Chapter 2 Definitions Rubenstein Flashcards
Agricultural density
The ratio of the number of farmers to the total amount of land suitable for agriculture.
Arithmetic density
The total number of people divided by the total land area.
Census
A complete enumeration of a population.
Crude birth rate (CBR)
The total number of live births in a year for every 1,000 people alive in the society.
Crude death rate (CDR)
The total number of deaths in a year for every 1,000 people alive in the society.
Demographic transition
The process of change in a society?s population from a condition of high crude birth and death rates and low rate of natural increase to a condition of low crude birth and death rates, low rate of natural increase and higher total population.
Demography
The scientific study of population characteristics.
Dependency ratio
The number of people under age 15 and over age 64 compared to the number of people active in the labor force.
Doubling time
The number of years needed to double a population, assuming a constant rate of natural increase.
Ecumene
The portion of the Earth?s surface occupied by permanent human settlement.
Epidemiologic transition
Distinctive causes of death in each stage of the demographic transition.
Epidemiology
The branch of medical science concerned with the incidence, distribution and control of diseases that are prevalent among a population at a special time and are produced by some special causes not generally present in the affected locality.
Industrial Revolution
A series of improvements in industrial technology that transformed the process of manufacturing goods.
Infant mortality rate (IMR)
The total number of deaths in a year among infants under one year of age for every 1,000 live births in a society.
Life expectancy
The average number of years an individual can be expected to live, given current social, economic and medical conditions. Life expectancy at birth is the average number of years a newborn infant can expect to live.
Medical revolutions
Medical technology invented in Europe and North America that has diffused to the poorer countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa. Improved medical practices have eliminated many of the traditional causes of death in poorer countries and enabled more people to live longer and healthier lives.
Natural increase rate (NIR)
The percentage growth of a population in a year, computed as the crude birth rate minus the crude death rate.
Overpopulation
A situation in which the number of people in an area exceeds the capacity of the environment to support life at a decent standard of living.
Pandemic
Disease that occurs over a wide geographic area and affects a very high proportion of the population.
