Page 17 - bfw-APHG-1e

80°N 80°N
Arctic Circle
Arctic Circle
60°N 60°N
EUROPEAN
CLUSTER
40°N EAST ASIAN 40°N
ATLANTIC CLUSTER
OCEAN Tropic of Cancer
Tropic of Cancer
20°N SOUTHEAST 20°N
PACIFIC ASIAN
OCEAN SOUTH CLUSTER
Equator
0° Equator 0°
ASIAN PACIFIC
Population density CLUSTER OCEAN
Per Per INDIAN
sq. km sq. mile OCEAN Tropic of Capricorn 20°S
Tropic of Capricorn
Above 100 Above 250 ATLANTIC
25–100 60–250 OCEAN
40°S
40°S
40°S 40°S
2–24 3–59 0 2000 4000 miles
1 1–2 0 2000 4000 km
Below 1 160°W Below 1 100°W 80°W 60°W 40°W 20°W 0° 20°E 40°E 60°E 80°E 100°E 120°E 140°E 160°E 180°
160°W
Figure 7.1 Population distribution in the world. Can you identify the major countries located in densely populated areas on the map?
What areas of the world are sparsely populated?

Almost 80 percent of Brazil’s 209 million people (about Africa to 16.2 percent, Middle and South America to
one-quarter of the population of the southern hemi- 8.5 percent, and Australia and the Pacific Islands to
sphere) live within 200 miles (320 km) of its coasts. 0.5 percent. While these numbers indicate unevenness
Certainly, beachfront property can be very nice, but in population distribution, they are also misleading
with the increasing number of people wanting to live because continents’ sizes and environmental conditions
there, it’s no wonder that housing in coastal places is vary greatly. Within each continent and even within
usually very expensive. countries, population is also very unevenly distributed,
If we consider the distribution of people by conti- as Figure 7.1 shows.
nents, we find that 69.2 percent of the human race lives Earth’s pattern of population distribution changes
in Eurasia, a huge landmass that consists of Europe, constantly as humans move from one part of the world
with just under 10 percent of the human population, to another. The movement of human populations is as
and Asia, which is home to almost 60 percent of human- old as humanity itself. Over the course of history, human
ity. North America is home to 4.8 percent of all people, beings — who are native to the African tropics — have
moved to other parts of the world and learned to adapt
to challenging natural environments. We have made
ourselves at home in all but the most inhospitable cli-
mates, avoiding only such places as icy Antarctica and
TERMS TO KNOW . . . the Arabian Peninsula’s arid “Empty Quarter.” Our per-

Eurasia: A massive piece of land on Earth that consists manent habitat extends from the edge of the ice sheets
to the seashores, from desert valleys below sea level to
of Europe, with just under 10 percent of the human
population, and Asia, which accounts for almost high mountain slopes. Geographers refer to the por-
60 percent of humanity tion of Earth’s surface with permanent human settle-
ecumene: The portion of Earth’s surface with permanent ment as the ecumene (from a Greek word meaning the
human settlement inhabited world). The ecumene has expanded greatly
throughout human history.

6 Unit 2 Population and Migration Patterns and Process
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