population density (sometimes also relative population, to differentiate it from absolute population, which simply equals a certain number of inhabitants in each territory) refers to the average number of inhabitants of a country, region, urban or rural area in relation to a given surface unit of the territory where that country, region or area is located.
Characteristics
F. J. Monkhouse defines it as the average number of inhabitants per surface unit in a given territory*.[1] And the* Rioduero Dictionary of Geography defines it as the average number of inhabitants of a country who live on a surface unit (km²). This number does not faithfully reflect reality, since within the same territory there are normally large differences.[2].
Its simple formula is:
As worldwide the areas of different nations, regions or administrative divisions are mostly expressed in square kilometers, the density obtained is commonly expressed in inhabitants per km². However, in some countries, for example the United States, the square mile is more often used as a unit of area, so in them the relative population is normally expressed by means of inhabitants/mi².
Within the same country, urban regions have a higher demographic density than rural ones. However, in international comparisons this may not always be the case. For example, some rural areas of the overpopulated Indonesian island of Java "Java (island)") (which for its part has an absolute population of approximately 150 million inhabitants and a relative population of approximately 1,170 inhabitants/km² on average) have greater density than some urbanized regions of Europe, especially if we compare some urban regions with part of their sparsely populated territory, with extensive rural regions of high density.
The most densely populated countries or territories in the world are usually also quite small and, in some cases, are city-states. Among them are Macao (special administrative region of China), Singapore, Hong Kong (another Chinese SAR), the Gaza Strip (one of the two Palestinian regions) or the small European principality of Monaco. On the other hand, among the nations with the largest absolute population, Bangladesh, India and Japan stand out for their density. In Latin America, Puerto Rico, El Salvador (the most densely populated nation on the Central American isthmus), Guatemala and Cuba stand out.
Urban density mapping
Introduction
population density (sometimes also relative population, to differentiate it from absolute population, which simply equals a certain number of inhabitants in each territory) refers to the average number of inhabitants of a country, region, urban or rural area in relation to a given surface unit of the territory where that country, region or area is located.
Characteristics
F. J. Monkhouse defines it as the average number of inhabitants per surface unit in a given territory*.[1] And the* Rioduero Dictionary of Geography defines it as the average number of inhabitants of a country who live on a surface unit (km²). This number does not faithfully reflect reality, since within the same territory there are normally large differences.[2].
Its simple formula is:
As worldwide the areas of different nations, regions or administrative divisions are mostly expressed in square kilometers, the density obtained is commonly expressed in inhabitants per km². However, in some countries, for example the United States, the square mile is more often used as a unit of area, so in them the relative population is normally expressed by means of inhabitants/mi².
Within the same country, urban regions have a higher demographic density than rural ones. However, in international comparisons this may not always be the case. For example, some rural areas of the overpopulated Indonesian island of Java "Java (island)") (which for its part has an absolute population of approximately 150 million inhabitants and a relative population of approximately 1,170 inhabitants/km² on average) have greater density than some urbanized regions of Europe, especially if we compare some urban regions with part of their sparsely populated territory, with extensive rural regions of high density.
The most densely populated countries or territories in the world are usually also quite small and, in some cases, are city-states. Among them are Macao (special administrative region of China), Singapore, Hong Kong (another Chinese SAR), the Gaza Strip (one of the two Palestinian regions) or the small European principality of Monaco. On the other hand, among the nations with the largest absolute population, Bangladesh, India and Japan stand out for their density. In Latin America, Puerto Rico, El Salvador (the most densely populated nation on the Central American isthmus), Guatemala and Cuba stand out.
The city with the highest population density in the world is Kowloon, in Hong Kong (China) with a population of 50,000 inhabitants and an area of 0.026 km² (density of 1,923,077 inhabitants/km² in 2006), followed by Macau, also in China.
Until 1993, when it was demolished, what was known as the Kowloon Walled City existed within Kowloon, which in just 0.026 km² had a population of 50,000 inhabitants, which represented a density of almost 2 million inhabitants per km². However, the context in which this case occurred generated extreme overcrowding and put the habitability conditions of the homes to the limit.
In a general sense, it can be said that the greater and greater population densities of the world's large cities present different and even opposite problems to those of rural emigration areas. If typical urban problems (housing, transportation, sources of work, urban services, citizen security, marginality, etc.) become more acute day by day in cities, in rural areas economic development or infrastructure projects cannot be developed due to lack or shortage of labor. In a book by Ester Boserup[3] it is pointed out that with the increase in population and agricultural production, the concentration of the population in urban centers is practically inevitable. Boserup also points out that the technological change in agriculture occurs when the population density rate reaches a critical point, which not only increases the demographic concentration in the cities, but also changes the situation in the countryside with technical development, increased production and, above all, the diversification of the economy, with the start and growth of industrial and service companies. The difference between the two options marks a process of change worldwide that has been taking place in the past 100 to 150 years: the decrease in the peasant population due to the rural exodus forces the remaining farmers to acquire more land (those of the emigrants) that they will have to put to work with the use of a greater number of machines (increase in capital) and above all, it also forces them to change the types of crops that allow them greater productivity and yield per hectare. higher.
Countries with the lowest population density
Just as there are places that have high population densities, there are countries in which the density is much lower. It can be for different reasons such as the climate: in Antarctica, the only population is scientists or tourists who reside temporarily (for health reasons), the population density is less than one inhabitant per square kilometer (km²), as in Western Sahara, whose population density is 1.15 inhabitants per square kilometer (although the figure is irrelevant, since the majority of the population resides outside the country). Also one of the problems can be the scarcity of resources (jobs, labor, food, etc.) and in Australia, where the population density is 3 inhabitants per square kilometer. In 2018, the five countries with the lowest population density were the following:.
Mongolia, with 2 inhabitants/km².
Australia, with 3 inhabitants/km².
Iceland, with 3 inhabitants/km².
Namibia, with 3 inhabitants/km².
Libya, with 4 inhabitants/km².[4].
The autonomous region of Greenland has a density of 0.026 inhabitants/km².
• - List of dependent countries and territories by population density.
• - Census (statistics) "Census (statistics)").
• - Concentration of the population.
• - Demographics.
• - Depopulation.
• - Dispersion of the population.
• - Rural exodus.
• - Geography of the population.
• - Human geography.
• - Human migration.
• - Population.
• - Population and resources.
• - Population.
• - Wiktionary has definitions and other information about population density.
• - Population density statistics - Index mundi.
• - Population density map by municipalities (Spain).
References
[1] ↑ F. J. Monkhouse Diccionario de términos geográficos. Barcelona: Oikos-tau ediciones, 1978, p. 137.
[2] ↑ Diccionario Rioduero de Geografía, Ediciones Rioduero, Madrid (España), 1972, página 47.
[3] ↑ Boserup, Ester. Los determinantes del desarrollo en la agricultura. Madrid: Tecnos, 1967.
The city with the highest population density in the world is Kowloon, in Hong Kong (China) with a population of 50,000 inhabitants and an area of 0.026 km² (density of 1,923,077 inhabitants/km² in 2006), followed by Macau, also in China.
Until 1993, when it was demolished, what was known as the Kowloon Walled City existed within Kowloon, which in just 0.026 km² had a population of 50,000 inhabitants, which represented a density of almost 2 million inhabitants per km². However, the context in which this case occurred generated extreme overcrowding and put the habitability conditions of the homes to the limit.
In a general sense, it can be said that the greater and greater population densities of the world's large cities present different and even opposite problems to those of rural emigration areas. If typical urban problems (housing, transportation, sources of work, urban services, citizen security, marginality, etc.) become more acute day by day in cities, in rural areas economic development or infrastructure projects cannot be developed due to lack or shortage of labor. In a book by Ester Boserup[3] it is pointed out that with the increase in population and agricultural production, the concentration of the population in urban centers is practically inevitable. Boserup also points out that the technological change in agriculture occurs when the population density rate reaches a critical point, which not only increases the demographic concentration in the cities, but also changes the situation in the countryside with technical development, increased production and, above all, the diversification of the economy, with the start and growth of industrial and service companies. The difference between the two options marks a process of change worldwide that has been taking place in the past 100 to 150 years: the decrease in the peasant population due to the rural exodus forces the remaining farmers to acquire more land (those of the emigrants) that they will have to put to work with the use of a greater number of machines (increase in capital) and above all, it also forces them to change the types of crops that allow them greater productivity and yield per hectare. higher.
Countries with the lowest population density
Just as there are places that have high population densities, there are countries in which the density is much lower. It can be for different reasons such as the climate: in Antarctica, the only population is scientists or tourists who reside temporarily (for health reasons), the population density is less than one inhabitant per square kilometer (km²), as in Western Sahara, whose population density is 1.15 inhabitants per square kilometer (although the figure is irrelevant, since the majority of the population resides outside the country). Also one of the problems can be the scarcity of resources (jobs, labor, food, etc.) and in Australia, where the population density is 3 inhabitants per square kilometer. In 2018, the five countries with the lowest population density were the following:.
Mongolia, with 2 inhabitants/km².
Australia, with 3 inhabitants/km².
Iceland, with 3 inhabitants/km².
Namibia, with 3 inhabitants/km².
Libya, with 4 inhabitants/km².[4].
The autonomous region of Greenland has a density of 0.026 inhabitants/km².
• - List of dependent countries and territories by population density.
• - Census (statistics) "Census (statistics)").
• - Concentration of the population.
• - Demographics.
• - Depopulation.
• - Dispersion of the population.
• - Rural exodus.
• - Geography of the population.
• - Human geography.
• - Human migration.
• - Population.
• - Population and resources.
• - Population.
• - Wiktionary has definitions and other information about population density.
• - Population density statistics - Index mundi.
• - Population density map by municipalities (Spain).
References
[1] ↑ F. J. Monkhouse Diccionario de términos geográficos. Barcelona: Oikos-tau ediciones, 1978, p. 137.
[2] ↑ Diccionario Rioduero de Geografía, Ediciones Rioduero, Madrid (España), 1972, página 47.
[3] ↑ Boserup, Ester. Los determinantes del desarrollo en la agricultura. Madrid: Tecnos, 1967.