Human Population Growth

Question 1

Where will most of the world’s population growth be in the next 40 years?

Answer 1

The developing world

Question 2

Describe the timeline of human population growth from AD 0 until now

Answer 2

AD 0: 300 million, mostly in China/India

1800: 1 billion
1999: 6 billion
2050: 9 billion projected

Question 3

How much of the world’s population lives in urban areas?

Answer 3

1/2

Question 4

Megacities

Answer 4

• Cities with greater than 10 million people
• In 1950, only NYC and Tokyo
• Today 22 megacities
• Sao Paulo is South America’s first megacity, pop. 21 million

Question 5

What proportion of Uganda’s population is under 15 years old?

Answer 5

1/2

Question 6

What percentage of the world’s population lives in the slums?

Answer 6

15%

Question 7

In Kenya, what socioeconomic class has the highest fertility rates?

Answer 7

The poor

Question 8

Why are rural villages losing population?

Answer 8

People moving to cities to find work

Question 9

What steps can be taken to limit the growth of human population?

Answer 9

• Increase education for women (increased economic independence from men, have fewer children)
• Family planning, contraceptive access

Question 10

What approach did India use to handle their population growth rate?

Answer 10

• Family planning program introduced in 1950’s
• Focus on educational, economic, and social advancement of women
• Rationalization: educated women have fewer children
• Average # of children fell from 5 (1960’s) to 3 (2000’s)

Question 11

What approach did China use to handle their population growth rate?

Answer 11

• 1 Child Policy, introduced in the late 1970’s
• advertised as mean to prosperous life, strictly enforced in urban areas
• Average # of children fell from 6 (1960’s) to 1.5 (2000’s)
• Unintended byproduct: now excess of 30 million men
• 2016: 2 Child Policy implemented because of aging population

Question 12

What approach did Kenya use to handle their population growth rate?

Answer 12

• Introduced in 1960’s, promotes matching population size to available resources (jobs)
• 1st sub-Saharan African country to view runaway population growth as an impediment to economic prosperity
• Average # of children fell from 8 (1980’s) to 4 (2000’s)

Question 13

What population problem is Japan and parts of Europe dealing with? What are some solutions?

Answer 13

• Birth rates have plummeted, and a large % of the population is elderly: who takes care of senior citizens?
• Austria: 2 years paid maternity leave for each child
• Russia: women paid $11,000 for having a 2nd child