Chapter 2

Key Issue 1
Clusters
East Asia
Nearly one fourth of world pop. live in East Asia
Region borders pacific ocean, includes Eastern China, islands of Japan,
Korean peninsula, and island of Taiwan
Chinese population is clustered near the Pacific Coast and in several
fertile river valleys
More than one half of the people live in rural areas
More than three fourths of all Japanese and Koreans are clustered in
urban areas and work at industrial or service jobs
South Asia
Nearly one fourth of world pop. live in South Asia
Includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the island of Sri Lanka
Largest concentration of people within South Asia lives along 1,500 km
corridor from Lahore, Pakistan, through India and Bangladesh to the Bay
of Bengal.
Much of areas pop. is concentrated along the plains of the Indus and
Ganges River.
Population is heavily concentrated near India coastlines (Arabian Sea to
the west and the Bay of Bengal to the east)
Most people in South Asia are farmers living in rural areas
Europe
Includes four dozen countries
Includes Monaco with 1 sq. km and Russia, worlds largest country in
land area when its Asian part is included
Three fourths of Europes inhabitants live in cities, and fewer than 10
percent are farmers
The highest population concentration in Europe are near the major
rivers and coalfields of Germany and Belgium, as well us historic capital
cities such as London and Paris
Southeast Asia
Around 600 million people live in Southeast Asia, mostly on a series of
islands that lie between the Indian and Pacific Ocean
Indonesia which consist of 13,677 islands, is the worlds fourth most
populated country
Largest population concentration is on the island Java, which is
inhabited by more than 100 million people
Several islands that belong to the Philippines contain high population
concentrations, and population is clustered along several river valleys
and deltas at the southeastern tip of the Asian mainland, known as
Indochina.

Southeast Asia concentration is characterized by a high percentage of

people working as farmers in rural areas
Other clusters
Largest population concentration in the Western hemisphere is the
northeastern United States and southeaster Canada
Largest cluster in Africa is along the Atlantic coast, especially the portion
facing south. Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa
Sparsely populated regions
Ecumene
The portion of Earths surface occupied by permanent human
settlement
Dry lands
Areas to dry for faming cover 20% of Earths land surface
Lack water to grow crops
Can survive by raising camels that are adapted to climate
Contain natural resources like oil
Wet lands
Lands that receive high levels of precipitation, located primarily near the
equator
Combination of rain and heat rapidly depletes nutrients from the soil
and thus hinders agriculture
Cold lands
Much of land near North and South poles are perpetually covered with
ice or the ground is frozen
Polar regions are unsuitable for growing crops, few animals and humans
live and survive there
High lands
Highest mountains are steep, snow covered, and sparsely settled
Some high altitude plateaus and mountains regions are more densely
populated, especially low latitude (near equator) where agriculture is
possible at high elevations
Population Density
Arithmetic density
More frequently used by geographers
Refers to the total number of people divided by the total land area
Enables geographers to compare the number of people trying to live on
a given piece of land in different regions of the world
Describes where people live in the world
Example: person per square km
Physiological density
Looking at number of people per area of a certain type of land
Land suited for agriculture is called arable land
Refers the number of people supported by a unit of area of arable land

Compares the population to resources

Example: person per sq. km of arable land
Agricultural density
Two countries can have similar physiological densities but produce
significantly different amounts of food
Refers to the ratio of the number of farmers to the amount of arable
land
Measures economic efficiency of food production
Measuring agricultural density helps account for economical differences
Developed countries have lower agricultural densities because
technology and finance allow a few people to farm extensive land areas
and fed many people
Example: farmers per sq. km of arable land