MULTIFRACTAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THE DISTRIBUTION PATTERN OF THE HUMAN-POPULATION

The generalized entropy, calculated from the quadrat counts of the pop ulation of the United States and Great Britain, is plotted against the logarithm of the quadrat size. These graphs are linear over a range o f scales that corresponds to the size of a city up to the size of the country. This linearity indicates a strong scale-invariant component t o the spatial population distribution pattern. Measurements of the gen eralized q-dimensions and alpha spectrum of the spatial population dis tribution patterns estimated from these graphs are presented.