Question
Discuss briefly the factors affecting population distribution with reference to developed and developing countries of the world.
( UPPSC, UP PCS, 2019, 15 Marks)
संसार के विकसित एवं विकासशील देशों के संदर्भ में जनसंख्या वितरन को प्रभवित करने वाले कारको की संक्षिप्त व्यख्या कीजिये।
Answer
The population is not equally distributed all over the world. Nearly 90 % of the world's population are living on 10 % of the land. Approx 60% of the global population is living in the 10 most populous countries. 9 out of 10 most populous countries are developing countries.
This unequal distribution of the population is the result of variations in physical and human-made factors.
- Physical factors are climate, resource inequality, topography, and water unavailability.
- Human factors are political instability, economic opportunities, literacy rate, social and cultural rights, social stability, literacy rate, and fertility rate.
Nowadays, due to technological advancement, human factors are more deciding factors in population distribution.
The following factors affect the population distribution in developed and developing countries:
The following factors affect the population distribution in developed and developing countries:
- Economic opportunities
- Water availability
- Political and social stability
- Health and education facilities
Economic opportunities:
In developed countries:Economic opportunities are nearly equally distributed, hence population distribution is not so skewed. However, female gets more opportunities in urban areas than in rural areas, hence more females population are found in an urban area. Rural areas are male-dominated as they do mechanized farming. The less-dense population is found in rural areas as they do not need much labor force for farming.
Developing countries;
Economic opportunities are not equally distributed, hence more crowds are found in a few cities. Males are dominant in urban areas and females to farming in rural areas.
High population growth and medium dense population are found in rural areas as they needed a labor force for agricultural activities due to lacking large farms and mechanized tools.
Water availability:
More pipe water is available in developed countries, hence it helps the settlement of the population in a water-scarce region.In developing countries, dense settlement is found on the riverside as they depend naturally on water.
Political and social stability:
Developed countries are more politically stable than developing countries. Political and Social Instability in developing countries leads to dense populations in particular locations and sparse populations in other locations.
Health and education facilities:
Robust health and education facilities lead to stabilizing the population in developed countries. Whereas health and education facilities in developing countries vary from region to region and also vary from society to society within a region, it leads to skewed distribution and high population growth.
The above factors affect the population distribution of developed and developing countries. However, the above generalization is not true completely. Some countries such as China have full control of the government for the growth and distribution of a population.
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