Population density
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Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, humans in particular.
Biological population densities
Population density is a common biological measurement and is often used by conservationists as a more appropriate measure than absolute numbers. Low population densities may cause an extinction vortex, where low densities lead to further reduced fertility. This is referred to as the Allee effect, named after W. C. Allee, who first identified it. Examples of this may include:- Increased problems with locating mates in areas of low density.
- Increased inbreeding in areas of low population density.
- Increased susceptibility to catastrophic events in low population densities.
Human population density
Taiwanese people waiting for the Taipei Rapid Transit System in Taipei, Republic of China (Taiwan). Taiwan is ranked 9th in the List of countries by population density.
For humans, population density is the number of persons per unit of area (which may include or exclude cultivated or potentially productive area). Commonly this may be calculated for a county, city, country, another territory, or the entire world.
For example, the world population is 6.5 billion humans, and Earth's area is 510 million square kilometers (200 million square miles). Therefore the world-wide human population density is 6500 million / 510 million = 13 per km² (33 per mi²), or 43 per km² (112 per mi²) considering that humans live on land, which forms 150 million km² of the earth. This density rises with the population growth, and some people think there is a limit of what the Earth can support.
Several of the highest-density territories in the world are very small city-states, micronations or dependencies. These territories share a relatively small area and an exceptionally high urbanization level, with an economically specialized city population drawing also on rural resources outside the area, illustrating the difference between high population density and overpopulation.
Cities with exceptionally high population densities are often considered to be overpopulated, though the extent to which this is the case depends on factors like quality of housing and infrastructure or access to resources. Most of the largest densely-populated cities are in southern and eastern Asia, though Cairo and Lagos in Africa also fall into the category. City population is however, heavily dependent on the definition used for the urban area: densities will be far higher for the central municipality than when more recently-developed and as yet administratively unincorporated suburbs are included, as in the concepts of agglomeration or metropolitan area, the latter including sometimes neighbouring cities.
Other methods of measuring population density
While the arithmetic density is the most common way of measuring population density, several other methods have been developed which aim to provide a more accurate measure of population density over a specific area.
Arithmetic density – The total number of people / area of land measured in km².
Physiological density – The total population divided by the amount of arable land.
Agricultural density – The total rural population to the amount of agricultural land.
Residential density – The number of people living in an urban area divided by the amount of residential land.
Ecological optimum – The density of population which can be supported by the area's natural resources.
See also
- List of countries by population density
- List of countries by population
- List of religious populations
- List of selected cities by population density
- Human geography
- Idealised population
- Optimum population
- Population bottleneck
- Population coding
- Population genetics
- Population health
- Population momentum
- Population pyramid
- Small population size
External links
- [CityRanks.com] combines Google Maps and 2000 Census data to show the population densities of U.S. zip codes on an interactive map.
- [Selected Current and Historic City, Ward & Neighborhood Densities]
- [Population density world-map]
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