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New
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Year 7

Population change in China

I can describe population growth in China and explain why population distribution is uneven across the country.

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New
New
Year 7

Population change in China

I can describe population growth in China and explain why population distribution is uneven across the country.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The population of China is more than 1.4 billion; China is the second most populous country in the world.
  2. China’s population increased rapidly after the Second World War but its population is now declining.
  3. Falling birth rates and an ageing population are contributing to the decrease in China’s population.
  4. The population of China is unevenly distributed because of different physical and human factors.

Keywords

  • Population - the total number of people living in a particular area

  • Birth rate - the number of live births per 1000 people per year

  • Death rate - the number of deaths per 1000 people per year

  • Population density - the number of people living in a defined area, e.g. 300 people per km2

  • Population distribution - how people are spread out across a geographic area

Common misconception

Population density is the same everywhere in China.

Population density varies across China; urban areas such as Shanghai are densely populated, but rural areas, such as the mountainous regions covering much of western China, are sparsely populated.


To help you plan your year 7 geography lesson on: Population change in China, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Use GIS to investigate how population density varies across China.
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This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
What is a population?
The number of animals in a country
Correct answer: The total number of people living in an area
The amount of land in a country
The number of schools in a city
Q2.
What is the capital city of China?
Hong Kong
Correct answer: Beijing
London
Q3.
What is the main reason for population growth?
Correct answer: More births than deaths
Fewer schools
More cars on the road
Q4.
Which country has the largest population?
Correct answer: India
USA
China
Q5.
What is the most widely spoken language in China?
Correct answer: Mandarin
English
Spanish
Q6.
Which river is the longest in China?
Correct answer: Yangtze River
The Nile
The Thames

4 Questions

Q1.
What is the current population of China?
800 million
Correct answer: Over 1.4 billion
500 thousand
Q2.
What is population density?
The total number of people in a country
Correct answer: The number of people living per square kilometre or mile
The number of cities in a country
The percentage of land used for farming
Q3.
Which part of China has the highest population density?
Western China
Northern China
Central China
Correct answer: Eastern China
Q4.
Why is Western China less populated than Eastern China?
Correct answer: It has mountains and deserts
It has too many cities
It is too small
It has too much farmland