NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Geography Chapter 2 The World Population Distribution, Density and Growth

Ans : (i) (a) Africa
(ii) (b) South-east Asia
(iii) (b) Medical/educational facilities
(iv) (c) It took 100 years for the population to rise from 5 billion to 6 billion. 

Ans : (i)Three geographical factors that influence the distribution of population are:
Availability of water
Landforms
Climate


(ii) This happens due to the following factors:
Geographical factors such as adequate availability of water, plain landforms, comfortable climate and fertile soils attract people.
Economic factors such as mining and industrial activities generate employment, urbanisation and industrialisation also attract a large number of people.
Social and Cultural Factors: people tend to move away from places where there is social and political unrest.


(iii) Three components of population change are birth rate, death rate and migration. 

Ans : 


 

Ans : (i) The various factors that influence the distribution and density of population in the world are:
(a) Geographical Factors
Availability of water: People prefer to live in areas where freshwater is easily available. Water is used for drinking, bathing and cooking — and also for cattle, crops, industries and navigation.
Landforms: People prefer living on flat plains and gentle slopes because such areas are favourable for the production of crops and to build roads and industries.
Climate: An extreme climate such as very hot or cold deserts are uncomfortable for human habitation. Areas with a comfortable climate, where there is not much seasonal variation attract more people.
Soils: Fertile soils are important for agricultural and allied activities. Therefore, areas which have fertile loamy soils have more people living on them.


(b) Economic Factors
Minerals: Areas with mineral deposits attract industries. Mining and industrial activities generate employment therefore these areas are densely populated.
Urbanisation: Cities offer better employment opportunities, educational and medical facilities, better means of transport and communication.
Industrialisation: Industrial belts provide job opportunities and attract large numbers of people.


(c) Social and Cultural Factors
Some places attract more people because they have religious or cultural significance. People tend to move away from places where there is social and political unrest. Many a times governments offer incentives to people to live in sparsely populated areas or move away from overcrowded places.


(ii) The three stages of demographic transition are:
The first stage has high fertility and high mortality because people reproduce more to compensate for the deaths due to epidemics and variable food supply. The population growth is slow and most of the people are engaged in agriculture where large families are an asset. Life expectancy is low, people are mostly illiterate and have low levels of technology.
Fertility remains high in the beginning of second stage but it declines with time. This is accompanied by reduced mortality rate. Improvements in sanitation and health conditions lead to decline in mortality. Because of this gap the net addition to population is high.
In the last stage, both fertility and mortality decline considerably. The population is either stable or grows slowly. The population becomes urbanised, literate and has high technical know-how and deliberately controls the family size.
 

Ans : (i) Countries of Europe and Asia with negative growth rate of population are: Latvia, Estonia ,Russia, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, Albania, Bulgaria, Oman, Croatia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Germany, Portugal.


(ii) Liberia, Somalia, Rwanda, Angola, Niger and Eritrea.