Population

The settlement, distribution and growth of the population of the A F E countries are closely related to the existing economies o f these countries. In the predominantly agricultural areas of this region, rural settlements are highly concentrated in the river valleys, deltas and low-lying plains. Examples of these are the valleys and deltas of the Yangtze, the Yellow and the Pearl Rivers of China, the Ganges Valley and the coasts of the peninsula of India and Pakistan, the Red River and Mekong deltas of Indochina, the Menam delta of Thailand, and the Irrawaddy delta of Burma. The density of these settlements reaches as high as two thousand persons per square mile of land area in the valleys of China, India and Indochina, and stands in each of these countries in sharp contrast with the relatively sparsely settled spaces of the adjacent areas. In some of the countries in the A F E region there is a very high average density of population: Java and Madura had 800 persons per square mile in 1930 and Japan had 580 per square mile in 1948.

Sustainable Development Goals:

Decent Work and Economic Growth

Reduced Inequalities