Physical factors such as climate, relief, fertile soils, and availability of water influence population distribution. Areas with moderate climate, gentle slopes, fertile soils, and access to water sources like rivers tend to be more densely populated as they can support agriculture and settlements. In contrast, deserts, steep slopes, infertile soils and swampy regions are sparsely populated due to harsh conditions.

1. Physical factors are conditions imposed by the environment and include the
factors explained below:
(i) Relief
 Steep slopes cannot be cultivated. As a result, they tend to have a small
population or are more sparsely populated than the gentle cultivatable
slopes.
(ii) Climate
 Areas of high rainfall tend to be more populated than arid areas.
 The arid parts of the world like parts of the Sahara desert, the Atacama,
Namib, Kgalagadi, Arabian and Australian deserts are sparsely
populated.
 The dry conditions are unfavourable for settlement as people need water
for themselves, for their animals and for the cultivation of crops.
 The soils are mainly sandy and infertile.
 Cold deserts are also sparsely populated.
 Few people are found in hot deserts and they are mainly confined to
river valleys and oases.

2. (iii) River valleys
 River valleys, such as the Nile valley, are densely populated because rivers provide water for
irrigation and lay down fertile alluvial soils during floods.
 Some rivers such as the Chobe and Zambezi are navigable, meaning that they can be used for
transport.
 Some have lots of fish. Have you realised that most early settlements such as Mmadinare,
Mahalapye, Tonota, Mochudi and others started near rivers? I hope you have.
(iv) Fertile soils
 Areas with fertile soils tend to be much more populated than those with infertile soils.
 In Botswana, for instance, the eastern corridor is much more populated than the deserts and
the badly drained areas such as the swamps.
 The more fertile the soil, the
 more food it is capable of producing, hence the greater the number of people it can support.
(v) Pests and diseases
 A lot of people tend to occupy places that are free from pests and diseases.
 Swampy areas like the Okavango Delta do not attract many people because they provide
breeding places for disease causing insects such as mosquitoes, tsetse flies and others.

3. (i) Mineral wealth
 Mining areas, for example the mining towns of Orapa, Jwaneng, Selibe-Phikwe and others,
have attracted many people from all over the world.
 The high populations we find is these towns exist due to the economic activity of mining.
 The discovery and mining of minerals has led to creation of densely populated settlements.
(ii) Industrialisation and urbanisation
 Industries are concentrated in towns and they attract large numbers of people especially,
young people.
 These young people move to urban centres to look for jobs and education.
 This movement contributes to having larger populations in urban areas than in rural ones.
(iii) Government policy or plan of action
 Government policy or plan of action may force a cluster of small settlements to join together to
form a bigger one in order to make it economical to provide the people with services.
 The Botswana government encourages this unification of small villages.