Population Distribution: Factors, MEDC vs LEDC

Posted on Feb 26, 2025 in Geography

LEDC vs MEDC: Births, Mortality, and Solutions

LEDCSituationReasonsConsequencesSolutions
Births
  • No family planning programmes
  • No medical advances
  • Need for large families for child labor
High birth rate
  • Children don’t attend school
  • Low literacy rate
  • Very poor living conditions: insufficient food, poor health
  • Developed countries should contribute to their economies
  • Increased education
Mortality
  • Medical advances are improving
  • Better hygiene and food
  • Increased access to clean water
Decreasing death rateOverpopulation
  • Family planning
  • Government support for families to limit family size


MEDCSituationReasonsConsequencesSolutions
Births
  • Family planning programmes
  • High cost of raising children
  • Increased participation of women in the workforce
Low birth rate
  • Fewer working-age people
  • Fewer young people
Support for parents to encourage larger families (financial incentives)
Mortality
  • Medical advances
  • Good standard of living: proper food, healthy water, hygiene
Low death rate, high life expectancy
  • More elderly people
  • Rising costs of pensions and health services
Immigration to reduce costs


Factors Influencing Human Population Distribution

The distribution of the human population:

  • Relief: Flat, low-lying rural areas are easier to farm, like south-east England. Mountainous areas like the Rockies in Canada are too steep and have poor, often infertile soils.
  • Climate: Rainfall and temperature must be suitable for crop growth, for example, in South East Asia, there are 3 rice crops per year. The Arctic is too cold, and the Sahara is too arid for crop cultivation.
  • Economic activities: Extensive farming may require a lot of land, resulting in lower population density. Intensive farming may require a large labor force, for example, in Bangladesh.
  • Soil and vegetation: Lowland river deltas like the Nile have fertile soil deposited by the river, supporting higher population densities.
  • History: Densely populated regions like India have been settled for thousands of years.
  • Technology: Limited education can hinder a country’s technical progress, leading to reliance on traditional farming methods and lower food production. Education fosters innovation and new job opportunities, contributing to higher population levels, as seen in Tokyo.

1- In high latitudes, low temperatures reduce population and settlement. Examples include the Himalayas and the Alps.

2- Other favorable regions for agriculture include Northern Europe, the Mediterranean, central and eastern USA, eastern China, and the wet tropical areas of Africa.

3- Extensive upland areas usually support a small number of people, such as Antarctica, Greenland, Alaska, Canada, and Siberia.

4- River deltas often support huge populations because of their fertile alluvial soils, for example, the Ganges and the Mekong.

5- Industrial activities use land for location rather than production, often leading to high urban population densities, as seen in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

6- In countries with advanced technologies, employment in manufacturing supports high population densities, such as the Pacific coast of Japan, western Europe, and north-eastern USA.

7- Some countries or continents have historically had smaller indigenous populations, including Australia, North America, and Oceania.


MEDC vs LEDC: Key Characteristics

MEDCLEDC
  • Low birth rate
  • Low death rate
  • High life expectancy
  • High number of elderly people
  • Family planning education
  • Majority have access to a doctor
  • High status for women
  • High employment rates in the 3rd sector
  • High infant mortality rate
  • Limited access to clean water
  • High percentage of people employed in the primary sector
  • Birth rates higher in rural areas
  • High number of crude births
  • Low literacy rates