A model for simulating population distribution (MSPD) of China is developed based
on the grid generation method and the Control of MapObjects of geographical information
system. Elevation, net primary productivity, land use and land cover, city
sizes and their spatial distribution, and spatial distribution of transport infrastructures
are taken into full account in the MSPD. The result from the MSPD shows that
in 2000, 90.8% of the total population of China distributed on the southeastern side
of the Heihe-Tengchong line. The ratio of population on the northwestern side to
total population of China has been increasing since 1935. The yearly growth rate
was 0.8% from 1935 to 1990 and 6.1% from 1990 to 2000. One important advantage
of the MSPD is that when scenarios of land cover, spatial distributions of transport
infrastructures and cities are available, scenarios of spatial population distribution
can be developed on the basis of total population forecast.