The human impact on the environment cannot be underestimated, and hence population is a key element in the consideration of this topic. Population growth is often cited as the root cause of environmental problems; in actual fact, the interaction between the population, economic development and environmental change is too complex to support this conclusion. Distributional patterns, population density and living standards combine in playing a major role in deciding the impact of the population on natural resources and the environment. In 1901 it was recorded
that the total population of Gozo amounted to 7215 inhabitants. Presently it is recorded that the population constitutes of 37,342 Gozitans density if of 440 persons per square kilometre, amounting to 7.4% of the total population in the Maltese Islands.