This document discusses factors that influence population density and distribution around the world. It provides examples of areas with high and low population densities, such as Singapore being very densely populated due to its small land area, while countries in the Sahel region of Africa have sparse populations partly due to large desert areas. Environmental factors like climate, land type and resources can attract or discourage settlement, affecting population distribution patterns locally and globally.

1. IGCSE GEOGRAPHY
4. POPULATION DENSITY
AND DISTRIBUTION
FACTORS INFLUENCING
THE DENSITY AND DISTRIBUTION
CASE STUDIES
SINGAPORE – DENSELY POPULATED
SAHEL – SPARSELY POPULATED

2. The way in which people are spread across a given area is
known as population distribution.
Geographers study population distribution patterns at
different scales: local, regional, national, and global.
Patterns of population distribution tend to be uneven.
For example, in the UK there are more people living in south-
east England than in Wales.

4. Population density = total population ÷ total land area in km²

5. The following map shows patterns of population density on a
global scale.

7. Areas of high and low population density are unevenly spread
across the world.
The majority of places with high population densities are found
in the northern hemisphere.
The population density of a country has very little to do with its
level of economic development.
For example, both Bangladesh and Japan are very densely
populated, but Bangladesh is a LEDC and Japan is a MEDC.

8. Environmental and human factors affect the spread of people
across the world.
Factors attracting settlement
Temperate climate - eg the UK.
Low-lying flat fertile land - eg the Bangladesh Delta.
Good supplies of natural resources - eg building resources.

9. Brahmaputra River in India

10. Factors discouraging settlement
Extreme climates - eg Sahara Desert.
Mountainous or highland areas - eg the Scottish Highlands.
Dense vegetation - eg the Amazon Rainforest.

11. The Sahara Desert

12. Factors such as the availability of jobs and comparatively high
wages can contribute to high population density through
migration.
For example, from 2004 the UK has seen an influx of migrants
from countries that have recently joined the EU, such as Poland.

13. Civil war, eg in the Darfur region of Sudan, can contribute to
lower population densities as people become refugees and
leave an area.

15. Singapore population: 5.2 million people
Land area: 710 sq km
Population density: 7300 people/ sq km
GDP per capita: $50000
From these statistics, it is evident that Singapore is already an
extremely dense country.
However, it is important not to forget that Singapore, having
an urbanisation rate of 100%, resembles more of a city rather
than a country, due to its small land area.

17. These 10 countries span over 7 million square km and have
close to 135 million inhabitants.
Some of the larger countries that contain extensive expanses of
desert (Mali and Niger) have low population densities of fewer
than 20 people per square km.
Other geographically smaller countries that have access to the
sea (such as Senegal) have population densities of 50 people or
more per square km.
Landlocked Burkina Faso has a population density of 65 people
per square km.
Only Gambia has more than 150 people per square km.