#50 Second Street, San Juan, Trinidad & Tobago, W.I.
Introduction to Population
“Why is it important for the government to know how many people living in an area?”
What is population?
Think : all the inhabitants of a particular place.
In Geography a population may refer to an entire group of people in a country, place or region.
The term population refers to the total number of people living in an area at a particular point in time.
Population Distribution
The way in which people are spread across a given area is known as population distribution. Geographers study population distribution patterns at different scales: local, regional, national, and global.
Relief:
Steep slopes are generally less densely populated than gently sloping or flat areas. The photo below shows a section of the town of Soufriere in St. Lucia. Notice that most of the buildings are located in the flatter areas. There are very few buildings in the steeper areas.
Part of the town of Soufriere
Drainage and soils:
Infertile or poorly drained soils are usually less densely populated than well drained or fertile areas. Throughout much of history, the Nile delta in the north of Africa has been more densely populated than the surrounding area. The fertility of the soil in the area has allowed it to support a very large population.
Climate:
Parts of the world where the climate is very harsh are generally less densely populated than areas with a favourable climate. For instance, Antarctica is so cold and inhospitable, that nobody lives there. The people who go there are usually scientists who want to conduct research there.
The Atacama desert is another example of a place with a very harsh climate. Parts of this desert have not experienced any rainfall for over 400 years. No people, or even animals live in these parts. Generally, people prefer to live in areas where water is readily available and the temperature is not extremely high or low.
Mineral deposits:
Areas which have large deposits of minerals such as bauxite tend to have high population densities. In Jamaica for instance there are relatively high population densities near some bauxite mining areas. Some relatively large settlements such as May Pen and Mandeville are located near bauxite mining areas.
Population Density
Population density is the average number of people per square kilometre. It is a way of measuring population distribution and shows whether an area is sparsely or densely populated. Population density is calculated using the following formula:
Population density = total population ÷ total land area in km²
Example:
The hypothetical country Geographica is a country with an area of 500 square kilometers. The population of this country is 30,000. What is the population density of Geographica?
Working:
Population density = total population/total area (it is important to state the formula)
= 30,000 people/500 square kilometers
= 60 people per square kilometer or 60 per sq km
This answer is just an average. It does not mean that there are exactly 60 people in every square kilometer of the country. Indeed, some parts of Geographica may be very densely populated while other areas may be uninhabited.
Activity
Get a population density map of any Caribbean island. Describe the population distribution based on the findings on the map