According Optimum Population Theory, in every country, there is an optimum level of population. The optimum population is that which gives the maximum income per head.
If the population exceeds the optimum level, the per capita income falls, the standard of living declines, and the country becomes overpopulated.
The distributional pattern and density of population are highly unevenly distributed over the earth surface and same is the case with natural resources.
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The pressure of population on the resource base and the available technology determine whether the region is overpopulated or under populated.
In other words, the extent to which resources are utilized and the way in which they are used determine whether an area is under populated or overpopulated.
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A country is said to have an optimum population when the number of people is in balance with the available resources.
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Optimum conditions can only be maintained if the exploitation of new resources or the development of other forms of employment keeps pace with increases in population. If the population becomes too large, the law of diminishing returns begins to operate.
Up to a certain point an increase in the number of people working on the land leads to a marked increase in production
Once the population in a country reaches its optimum level, a further increase in population may increase production but at a decreasing rate, so that output per capita declines. As more people become dependent on the same resource base, each individual will become poorer,
Contrary to this, if there are not enough people to develop all the resources in an area, its standard of living may be lower than it could be, even if its full potential is realized.
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Thus, Brazil, with about 22 people per sq. km., is considered underdeveloped today. Yet, before it was colonized by the Europeans, it may not have been under populated even though there were fewer people, because the range of resources utilized by the indigenous population was also far smaller than the resource base exploited today.
Similarly, in terms of present-day technology, Central Asia is considered under populated. There are vast mineral resources which could support industrial development in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Russian Siberia.
But, in the past, Central Asia was inhabited mainly by pastoralists who knew nothing of modern technology.
The resources which they were capable of exploiting were often overstrained. Consequently, during the medieval period, waves of Central Asian people out migrated and invaded the neighboring and distant areas in search of food and land, and spread as far afield as Eastern Europe, South-West Asia, South Asia and China.
Under population or overpopulation, therefore, must be considered mainly in terms of technology and economic stage of development of the country/region concerned, and the standard by which this is measured in that country.
An advanced country can be considered as one where agriculture, industry, communications, trade and commerce, and social services are all well-developed and the resources of the country are fully and judiciously utilized.