The division of population into rural and urban
is based on the residence and is made at a
different size-point in most of the countries.
This division is necessary because both of them
differ from each other in terms of their livelihood
and social environment. The occupational
structure, density of population, and level of
social and economic growth, vary between the
two groups.
(more content follows the advertisement below) A D V E R T I S E M E N T
People living in the villages and engaged
in agriculture or primary activities are
categorised as �rural�. The urban population,
on the other hand are engaged in nonagricultural
activities. People are attracted to
urban areas in search of employment
opportunities, better social facilities and higher
standard of living. The urban population
increases due to natural growth and migration
of people from rural areas.
Criteria of labelling a settlement urban vary
from one country to another. In USA, an area
with a population of less than 2,500, is
considered rural, while an area of more than
2,500 inhabitants is called urban. In India, all
areas which are not urban, are, by definition,
rural.
Percentage of rural population is higher in
farm-based agricultural countries, while
industrially developed regions have higher
share of urban population. Table 3.1 shows
the distribution of rural and urban population
of different continents in 2000. Only Asia and
Africa had more than 60 per cent rural
population while 62 per cent of the world�s total
population had an urban residence. With
about 77 per cent of its population being
urban, North America is the most urbanised
continent.
The world�s urban population is currently
growing by 60 million people a year, which is
about three times the increase in rural
population. In other words, the urban
population of the world has been growing more
rapidly than the rural population since the
emergence of first urban settlement on the
world�s scene. About two centuries ago (1800),
only 2.5 per cent of the world�s population was
living in urban areas and in 1960, about onethird
of the total world population lived in cities.
By 1999 over 47 per cent of the world�s total
population has an urban residence. Most of
this urban growth, (about 60 per cent of 60
million) reflects natural increase among current
city dwellers, those born in the city; the rest is
accounted for by rural-urban migration (Fig. 3.2).
A prominent feature of population
redistribution, particularly in developing
countries, is the growth of major cities. Almost
half the world�s population lives in cities.
Between 1960 and 2000, the urban
population increased more than three times i.e.
from 800 million to 2.8 billion. During the same
period, the world�s total population doubled
from 3 billion to 6 billion. It is projected that
there will be about 8 billion city dwellers by
2030, and 80 per cent of them will live in
developing countries.
|
AKHAND PRATAP SINGH
