![]() The predictability, year-round availability, and sheer volume of water is unparalleled anywhere else in the world. South & East Asia have a unique combination of Monsoonal rains, plus the Himalaya mountains, which act as a huge reservoir – storing up water in the winter snows, and releasing it gradually over the rest of the year. Now, my point on population is that available water, not land, is the key determinant. population evenly in half as well.Īs with the world population, roughly half the United States population lives in the yellow, and half lives in the black. This image shows the United States with the state borders overlaid. Coincidentally, the same yellow-black regions that split the world population evenly in half also happen to split the U.S. The area, which measures only 9 square miles, is home to over a million people. In all the world, the cell with the largest population is located in Cairo. Though it may not be surprising, the north of Africa is largely devoid of dense population zones, with one major exception.Īs explained above, this map was constructed based on a world population grid made up millions of tiny cells, each one measuring about 3 miles x 3 miles. ![]() Though it does not have nearly the population density of Asia, Europe is exceptional for its lack of open space. Unlike the heavily concentrated population centers of Asia, Europe’s dense areas are spread out remarkably evenly across the continent. It contains not only the largest metro area in the world, Tokyo with 37 million inhabitants, but also the world’s seventh largest, Osaka, which has a population of 20 million. Number 2 on the list of most populous islands is Japan. ![]() It has a population of 140 million, making it the most populous island in the world. The island of Java in Indonesia, shown on the left, is also about the same size as New York State. There is a good chance you’ve never even heard of these cities, yet the area is home to over 100 million people. Nearly half (46%) of the world’s population lives within just the area shown in this image.Īnd unlike the rest of the world, much of the population is concentrated deeply inland. The Chengdu / Chengking region, the large yellow blob in the center of China, is about the same size as the state of New York. The bulk of the yellow region is clearly located in India, Bangladesh, and China. If you’d like to take a closer look, you can download a high resolution version from here.īelow are the zoomed-in views of a few select areas. Not all of the details are visible in the map at the top. population projections, 2015-2100 A higher resolution view By that time, the populations of Asia, Europe, and the Americas will be flat or shrinking. Nearly all of the world’s population growth by 2100 will occur in Africa. Particularly in Africa, where nearly all of the population growth is expected to occur, there is an abundance of open space for more people to live. In terms of area, the black region covers 99% of the Earth’s land. Judging by this map, the answer is a clear yes. While overpopulation may be a localized problem in some of the densely population areas of Asia (see population maps of Bangladesh/India and Tokyo), the vast majority of the world’s land area is actually very sparsely populated. Looked at in isolation, that number seems astoundingly high.ĭoes the earth have enough room to accommodate so many people? Plenty of open spaceĪs discussed in a previous post, by 2100, the world’s population is projected to balloon to 11 billion. In total, the world’s population is evenly split between the two areas, half living in the yellow and half living in the black. In other terms, the population density throughout the black area is less than 900 people per square mile.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |