This document discusses the relationship between population and resources, defining concepts of under population, optimum population, and over population. It states that population and resource availability affect each other, and that optimum population is variable based on resources and technology. Under population occurs when a population is too small to utilize available resources. Over population is defined as a population too large to be supported by existing resources. The document provides examples and characteristics of each population type.

1. Population-Resource Relationship:
Under Population, Optimum Population and Over Population
Mithun Ray
Department of Geography
Malda College (University of Gour Banga)
E-mail: mithun.ray147@gmail.com

2.  Collection of people at a time of a place considered as
population
 Resource means somethings that has utility to human beings

3.  Population and resources have a strong relationship
with one another
 The growth and decline of population affects the
availability of resources. At the same time the
availability of resources affects the trends seen in
population.

4. Present human species had common ancestor but it is varied
initial physical environment coupled with some sort of luck
gave some human group higher pace of development than
others.
 These differences further multiplied with the passage of time
to make different human groups differently able in
understanding and utilization of their environment.
These different abilities with different human group to
understand and exploit their environment have necessitated
the need to compare human numbers with respect to local
physical environment which owes to satisfy their needs now
and also for the generations to come.

5. Concept of Optimum Population
Population which produces maximum economic
welfare
-- Car-Saunders
 The ideal number of population that a country should have
considering its resources.
 The optimum size of population is which along with the
existing natural resources and a given state of technology,
yields the highest income per capita in a country.

7. ---Prof. Dalton
If M is zero, population is optimum, when M is positive, it is over
population, when M is negative, it is under population. Therefore,
optimum population is not fixed and a rigid one. It is rather variable
and relative to resources and technology. Optimum population is not
just an economic concept but qualitative in nature. Prof. Cannan has
correctly remarked, “It is being perpetually altered by the progress of
knowledge and other changes affecting the economic system. It is,
thus, a dynamic concept. It may be higher or lower as different

9. Concept of Under Population
Under population exists when a population is too small,
therefore unable to fully utilise the available resource
endowments. Under population is also characterised by a
situation where the available resources are capable of supporting
a much larger population with no reduction in living standards.
The situation is found in regions of low technical development
such as equatorial Congo, Amazon River basin or the rich Prairie
region of North America.

11. Relative under population is more common than absolute under
population. Indeed, absolute under population is rarely seen and
may be found in completely secluded societies where, the degree of
replacement of population is less than unity. Relative under
population occurs due to insufficient resource development. In
developed economies, rural under population is more visible,
whereas in backward countries, under population is linked to high
mortality rate.

12. Concept of Over Population
The term ‘overpopulation’ means too great a population for a
given region to support. There may be two causes: (i) population
growth exceeds the existing resource base; (ii) existing resources
have been depleted.
The situation of overpopulation displays the following socio-
economic characteristics: high unemployment, low incomes, low
standards of living, high population density, malnutrition and
famine.

14. Some authors distinguish absolute overpopulation
(where the absolute limit of production has been attained
but standards of living remain low) from relative
overpopulation (where present production does not
population but the production can be augmented).

15. https://www.i-study.co.uk/subscription/igcse-zone/igcse-geography/1-1-population-dynamics/

16. This Power Point Presentation (PPT) has been
prepared only to deliver the lecture. The materials
(Maps, Diagrams and Images) used in this
presentation have been collected and compiled
by the presenter from various academic blogs,
research papers, books etc.

17. THANK YOU