Population

Question 1

antinatalist population policies

Answer 1

encourage couples to limit the number of chidren they have

most often, these policies discourage growth through the provision of contraception or abortion or through establishment of specific disincentives, such as steep penalties for couples bearing more children than allowed by the state

china is famous for its one-child population policy from the 1980s in which many drastic measures (eg: forced sterilization for couples with one child or infanticide of female babies) ensure decreasing population growth

Question 2

arithmetic density

Answer 2

number of people in a given unit of area

does not take into account physiographic differences in that area

Question 3

baby boomers

Answer 3

consist of individuals born post WWII (between 1946 and 1964)

baby boomers are the largest population cohort in US demographic history

as this large generation of individuals enter retirement, the burden of increasingly falling on the economically productive members of the country

Question 4

baby bust

Answer 4

following the baby boom, the baby bust was a period of time during the 1960s and 1970s when fertility rates in the US dropped

the drop is attributed to large numbers of women from the baby boom generation who sought higher levels of education and more competitive jobs, causing them to marry later in life, causing them to have fewer children than the previous generation

Question 5

cairo plan

Answer 5

in 1994, the UN, at the UN international conference on population and development, endorsed a strategy to stabilize global population at 7.27 billion no later than 2015

instead of focusing on top-down programs that limited reproduction in certain regions of the world, policies focused on giving women greater social and economic control of their lives

many argue that global drops in fertility are a result of women, particularly in developing regions, assuming greater control over their economic and reproductive lives

Question 6

carrying capacity

Answer 6

essentially the number of people an area can sustain without critically straining its resource base

depends on both level of technology and determining an appropriate standard of living

advanced technologies can typically sustain many more people than more primitive technologies

on a global scale, if people in developing regions begin to consume at a rate comparable to the developed world’s consumption rates, the globe has certainly exceeded carrying capacity. if, however, the people on earth live more modestly, the number of people the earth can sustain will increase

Question 7

chain migration

Answer 7

describes migrant flows from a common origin to the same destination. family or friends move first and get established within an area, paving the way for more friends and family to follow the same path

as number of migrants from a similar area congregate in one place, services specific to that population (both cultural and social) begin to accrue in that are

Question 8

channelized migration

Answer 8

with channelized migration streams, the flows between a particular origin and destination are larger than would normally be the case, but are not the result of family or kinship ties as is the case with chain migration

for example, channelized migration occurs betweenTexas and California; in other words, a significantly larger number of people move from Texas to California and vice versa than migration models predict

Question 9

cornucopians

Answer 9

in the 1980s, when many argued that stricter population controls needed to be placed on countries with high TFR (total fertility rate) in order to stimulate development, many economists argued that increasing populations stimulate rather than hinder economic development

“cornucopians” believe that with increasing populations come increasing opportunities for innovation

current global totals have not proven to have the dire consequences predicted by Malthus and his followers. while many across the globe die of starvation on a daily basis, this is more an issue of food distribution than food availability

Question 10

crude birth rate (CBR)

Answer 10

number of live births in a single year for every 1000 people in a population

birth rates tend to be highest in least developed regions where both number of women at or near reproducing age and fertility rates are high

places with high birth rates tend to be countries where women’s access to education is low

places with high birth rates tend to have a high portion of their population engaged in agriculture; more children equal more labourers

Question 11

crude death rate (CDR)

Answer 11

number of deaths in a country per 1,000 people

it is “crude” because it does not take into account the age structure of a population. eg: several countries in western europe have relatively high death rates because of a high proportion of individuals in older-age cohorts

Question 12

demographic accounting equation

Answer 12

predicts population change within a particular area as a function of natural increase/decrease and in/out pigration

P(t+1) = P(t)…
+ B(t, t+1) - D(t, t+1): natural change
+ I(t, t+1) - E(t, t+1): net migration

Where: 
P = population  
B = births 
D = deaths
I = immigration
E = emigration
t = time now
t+1 = some time in the future

Question 13

demographic momentum

Answer 13

tendency of a population to continue to grow in spite of stringent population policies or rapid fertility decline because of the large number of individuals in their childbearing years

in countries that implement policies encouraging or enforcing replacement-level fertility rates, it takes several generations before stable growth is achieved because of demographic momentum

Question 14

demographic transition model

Answer 14

describes population growth stabilization as a function of economic development

STAGE 1: preindustrialization. a country is characterized by high birth and death rates and little-to-no growth

STAGE 2: as the country industrializes, birth rates remain high, death rates drop, and population growth is rapid

STAGE 3: birth rates begin to drop as a country becomes fully industrialized

STAGE 4 & 5: highly developed countries across the globe where population growth is stable or negative (in the case of stage 5)

Question 15

dependency ratio

Answer 15

a measure of the economic impact of younger and older cohorts on the economically productive members of a population

younger cohorts are typically children under the age of fifteen (inelegible to work); older cohorts are over the age of sixty-four (retured members of a population)

in some countries the dependency ration includes only males in the economically productive cohort if the local culture prohibits women’s participation in the workforce

Question 16

global growth doubling time

Answer 16

doubling in the amount of time it will take a particular population to double in size

countries with growth rates of 1% take approximately 70 years to double their population, whereas countries with 2% growth rates take only 35 years to double

when this growth rate is graphed, a J-curve represents the exponential growth

i the last couple of decades, growth rates have declined, population follows more of an S-curve, meaning greater stability

Question 17

ecumene

Answer 17

the proportion of the earth’s surface that’s inhabited by humans

Question 18

global population distribution patterns

Answer 18

sixty percent of the world’s population lives within 60 miles (98 km) of the ocean

population concentrates in areas with high soil arability/fertility, which also tend to have mild climates

population is becoming more urban

currently a little over half of the global population is urban with much higher rates in highly developed regions.

Question 19

global refugee patterns

Answer 19

post 9/11, security issues have led many countries of the world, particularly western europe and north america, to tighten borders to individuals seeking asylum

in many african countries, borders are open to refugees such that countries in which refugees are fleeing from also host significant refugee populations

for example, several million refugees have fled Sudan as a result of civil war, but Sudan also hosts numerous refugees from neighbouring countries

Question 20

guest workers

Answer 20

individuals who migrate temporarily to take advantage of job opportunities in other countries

send a significant portion of their pay, called remittances, back home to support friends and family

in some countries, remittances are a significant source of income for the national economy

Question 21

HIV/AIDS

Answer 21

a major and dramatic exception to recent population growth trends, particularly in the developing world, where the epidemic is having great effects on birth rates, death rates, and life expectancy

currently the third most common cause of death worldwide and expected to surpass the black death of the 14th century as history’s worst ever epidemic

sub-saharan africa, particularly hard-hit by this disease, and some other countries, have had life expectancy cut in half with dramatic increases in death rates

Question 22

illegal immigration

Answer 22

can be characterized as involuntary but unforced migrants

individuals choose to risk their lives in the migration decision; a decision that is motivated by dire economic situations within their own country

Question 23

infant mortality

Answer 23

number of deaths during the first year of life per thousand live births

tends to be much higher in developing regions as it is strongly related to a country’s access to health care services

overall, rates have decreased significantly over the last 50 years

Question 24

internal migration history of the US

Answer 24

the most significant internal migration movements in the US can be characterized in three waves:

WAVE 1: beginning with colonization, a movement of the population westward and movement from rural to urban areas as places become increasingly industrialized

WAVE 2: from the early 1940s through the 1970s a massive movement of African Americans from the rural south to cities in the South, North, and West

WAVE 3: post-WWII to the present day movement to the sun belt states (the fifteen states from North Carolina to Southern California and all the states south of that line)

Question 25

internally displaced persons

Answer 25

people who have had to leave their home because of conflict, human rights abuse, war, or environmental catastrophes, but do not leave their country to seek safety

a good example in the US is the individuals whose homes were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005

Question 26

life expectancy

Answer 26

average number of years a person can be expected to live

number varies globally with highly developed countries experiencing much higher life expectancies that developing countries

varies within countries, within cities, among ethnicities, and even between sexes

Question 27

migration

Answer 27

movement to a new activity space (eg: schools, grocery stores, and other places where everyday activities take place as a result of the move) or movement over country borders

international migration involves movement over country borders

emigration is movement out of a particular place, whereas immigration describes movement to a specific location

migratory movement within a country is called internal migration

Question 28

natural increase vs natural decrease

Answer 28

the difference between CBR and CDR indicates natural growth or decline within a population

when births outnumber deaths, natural increase is occurring; when deaths outnumber births, a country experiences natural decrease

high rates of natural increase are most prevalent in developing countries. in highly developed countries, such as countries in western europe, natural decrease is becoming more common

Question 29

natural increase variations

Answer 29

economic development has profound implications on health care, available employment opportunities, and nutrition among other factors contributing to growth

populations with better education tend to have lower rates of natural increase

gender empowerment: when women have more economic and political access, power, and education, fertility rates drop

some cultural traditions prohibit women from working outside the home and some traditions prohibit use of contraception

certain public policies can encourage or discourage couples to reproduce and can dramatically affect a country’s rate of natural increase

Question 30

neo-malthusians

Answer 30

neo-malthusians, following in malthus’ footsteps, believe population growth to be a problem and provide the foundation for many antinatalist population policies

many neo-malthusians advocate “zero population growth” (ZPG) in which number of births and immigrants are equally counteracted by the number of deaths and emigrants

while ZPG may limit environmental repercussions of an expanding population, it does have social and economic consequences in the long term as a young population base does not exist to support both the local economy and an ever-increasing elderly population

Question 31

overpopulation vs underpopulation

Answer 31

overpopulation is essentially a value judgment reflecting an opinion than an area does not have adequate resources to support the existing population: if an area is overpopulated, it has exceeded its carrying capacity

underpopulation describes scenarios in which areas or regions do not have enough people to fully exploit the local resource base

Question 32

place utility

Answer 32

in the migration decision, “place utility” refers to the benefits a place offers to pull people to that destination. benefits include things like good school systems, good climate, job opportunities, recreational opportunities, etc

Question 33

population centroid of the USA

Answer 33

the geographic center of the US; essentially the balancing point of the US population if the country is conceived of as a plane

historically, has been on the east coast, with continued migration west and south. the center is progressively moving and is currently thought to be somewhere in south-central Missouri

Question 34

population data

Answer 34

includes total population counts and rates such as crude birth rate, crude death rate, and so on: from the UN statistical office, the world bank, the population reference bureau, and from national censuses

in developing regions, data from censuses can be unreliable as gathering detailed figures proves complicated; accessibility issues make accurate data collection nearly impossible

in the US, the decennial census provides detailed and mostly accurate information on the demographic characteristics of the country

Question 35

population density

Answer 35

crude density, also called arithmetic density, is total number of people divided by the total land area

crude density is a “crude” number because it does not provide a full picture of the relationship between people and land

issues of density provide a good example of how demography and development can overlap: for example, physiographic density represents the ratio between number of people and amount of arable land in a given unit of area

Question 36

population geography

Answer 36

similar to demography in its focus on demographic rates (eg: birth rates, death rates, fertility, etc) except that population geographers investigate patterns from a spatial perspective - why patterns exist, where they exist, and the implications of current population patterns

as the global total of people on this planet continues to rise, geographers become increasingly concerned with how the world can sustainably provide for growing populations

population patterns often overlap with economic development patterns: for example, places with the highest fertility rates are typically less economically developed.

Question 37

population growth rate

Answer 37

a country’s growth rate is determined by its natural increase, (birth rate minus the death rate), expressed as a percentage

for example, a country’s natural increase with a CBR of 22 (per 1,000 population) and a CDR of 12 (per 1,000) is 22-12 or 10 per 1,000, translating to a growth rate of 1 percent

currently, high growth rates are in developing countries such as el salvador, mozambique, and oman, where growth rates are above 2 percent

Question 38

population growth since 1750

Answer 38

SEE CARD #112

Question 39

population pyramid

Answer 39

population pyramids also called age-sex pyramids

in general, pyramids come in four different shapes:

• RAPID GROWTH distinguished by a wide base (most common in developing countries)
• STABILITY, characterized by a rectangular shape indicting stable growth (common in developed countries)
• DECLINE, in which the base is smaller than previous cohorts
• DISRUPTED GROWTH, which shows significant gaps in the pyramid, usually as a result of war, strict population policies, or other drastic events

Question 40

population pyramid: US

Answer 40

SEE CARD #114

Question 41

pronatalist population policies

Answer 41

typically exist in countries where population in declining, and involve providing incentives for women to have children

in Europe, where negative population growth is common, countries have instituted programs that encourage births through subsidized child care costs, offering generous maternity leave packages and other services to reproducing women

some countries outside of europe, for example singapore, are instituting pronatalist population policies in response to dramatic results of antinatalist policies in previous decades

Question 42

ravenstein’s migration laws

Answer 42

describe voluntary migration patterns: the laws that still apply today

• every migration flow generally generates a counterflow
• the majority of migrants move a short distance
• migrants who move long distances tend to choose big city destinations
• urban residents are less migratory than inhabitants of rural areas
• families are less likely to make international moves than young adults

Question 43

refugees

Answer 43

individuals who cross national boundaries to seek safety and asylum

typically reluctant or forced migrants who leave their country because of war, famine, environmental catastrophes, or religious persecution

Question 44

reluctant and forced migration

Answer 44

in forced migration, an individual migrates against his or her will

somewhere between voluntary and forced migration is reluctant migration where an individual reluctantly chooses to move because factors as the current location prohibit them from remaining there

a common example of an internal forced migration event in the US is the trail of tears in the 1830s during which Native Americans from numerous eastern tribes had to migrate west (to what is now Oklahoma)

a common example of an international forced migration event is the migration of million of africans to north and south america during the slave trade beginning in the 1500s

Question 45

rust belt

Answer 45

in the 1960s and 1970s, large numbers of white, middle-class americans moved from older northeastern and midwestern cities to the south and west coast (the sun belt)

the area people were moving from in the upper midwest became known as the rust belt. these previous industrial powerhouses lost much of their economic base to other parts of the country and other parts of the world

Question 46

sun belt migration

Answer 46

movement of the US population in the last several decades to the sun belt states has dramatically altered the balance of political and economic power as california, florida, and texas (all sun belt states), are now three of the four most populous states in the country. they carry a disproportionate number of electoral votes, have large congressional delegations, and are dominant in many economic sectors such as technology energy production and agriculture

Question 47

sustainability

Answer 47

sustainability is simply defined as using resources in a manner that supplies existing population while not compromising availability of resources for future generations

while limiting population growth relives pressure of future generations’ resource needs, the bigger and thornier problem in thinking about sustainability is global consumption patterns, which are geographically very uneven

during the 1994 UN meeting on population and development in Cairo, developing countries criticized the disproportional focus on limiting population growth in developing regions, arguing that core nations needed to curb their consumption rates

Question 48

thomas malthus

Answer 48

according to thomas malthus (1798), carrying capacity is limited by food availability

food production grows arithmetically, whereas population grows geometrically or exponentially, meaning eventually food supplies cannot support an ever-increasing population

in reality, malthus is somewhat accurate: eventually population growth does reach a carrying capacity called a homeostatic plateau that extends with each technological revolution

for example, the industrial revolution allowed for tremendous advancements in food production, greatly expanding the globe’s carrying capacity

Question 49

total fertility rate (TFR)

Answer 49

total fertility rate (TFR) is the average number of children a woman will have during her childbearing years (ages fifteen to forty-nine)

TFR provides a more accurate picture of fertility in a country than CBR as it allows demographers to predict the birth rates of a particular cohort over time

Replacement level fertility: a fertility rate typically slightly higher than two (to account for infant/childhood mortality and childless women)

Question 50

voluntary migration and push-and-pull factors

Answer 50

voluntary migration is when an individual chooses to move, typically based on various push-and-pull factors

pull factors are characteristics at a destination that draw a migrant to that place

common pull factors include housing opportunities, climate, educational opportunities, and employment opportunities

push factors are characteristics at an individual’s current location that make him or her want to leave

push factors include negative environmental characteristics, unemployment, lack of good and services, and high cost of living among other things