Population Distribution in Africa

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AFRICA: Africa’s population is approximately around the 1.033 billion people, for 30,221,532 km². That may seem proportional, but the population is not evenly distributed. Some places are more crowded than others. But what causes this uneven distribution? I will explain how physical features and climate, natural resources, levels of industrialization and of urbanization affect the population density in Africa. i. Physical features and climate The physical feature or the climate present in a zone can be a factor in whether the place is crowded or not. In Africa, the mountainous regions do not have very dense population. For example, in the Tanzanian/Kenyan zone, where there is the Mount Kilimanjaro, population density is 25-50 people/km². Also, in the rainforest, population density differs from 5 to 25 people/km². This is because the conditions of living in the rainforest are very difficult. The humidity does not make it easy to build a house and the trees and vegetation attracts various animals which can be dangerous. Concerning the climate, population is more concentrated in places with a moderate climate. In fact in the places where the heat is unbearable, like in deserts, we can find population density lower than 1 person/km².We can cite the Sahara desert as an example. The heat there does not make it easy to live, and sand makes communication difficult. ii. Natural resources A natural resource is material or substance occurring in nature which can be exploited for economic gain. We can cite water, wood, petrol, etc. as examples. These natural resources spread all over the area of the African continent affect population density. The Nile River, the longest on earth, flows in the northeastern African zone. This 6853 km long body of water starts in Uganda, passing by Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt to discharge in the Mediterranean Sea. In fact, all these
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