas where the availability of water is sufficient without being excessive. Areas with high population include places with reliable, evenly distributed rainfall (such as western Europe and north-eastern United States) and areas with reliable, seasonal monsoonal rainfall (such as India and south-east Asia). Areas with low or erratic rainfall have sparse population densities, some examples being the
Sahara Desert and Sahel region of Africa, the interior of Australia and the deserts of southern and south-western Africa. Pests and diseases:
People avoid areas where there are dangerous pests and diseases. Therefore, places such as the lowlands of Papua New Guinea and parts of central Africa have sparse population densities because of malaria. Natural resources:
People are attracted to areas with major concentrations of minerals or
energy resources, such as the Pittsburgh region of the USA, South Wales in the UK, and the Ruhr basin of Germany. On the other hand, places with few natural resources may have quite high population densities as they manage to obtain resources from elsewhere, some examples being the Netherlands, Japan and Taiwan. Furthermore, some places with abundant natural resources may have sparse population densities, either because the resources can be obtained with very few people (such as oil
in Algeria, Iran or Saudi Arabia), or because the resources have not been developed (such as minerals in Eritrea or the Russian Far East).
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Areas which are productive for cropping or livestock raising tend to have high population densities, some examples being eastern China, northern India and eastern Europe. Conversely, areas where farming is difficult, perhaps because of climate, landforms or soils, have sparse populations, with some examples being the Sahara Desert, northern Canada and the Tibetan Plateau. Manufacturing:
Areas where manufacturing industry has been established for many decades, or even centuries, usually have high population densities. Some examples of densely populated manufacturing regions include the Ruhr Basin of Germany, the Kanto Plain of Japan, north-east China (also known as Manchuria), and the north-east of the United States. Communications:
Areas where it is physically easy and financially viable to construct communications infrastructure, such as
ports, canals, roads, railways and airports, attract people and therefore tend to have high population densities. Examples of such areas include the United Kingdom, Singapore, Hong Kong, south-eastern Japan and the Netherlands. On the other hand, population density is sparse in areas where transport and communications are difficult, such as in mountainous areas (the Altiplano of Bolivia and the Tibetan Plateau of China), deserts (the Sahara Desert of Africa and central Australia),
and densely forested areas (such as Siberia in Russia or northern Canada).
Political factors:
Government policies and decisions can cause areas to become either more densely population or less densely populated. Areas can become more densely settled when governments decide to develop new areas (such as mining settlements in the Russian Far East, transmigration settlements in West Papua, Indonesia, or pioneer lands in Israel), or create new cities such as Shenzhen
in China, Brasilia in Brazil, Yamoussoukro in Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) and Naypyidaw in Myanmar (Burma). Conversely, areas that do not receive adequate investment are often sparsely populated or become depopulated, examples being parts of the Russian Far East and declining manufacturing areas in Eastern Europe. Population densities can also become sparser over time due to depopulation arising from political conflict, and some examples of this include Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia,
Sudan and South Sudan. Information from:
Codrington, Stephen (2017-05-13T22:58:59). Our Changing Planet (Planet Geography Book 1) (Kindle Locations 763-765). Solid Star Press. Kindle Edition.
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