Population Density & Distribution

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Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE Geography

Population Density & Distribution

The Big Idea: People aren't spread evenly across the Earth — some places are packed (Singapore, Monaco) and some are almost empty (Mongolia, Greenland). This happens because of a mix of physical factors (climate, relief, water, resources, soil) and human factors (jobs, government investment, services, culture) that make some places easy and attractive to live in, and others hard.

Quick Summary

Population density = total population ÷ total area (people per km²). It tells you how crowded a place is, on average.
Population distribution = the pattern of where people are spread out across an area — it's the "map picture," not just a number.
World population density (2022) ≈ 59.27 people/km². Monaco is the highest (26,337/km²); Greenland is the lowest (<0.2/km²).
Physical factors affecting density: climate, water supply, natural resources, relief, soil quality.
Human factors affecting density: economic (jobs), political (government investment), social (services/education), cultural (family size beliefs).
Case study — Singapore: small, tropical, flat, well-governed city-state → extremely high density (8,383/km², 2024).
Case study — Mongolia: huge, cold, mountainous, landlocked, poor infrastructure → extremely low density (2/km²).

1. What Density and Distribution Actually Mean

These two words get mixed up constantly in exams, so let's nail the difference right away using an analogy.

Think of it like a classroom

Density is like asking: "On average, how many students are squeezed into each square metre of this classroom?" It's one single number that describes crowding.

Distribution is like asking: "Where in the classroom are the students actually sitting?" Are they all bunched near the door, spread evenly, or clustered in one corner? It's about the pattern, not a number.

So a country can have a "medium" density on average, but a very uneven distribution — think of Egypt, where almost everyone lives along the thin strip of the Nile River, while the surrounding desert is nearly empty. The average density number alone would completely hide that pattern.

The Density Formula

Formula

Population Density = Total Population ÷ Total Area (km²)

In plain English: count everyone living somewhere, then divide by how much land they're living on. The bigger the number, the more crowded it is.

The "total area" can be measured at very different scales — a small region, an entire country, or even a whole continent — so always check which scale a question is asking about before you answer.

26,337

people per km² in Monaco (2022) — the world's highest density

< 0.2

people per km² in Greenland (2022) — the world's lowest density

59.27

people per km² — the average world population density (2022)

Common Mistake

Students often use "density" and "distribution" as if they mean the same thing. Remember: density is a number (crowdedness), distribution is a pattern (where people are located). An exam question asking you to "describe the distribution" wants you to talk about location and pattern — not just state a density figure.

Practice Question 1

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Practice Question 2

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2. Physical Factors Affecting Density

3. Human Factors Affecting Density

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Also in the full note

4. Case Study: Singapore — Why It's So Densely Populated
5. Case Study: Mongolia — Why It's So Sparsely Populated
6. Singapore vs. Mongolia — Side by Side
7. Describing Distribution — The Exam Skill
What to Memorise
Concepts Checklist
Exam Tips & Common Mistakes
Climate

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Population Density & Distribution