Class 12 Geography – Chapter 2: The World Population: Distribution, Density and Growth
1. What is population distribution?
Answer:
Population distribution refers to how people are spread across Earth’s surface. It varies due to physical, climatic, economic, political, and cultural factors affecting settlement patterns.
2. What are the major factors affecting population distribution?
Answer:
Physical factors like climate, topography, and water; and human factors like industry, transport, politics, and economy significantly influence where people choose to live.
3. What is population density?
Answer:
Population density is the number of people per unit area, usually per square kilometer. It helps understand how crowded or sparsely populated a region is.
4. How is population density calculated?
Answer:
Population Density = Total Population ÷ Total Land Area. It gives an average number of people per square kilometer of land.
5. Name the densely populated regions of the world.
Answer:
East Asia, South Asia, Western Europe, and the Northeastern USA are the most densely populated regions due to industrialization, agriculture, and historical factors.
6. Which areas of the world are sparsely populated and why?
Answer:
Deserts (Sahara), mountains (Himalayas), and cold regions (Arctic, Antarctica) are sparsely populated due to extreme climates, poor soil, and inaccessibility.
7. What is population growth?
Answer:
It refers to the increase in the number of people in an area over time, influenced by birth rate, death rate, and migration.
8. Differentiate between natural growth and actual growth of population.
Answer:
Natural growth = Birth Rate – Death Rate.
Actual growth = Natural Growth + Net Migration. It reflects real change in population size.
9. What are the three components of population change?
Answer:
Birth rate, death rate, and migration are the three key components influencing the size and composition of a population.
10. What is the demographic transition theory?
Answer:
It explains population growth in stages: high birth/death rates, declining death rates, then declining birth rates, and finally low birth/death rates with stable population.
11. Explain the characteristics of the first stage of demographic transition.
Answer:
High birth and death rates cancel each other, leading to slow population growth. It’s typical of pre-industrial, underdeveloped societies.
12. Describe the second stage of demographic transition.
Answer:
Death rates fall due to improved healthcare, but birth rates remain high. Population grows rapidly during this transitional phase.
13. What happens in the third stage of demographic transition?
Answer:
Birth rates decline due to social changes like urbanization and education. Growth slows and population stabilizes—common in developed countries.
14. Why do some regions experience high population growth?
Answer:
Lack of education, poverty, early marriages, high birth rates, and limited access to healthcare contribute to rapid population growth in developing countries.
15. How does population growth affect development?
Answer:
Rapid growth strains resources, infrastructure, jobs, and environment—hindering sustainable development and worsening poverty and inequality.
16. How can population growth be controlled?
Answer:
Through education, awareness, family planning, health services, and policies that empower women and promote delayed marriage and smaller families.
17. What is population explosion?
Answer:
It refers to a rapid and uncontrollable increase in population, leading to economic, social, and environmental challenges.
18. Name countries with negative population growth. Why?
Answer:
Germany, Japan, and Russia face negative growth due to aging population, low fertility rates, and declining birth rates.
19. How does migration affect population growth?
Answer:
Migration redistributes population, increasing numbers in urban or industrial areas while reducing it in rural or conflict-prone zones.
20. Why is understanding population growth important for planners?
Answer:
It helps plan for food, jobs, housing, education, transport, and healthcare, ensuring balanced development and efficient resource allocation.