Page 24 - ICSE GEOGRAPHY

ARCTIC OCEAN
ARCTIC OCEAN

Arctic Circle Arctic Circle

NORTH PACIFIC NORTH PACIFIC
OCEAN NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN
OCEAN

Tropic of Cancer Tropic of Cancer

Equator INDIAN OCEAN Equator
Persons per sq. km. (2015)
SOUTH ATLANTIC
Less than 20 SOUTH PACIFIC OCEAN
OCEAN
20-45 Tropic of Capricorn
45-70 SOUTH PACIFIC
OCEAN
70-95
95-140
140-240
240-415
More than 415
ANTARCTIC OCEAN
A world map showing the density of population

Th e world’s population distribution is uneven. nearly 1.3 billion in China alone. Th e map
Sparsely populated places tend to be diffi cult shows that the population is concentrated in
places to live in. Th ese are usually places island nations of South-East Asia.

with hostile environments, for example,
mountains or deserts. Places which are densely Let’s Discuss
populated have favourable environments, for Why have most people always settled near
rivers since early times?
example Europe and South-East Asia.
Th e above map shows patterns of population
India lies at the centre of the South Asian
distribution in the world using diff erent shades
cluster with Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the
of colours. It shows that three regions have the
island of Sri Lanka next to it. Th is area has
world’s largest population densities and they
one of the greatest concentrations of people
all lie in the Eurasian landmass. Th ese three
on Earth with about 1.5 billion people.
regions are East Asia, South Asia and Europe, Th is is also a region with a rapidly growing
each also associated with ancient civilisations. It population. Th e capacity of the region to
also shows us that the overwhelming majority support this population has already been
of the world’s population inhabits the Northern exceeded. Most people here are engaged in
Hemisphere. primary economic activities.

Th e area around China, Korea and Japan, holds Europe is the third most populated region
about one-quarter of the world’s population— with around 700 million people. Unlike the

Eurasian: (here) a combined continental landmass of Europe and Asia

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