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poor quality of agricultural lands. We revisit this issue
TERMS TO KNOW . . . in Module 11, where we discuss theories of population

carrying capacity: The number of people a particular growth and food production.
environment or Earth as a whole can support on a
sustainable basis Human Well-Being
human well-being: The state of being comfortable,
healthy, or happy. It may be tempting to conclude that high population
density has negative effects on human well-being, but
the facts do not support this conclusion. There is lit-
Political Impact tle connection between population density and human
well-being, or the state of being comfortable, healthy,
In the United States, population distribution affects or happy. Population density has risen considerably
political power distribution. After the U.S. census is worldwide since the Industrial Revolution in the late
conducted every 10 years, the 435 seats in the U.S. eighteenth century, but it has been accompanied by
House of Representatives are reapportioned among rising standards of living and better quality of life. In
the 50 states based on population change so that each fact, some of the world’s most densely populated areas,
representative serves about the same number of peo- such as western Europe and Japan, have the highest
ple (currently 710,767 people on average). Because standards of living. The small principality of Monaco in
the population of the Sunbelt states in the South and southern Europe is the most densely populated nation
Southwest has been growing faster than the popula- in the world, but it also ranks among the highest in
tion of the Northeast and Midwest Snow Belt states, income per capita and life expectancy, and it has one of
the former have gained seats at the expense of the lat- the lowest unemployment rates in the world.
ter, thus shifting some political power to the South and High population density often means a high amount
Southwest. Between 2000 and 2010, eight states — of human capital, human interaction, and human cre-
Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, ativity. New ideas, new technological innovations, and
Texas, Utah, and Washington, six of them in the South new fashion trends usually emerge in urban areas and
and Southwest — gained 12 seats in the House. Nine then spread to less densely populated places. Cities
of the ten states that lost seats are in the Northeast have therefore been called “the best invention in human
and Midwest. history.”
Environmental Impact

Population distribution and density may also have
environmental consequences. Heavily populated areas,
especially large metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles,
London, Mexico City, and Delhi, usually have poor air
quality compared to rural areas (Figure 7.12). The need
to build more homes, roads, and shopping centers to ac-
commodate a growing population often leads to loss of
habitats for wildlife, farmland for food production, and
green spaces that many people value.
Geographers and other scholars have long debated
Earth’s carrying capacity, or the number of people it can
support and sustain. Many factors, including climate,
land productivity, technology, and consumption level,
affect carrying capacity, so it is not easy to come up with
a definitive answer. Many densely populated areas may Figure 7.12 Smog in Los Angeles. Air pollution is usually a
have not reached their capacity, but some thinly settled problem in densely populated areas like Los Angeles. It can cause
regions may be severely overpopulated relative to their serious health problems to humans. Valentin Weinhaupl /Westend 61/
ability to support their population, usually because of Media Bakery

18 Unit 2 Population and Migration Patterns and Process
©2021 BFW Publishers. Sample material is NOT FINAL and corrections will be made prior to publication.

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