In often heated debates in/on the media in the last few years related to immigration and its associated phrases such as; racism, economic migrants, E.C. policy of free movement and the looming possibility of migrants driven by climate change I have yet to here any commentator, academic or politician home-in on density of population statistics.
According to verified figures as recorded in Wikipaedia Great Britain’s 62 million population is contained within 94000 square miles, although as with virtually all national units certain landscapes prohibit all but a low density population, the proportion of ‘unavailable terrain’ varying from one country to another. Taken overall the density of population across Great Britain is 660 persons per square mile. In the list of national average densities of population the closest country to G.B. is Vietnam, even more than G.B. a long thin country (the picture above shows a village in a mountainous part of the sub-tropical northern part of the country). Admittedly four European nations have a higher density of population, Netherlands (the only European state with a density of population over 1000 per square mile) , Belgium, Monaco and the Vatican City (the last probably a result of its smallness of area rather than an intention of the population to procreate). Admittedly also density of population has risen in Germany and Italy with Germany at 593 per square mile and Italy at 518.
Amongst other countries in the 500+ persons per square mile are; North Korea, South Korea (density twice that of G.B.), Pakistan, Japan, India, Bangladesh (with a density per square mile four times that of G.B.), Israel (pursuing a policy of territorial expansion!) and Lebanon, a small country with a high density of population having now also to cope with over a million refugees from Syria.
All the relatively new member countries of the European Community from eastern Europe have a lower density of population than countries mentioned so far, most very much lower.
Population density and mass migration is a global problem.
(To be continued).