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Population distribution worldwide

Source: licencja: CC 0, [online], dostępny w internecie: www.pexels.com.

Link to the lesson

Before you start you should know
  • what population density is and how to calculate it;

  • where the oldest human civilisations were created;

  • what migration is;

  • what the causes and effects of migratory movements are.

You will learn
  • to list conditions favourable to settlement;

  • to list settlement barriers;

  • to point on the map the areas with little population and those entirely uninhabited;

  • to discuss regularities which govern population distribution;

  • to explain the terms: anecumene, ecumene, subecumene.

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nagranie abstraktu

When we look at the map showing population density, we will see that human population is not distributed evenly on Earth. Those lands, were people reside permanently, are called ecumeneecumeneecumene. Most people live in the northern hemisphere. One of the reasons for this situation is that this is where most of land areas are located. Apart from Antarctica, we can see that there are areas with less and more population in each continent. Sometimes the contrast is enormous.

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People are very unevenly dispersed in the world

On the one hand, we can see uninhabited lands (anecumeneanecumeneanecumene) or lands where population density is close to nil. Where population density (person/kmIndeks górny 2) is in single digits, people live in small, highly dispersed settlements. Those include: northern ends of Eurasia and North America, central Asia, major part of Australia, large portions of north Africa and South America. Antarctica is a special case here - this is a continent with no permanent settlement at all.

On the other hand, in some areas population density is greater than 1,000 people per 1 kmIndeks górny 2. Moreover, this scale has no upper limit, even though the last range starts with over 50,000 people per 1 kmIndeks górny 2. Consequently, we are unable to tell (based on the data on the map) what the top limit is. The areas with most dense population are: east and south Asia, Europe, east coast of North and South America, Central America, areas around the Gulf of Guinea and the belt from Ethiopian Highlands to the African Great Lakes. Even if we look at smaller areas, such as countries, the contrasts they are also very big.

Territory

Population density
(person/kmIndeks górny 2)

Territory

Population density
person/kmIndeks górny 2)

Iceland

3

India

396

Australia

3

Netherlands

497

Canada

4

South Korea

503

Namibia

3

Barbados

645

Suriname

3

Bangladesh

1110

Mongolia

2

Bahrain

1580

West Sahara

2

Hong Kong

6483

Svalbard

0,04

Macau

19830

No.

City/Urban agglomeration

Country

Population density
(thousand people/kmIndeks górny 2)

1.

Mumbai

India

29.65

2.

Kolkata

India

23.9

3.

Karachi

Pakistan

18.9

4.

Lagos

Nigeria

18.15

5.

Shenzhen

China

17.15

6.

Seoul/Incheon

South Korea

16.7

7.

Taipei

Taiwan

15.2

8.

Chennai

India

14.35

9.

Bogota

Columbia

13.5

10.

Shanghai

China

13.4

Natural factors

If we compare the placement of oldest civilisation sites against the population density map, we can see that the areas, which were densely inhabited in antiquity, continue this trend today. Consequently, we can notice that conditions, which are most attractive for settlement, still are: climate with long vegetation period and high precipitation, even if it is seasonal or rivers with abundance of water. Fertile soil and its easy cultivation on even flatlands are an important factor too. Big rivers with slow current make perfect traffic ways. Nowadays, densely inhabited areas form also on industrial lands, in particular those rich in mineral resources, or service zones e.g. along transportation routes.

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An example of a high population density site

As the population grew, new lands were settled, selecting the best available areas. Hence the growth of the ecumene, which covers major portions of the continents. When we compare the population distribution map and the natural map, we can determine the conditions avoided by people or what can be a settlement barrier.

There is also a specific form of adjustment to unfavourable natural conditions, called nomadism - people are constantly on the move, without forming any permanent human settlements or residing there seasonally. Such areas are called subecumenesubecumenesubecumene.

Natural map of the world
Task 1

Use information from various sources to describe the following factors.

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. Natural factors determining the global population distribution (Uzupełnij). Non-natural factors determining the global population distribution (Uzupełnij). Settlement barriers. Examples on the world map. (Uzupełnij). Areas with the highest and lowest concentration of population globally. (Uzupełnij). Conclusions (Uzupełnij).
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Exercise 1
Wysłuchaj nagrania abstraktu i zastanów się, czego jeszcze chciałbyś się dowiedzieć w związku z tematem lekcji.
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Do you know what do those terms mean? If not, turn the card around. Ecumene Możliwe odpowiedzi: 1. area uninhabited by people, 2. area temporarily inhabited by people, 3. area permanently inhabited by people Anecumene Możliwe odpowiedzi: 1. area uninhabited by people, 2. area temporarily inhabited by people, 3. area permanently inhabited by people Subecumene Możliwe odpowiedzi: 1. area uninhabited by people, 2. area temporarily inhabited by people, 3. area permanently inhabited by people
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Exercise 2
Przypomnij sobie tytuł abstraktu, wysłuchaj nagrania i spróbuj zaproponować własny temat dla dzisiejszej lekcji.
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Exercise 3
Wysłuchaj nagrań słówek w słowniczku i naucz się ich prawidłowej wymowy.
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Exercise 4
Przypomnij sobie tytuł abstraktu, wysłuchaj nagrania i spróbuj zaproponować własny temat dla dzisiejszej lekcji.

Summary

  • Ecumene is an area where people reside permanently, anecumene means uninhabited areas, and subecumeme - areas where people reside only temporarily.

  • Population density is affected by such natural factors as: climate conditions (temperature, precipitation), orographic conditions, soil, vicinity of big rivers and access to the sea, natural resources.

  • Conditions avoided by people form a settlement barrier. Those include water, temperature, light, height and gravity barriers.

  • Non‑natural factors, which have impact on differences in population distribution worldwide, are historical, economic and political processes and occurrences.

Keywords

subecumene, ecumene, anecumene, population distribution

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Exercise 5
Match the pairs: English words with Polish definition. ecumene Możliwe odpowiedzi: 1. obszar stale zamieszkany przez ludzi, 2. obszar niezamieszkały przez ludzi, 3. obszar okresowo zamieszkały przez ludzi, 4. występuje na obszarach częściowo lub całkowicie zdegradowanych w wyniku nieracjonalnej działalności gospodarczej człowieka. anecumene Możliwe odpowiedzi: 1. obszar stale zamieszkany przez ludzi, 2. obszar niezamieszkały przez ludzi, 3. obszar okresowo zamieszkały przez ludzi, 4. występuje na obszarach częściowo lub całkowicie zdegradowanych w wyniku nieracjonalnej działalności gospodarczej człowieka. subecumene Możliwe odpowiedzi: 1. obszar stale zamieszkany przez ludzi, 2. obszar niezamieszkały przez ludzi, 3. obszar okresowo zamieszkały przez ludzi, 4. występuje na obszarach częściowo lub całkowicie zdegradowanych w wyniku nieracjonalnej działalności gospodarczej człowieka. ecological barrier Możliwe odpowiedzi: 1. obszar stale zamieszkany przez ludzi, 2. obszar niezamieszkały przez ludzi, 3. obszar okresowo zamieszkały przez ludzi, 4. występuje na obszarach częściowo lub całkowicie zdegradowanych w wyniku nieracjonalnej działalności gospodarczej człowieka.

Glossary

ecumene
ecumene
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Nagranie słówka: ecumene

ekumena – obszar stale zamieszkany przez ludzi

anecumene
anecumene
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Nagranie słówka: anecumene

anekumena – obszar niezamieszkały przez ludzi

subecumene
subecumene
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Nagranie słówka: subecumene

subekumena – obszar okresowo zamieszkały przez ludzi

ecological barrier
ecological barrier
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Nagranie słówka: ecological barrier

bariera ekologiczna – występuje na obszarach częściowo lub całkowicie zdegradowanych w wyniku nieracjonalnej działalności gospodarczej człowieka.