Distribution and Density of Population | CUET PG Geography | Notes

World Population Distribution

Introduction

• Global population (2025): About 8.2 billion, with growth continuing but at the slowest rate in modern history.
• Urbanization: Approximately 57–58% of the world’s population now lives in urban areas, up from 54% in 2014; the world has been predominantly urban since 2008.
• Urban concentration: By the mid-2020s, 70+ countries have 80% or more of their population living in urban areas, and around 35 countries have 90% or more urban population.
• Slum population: Over 1.1 billion people globally live in slums or informal settlements, increasing due to rapid urban growth, housing shortages, and climate pressures.
• Peak child: The world has reached “peak child,” meaning the number of children globally is no longer increasing; future population growth is mainly from longer life expectancy.
• Population ageing: People aged 60 years and over exceed 1.1 billion globally, with ageing occurring fastest in developed countries but accelerating in all regions.
• Implications: Ageing populations create significant economic, social, and health-care challenges, including higher dependency ratios and increased demand for health services.
• Fertility trends: The replacement fertility rate is about 2.1 children per woman; more than half of countries are now below this level, leading to ageing and population decline, while higher fertility countries remain younger and continue to grow.

Population Distribution of Major Countries (2026)

Predictions of global population vary from 9.6 billion to 12.3 billion by 2100, according to United Nations Population Division. A far rosier prediction by Wolfgang Lutz and his colleagues at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Vienna, Austria, suggests the global population will reach 9.4 billion in 2075 and fall to just under 9 billion by 2100.

Factors that Affects Population Distribution

• It is, however, not to suggest that population distribution on the earth surface is determined by physical factors alone, for within the broad framework of physical attractions and constraints, cultural factors strongly influence the way mankind is distributed over the earth (Hornby and Jones, 1980:20). Thus, apart from physical factors, numerous social, demographic, economic, political and historical factors affect population distribution.
• These factors operate not in isolation but in combination with each other. One cannot, therefore, isolate the influence of any one factor on population distribution. Further, the interplay between these determinants is generally very complex. The primary task of a population geographer, therefore, is to explain the irregularities in population distribution in terms of the influences of all these factors as an integral part of a dynamic process (Clarke, 1972:14).
• Educated women in developed countries bear fewer children, less than the replacement rate, while women in underdeveloped and developing countries bear more children which is largely cited as being the result of a lack of educational opportunities and work opportunities for women in emerging countries, and lack of access to contraceptives in those countries.
• Opinions on the impact of population growth and climate change are divergent. On the one hand, developed nations consume the most fossil fuels, despite stagnant or dropping populations, while rising populations in developing nations, especially Sub-Saharan Africa, consume far less fossil fuels – switching the debate from over-population to over-consumption.
• However, according to the United Nations Population Fund, fast-growing developing countries (China and India) will contribute more than half of global CO2 emissions by 2050, so there is a concern that as developing nation’s contribution to global emissions grows, population size and growth rates will become significant factors in magnifying the impacts of climate change. The outcome of global talks on reducing carbon emissions are still to be seen.