3
2.
POPULATION
Analysis of rural and urban population density revealed higher urban population
in OECD and Developed (DEV) countries than the rural population. The reason for this
is just higher life standards of the cities in developed countries. The urban population is
approximately 51% and the rural population is about 49% of the total world population
(Figure 2.1). Lower life standards of the urban areas in the Least Developed Countries
(LDCs) led to have lower urban population than rural population (almost twice as much
of urban population). Rural population is also higher in the COMCEC Member
Countries than urban population. With regard to population density, DEV group
countries have the highest density with 323.97 people/km
2
. World population density is
179.55 people/km
2
while LDC group has a density of 129.86 people/km
2
(Annex 1).
Figure 2.1. Distribution of Population
Source: AQUASTAT, 2013