Population Density

Population density tells us how many people live on one square kilometre of land. The world’s population is not spread evenly over the continents. Asia and Europe are the most densely populated continents. Many other areas of the world , like deserts, polar regions or high mountains are very sparsely ,or not at all populated .

About 90% of the earth’s people live on only 10% of the land. Most of them live north of the equator because two thirds of the earth’s landmasses are there.

Many people also live near coastal regions . In China, for example, 80% of the country’s inhabitants live in the eastern part of the country near the coast. In South America, most people live in the big cities, which all lie in coastal areas.

There are many reasons why people live in certain places. Areas with moderate temperatures and enough rainfall are densely populated, because people find good farming conditions there. Raw materials also attract groups of people. North-western Germany and parts of England are densely populated because coal is mined there. Economic reasons also play an important role in choosing where to live. People go to places where they can find jobs and where the economy is strong.

 

 

World Population- Table of Contents

 

Downloadable PDF Text- and Worksheets

 

Online Exercises

 

Words

  • attract = to make interested
  • certain =special
  • coastal regions = places where land meets the sea
  • conditions =situation
  • dense =crowded, with many people in one place
  • density =the number of people that live in a certain place
  • economic =about the economy
  • economy =the buying and selling of things
  • evenly =divided equally
  • inhabitants = same as "population
  • landmass = large areas of land
  • mine = to get coal or other things from the ground
  • moderate = not too hot and not too cold
  • populated =people living in a place
  • population = the number of people living in a place
  • raw material = things that exist in nature and can be used by people ; like coal, oil or wood
  • sparsely = opposite of densely
  • spread =distribute
  • square kilometre =one kilometre in four directions