dove vive la popolazione mondiale zone piu abitate

90% of the world’s population lives in the northern hemisphere: this is how we are distributed on Earth

Currently there are approximately human beings inhabiting the Earth 8.2 billion: twice as many as we were in 1974. However, the distribution of the population on the surface of the globe is by no means uniform: large regions of the planet are still desert covering hundreds of thousands of square kilometres, so much so that some countries, such as Iceland, Mongolia, Australia, Namibia and others have an average density of less than 3 inhabitants per square kilometre. Other areas, however, are so densely populated that imagining a reliable census is unthinkable. The only one India or alone China they include within their borders more inhabitants than those found within any single continent of the world (with the obvious exception of Asia, in which these countries are located).

In general, half of the world’s population (51% to be precise) lives in 7 nations: the aforementioned India and China, followed by the USA, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria and Brazil. The differences in population distribution on the planet they are the result of centuries of economic, technological and social development, but also of uninterrupted migrations and natural factors such as climate, climate change, the morphology of the territory and the availability of resources.

World population density map
Map with population density in the world highlighted. The more intense the color, the higher the population density in that area. Credit: SEDACMaps

How the population is distributed in the world: the coasts are the most inhabited

The 40% of the world’s population lives within 100 kilometers from the coast. The reasons are many and are mainly environmental and economic in nature. To begin with, near the sea the climate is generally more heat And mild compared to continental regions, but the coasts above all offer a easy access to natural resourcessuch as large quantities of food and building materials. Secondly, the sea is historically the most important communication route of human civilization and coastal settlements have always been the pivots around which complex local and intercontinental trades have developed and the contacts they cultural exchanges.

These assumptions were valid in the past as they are in the modern world, and today, added to these are the further driving factors of the last century, such as spread of mass tourism in seaside resorts and a considerable urban and infrastructural developmentwhich has effectively transformed coastal locations into centers of attraction with great economic opportunities where millions of people from rural areas converge. Demographic growth is in turn a driver of further urban and economic development.

Asia is the continent with the most inhabitants

In Asia they live approx 4.8 billion of people, almost the 60% of the world population. India And Chinathe two most populous countries on the planet (both with over 1.4 billion inhabitants), alone comprise around a third of the global population. In particular, the Southeast Asia and the regions ofSouth Asia have extremely high population densities: Singapore And Hong Kong have a population density of respectively 8,140 And 6,516 inhabitants per square kilometre.

The presence of large rivers, such as the Ganges and the Yellow River, and the climatic conditions favorable to agriculture have historically favored the concentration of the population in these areas and their opening to the globalized world has given a further impetus to development since the second half of last century.

Because we are not evenly distributed on Earth and the Northern Hemisphere is more inhabited

Most of the human population lives innorthern hemisphere. In this case the question is purely geographical. From a climatic and environmental point of view, in fact, our world presents characteristics which, at least in broad terms, are repeated in a specular manner north and south of the Equator: a large band of hot climates, arid deserts near the tropics, bands temperate and cold bands at latitudes larger.

What changes, however, is essentially the surface area of ​​available emerged land: the extension of the continents is in fact greater in the Northern Hemisphere. To put it another way, humans have more space available in the lands above the Equator. For this reason the 90% of the world’s population is found in the “top” half of the Planet.