Factors Affecting Population Density

There are a range of human and natural factors that affect population density. The tables below illustrate this.
Physical Factors High Density Low Density

Relief Low land which is flat e.g. Ganges High land that is mountainous (shape and height of land) Valley in India e.g. Himalayas Resources Areas rich in resources (e.g. coal, Areas with few resources tend oil, wood, fishing etc.) tend to to be sparsely populated e.g. densely populated e.g. Western The Sahel Europe Areas with temperate climates tend to be densely populated as there is enough rain and heat to grow crops e.g. UK Areas with extreme climates of hot and cold tend to be sparsely populated e.g. the Sahara Desert

Climate

Human Factors Political

High Density Countries with stable governments tend to have a high population density e.g. Singapore

Low Density Unstable countries tend to have lower population densities as people migrate e.g. Afghanistan.

Social

Groups of people want to live Other groups of people close to each other for security prefer to be isolated e.g. e.g. USA Scandinavians Good job opportunities encourage high population densities, particularly in large cities in MEDCs and LEDCs around the world. Limited job opportunities cause some areas to be sparsely populated e.g. Amazon Rainforest

Economic

Population Change
The world's population is growing very rapidly. In 1820 the world's population reached 1 billion. In 1990 it reached 6 billion people. This rapid growth in population has been called a population explosion. The major reason for population changes, whether in an individual country or for the whole world, is the change in birth and death rates. The birth rate is the number of live babies born in a year for every 1000 people in the total population. Death rates are number of people dying per 1000 people. When birth rates are higher than death rates the population of an area will increase.

Over the past 150 years improvements in health care andsanitation around the world have led to a drop in the death rate. While birth rates have dropped in MEDCs, birth rates are still high in LEDCs. Therefore the number of people in the world has grown rapidly.

Population Density
Population density is a measurement of the number of people in an area. It is an average number. Population density is calculated by dividing the number of people by area. Population density is usually shown as the number of people per square kilometer. The map below is a choropleth (shading) map and illustrates population density. The darker the colour the greater the population density. The map above shows that world population distribution is uneven. Some areas have a high population density while others have a low population density. Areas of high population density tend to be located between 20 and 60N. This area contains a large land area and a relatively temperate climate.

a) Birth rate or Natality rate

Natality rate is the rate at which new individuals are added to a particular population by reproduction (birth of young ones or hatching of eggs or germination of seeds/spores). It is generally expressed as number of births per 1,000 individuals of a population per year. 'Absolute', 'physiological or maximum natality', refers to the theoretical maximum production of new individuals under ideal conditions. But it is never realised because of environmental resistance (factors like inter and intra specific competitions, availability of food, space etc.) 'Actual birth rate' being achieved under existing conditions, which is much lesser than 'absolute natality is called realized natality. Higher realized natality rate increases the population size and population density.

Differences between Natality rate and Mortality rate

a) Death or Mortality rate

Mortality rate is the rate at which the individuals die or get killed. It is the opposite of natality rate. Mortality rate is generally expressed as number of deaths per 1,000 individuals of a population per year. Lowest death rate for a given species in most favourable conditions is called potential mortality while the actual death rate being observed in existing conditions is called realized mortality. Realized mortality decreases the population size and population density. The percentage ratio of natality over mortality expressed in percentage is called Vital index.

Vital index determines the normal rate of growth of a population.

c) Age distribution (Age composition)

The relative abundance of the organisms of various age groups in the population is called age distribution of population. With regard to age distribution, there are three kinds of populations. i) Rapidly growing population is a population, which has high birth rate and low death rate, so there are more number of young individuals in the population. ii) Stationary population is a population, which has equal birth and death rates, so population shows zero population growth. iii) Declining population is a population, which has higher death rate than birth rate, so the population has more numbers of older individuals.