Low-Tech Kingdom Population Density?

[Sunrunners_Fire]

Originally Posted by tjbuege

Unless, of course, you are looking for earth-like realism.

Originally Posted by Terwin

Especially using magic.

I prefer to have a reasonable baseline (a realistic flavoring, say) that I can deviate from, while detailing the consequences of and reasoning for said deviations. Also, its' easier to get information about our world, its' workings and its' history than it is to get people to work out the details of a theoretical example for me. ;)

A few million people appears to be sufficient; giving a population density of 865~ per square mile of arable land. This buffs their economic volume, even absent trade, which increases the funding available to field and maintain military/police forces. Thats' a lot of people though! ... somewhere between modern Japan (at 873) and the modern Philippines (at 846).

Originally Posted by rust

Overall I think that an isolated, low population society of TL 4 would become far more "rural" than our world's historical examples of this technology level, with a technology development and slow progress focussed mostly on fields like for example agriculture, mining and the basic crafts and little change from previous technology levels in its culture and in the theoretical sciences - more a kind of slow improvement of the late Middle Ages than a Renaissance.

This specific kingdom doesn't have measurable technological progress. They inherited a large body of knowledge and decayed infrastructure, were instructed in its' use and maintenance and then were mostly abandoned to their own devices. They've spent their history since arrival (about eight hundred years ago) in the struggle to survive, adapting their broken magic to the new realities and fighting off monstrous incursions. A mostly "rural" population that further develops its' inherited technology at a glacial pace sounds fine to me!