India, China and Brazil

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People tend to live where there is enough food, a suitable climate and where other necessities for life are found. Before, people adapted to the environment, but nowadays it is somehow the other way around. We change the nature so it suits us. Humans build their shelters using all sorts of materials depending on the location, temperature, surroundings and what materials are available at the place. Mud, wood, rock, leaves, stone to modern synthetic materials such as concrete and steel or even materials made from recycled plastic and newspaper are examples of materials used for creating people’s homes. In some places, it is too hot, and no materials are found except for sand, like in the deserts for instance. This is an example of a place where the population density is very low. Then there other places where the temperature is comfortable, and loads of building materials are available, these places tend to have extremely high population densities. I am going to write about the population distribution and other things to do with the populations of Brazil and China. I have chosen this topic, because I find it quite interesting that the highest population density in these two countries is along the coasts of them. They are both countries centred at the eastern coast of two totally different oceans, and having lower population densities the further into the country you yet. I will start of by briefly describing each of these two countries’ populations, starting with Brazil.

Brazil is the biggest country in South America with a population of about 161.8 (1995). It is the fifth biggest country in terms of population. More than half of South America’s people live in Brazil. Brazil’s population density is far lower than China’s. Its population density is about 19 persons per square kilometre, which is almost like Sweden that has 20 persons per square kilometre. The big difference is the size of the country. It is massive: 8,506,663 square kilometres, the fifth largest country in the world. It is quite close to United States of America in size. Brazil’s only coast is on the eastern side, by the Atlantic Ocean. This is where most of the people live, since most of the cities are located here because of the pleasant and good temperature, precipitation and elevation; making food and other living necessities available.
Brazil’s population consists of many different ethnic groups. Japans and Europeans settled in the southern highlands, since it is not as hot there as in other parts of Brazil; the climate is suitable. The landscape does not vary a lot in Brazil, since most of the country has low elevation. The basin of the Amazon occupies more than one third of the land area of the country. There are many swamps and floodplains in this area, and large parts of the basin are covered with tropical rain forests. Not very many people live in the Amazon rain forest, since all the necessities for life are not found there. The Amazon rainforest is the biggest rain forest in the world, since it covers around 2.6 million square metres (1/3 of America). Brazil is known for having the vast region of highlands; the Brazilian Highlands or Brazilian plateau and the basin of the Amazon. The Amazon River is the second longest river in the world. The Brazilian Highlands is a very dry area where there is almost only grasslands with small trees, and is of higher elevation. Because of the higher elevation, this area is a bit cooler than the rest of the country. In the east central Brazilian uplands, the climate is subtropical, but because of the higher elevations, sharp daily temperature variations occur and the nights are cool. This area has constantly severe droughts. But still many people live here, since it is not as hot as the rest of Brazil. Mountain ranges and many river valleys irregularly ridge the plateau. This prevents the population from growing rapidly in that region and become very big since not very many people live here. This is one of the reasons why most of the people of Brazil live along the coast, which is 7,491 kilometres long, and not further in into the country. The government wants more people to move further into the country, and help by building many roads leading to the western part of the country, and having built a new capital city; Brasilia, further in.
But still all of Brazil’s big cities are located on the southeastern coast of the country, by the Atlantic Sea. This is where the transporting, farming and manufacturing places are located, and most of Brazil’s population. Most of Brazil’s people live in the southeast region of the country, along the coast there, and further in. This is where Brazil’s five biggest cities are located: Rio de Janeiro; the biggest city in the country and most important, São Paulo and three other cities. The farming lands in this region are very rich.
The northeastern part of the country has a hot and rainy climate. This area has very fertile soils enabling crops like cacao and sugarcane to be grown here very well. These sugarcanes were often sold before, and that is why this was the wealthiest region of Brazil (it is not the wealthiest anymore). Further into this region though, it does not rain as much as along the coast.
The third region of this country is the interior, which covers two thirds of the country. This is where the Amazon Basin is located, which I earlier wrote about. The population is very small there, but is growing faster than before, after the move of the capital. Unfortunately, the nature gets destroyed when people move here, since it causes deforestation of the Amazon Rainforest as so many new roads and railways are built.

The climate in Brazil ranges from tropical to subtropical temperate. In the valley of the Amazon, the temperature averages from 27 to 32 degrees Celsius, with little daily or seasonal variation. The precipitation is heavy, especially between January and June. These are a few of all the factors of why the population there is extremely small.


China has the biggest population in the world with more than 1,230,000,000. Its population density is 130 square kilometres. This country is the third biggest country in the world, and is a bit larger than the United States of America. Less than 1% of the Chinese population live in the far western part of China, since this area is mostly barren with many mountains, plateaux and deserts, which makes farming difficult. Consequently, it is hard and tough for people to live and survive here. Another factor is that this area, which is 3200 km from the ocean, is covered with deserts that are either to dry, warm or cold for habitation. An example is the Xinjang Desert and the Gobi Desert, even though the Gobi Desert is in the far north of China. Eastern China, on the other hand, is broad with many river valleys like the Yangtze River. This is the third longest river in the world, after the Nile in Egypt and the Amazon River in Brazil. Most of the big cities in China are located by the mouths of rivers, since the soil is wet there making farming and water supply available. Southeastern China for instance, that has an extremely high population density, has moisture in the air, green nature and no frost. China’s yearly average precipitation is 1500 mm, which is almost three times as much as London. The industrial areas and farming lands are also located in the valleys of China’s rivers. The people living there are farmers, street cleaners, ballet dancers, film producers, politicians, computer technicians, businessmen, and loads of other people. There has always been many farmers in China. In 1985 80% of China’s population were farmers (USA 3%). Actually, China is the most farmed country in the world, as 11% of the country’s land is for farming.
Most if China’s production force is concentrated in the big cities along the eastern coast, which of course pulls many people there. 31% of the population are living in the many cities of China. Beijing is burning hot in the summers, cold during the winters and covered with yellow dust from the Gobi desert in the spring. This city, the capital of China, is located in the north western part of the main area, and is flat prairie without trees, and is hot, with dry long summers and bitter winters. West of Beijing there are huge deserts.
More than half of China’s people have their homes in the southern part of the country. This is the part of China that people from the western part of the world refer to when they think of “China”.
The climate in China varies a lot. Consequently, so does the population density and distribution. The climate is good along the coasts where you can farm all year round. 2000-year-old canals take away the extra water from the monsoon summer storms, forming a net of waterways.

After reading and writing about the population distributions and populations in general of these three countries, I have come to the conclusion that more people tend to live along the coast since the precipitation is a lot higher, and that the elevation, ecotype and climate is fine. I think that this is quite fascinating, that both these countries’ population distributions are very alike, with the exception that China’s population is a lot bigger than Brazil’s.

The government ha...