The high density of population in Nile Valley and Island of Java is primarily due to

The primary reason for very high densities in both the Nile Valley and Java is the long-standing practice of intensive, productive agriculture. Java is a major rice-producing island with fertile soils and many villages in its productive plains—historically supporting dense rural settlement and wet‑rice cultivation [1]. Likewise, river plains such as the Nile have been centers of settled agriculture and high agricultural productivity, which concentrate population where land and water support intensive farming [2]. The Nile Valley’s narrow fertile strip supports a disproportionate share of the country’s population because the river enables intensive cultivation in an otherwise desert setting [3]. Thus intensive agriculture is the main driver of high densities in both areas.

Sources

1. [1] India and the Contemporary World - I. History-Class IX . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 4: Forest Society and Colonialism > 4 Forest Transformations in Java > p. 93
2. [2] INDIA PEOPLE AND ECONOMY, TEXTBOOK IN GEOGRAPHY FOR CLASS XII (NCERT 2025 ed.) > Chapter 1: Population: Distribution, Density, Growth and Composition > Distrib Distribution of ution ofution of Population > p. 3