Climate, which allows people to make agriculture. The best climate for agriculture is temperate climate, with no extremes of temperature or precipitation. If there are extremes, no crops can be grown and people won’t be able to continue their lives. So areas with temperate climates have a denser population than extreme climates. A second effect of climate on people is that people are not able to live in extreme climates, especially cold temperatures.
Topography, which divides into three parts; altitude, slope and aspect. Altitude is the height above sea level. This effects both the temperature and the amount of oxygen in the air. Temperature drops by 6ºC at every 1000 meters up; as well as the amount of oxygen. So usually, the higher the altitude, the more sparse the population, with few exceptions. Slope is the incline of the land. It effects agriculture and transportation. If the land is horizontal, all kinds of agriculture may be done and transportation is easy. But as the slope gets steeper, limited agriculture may be done and transportation is harder. If it is very steep, neither agriculture nor transportation is available. So, the steeper the slope, the more sparse the population. Aspect is the way, which the slope faces. If it faces the sun, and gets more sunlight than a slope facing away from the sun, the air is hotter. This direction is south in the Northern Hemisphere, and north in the Southern Hemisphere. So, if the slope faces the sun, the population is denser.
Accessibility is the ability of communication and transportation. Transportation is the key to trade, and every country on Earth needs trade. People want to live in places with wealth, and trade creates wealth. They also want to easily move in and out of the area they live in. So, the better the transportation, the denser the population. Communications are another factor. Communications are the connections to the outer world. This allows other people to know what is going on in the area, and bring help if needed. Communications are hard to obtain in deserts or rocky places. So, the easier the communications, the denser the population.
Resources are the minerals, food or even water found in the area. Food and water are vital for life, so people tend to live in places with more food and water, than dry and infertile areas. Minerals are important for the trade, and as a result, for the economy. This attracts more people also. So the richer the resources, the denser the population. But this is not always the same. Some countries with rich resources have much less sparse populations than some with few resources. For example Russia, with rich resources and Japan, with few resources.
Economic and Political Factors are about the life standards and safety of people. People want employment, wealth and social security, so they usually move from poorer countries to richer countries. Also, the money for new investments and the development of tourism attracts more people and raises the density of the population. So, the richer the country, the denser the population. Of course, there are exceptions to this too, caused by other factors effecting the birth rate. Some examples are Canada, as a rich country and Bangladesh, as a poorer country.
