the fact of being small in number or amount, often spread over a large area

The sparseness of the population made it impracticable to provide separate schools for boys and girls. 人口密度低使得男女生分校不现实。

The sparseness of evidence makes it difficult to assess if there is any connection. 证据的稀少使得确认它们之间是否有关联变得很困难。