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World Population Distribution

Although this map is nearly 20 years old, its portrayal of how the world's people are concentrated is still very accurate. In fact, the India, east Asia, and Africa are now even more densely populated than they were when this map was created! Click on the image for a larger version, suitable for printing on legal-sized (8.5x14") paper.

The text on the map reads:

ABOUT THIS MAP

This uniformly scaled map attempts to provide a more meaningful representation of the distribution of the world's population than that of other types of population maps commonly in use. But, like all maps, it has limitations that stem from considerations of scale and symbolism. These limitations are most apparent at the extremes of the density range. For example, at the low extreme the single small square in north central Canada, representing approximately 1.25 miIlion people, is intended to represent the total population not only of Canada's Yukon and Northwest Territories and the northern portions of most of the other provinces, but also the whole of Alaska and Greenland, an area of apprpximately 4.5 million square miles (12m sq. Km.). Toward the opposite extreme, in regions with more than approximately 900 persons per square mile (350/sq. Km.), the map area is insufficient to accommodate all the population symbols required to show the entire population. Consequently, in order to show the whole population in East Asia, South Asia and Java, it is necessary to displace, in effect, a portion of the population outward from the most densely populated core areas and/or to project a portion of the population into the sea areas adjacent to where they actually live. Had our symbols been half as large an they presently are, such displacements would not have been necessary; but the map would then have had a very bare look and its visual impact would have been greatly weakened.

For a more recent (1995), interactive map of population density, visit the Gridded Population of the World site.