FOR COLLATERAL READING AND REFERENCE Hartley's Railroad Transportation. American Railways. [Illustration: DISTRIBUTION OF VEGETATION] CHAPTER VII FACTORS IN THE LOCATION OF CITIES AND TOWNS The population of the world is very unevenly distributed. Not far from nine-tenths live in lowland plains, below an altitude of 1,200 feet, in regions where food-stuffs grow. The remainder live mainly in the grass-producing regions of the great plateaus, the mining regions or the flood-plains and grassy slopes of the higher montane regions. =Communal Life.=--In each of these regions, also, there is a very unequal massing of population. In part, the various families live isolated from one another; in part, they gather into cities and villages. In other words the population of a habitable region may be classed as _rural_ and _urban_. In the United States and western Europe, agricultural pursuits encourage rural life, each family living on its own estate. In Russia, the agricultural population usually cluster in villages. The farmer or freeholder who owns or controls his estate, exemplifies the most advanced condition of personal and political liberty. Only a few centuries have elapsed since not only the land but also the life of a subject was the property of the king or the feudal lord, and in those days about the only people living in isolation were outlaws. In most cases the communal system, best exemplified in Russia, marks an intermediate stage between a low and a high state of civilization; in other instances it is necessary in order to insure safety. German farmers in Siberia usually adopt the village plan for this reason. For the greater part, the non-agricultural population of the civilized world is massed in villages and cities for reasons that have nothing to do with either civilization or self-defence. The causes that bring about the massing of urban population are many and their operation is complex. In general, however, it is to facilitate one or more of several things, namely--the receiving, distribution, and transportation of commodities, the manufacture of products, the existence of good harbors, and the existence of minerals and metals necessary in the various industries. =The Beginnings of Towns and Cities.=--The "country town" of agricultural regions in many ways is the best type of the centre of population engaged in receiving and disbursing commodities. The farmers living in their vicinity send their crops to it for transportation or final disposition. The country store is a sort of clearing-house, exchanging household and other commodities, such as sugar, tea, coffee, spices, drugs, silks, woollens, cotton goods, farming machinery, and furniture for farm products. A railway station, grain elevator, and one or more banks form the rest of its business equipment.