Population GeographyChapter 5

How many people live here?

http://opr.princeton.edu/popclock/

Where are the people?

1. China ~1.3 billion2. India ~1.1 billion3. U. S. ~310 million4. Indonesia ~242

mil.5. Brazil ~201

million

6. Pakistan ~177 million7. Bangladesh ~158 million8. Nigeria ~152 million9. Russia ~139 million10. Japan ~126 million

Cool Population Facts

• 3/5 (60%) of the world lives in Asia• 1/5 (20%) of the world lives in

China• 90% of the world live in the

Northern Hemisphere• The world has 2.2 billion children

(that’s 1/3 of the population)

Geographers also use population density—the average number of people living in an area.

Population density includes size of its country, size of its population, and its environment.

Thinking Critically:

Canada has a population density of 8 persons per square mile

Bangladesh is 2,361 persons per square mile

How would you explain this in terms of population density?

Canada

Bangladesh

Which countries have the highest population

density?

Emigrants—people who leave a country to live somewhere else (EXIT)

Immigrants—people who come into a new country to live (INTO)

What does the future hold?

1804: World reaches 1 billion• 123 years later…

1927: World reaches 2 billion• 33 years later…

1960: World reaches 3 billion• 14 years later…

1974: World reaches 4 billion• 13 years later…

1987: World reaches 5 billion

1999: Population reaches 6 billion

It is estimated that we will hit 7 billion in 2012 (now it will be Oct. 2011)

8 billion by 2025

And 9 billion by 2050

• 7 Billion, National Geographic Magazine - YouTube

• 7 Billion: Are You Typical? -- National Geographic Magazine - YouTube

Thinking Critically

• Why has the world’s population exploded?

• Could large populations be a problem? Why?

Demographic Trends

Population is dropping in Europe, Japan, Australia because birth rates have dropped.

Countries in Africa, Asia, and South America have exploding populations because of high birth rates.

Even though the United States has slightly lower birth rates, a high level of immigration has kept the population high.

How do you track population?

Population pyramids—a bar graph that shows the percentage of males and females and age groups in a given country.

Purpose

Pyramids are used to show whether a population is growing or declining; it also indicates the breakdown of gender and age

Create your own pyramid