How is the Population in Australia Distributed?

By: Tyler Iguchi

Australia had a population of about 26 million inhabitants in 2020. Australia is the mainland of
the Oceania continent and is located in the southern hemisphere between the Indian and the
2Pacific Oceans. It has a size of 7,617,930 km and because it has 26 million people living on it,
the country is sparsely populated. It is one of the most sparsely populated countries with
Namibia and Mongolia in the lead. Compared to Japan, Australia’s population distribution is
more sparsely populated and it has ⅕ of the population of Japan, even though Australia is five
times as larger in terms of the size of land, and to the point where Australia is enormous as the
United States of America without Alaska and Hawaii. To prove this, Japan has a population
density of 336 people per square kilometer, however, Australia has a population density of 3.3
people per square kilometer While most of Australia’s land is hot and dry (except the coastal
region) and is the driest inhabited continent. Japan on the other hand has 2 main rain seasons
and has a humid summer and a cold winter. Unlike Japan, most of the people living in Australia
live near the coast, while the Japanese inhabitants live all over japan including the center of the
country. Few Australian inhabitants live in the interior of Australia also known as the Outback,
but again, most of the people live near the coast.

Except for Perth, most of the Australian population lives near coastal cities like Sydney and
Melbourne, which are one of the most populated cities in Australia. The east coast is very
densely populated compared to the, with a population of 19 million people, covering about 73%
of the country’s population. Some reason why people are living near the coast and the
population is increasing rapidly near the coastal area is, that 90% of the fruits, vegetables, meat,
milk, and eggs, that are found at supermarkets are domestically produced meaning it is made in
their own country. To do agriculture requires water, and due to the lack of water in the Outback,
probably farmers in Australia are farming near the coast.On the other hand, Melbourne is one of
the economically powerful cities in Australia, so they can afford to server water using
desalination plants (uses sea water and convert it into drinkable water) which is very expensive.
Also, immigrants avoided war, and the increase in birth rate, Sydney had 2 million people living
there in 1962, but now it has about 6 million people in total. Urbanization is vast and now about
89% of Sydney is turning into urban areas. With a total of 16 million people living in Australia,
there are 6.93 migrants per 1,000 people, and there is a birth rate of 12.3 people per 1,000
people. On the other hand, the death rate is about 6.77 people per 1,000 people. This shows
that even with the limited supply of things such as food, the people in Australia are managed to
keep increasing their population. The climate near the east coast have and massive impact to
the inhabitants. The east coast has a sunny climate with mild winters and warm summers, with
the average temperature of 18.6˚C to 22.8˚C (65.6˚F to 78.4˚F). Australia’s average humidity is
about 65%. To add on that, there is many work opportunities such as fishing, marine biology,
restaurant / hotel workers, industry jobs, medical care jobs, etc. The east cost is accessible for
travel and trades, thanks to the multiple ports it has. Then, where in Australia has the least
inhabitants? What is the interior of Australia like?
To answer this question, the interior or also know as the Outback of Australia is very dry. Infact,
Australia is the driest inhabited continent. An example of a town near the center of Australia is
Coober Pedy. Coober Pedy has a population of 3,000 which is very sparsely populated. To
avoid heat, most of the buildings are underground such as an underground hotel for an
example. The temperature during summer rises to about 50˚C. Most of the people living in
Coober Pedy is for mining since it is an mining town, mainly for jems such as opals. In point of
fact, 90% of the opals found in the world is from Australia, since the time the first opals were
found in Coober Pedy in 1911. It takes about 8 hours to drive to Coober Pedy from the nearest
city. To adopt to such harsh conditions, people live underground as I mentioned before, to avoid
the hot and dry summer and the freezing winter. The dug outs is about 23˚C, so the people
living in it will not need a airconditioner or a heater. Coober Pedy is realy advanced and has a
wifi system, satelight, plumbing system, and electricity. There is even wind turbines, so they can
save energy. Another city that is near the center of Australia is Alice Springs. When the
Europeans settled is 1871, lots of people died due to thirst since there is few water scources.
They belived that there is a water spring nearby, however there was none. That is why the city
was named Alice Springs. In Alice Springs, there is wild life such as Black Cocktoos, Tasmanian
Devils, Snakes, etc. Alice Springs is loocated in a subtropical desert with extreme hot and dry
summer with a mild winter. The inhabitants of Alice Springs have to conserve water, and to do
that, they have to things like collect water from showers and they can only take a shower for 3
minutes. Don’t hand wash dishes, and wash clothes less often. These are ways people
managed to survive in the middle of a desert. Then, what will happen in the future?

In conclusion, most of the Australian population is living near the costs, mainly the east cost,
and some are living in the Outback of Australia, but only a few. To the population of Australia,
Climate change will affect the future, by higher temperature with extreme droughts. Wild fire will
probably more often, and the rise of sea levels will cause floods with massive affects, since
cities that has a high population, and and near the costs such as Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth
will cause a huge effect not just physically but also economically. More people will immigrate
inland. For example if you live in Sydney, you might immigrate to the Great Dividing Range.
Extreme weather events like a intense rain, cyclones, and droughts will probably be more often,
and will affect Australia massively.

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