Geographical Distribution Of Population And Factors Affecting It.

This page deals with the Geographical Distribution Of Population and the factors affecting it. it also  deals with  the Occupational distribution of population.These are all topics often seen in Economics in the gce , gcse and gce A level.

 

Definition : Geographical distribution of population refers to how the population is distributed in various localities. In the country. Population density differ from place to place and the following factors explains why it happens that way.

 

Factors Affecting  Geographical Distribution Of Population

 

Natural factors

Natural factors influence the geographical distribution of the population, where the climate and vegetation are suitable for farming, the population density is usually high: where the climate and vegetation are not suitable for framing the population is not dense but very sparse.

Water resources such as rivers, lakes, and the sea also provide areas of dense population. This explains why the coastal areas of West Africa, where 60% to 70% of the population are engaged in agriculture, a large percentage of the population are usually attacked to areas where cash and food crops are cultivated

 

Mining areas

Areas which are heavily populated include mining areas where mineral resources are being exploited to look for job. This explains why gold mining areas like Obust in Ghana. Diamond mining areas like Kono in Sierra leone and tin mining areas like in Nigeria are heavily populated.

Commercial and industrial centers

Where industries are concentrated at a particular area, people are attracted to that areas because of the availability of jobs opportunities in such area.

Other people move to such areas in order to engage in trading and other commercial activities, therefore the density of the population is usually high in such commercial and industrial areas this explains why the population of Accra, Freedom, Lagos etc is very dense.

 

 

History and tradition

 

An area may be thinly populated because of historical reasons or traditions. Some areas are thickly populated because the ancestors of the inhabitants might had migrated to that particular place for various reasons such as wars or famine.

Other areas maybe thinly populated because the soil or the climate conditions are not good but because these areas are regarded as unsuitable for human habitation because of the believes  of the people.

 

Occupational distribution of population.

 

Definition :Occupational distribution of population refers to how the population is distributed in terms of the works that people do. It is used to classify the various occupation into 3 main groups namely primary, secondary and tertiary.

 

Primary productions

The activities of people in the occupational group are limited to working directly on the resources provided by nature. Occupation under three groups are farming, fishing, mining, lumbering, quarrying etc. in west Africa, about 60% of the working population are engaged in primary production.

 

Secondary production

These occupational include those who transform primary products and sometimes other secondary products as raw materials. About 10% of the west African labour force is this occupational group

Tertiary production

In this occupational sector, are these engaged in the provision of services and other commercial activities e.g banking, insurance; trading, transport, legal and medical services. About 30% of the working population are engaged in the tertiary sector.

 

 

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