POPULATION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PATTERNS
● Global population distribution is very uneven, with 90% of the population occupying 16% of the land
Physical and human factors affecting population distribution
➔ Natural
◆ Climate: tropical, subtropical monsoon or marine, warm temperate marine are favoured
● 85% live between 68°N and 20°N
○ The three most populous countries in the world, China, India, and the
United States, are all located in the northern hemisphere
● >10% of the world’s population live in the Southern Hemisphere
○ This is also due to the fact that there is less land in the Southern
Hemisphere
○ The fourth and fifth most populous countries are located in the Southern
Hemisphere (Indonesia and Brazil), though a fraction of their land areas are
located in the Northern
◆ Proximity of the sea
● 75% of the world’s population live within 1,000 km of the sea
○ In Australia, almost all major cities are located alongside the coast (Sydney,
Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane etc.)
◆ Altitude and relief: lowlands, but in hot climates highlands are favoured
● 85% live in areas with an altitude below 500 meters
○ Norway is one of the most mountainous countries in the world, and most
of her population tend to live in valleys, surrounded by mountains
◆ Access to freshwater, good soils and natural resources
● Fertile valleys, such as the Nile valley, have been favoured for a long time
◆ Abundance of natural resources (eg. Tibet has very few resources and is sparsely
populated)
➔ Human
◆ Level of socioeconomic development
● Job opportunities, eg. in tourism or industry
◆ Existence of traffic routes
◆ Political, historical and cultural factors
CASE STUDY: China
● Extremely uneven population distribution
○ 11% of population live on 0.5% of the land; 50% live on 8.2% of the land; 90% live on 30% of
the land
○ Less than 4% live on 50% of the land
, ■ Low-density
areas include
the deserts of
Inner Mongolia
and the
mountains in
Tibet
○ Most of China’s
well-developed and
densely populated areas
are located along the
coast, and in areas with
a temperate climate; the scarcely developed regions (eg. Inner Mongolia, Tibet) are inland
● Reasons for high population density in the South-East:
○ Physical: Coastal plains are easy to build on
○ Climate: Mostly temperate climate with good amount of rainfall
○ Soil: The soil, mostly alluvial thanks to the many rivers and nutritious as the area used to be
covered by deciduous forest makes for good agricultural opportunities
○ Resources: A variety of natural resources, including coal, iron and copper
○ Economic: Sea allows for shipping and trade; significant government investment (e.g.
South-North Water Transfer Project) creates jobs and business opportunities; employment
opportunities in the cities that came with foreign investment (160 million people migrated
from rural to urban areas since 1978)
○ Political: Significant government investment into improving quality of life, including
renewable energy and water transfer projects
● High degree of urbanisation: more than 50 millionaire cities; megacities, eg. the Pearl River Delta;
China’s urban population is expected to grow by 350 million in 2010-2050, 240 million of which will
be migrants
● Internal migration in China:
○ Many people from the interior migrate to the East and Southeast, due to job opportunities
○ A fraction of the population migrate inwards, due to oil and coal deposits
CASE STUDY: Canada
● 85% of the population live within 100 miles of the Canada-US border
● Distance is vast, therefore maintaining connections is difficult.
● Reasons for low population density in the North:
Climate: Extremely cold year around
Vegetation: Tundra has a 2 week growing season
No forest
Soils: Permafrost soil makes agriculture almost impossible
, Water supply: Arid climate so lack of water
Most water sources frozen
Communications: Extremely difficult to build and maintain infrastructure due to climate,
costs and significant distances
Snow and ice can be insurmountable
Economic development
● The global patterns of economic development have changed rapidly
○ In the 1980s, there was a clear north-south divide, but it has largely disappeared with the
rapid development of economies such as China and India
■ Several ‘northern’ countries have lower incomes than ‘southern’ ones (eg. Hungary
vs Malaysia)
● Problems with measuring economic development include the fact that many developing countries
have flouring informal economies, which are not accounted for in governmental statistics
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - the total value of goods and services produced in a country over a year
Gross National Income (GNI) - the total value of goods and services produced within a country together
with the balance of income and payments from or to other countries
What influences a country’s wealth?
➔ Corruption in administration: when there is corruption, less tax money is spent on education,
healthcare etc. and not the best candidates are chosen for positions, thus development is hindered
➔ Culture: in 19 richest country, except the US, more than 70% of people say religion is not
important to them
➔ Geography: poor countries are located in tropical regions where soils are worse and plants have
less carbohydrates; many of the poorest countries are landlocked
◆ Resource curse: natural resources make the rich richer and the poor poorer
The World Bank divides countries into:
➔ HICs (High Income Countries): GDP per capita over $12,735
➔ MICs (Middle Income Countries): divided in two:
◆ Upper Middle Income Countries ($4,036-$12,734 per capita)
● Examples: China, most of Latin America, Southwestern Africa
◆ Lower Middle Income Countries ($1,025-$4,035 per capita)
● Examples: Bolivia, India, Indonesia, Ukraine, Moldova
● Many of these country have some of the highest GINI values in the world, which
signifies there are great inequalities between the poor and the rich
◆ Many former MICs have moved up to become a HIC, like Hungary and Argentina
◆ 64% of the global population live in MICs and ⅓ of global income is produced there
● Global population distribution is very uneven, with 90% of the population occupying 16% of the land
Physical and human factors affecting population distribution
➔ Natural
◆ Climate: tropical, subtropical monsoon or marine, warm temperate marine are favoured
● 85% live between 68°N and 20°N
○ The three most populous countries in the world, China, India, and the
United States, are all located in the northern hemisphere
● >10% of the world’s population live in the Southern Hemisphere
○ This is also due to the fact that there is less land in the Southern
Hemisphere
○ The fourth and fifth most populous countries are located in the Southern
Hemisphere (Indonesia and Brazil), though a fraction of their land areas are
located in the Northern
◆ Proximity of the sea
● 75% of the world’s population live within 1,000 km of the sea
○ In Australia, almost all major cities are located alongside the coast (Sydney,
Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane etc.)
◆ Altitude and relief: lowlands, but in hot climates highlands are favoured
● 85% live in areas with an altitude below 500 meters
○ Norway is one of the most mountainous countries in the world, and most
of her population tend to live in valleys, surrounded by mountains
◆ Access to freshwater, good soils and natural resources
● Fertile valleys, such as the Nile valley, have been favoured for a long time
◆ Abundance of natural resources (eg. Tibet has very few resources and is sparsely
populated)
➔ Human
◆ Level of socioeconomic development
● Job opportunities, eg. in tourism or industry
◆ Existence of traffic routes
◆ Political, historical and cultural factors
CASE STUDY: China
● Extremely uneven population distribution
○ 11% of population live on 0.5% of the land; 50% live on 8.2% of the land; 90% live on 30% of
the land
○ Less than 4% live on 50% of the land
, ■ Low-density
areas include
the deserts of
Inner Mongolia
and the
mountains in
Tibet
○ Most of China’s
well-developed and
densely populated areas
are located along the
coast, and in areas with
a temperate climate; the scarcely developed regions (eg. Inner Mongolia, Tibet) are inland
● Reasons for high population density in the South-East:
○ Physical: Coastal plains are easy to build on
○ Climate: Mostly temperate climate with good amount of rainfall
○ Soil: The soil, mostly alluvial thanks to the many rivers and nutritious as the area used to be
covered by deciduous forest makes for good agricultural opportunities
○ Resources: A variety of natural resources, including coal, iron and copper
○ Economic: Sea allows for shipping and trade; significant government investment (e.g.
South-North Water Transfer Project) creates jobs and business opportunities; employment
opportunities in the cities that came with foreign investment (160 million people migrated
from rural to urban areas since 1978)
○ Political: Significant government investment into improving quality of life, including
renewable energy and water transfer projects
● High degree of urbanisation: more than 50 millionaire cities; megacities, eg. the Pearl River Delta;
China’s urban population is expected to grow by 350 million in 2010-2050, 240 million of which will
be migrants
● Internal migration in China:
○ Many people from the interior migrate to the East and Southeast, due to job opportunities
○ A fraction of the population migrate inwards, due to oil and coal deposits
CASE STUDY: Canada
● 85% of the population live within 100 miles of the Canada-US border
● Distance is vast, therefore maintaining connections is difficult.
● Reasons for low population density in the North:
Climate: Extremely cold year around
Vegetation: Tundra has a 2 week growing season
No forest
Soils: Permafrost soil makes agriculture almost impossible
, Water supply: Arid climate so lack of water
Most water sources frozen
Communications: Extremely difficult to build and maintain infrastructure due to climate,
costs and significant distances
Snow and ice can be insurmountable
Economic development
● The global patterns of economic development have changed rapidly
○ In the 1980s, there was a clear north-south divide, but it has largely disappeared with the
rapid development of economies such as China and India
■ Several ‘northern’ countries have lower incomes than ‘southern’ ones (eg. Hungary
vs Malaysia)
● Problems with measuring economic development include the fact that many developing countries
have flouring informal economies, which are not accounted for in governmental statistics
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - the total value of goods and services produced in a country over a year
Gross National Income (GNI) - the total value of goods and services produced within a country together
with the balance of income and payments from or to other countries
What influences a country’s wealth?
➔ Corruption in administration: when there is corruption, less tax money is spent on education,
healthcare etc. and not the best candidates are chosen for positions, thus development is hindered
➔ Culture: in 19 richest country, except the US, more than 70% of people say religion is not
important to them
➔ Geography: poor countries are located in tropical regions where soils are worse and plants have
less carbohydrates; many of the poorest countries are landlocked
◆ Resource curse: natural resources make the rich richer and the poor poorer
The World Bank divides countries into:
➔ HICs (High Income Countries): GDP per capita over $12,735
➔ MICs (Middle Income Countries): divided in two:
◆ Upper Middle Income Countries ($4,036-$12,734 per capita)
● Examples: China, most of Latin America, Southwestern Africa
◆ Lower Middle Income Countries ($1,025-$4,035 per capita)
● Examples: Bolivia, India, Indonesia, Ukraine, Moldova
● Many of these country have some of the highest GINI values in the world, which
signifies there are great inequalities between the poor and the rich
◆ Many former MICs have moved up to become a HIC, like Hungary and Argentina
◆ 64% of the global population live in MICs and ⅓ of global income is produced there
