population: Meaning and Definition of

pop•u•la•tion

Pronunciation: (pop"yu-lā'shun), [key]
— n.
  1. the total number of persons inhabiting a country, city, or any district or area.
  2. the body of inhabitants of a place: The population of the city opposes the addition of fluorides to the drinking water.
  3. the number or body of inhabitants of a particular race or class in a place: the native population; the working-class population.
  4. any finite or infinite aggregation of individuals, not necessarily animate, subject to a statistical study.
    1. the assemblage of a specific type of organism living in a given area.
    2. all the individuals of one species in a given area.
  5. the act or process of populating: Population of the interior was hampered by dense jungles.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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