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female illiteracy is still higher than the low Climate : People prefer to live in moderate
income group countries. climates and avoid extreme climates. Hence, less

Female illiteracy is higher among all countries, number of people lives in the Sahara Desert and
but it is more disproportionate among low in the polar regions of Russia and Canada.
income group countries. It is because females are Soil : Fertile plains of the Ganges and
discriminated in getting education. However, Brahmaputra (India), Hwang-he, Chang Jiang
high income group countries of developed (China) and the Nile (Egypt) are the areas with a
countries are even in this respect. high population density.
The unevenness at low level of income is on Water : Water is essential for survival of people
account of poverty when people cannot afford and hence, more people live in the river valleys
education. Thus, from the table given on the than in the deserts.
previous page, it can be straightaway concluded Minerals : Areas with mineral deposits attract
that poverty is a dominant and striking feature of people because of potential of economic devel-
Indian economy. opment.
Social, Cultural and Economic Factors

In India, as stated earlier, literacy level is taken into Social : Areas with better housing, education
consideration only for persons of 7 years age and and health facilities are more densely populated.
above. At the time of independence, one out of every Pune, Bangalore and Delhi are the cities which
6 such people was literate. It increased to two out of attract people because of better facilities.
every three person in 2001. Female literacy also Cultural : Places with religion or cultural signifi-
showed great improvement, but it was still much less cance always attract people. Due to this,
than male literacy.
Varanasi, Jerusalem and Vatican City are densely
populated.
DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION
Economic : Industrial areas give lot of opportu-
The number of people living in a unit area is
nities to the people. Mumbai’s population grew
called density of population. It is usually
because of this reason. In recent years, areas
expressed as number of persons per square km.
around Delhi have attracted a large number of
The average population density of the world is
migrants from across the country; because of
51 persons per square km. South Central Asia
industrial development.
have the highest population density; followed by
POPULATION CHANGE
East and South East Asia. The population
density in India is 382 persons per square km. Until the 1800s, the world’s population grew at a
slow and steady pace. The birth rate and death
FACTORS AFFECTING DISTRIBUTION
rate were very high during this period. There
OF POPULATION
were no proper health facilities. Agricultural
Geographical Factors
production was low and hence food availability
Topography : A larger number of people live in
was a problem.
the plains than in the mountains or plateaus.
The world’s population reached one billion in
Plains are suitable for farming, manufacturing and
1804. Within 150 years after that, the world’s
most of the other activities. The Ganges plains are
population reached 3 billion in 1959. This is
the most densely populated area of the world.
usually referred to as the population explosion.

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