Question

What are the causes of uneven distribution of population in the world?

Answer 1

Hint:Population is the number of people living in a given territory at a particular period of time. Population is an important factor that social sciences needs to study. Data on spatial distribution of population is important for various reasons like forming electoral constituencies, for ease of administrative policies and for designing welfare measures.

Complete Answer:Only 30%of earth’s surface is covered with land and the population is unevenly distributed over this area. Geographical, cultural, economical and social factors influence spatial distribution of population. Since these factors vary across our planet, we have an uneven distribution of population in the world.

Geographical factor-
Geographical factors like soil, climate, topography, water influence the population of an area.
Plains are more densely populated than mountains as agriculture and other activities are easier on the plains.
Availability of water is very important for agriculture as most cities develop around rivers. People also do not prefer staying in extreme climates and that is why places like Russian polar regions and desert areas are sparsely populated.

Economical factors like presence of industries, markets also influence population distribution as places that are near markets or have industries help to provide stable income.

Cultural factors also influence population distribution as people often tend to settle in places of religious importance like Varanasi, Jerusalem etc.

Social factors like proper health, educational and transport facilities, determine the population of an area too.

As these factors differ over regions, population distribution differs too.

Note:Population density is defined as the number of people living per unit area. Regions that have more favorable geographical, economic and social factors have higher population density. China, Singapore and Bangladesh are some of the most densely populated countries of the world. In India, Bihar and West Bengal are the most densely populated states.