Population Distribution

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses several aspects of the United States population distribution and how the population may change in the next five to ten years. It explains that the population distribution in the U.S. is an interesting mix, with most people living in the urban centers of the nation, but enough still live in the heartland and western areas to make the population diverse and spread out.

From the Paper:

"The population of the United States in mid-2004 was 293,633,000. The population distribution of the United States, in general terms, is located mainly along the coastlines, with the interior of the country being less populated than the East, West, and Gulf Coasts. In fact, the Population Research Bureau notes, "More than half the U.S. population lives within 50 miles of a coastal shoreline" (Editors). This also holds true with the Great Lakes region and along the Mississippi River. Population centers such as Detroit and Chicago are located along the coastlines of the Great Lakes, and centers such as Saint Louis are located along the Mississippi. Generally, distribution is heaviest East of the Mississippi, and then there is a wider gap until reaching the West Coast and desert southwest. While the population density of the U.S. is only 79 people per square mile, this statistic does not give an adequate picture of the population distribution, because there is so much of the country that is inhabitable because of terrain, inhospitality, or bodies of water. In addition, 79 percent of American people live in urban centers, which means only 21 percent live in the rural areas of the country."

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• Term Paper # 112493 : "Population Dynamics"

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