Question

Why does a small percentage of the country's population live in China's West?
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Answer 1

Due to unfavorable climate and soil for farming and production, Western China is not conducive to living. Due to this, China's western regions are sparsely populated compared to other parts of China, where production and farming are more conducive.

The eastern, coastal provinces are much more densely populated than the western interior because of the historical access to water.

Answer 2

While China's population has held steady through that time, the economic growth has driven people from the country's interior farmland to the coast, and the combination of industrialization and a swelling coastal population is taking its toll on the marine environment, according to the researchers.