Distribution and spatial arrangement of rural population in Shaqlawa district, Kurdistan region-Iraq
Keywords:
Population distribution, population density, rural settlement, spatial arrangement, rural development, Mountain area.Abstract
Rural population distribution has a very significant influence over socio-economic characteristics of world rural
communities. It gives a reflection of the burden to the land resources of public services available in an area and
also reflects the environmental implications of population to specific area. Regional distribution of rural population
in Shaqlawa district reveals considerable inequality in an area of varied types of geographical environment. A
relationship of the various indices of physical and agricultural densities in the different sub regions of the area
under study reveals that physical condition shows mature adjustments to landforms, and rural population
distribution follows suitable area. Between two extreme types of grouping for rural settlements, the isolated
farmstead and the nucleated village, there are numerous degrees which depend upon the interplay of physical and
non-physical factors. An analysis of the trends of population distribution and density in Shaqlawa district indicates
that the already densely populated areas have a greater potential for population increase than the sparsely settled
areas, because it inevitably increase the spacing between settlements, the ratio of clustered to dispersed
population, the distance inputs per capita required providing the remaining settlements with services, social
functions and human companionship.
