In view of the available trends, the future pattern of the population distribution in the world is expected to remain same.
The main reasons may be that the international law and world politics do not permit free migration from one country to another. Secondly, the sparsely populated areas have adverse climate and are generally poor in resource potential.
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Prospects of large-scale expansion of population in the cold, mountainous, arid or hot and wet climates seem to be dim.
The cold climates with their short growing seasons and long distances from existing commercial and industrial regions probably have limited potential for both agriculture and industry.
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These areas will remain inhabited by the indigenous groups that have adjusted to the harsh conditions over many centuries or by the outsiders who undertake minerals extraction, military training and research activities.
In the arid and desert areas also, the prospects of large population agglomerations are bleak owing to the non-availability of water for drinking and irrigation purposes.
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Consequently, most of the deserts will remain uninhabited or else thinly populated by nomads, hunters and gatherers.
The equatorial rain forests are also not very attractive regions for human habitation. Population in these areas may grow only if agriculture is developed by large-scale felling of forests.
The felling of trees may be disastrous from the world’s climatic point of view. The destruction of forests may destroy the climatic balance by reducing the amount of moisture that is returned to the atmosphere by transpiration from the equatorial forests.
The young folded and other rugged mountains also provide very little scope for the future expansion of human population in the hilly areas.
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Development of more settlements in the mountainous areas may lead to pollution, degradation of natural environment, and the excessive demands for food.
Thus, it can be inferred that the future pattern of world’s population distribution will remain more or less unchanged.