May 192010
 

It is sometimes claimed that Mexico is ‘too crowded’ or ‘overpopulated’. Overpopulation, however, is an elusive concept, since it depends on the complex relationships between total population (and/or population density) and the resources available to support that population. In turn, the value of these resources depends in part on the technologies available to utilize them.

Even accepting that Mexico is not over-populated (since it apparently has sufficient resources to support its population), it is still interesting to compare Mexico’s population density with that of other countries.

CountryPopulation Density (persons per sq. km)
Mexico55
Bangladesh1127
India359
Japan337
UK337
Germany229
Italy200
Nigeria167
China 139
Indonesia121
Colombia40
USA31
Venezuela29
Brazil22
Argentina14
Canada3

As the table shows, Mexico’s overall population density of 55 persons per km2 is low, compared to Asian and European countries: Bangladesh (1127), India (359), Japan (337), UK (255) and Germany (229).

On the other hand, it is easily the highest among large countries in the New World like Colombia (40), USA (31), Venezuela (29) and Brazil (22).

Q. What are the implications for development of a country having a high density of population?

In a future post, we will consider whether or not Mexico’s population is evenly distributed across the country.

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