The People

THE WORLD POPULATION : TRENDS AND PATTERNS

Humans occupy the core of human geography. Being producers, creators and consumers of resources, they influence and at times alter the environment. Before we study how do they influence the physical environment through their economic activities, let us know about the human population itself � number, distribution, density, growth and demographic structure.

POPULATION DISTRIBUTION AND DENSITY

Humans have inhabited the earth for several thousands of years, but for a long period, their numbers remained limited. It is only during last few hundred years that the human population has increased at an alarming rate The world, at the beginning of twenty-first century, recorded over 6 billion population. It had quadrupled from 1.6 billion just in one century. We are adding about 82 million people each year. In fact, human population increased more than ten times during past 500 years.

Human population is spread unevenly across the continents. Why do a few areas support large concentration of human population while vast areas support few people or none at all? It is mainly due to a large number of factors that have influenced the distribution and growth of population over the earth�s surface.

Factors Influencing Population Distribution

Physical Factors

The physical characteristics play a dominant role in the distribution and density of population on the earth�s surface. Relief, climate, soil , natural vegetation, water, mineral resources are some of the important physical factors. Mountainous and rugged terrain are inhospitable to humans. Favourable physical environment has always been preferred. Desert lands of West Asia and Egypt, thousands of years ago, had highly productive agricultural landscapes because of the famous river valleys � the Tigris, the Euphrates and , the Nile, which gave rise to early civilisations. In general, plains, humid climates, fertile soils, and long growing seasons are marked with high density of population, while lands with harsh or difficult climates and poor soil have low density. Human modification of the physical environment has, however, greatly altered the pattern of population distribution.

Cultural Factors

The culture of people also plays an important role in the population distribution. Traditions and behaviours associated with common ancestry, religion and language tend to influence population concentrations and dispersals. For example, the concentration of people of different nationalities such as the Germans, the Spanish, the French and the Chinese in different parts of the USA clearly reflects the preferences of people because of cultural links and associations.

Economic Factors

People may move from an area as a result of one or more push factors, such as, difficult economic conditions, unemployment, religious, ethnic or political intolerance, conflicts and wars. On the other hand, pull factors, such as improved economic opportunities, may attract people to a place. A combination of such push and pull factors is evident in the settlement patterns that has emerged in the world today. More than one million Irish migrated to North America after the 1846 potato famine in their homeland. Once immigrants obtained inexpensive farmland or jobs in factories, news of plentiful job opportunities travelled to Europe and Asia through friends and relatives. The stream of immigrants, thus, started. Movement of a large number of computer professionals from India to the USA and other developed countries is also one of such examples.