Methods of Calculating Population Distribution (College Board AP® Human Geography)
Study Guide
Written by: Kristin Tassin
Reviewed by: Bridgette Barrett
Methods of Calculating Population Density
The methods for calculating population density are arithmetic, physiological, and agricultural
Density is expressed as the number of people per square mile or per square kilometre
Arithmetic density is the measure of the total number of people divided by the total amount of land
Physiological density is the measure of the total number of people divided by the amount of arable land
Agricultural density gives the ratio of the number of farmers to the amount of arable land
Differences Between Methods of Calculating Population Density
Arithmetic density
Arithmetic density, also known as crude population density, can be misleading depending on the scale of analysis
Due to its limitations, arithmetic density is not a particularly meaningful indicator on its own
The population density of Australia is three people per square kilometre
The Australian population is not evenly distributed over the whole country
People are heavily concentrated in a few cities and along the coast
The arithmetic density does not give an accurate representation of Australia’s population distribution
Physiological density
Physiological density is a more useful measure of population
It reflects the number of people supported by a unit of arable land
Physiological density will give a more accurate representation of population density for countries with large areas of land that are not arable, such as deserts
A large difference between a country’s arithmetic and physiological densities indicates the country has a small percentage of land suitable for agriculture and very densely concentrated populations
Australia’s physiological density is 43 people per square kilometre of arable land
This is a better representation of how densely the population lives than the three people per square kilometre reflected in the country’s arithmetic density
Examiner Tips and Tricks
You are likely to encounter a question on the exam that asks you to distinguish between arithmetic population density and physiological density. You should be able to separate population density, using total land area, from physiological density, which relies on arable land area.
The exam may also ask you to demonstrate knowledge of the difference in a real-world context. For example, a question might ask “What variable would give you a better understanding of the population density of two countries with roughly the same population?” The answer would rely on the amount of arable land per country.
Agricultural density
Agricultural density offers an indication of the efficiency and technology available to the country’s farmers
Highly-developed countries tend to have lower agricultural density because technology allows for sufficient food resources to be produced without a lot of workers
Developing countries tend to have higher agricultural densities because more workers are required to produce sufficient amounts of food
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