Q17
“90 percent of the world population lives in about 10 percent of its total land area, whereas the remaining 10 percent population resides in the 90 percent of its land area.” Support the statement with suitable examples.
Solution
90% of the world population lives in about 10% of its total land area, whereas the remaining 10% population has spread over 90% of land area. The reasons are: 1. Density of population is high in river valleys due to water availability through rivers and canals. The soil and water makes the land usable for agriculture. 2. The plains are densely populated while hilly areas and deserts are sparsely populated because of uneven terrain. 3. Population also depends on climatic conditions. Hot, cold and dry climates have sparse populations example : Tundra region is very cold all the time, with snow, these are less populated, in deserts due to acute scarcity of water and without agriculture the area remains sparsely populated. But areas of moderate climate have dense populations. 4. Areas s:uch a-s Gangatic plains, deltas, north Indian plain have higher proportion of population because of fertile soil with possibility of agriculture. 5. Development of transport networks, industrialisation and urbanisation are some important socio-economic and historical factors which influence the distribution of population.