Video: Distribution of major cities in the UK

﻿Hello geographers, my name is Mr. Harding and in today's lesson, we'll be looking at the distribution of cities in the UK. For today's lesson, you need to make sure you have yourselves a pen and some lined paper. I'd also recommend that you turn off any apps or notifications on your phones and if you can, try and find somewhere nice and quiet in your homes. So when you are ready, we will make a start. First, there are some key words that we need to know for today's lesson. The first key word is population density. This is the number of people who live within one square kilometre. Second of all, we need to learn population distribution. This is how many people are spread out over an area. So if you could just pause the video now and copy those onto your lined paper. Today, we need to think about where there are lots of people living and where there are few people living. The key words we will use to describe this are densely populated and sparsely populated. A densely populated area has many people per square kilometre. However a sparsely populated area has few people per square kilometre. So densely populated, many people. Sparsely populated, few people. Let's do a quick check then. So which of these two statements are correct? Option one: a densely populated area has few people per square kilometre. Option two: a sparsely populated area has few people per square kilometre. Option three: a densely populated area has many people per square kilometre. And option four: a sparsely populated area has many people per square kilometre. So pause now and just decide which of these statements are correct. Okay, so option two was correct and option three. Our first question is where are the major cities of the UK? The first general point is that large cities in the UK are distributed unevenly across the UK. The capital cities of the four countries of the UK are Belfast in Northern Ireland, Cardiff in Wales, Edinburgh in Scotland, and London in England. There are many reasons for why these cities are distributed unevenly, which we'll go into in more detail later on in this lesson. However it's worth noting that firstly, a lot of these cities in Northern England were developed due to resource extraction, and particularly coal in the north during the Industrial Revolution. Climate also plays a large factor. The south of the UK is much warmer and it's more favourable for farming and so on. Things such as relief, the height of land can play a large impact as well. So here are a list of some of the major cities in the UK. So we have London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol, Glasgow, and Cardiff. What do you notice about where these cities are distributed in the UK? Is there some kind of pattern there? You can just click to pause now and have a quick think. That's right, four are actually in England and five out of six are located in the south of the UK. Let's look at what's happening with population distribution of the UK, and why this pattern is emerging. The population distribution in the UK is very uneven. Some areas like the south and east of the UK are densely populated. Some areas like the north of Scotland and central Wales are more sparsely populated, and there are several factors that influence this pattern of population distribution. Before we go into that though, let's make sure we can describe this map properly. You can see it's a choropleth map and the darker colours represent a higher population density. You need to now describe the distribution of population in the UK. Okay, so you need to find the success criteria where you need to identify an area of high population density and also an area of low population density. You must use the compass directions and also the place names, and I've just put the map there for you with some of those names. Make sure you also use data from the key so you quote those accurately. Okay, so pause now and off you go. Okay, so if you can now self-assess that answer. Make sure please you have done those three things. You have mentioned a region of the UK, so the southeast of England, with place names like London, and then a quote from the key. So saying there's over 5,000 people. Then you've contrasted that with an area of low population density. There are lots of areas of the UK which are sparsely populated, but we are going to be looking specifically at the northwest of Scotland. One of the reasons why this area is sparsely populated is because it is an upland area with steep relief. This leads to a number of things. It has poor quality soil, so not many farms are able to develop there. The urban centres, so cities and towns, are very far apart and it's very difficult to access them, and also the climate is far more challenging. Let's contrast that now with the southeast of England. Why is this area so densely populated? Well this area has a lowland landscape with flat lands so it makes it easy to build on and to have farms. It has high mineral wealth, so lots of resources. It has coastal areas which means you can trade, catch fish and other activities. Also its proximity to lots of urban areas, including London. It also has excellent transport links. You can take a train from London to the continent, so to France, the Netherlands, and Belgium, and also has excellent trade links throughout the whole country. It also has a milder climate, which is better for growing crops and so on. Okay, so your final task is to categorise the factors to show whether they would cause a high or low population density. If you pause now and just read through and decide which ones show high population density and which ones show a low population density. Okay, brilliant, these are the answers so if you could just pause now and self-assess those. I just recommend that you've got those written down in your notes. Well done, that does bring us to the end of today's lesson. So massive well done from me. Before you go, it would be fantastic if you could just write down three things that you have learnt today just to really consolidate your learning. So until the next time, I hope you have a really lovely day and enjoy the rest of your learning, goodbye.

Exit Quiz: Distribution of major cities in the UK

Completed: Distribution of major cities in the UK

In this lesson we will investigate the population distribution of the UK. We will also learn about where the major cities are located in the UK and why some places are sparse and others densely populated.

Geography

Distribution of major cities in the UK

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Final Quiz

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