Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - populate

~ v be populated if an area is populated by a particular group of people, they live there + by  (The Central Highlands are populated mainly by peasant farmers. | densely/heavily/highly/thickly populated (=a lot of people live in that place in relation to its size))  (densely populated urban areas | thinly/sparsely populated (=few people live in that place in relation to its size))  (The northern islands are very sparsely populated.)