What are the characteristics of population distribution in the world?

The main characteristics of the world's population distribution are:

1. Imbalance

The biggest characteristic of the population distribution is imbalance. As far as the world is concerned, currently only 7% of the earth’s land area is home to 70% of the world’s population; more than 90% of the world’s population is concentrated on less than 10% of the land; and 35% of the continent is ~ 40% of the land is essentially uninhabited.

2. Distribution regularity

The population is distributed in the horizontal direction, mainly concentrated in the northern hemisphere. The northern hemisphere is home to 90% of the population on the earth, while only 10% of the population is in the southern hemisphere. In the northern hemisphere, most of the population is concentrated in the temperate and subtropical areas between 20° and 60° north latitude.

Population distribution also tends to be concentrated in coastal areas. The population is distributed in the vertical direction, with a large number of people concentrated in relatively low places, while the population in high altitude places is relatively sparse.

3. Time lag

Population distribution often lags behind productivity development and the transfer of economic centers. The reason is that the change in population distribution depends on the time accumulation effect of natural growth rate and net immigration rate, and the speed is relatively slow. Only in newly developed areas with a small population base can the immigration factor have an immediate and significant effect.

Extended information:

Population density is not evenly distributed in different regions of the world. The Asian monsoon region, including East Asia, Northeast Asia, and South Asia, the European Plains, and eastern North America are the most densely populated places in the world. Because these places have many valleys and lowlands, it is easy to produce food, and the climate is suitable for human habitation.

In polar regions, deserts, mountains, plateaus, tropical rainforests and other places, the population is very sparse due to cold, drought, steep terrain, humidity and other factors that are not suitable for human habitation.