Chapter 7: Human Populations

Question 1

Every second, about how many children are born, and about how many people die?

Answer 1

About 4-5 people are born, and about 2 people die. This means that the human population increases by about 75 million people each year.

Question 2

In the past, what factors usually kept the human population low?

Answer 2

disease, famine, and war

Question 3

What did Thomas Malthus write in 1798?

Answer 3

He wrote “An Essay on the Principal of Population”. He discussed how he felt how disease, famine and
constraining social conditions kept populations from growing exponentially.

Question 4

What were Karl Marx’s beliefs on what slowed population growth?

Answer 4

Karl Marx felt poverty, pollution and resource depletion
slowed growth.

Question 5

Who calculated the carrying capacity for humans on the planet Earth, and what is the estimated carrying capacity?

Answer 5

Joel Cohen. 10 billion - 12 billion people.

Question 6

What is demography?

Answer 6

Encompasses vital statistics about people; birth, death, where people live, etc.

Question 7

What are the two major types of societies?

Answer 7

developed (old, rich and stable) vs. developing (young, poor, and rapidly growing)

Question 8

What is Crude Birth Rate?

Answer 8

The number of births in a year per thousand people.

Question 9

What is Total Fertility Rate?

Answer 9

The number of children born to an average woman during her reproductive life

Question 10

What is Zero Population Growth?

Answer 10

Occurs when births plus immigration in a population equals deaths plus emigration (B+I = D+E)

Question 11

What is the world average Total Fertility Rate? What is the replacement fertility rate?

Answer 11

About 2.6 children per woman. About 2.1 children per woman.

Question 12

What are Crude Death Rates?

Answer 12

AKA Crude Mortality Rates, the number of deaths per thousand people in a given year. Depends on the age structure of a country

Question 13

How do you find the natural increase of a population?

Answer 13

Crude Birth Rate - Crude Death Rate = natural increase

*Total Growth Rate includes immigration and
emigration.

Question 14

What is the difference between life expectancy and life span?

Answer 14

The average age a newborn infant can expect to attain is the life expectancy. Life span is the oldest age to which a species is known to survive.

Question 15

What is population momentuem?

Answer 15

When a country (like Niger) has a large percentage of the population in the prereproductive category (below 15), the total fertility rates could fall out of nowhere, and the population and total number of births would continue to grow.

Question 16

What is Dependency Ratio?

Answer 16

The number of nonworking people compared to the number of workers in a populations

Question 17

What is an age structure diagram?

Answer 17

a graphical illustration that shows the distribution of various age groups in a population

Question 18

Describe the “Rapid Growth” age structure diagram.

Answer 18

A structure will have a wide base and narrow top (upside down V). Many people in the 0-5 age group but very few in the top age groups.

Question 19

Describe the “Stable” age structure diagram.

Answer 19

Structure shows a fairly equal number of people at all age groups, no age group dominates. The population will remain about the same

Question 20

Describe the “Declining” age structure diagram.

Answer 20

the number of young appears to be decreasing compared to other age groups

Question 21

What are Pronatalist Pressures?

Answer 21

reasons for having children

Question 22

Name some factors that increase desire for children.

Answer 22

status, someone to care for aging parents, future income, help with chores, pleasure, pride, comfort, sense of accomplishment in life

Question 23

Name some factors that discourage the desire for reproduction.

Answer 23

higher education, personal freedom for women, preference to work and earn money

Question 24

What is Birth Dearth?

Answer 24

Countries having a birth dearth that have a birth rate below replacement level of 2.1

Question 25

What is Demographic Transition?

Answer 25

Going from high birth and death rates to lower birth and death rates

Question 26

How many stages are there in demographic transition, and what are they?

Answer 26

There are four.

• Stage 1: high birth rate, high death rate
• Stage 2: high birth rate, low death rate
• Stage 3: low birth rate, low death rate (population still increases due to population momentum)
• Stage 4: Equilibrium is complete with low birth rates, and low death rates

Question 27

What are the 4 conditions are necessary for transition?

Answer 27

• 1. Improved standard of living
• 2. Increased confidence on survival rate of children
• 3. Social status of women
• 4. Increased availability of birth control

Question 28

What is Social Justice?

Answer 28

A redistribution of material resources. This supports the philosophy that Earth’s resources belong to everybody and should be shared.

Question 29

What is Family Planning?

Answer 29

The idea that couples can choose the number of children they will have. Birth control is the method used most often. (any method used to reduce births)

Question 30

What are the options for family planning?

Answer 30

• 1. Avoiding sex (Abstinence)
• 2. Mechanical Barriers (Condoms, diaphragms, etc.)
• 3. Surgical Methods (Tubal ligation, Vasectomy)
• 4. Chemical (Pills)
• 5. Abortion (Became legal in the U.S in 1973)

Question 31

Many factors complicate family planning (like religion and politics). What major societal changes are required to make family planning programs more successful?

Answer 31

• 1. improved social, educational, and economic status of women
• 2. improved status for children
• 3. acceptance of choice in life and fertility
• 4. social security and political stability that give people confidence to plan for the future
• 5. knowledge, availabiity, and use of effective and acceptable means of birth control