Question

Explain the influence of political factors on population distribution.

Answer 1

Physical factors that affect population distribution include altitude and latitude, relief, climate, soils, vegetation, water and location of mineral and energy resources. It is important to note that most of the physical factors influence population distribution only indirectly through climatic conditions.

• Population distribution and density in an area depends to a large extent on the type and scale of economic activities controlled by politics. Same geographic conditions provide different opportunities for people with different types and scale of economic activities. Technological and economic advancement can bring about significant changes in population distribution of an area.
• Government policies and political factors have emerged as an important determinant of population patterns. With increasing state control over economic activities, government policies have led to a significant change in the patterns of population distribution in several parts of the world. Most of them are facilitated by advances in science and technology.
• In the late 1960s and 1970s, some 10 to 15 million people in most countries people were forcibly relocated to the rural communes in order to ease pressure on urban employment. Examples of government inducements encouraging migration to new areas can be cited from several developed countries of the West as well. In addition to government policies, political events have also caused redistribution of population throughout human history.
• Wars have forced a great number of people to migrate from one region to another all over the world. Post-partition redistribution between India and Pakistan, or displacement of several million Sudanese as a result of civil war, or expulsion of Asians from Uganda in the early 1970s are some of the instances of how political events can cause changes in population patterns.
• Apart from the factors discussed above, historical processes should also be taken into account while explaining the patterns of population distribution. Duration of human settlements is an important determinant of the magnitude of population concen­tration in any area. Most of the densely populated areas of the world have a very long history of human habitation, while sparse population in certain areas can in part be explained in terms of its recent habitation.