Showing posts with label population density. Show all posts
Showing posts with label population density. Show all posts

November 8 - Montana becomes a State

 Posted on November 8, 2021


This is an update of my post published on November 8, 2010:




Montana became a state of the U.S. in 1889. This state is not very crowded. As a matter of fact, Montana's postal code abbreviation (MT) is particularly appropriate, as license plates and stickers can read:

Montana is MT

This of course could be read, “Montana is empty.”



But this “Big Sky” state lures millions of tourists every year to Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks, Little Bighorn historical site, and the Louis and Clark Caverns. The postal code abbreviation is also appropriate because “Mt.” is sometimes used as an abbreviation for “mountain,” and the western third of Montana is covered with mountain ranges.


When we talk about how crowded or not-crowded a place is, we are talking about population density. Statistics about population density end up talking about averages, because we take the total population of the place and divide that number by the total area of the place. We get data we can compare:

Montana has about 7 people per square mile.
Japan has 899 people per square mile!


Some maps show population density.


Here is a quick quiz about population density in the U.S. and the world:

  1. Montana is only the third least dense state in the U.S. Name a state that is even less densely populated.

  2. Montana is about the same size as which nation?
    a. Australia
    b. Japan
    c. Austria

  3. What is the most densely populated nation in the world, with more than 43 THOUSAND people per square mile?
    a. Monaco
    b. Bangladesh
    c. India

  4. What is the least densely populated continent in the world?

  5. What is the least densely populated country in the world?
    a. Russia
    b. Iceland
    c. Mongolia

  6. Which of these countries has a population density around 1,200 people per square mile?
    a. China
    b. South Korea
    c. Egypt
Here is another kind of population density map.
On this map of France, can you spot Paris?


ANSWERS: 
1. Alaska and Wyoming are both less densely populated than Montana
2. b
3. a
4. Antarctica
5. c
6. b


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February 8 - Youth Day in the Republic of the Congo

Posted on February 8, 2020


The Republic of Congo is much, much
smaller than the Democratic
Republic of the Congo.
In the African nation of the Republic of the Congo (aka Congo-Brazzaville or the Congo Republic - not to be confused with its neighbor, the Democratic Republic of the Congo!), this holiday is a chance for adults to focus on youth. Special concerts, cultural events, and workshops are held. Some youth organizations have service projects; young people do important things like clean streets, maintain parks, or do some other work needed by the community.

Did you know...?

Large areas of the nation of Congo-Brazzaville are jungle and are totally uninhabited.

The blackest areas at night, in Africa tend to be
deserts and jungles. Can you almost make out the
entire outline of the Republic of Congo as one of the
very darkest areas?

About 70% of the the total population live in just a few urban areas.

That means that Congo-Brazzaville is one of the less densely populated African nations - as well as being one of the most urbanized African nations.

We talk about a country's population density by pretending as if all the people were spread out evenly over the entire nation. The most densely populated African nation is the island nation of Mauritius; there are more than 1,600 people per square mile! The least populated nation, Namibia, has a lot of desert and NOT a lot of people; there are fewer than 7 people per square mile!

The darker the color, the more people per square mile.

Congo-Brazzaville's density is almost 13 people per square mile. 



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September 30 – Independence Day in Botswana

Posted on September 30, 2014

Celebrate Botswana today. Did you know that, ever since its 1966 independence from the United Kingdom, it has had uninterrupted democratic elections?

Can I get a hooray??

Kalahari Desert
In some ways, Botswana doesn't look so very great on paper. It's landlocked, which means that it has no direct access to an ocean or sea. It's mostly desert – the Kalahari, to be exact. It's pretty flat. It's sparsely populated. One of its borders is poorly defined, even – usually a recipe for battles with neighbors. (In this case, Botswana's northern border with Zambia is only a few hundred meters - less than a mile – long!)

But in other ways, Botswana looks great on paper: 

It has one of the fastest-growing economies in the world and THE highest Human Development Index rating in Sub-Saharan Africa. 

Also, there are some areas in which there are diverse wildlife, including the world's largest concentration of African elephants.

Dense and sparse population

Some nations are very small, land-wise, and although their populations are also small, the population is dense. In other words, a lot of people are concentrated together in a small region. Two great examples of this are Singapore and Hong Kong.

Other countries have cities in which there is this sort of dense population – but there are also huge tracts of land with no people, often no roads, even. Those countries have what is called sparse populations – because if you could spread all the people out evenly, across the whole country, the people would be few and far between.

Some great examples of sparsely populated nations are Canada, with its frozen tundra and forested mountains, and Mongolia.

Here are some numbers you can compare. These statistics tell us how many people would be standing in each and every square mile of land, if you spread the people out evenly:

Singapore:          19,731
Hong Kong:         16,983
South Korea:         1,303
United Kingdom:      679
France:                    306
United States:            84
Canada:                       9
Mongolia:                     4

How many people, do you think, does Botswana have per square mile?

It turns out that Botswana's population density is about the same as Canada's, with about nine people per square mile.

Learn more...

  • Learn more about Botswana's food here.





  • Obviously, not all of Botswana is desert. Check out this gorgeous gallery of photos, largely featuring the Okavango Delta.








Also on this date:
Anniversary of the first tooth extraction with anesthesia















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