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110 Unit 2 Population and Migration%u00a0Patterns and%u00a0Processescultural groups can perceive the same physical environment in different ways, and their varied responses to the same environment influence settlement patterns. A good example appears in a part of the European Alps shared by German- and Italian-speaking peoples. The mountain ridges in that area%u2014near the point where the borders of Switzerland, Italy, and Austria meet%u2014run in an east%u2013west direction. Thus, each ridge has a sunny, south-facing slope and a shady, north-facing slope. German-speaking people, who rely on dairy farming, long ago established permanent settlements some 650 feet (200 meters) higher on the shady slopes than the settlements of Italians, who are culturally tied to crops that grow best on the sunny slopes.Economic DevelopmentEconomic development and technological advances can affect population distribution. The coalfields of western Europe are a good case in point. Before the industrial age, many coal-rich areas%u2014such as the Midlands of England, southern Wales, and the lands between the headwaters of the Oder (or Odra) and Vistula rivers in Poland%u2014were only sparsely or moderately settled. The development of steam-powered engines and the increased use of coal in the iron-smelting process, however, created a tremendous demand for coal. Industries grew up near the European coalfields, and people flocked to these areas to find work. In other words, after a technological and economic development increased the value of coal, many sparsely populated areas containing that resource attracted large numbers of people. A similar phenomenon occurred in many mining towns in Colorado and other western states in the United States in the nineteenth century. Mining attracted many people from other parts of the country, but when the mineral resources ran out, residents left and once-booming places turned into ghost towns.DiseaseDisease also affects population distribution. The Black Death of the mid-fourteenth century killed up to 75%u2013200 million people, effectively wiping out many human settlements in Eurasia and Africa. An estimated 50 million people worldwide perished in the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, including about 5 percent of India%u2019s population. Some diseases attack valuable domestic animals, depriving people of food and clothing resources. These diseases have an indirect effect on population density. Their effect is indirect because they may not kill people but affect population size by decreasing food supplies. For example, ClimateClimate factors influence where people settle. Most sparsely populated zones in the world have difficult climates for human habitation (see Figure 7.1). The thinly populated northern edges of Eurasia and North America are excessively cold, and the belt of sparse population extending from North Africa into the heart of Eurasia matches the pattern in major desert zones of the Eastern Hemisphere. Australians speak of the %u201cdead heart%u201d of their continent, an interior land of excessive dryness and heat, and sparse human populations (Figure 7.9). Humans are largely creatures of the humid tropics, subtropics, and midlatitudes, and they have not fared well in excessively cold or dry areas. Small populations of Inuit, Sami (Lapps), and other peoples live in some of Earth%u2019s less hospitable areas, but these regions do not support large populations. Though humans have proven remarkably adaptable to living in many different physical environments, there are limits.CultureThough some population settlements start out as adaptations to physical conditions, these patterns sometimes become tightly woven into the cultural fabric. Thus, living in crowded settlements or having large families may have deep roots in both nature and culture. In addition, perceptions of the physical environment play a major role in a group%u2019s decision about where to settle. Different Figure 7.9 Australia%u2019s %u201cdead heart.%u201d This picture was taken west of Alice Springs in Australia%u2019s Northern Territory, which is just about at the center of the continent. The climate here is inhospitable and settlements are sparse. Marianne Purdie/Alamy Stock Photo%u00a9 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. For review purposes only. Do not distribute.