Population Density and factors affecting it

Population density is the measurement of population per unit area. It is an average number. It is calculated by dividing the number of people area. It is

usually shown as the number of people per square kilometer.

Population Growth : It is increase in the number of individuals in the population. It is measured in percent per year.

Population Composition: It is the description of the characteristics of a group of people in terms of factors such as their age, sex, marital status, education and occupation.

Physical Factors affecting Population Density:

Factors	High Density	Low Density
1. Relief	Low land which is flat. E.g. Ganges Valley in India. Coastal environments and those with rivers provide good access and allow trading to occur encouraging the growth of economic activities.	High land i.e mountainous makes difficult to construct buildings and roads.
2. Resources	Areas rich in resources tend to be densely populated. The availability of natural resources encourages a higher density of population to settle there.	Areas with few resources tend to have sparsely populated.
3. Climate	Areas with temperate climates tend to be densely populated as there is enough rain and heat to grow crops.	Areas with extreme climates of hot an cold tend to be sparsely populated because it makes difficult to grow crops.
4. Soil	Fertile land is densely populated as food can be produced.	Infertile land is sparsely populated as people are unable to grow food.
5. Vegetation	Areas with less vegetation help to access and provide services and make human inhabitation easy.	Areas with dense vegetation provide challenges in terms of access and lack of services makes human inhabitation difficult.
6. Natural Disaster	Regions that experience no or few natural disaster are morel likely to have a higher population density as they are safe.	Regions that experience regular natural disaster can discourage people from settling in that area.
7. Water supply	A reliable water supply encourages a high population density as water can be used for drinking, washing, transportation and irrigation.	Lack of water supply discourages people to settle

Social, Cultural and Economic Factors that affect Population Density

Factor	High Density	Low Density
1. Employment Opportunities	Good job opportunities encourage people to settle there as people are able to secure a regular income.	Limited job opportunities cause people to migrate as they are unable to secure regular income.
2. Infrastructure	Location with effective infrastructure are usually densely populated.	Location with little or no infrastructure is usually sparsely populated.
3. Security	Area with low crime rates are usually densely populated.	Areas with high level of crime rates are usually sparsely populated.
4. Public Services	Effective public services encourages people to settle there.	Poor public services discourage people from living in that area.
5. Government	A safe and reliable government leads in high population density.	Government corruption can lead to a low population density.
6. Stability	Countries with stable government tend to be densely populated.	Countries with instable government have low population density.
7. Social	Group of people want to live close to each other.	Other groups of people prefer to be isolated.
8. Conflict	Areas with no conflict tend to have a high density of population.	Areas with conflict tend to have low density of population.