Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 2.2
Yixian, China.
This canal is part of the South-North Water Transfer Project. The $60 billion
project will divert water from southern China to northern China along three different routes.
© Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images.
Key Questions
For Chapter 2
1.
Where in the world do people live and why?
2.
Why do populations rise or fall in particular places?
3.
Why does population composition matter?
4.
How does the geography of health infl uence population dynamics?
5.
How do governments affect population change?
size (Fig. 2.3). Population density assumes an even distri-
bution of the population over the land. The United States,
for example, with a territory of 3,717,796 square miles or
9,629,047 square kilometers (including the surfaces of
lakes and ponds and coastal waters up to three nautical
miles from shore) had a population of 308.2 million in
2010. This yields an average population density for the
United States of just over 82 per square mile (32 per sq
km). This density fi gure is also known as the country's
arithmetic population density
, and in a very general
way it emphasizes the contrasts between the United States
and such countries as Bangladesh (2741 per sq mi or 1058 per
sq km), the Netherlands (1046 per sq mile or 404 per sq km),
and Japan (875 per sq mile or 338 per sq km).
WHERE IN THE WORLD DO PEOPLE LIVE
AND WHY?
When geographers study population, they focus on the
variability of demographic features and factors across space.
Demography
is the study of population in general perspective,
and population geographers work in tandem with demogra-
phers, seeking answers to the problems posed by these varia-
tions. The concept of scale is crucial in this research because
such variability occurs from region to region, country to
country, and within individual countries themselves.
Demographers report the
population density
of a
country as a measure of total population relative to land
