3. Human Geography: Population, Migration, and Culture

Human geography studies where people live, why they live there, and how they organize their societies and spaces.

Population Patterns

The world's population is not spread evenly. Population density (people per square kilometer) is very high in:

• River valleys and deltas (Nile, Ganges, Yangtze) — fertile soil and water supply.
• Coastal and lowland areas — trade access, mild climate.
• Industrial regions — job opportunities.

Population density is very low in deserts, dense rainforests, high mountains, and polar regions — places that are too dry, too hot, too steep, or too cold to support large numbers of people.

Population Growth

The demographic transition model describes how countries move through stages as they develop:

• Stage 1 — high birth rates, high death rates → stable, small population.
• Stage 2 — high birth rates, falling death rates (better medicine/sanitation) → rapid population growth.
• Stage 3 — falling birth rates, low death rates → slower growth.
• Stage 4 — low birth rates, low death rates → stable or slowly growing population.

Migration

Migration is the movement of people from one place to another. Geographers distinguish:

• Push factors — conditions that drive people away from a place: war, famine, poverty, persecution, environmental disaster.
• Pull factors — conditions that attract people to a new place: economic opportunity, safety, family connections, better climate.
• Voluntary migration — people choose to move for economic or personal reasons.
• Forced migration — people are compelled to move (slavery, refugee crises).
• Internal migration — movement within a country (rural to urban).
• International migration — movement between countries.

Urbanization

Urbanization is the process by which an increasing share of a population lives in cities. Since 2007, more than half the world's population has lived in urban areas — a historic first. Rapid urbanization can strain housing, infrastructure, water, and sanitation in fast-growing cities, especially in developing nations.

Culture Regions

A culture region is an area whose people share a common language, religion, customs, or historical experience. Language families (Indo-European, Sino-Tibetan, Afro-Asiatic) and world religion distributions (Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism) are major ways geographers define cultural regions.

⚠️ Common misconception: urbanization only happens in wealthy countries. In reality, the most rapid urbanization today is occurring in Africa and Asia, where megacities (10+ million people) are growing fastest.

💡 Tip: when a GED® question asks why a particular area has a large population, look for a combination of physical advantages (fertile soil, river access, mild climate) and human factors (economic opportunity, historical settlement).