Distribution of urban population and its growth rate is very uneven in the world. Describe.

Solution

Distribution of urban population is very uneven in the world:
(i) While N. America with almost 80% of its urban population being urban is the most urbanised continent. Africa has only 20% of its population urban and Asia is 35-40% urban. The rate of urbanisation has also increased rapidly in recent years. In 1950 only 16% of the world population was urban which rose to 46.7% by 2000.

(ii) An important point of world urbanisation is the great difference in the emerging trends between the developed and the developing regions of the world. In 1950, 20 of the world’s 30 largest metropolitan cities were located in developed countries, 11 in Europe and 6 in North America.

(iii) From a region of villages, Asia is fast becoming a region of cities and towns. Its urban population rose nearly five fold between 1950 and 1995 to 1.2 billion. There are 16 of the 30 largest cities of the world, in Asia. 45% of the world’s urban population lives in Asia. Almost all developing countries, are experiencing high rates of urbanisation. Karachi, in Pakistan, with 1.1 million population in 1950 is estimated to have 20.6 million in 2015. Likewise Cairo, Mumbai, Sao Paulo. Lagos etc. are projected to have populations in excess of 20 million by 2015.

Table: Continentwise Distribution of Million Cities

Continent	Early 1950s	Mid 1970s	Mid 2000
Europe	23	30	58
Asia	32	69	206
North and Central
America	16	36	79
South America	8	17	43
Africa	3	8	46
Australia	2	2	6
World	84	162	438

(iv) At present more then 36% of the urban population live in Asia and 16 out of 30 largest cities of the world are found in this continent. By 2015 out of world’s 358 cities 153 will be in Asia and out of 27 mega cities will be located in Asia.

Some More Questions From Human Settlements Chapter

Sufficiency of which type of resources can help to create adequate social infrastructure catering to the needs of the large population in the developing countries?

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Human Settlements

Distribution of urban population and its growth rate is very uneven in the world. Describe.

Some More Questions From Human Settlements Chapter

Which one of the following forms of settlement develops along either side of roads, rivers or canals?

Which one of the following types of activities dominates in all rural settlement?

In which of the following regions has the oldest well-documented urban settlement found?

How many of the following cities in India have attained million status at the beginning of 2006?

Sufficiency of which type of resources can help to create adequate social infrastructure catering to the needs of the large population in the developing countries?

How would you define a settlement?

Distinguish between site and situation.

What are the bases of classifying settlements?

How would you justify the study of human settlements in human geography?

What are rural and urban settlements? Mention their characteristics.

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