Factors affecting the distribution of population and settlements · Geography

Population distribution and density

Population distribution is the way people are spread over an area. Population density is the average number of people per square kilometre.

For example, 6 000 000 people in 20 000 km² is 300 people per km².

Factors affecting the distribution of population

Factor	Dense where...	Sparse where...
Climate	Moderate rainfall and temperature	Very dry, very wet or very cold
Relief	Flat or gently sloping land	Steep mountains, swamps
Soil	Fertile soils (volcanic, alluvial)	Poor or stony soils
Resources	Minerals, water, energy, fertile land	No resources
Economic activity	Industry, trade, mining, farming	Few jobs
Disease, pests	Healthy areas	Tsetse fly, malaria
Government policy, history	Planned settlements, ports	Reserves, parks

In Tanzania the people live mainly around Lake Victoria, the highlands (Kilimanjaro, Mbeya, Iringa), the coast and the big cities such as Dar es Salaam, where there are fertile soils, good rainfall and jobs. The central and western plains with poor rainfall and tsetse flies are sparsely populated.

A population of 1 million growing at 3% per year more than doubles in 24 years (doubling time ≈ 70 ÷ rate).

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Settlement

A settlement is a place where people live. Rural settlements (villages, hamlets) depend mainly on farming, fishing, herding or mining. Urban settlements (towns, cities) depend on trade, industry and services. Patterns of settlement are nucleated (houses clustered together, often near a water source or a road), dispersed (scattered farms) or linear (along a road, river or coast).

Pattern	Description	Found where
Nucleated	Houses close together round a centre	Water, crossroads, safety
Dispersed	Houses far apart	Large farms, poor soils
Linear	Houses in a line	Roads, rivers, coasts

Economic activities

Economic activities are the ways people earn a living. Primary activities take resources from nature (farming, fishing, mining, forestry). Secondary activities process them (manufacturing, construction). Tertiary activities provide services (trade, transport, tourism, banking, education). Large populations give a supply of labour and markets, but too many people can cause deforestation, soil erosion, pollution, overcrowding, unemployment and pressure on services.

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Key terms

Population density: The number of people per square kilometre.
Settlement: A place where people live.
Primary activity: An activity that takes resources from nature.
Sustainable development: Development that meets present needs without harming the future.

Summary

Population distribution depends on climate, relief, soils, resources and economic activity.
Settlement patterns may be nucleated, dispersed or linear.
Economic activities are primary, secondary and tertiary.
Rapid population growth puts pressure on resources and the environment.