Population Flashcards
What is natural decrease (ND)?
The death rate is greater that the birth rate
What is exponential growth?
A pattern where the growth rate constantly increases, often shown as a J-curve graph
What is birth rate?
The number of babies born per 1000 people per year
What is the death rate?
The number of deaths per 1000 people per year
What is natural change?
The difference between birth rate and death rate, given as a percentage
What is natural increase (NI)?
The birth rate is greater than the death rate
What is life expectancy?
The number of years a person is expected to live, usually taken from birth
What are the characteristics of a country in stage 1 of the demographic transition model?
High birth rate
High death rate
Both fluctuate because of disease, war and famine
Population fairly stable
What are the characteristics of a country in stage 2 of the demographic transition model?
Death rate decreases
Birth rate remains high
Population grows
What are the characteristics of a country in stage 3 of the demographic transition model?
Birth rate drops rapidly
Death rate continues to decrease, but more slowly
Population still grows but not as fast
What are the characteristics of a country in stage 4 of the demographic transition model?
Low birth rate
Low death rate
Birth rate tends to fluctuate depending on the economic situation
What are the characteristics of a country in stage 5 of the demographic transition model?
Birth rate very low and goes below death rate
Death rate has increased slightly because of ageing population
Total population stars to decrease
What is an example of a country in stage 1 of the demographic transition model?
Traditional rainforest tribes
What is an example of a country in stage 2 of the demographic transition model?
Afghanistan
What is an example of a country in stage 3 of the demographic transition model?
Most countries at lesser stages of development, such as Kenya, India, Brazil
What is an example of a country in stage 4 of the demographic transition model?
Most countries at further stages of development, such as USA, France, UK
What is a example of a country in stage 5 of the demographic transition model?
Italy, Germany, countries in Eastern Europe, Japan
What is urbanisation?
The growth in the proportion of people living in towns and cities
What is rural-to-urban migration?
Moving home from a rural area to settle in a town or city
What are major factors that affect population growth?
Agricultural change
Urbanisation
Education
Emancipation and status of women
What is a population pyramid?
A type of bar graph used to show the age and gender structure of a country, city or other area. The base shows the younger section of the population and the apex/top shows the elderly
What does the population pyramid of a stage 1 country look like?
Wide base due to high birth rate
Sides curve in quickly due to infant and child mortality rates
Death rate is high and life expectancy is low so there is a very narrow top and it is the shortest of all the pyramids
What does the population pyramid of a stage 2 country look like?
Similar to stage 1, death rate begins to fall which makes sides less concave, and apex is wider because of higher life expectancy and more elderly
What does the population pyramid of a stage 3 country look like?
Base narrows showing a decrease in birth rate, sides become steeper as more people live to an older age, health improvements allow more people to live longer
What does the population pyramid of a stage 4 country look like?
Pyramid becomes straight side, showing a steady low birth rate, high life expectancy allows most people to live into 60s, 70s, and 80s
What does the population pyramid of a stage 5 country look like?
Pyramid is much larger in middle age generations due to low birth rate, birth rate is low, increasing proportions in very elderly age groups - ageing population
What is age structure?
The proportions of each age group in a population. This links closely to the stage the country has reached in the demographic transition model
What is gender structure?
The balance between males and females in a population. Can tell us a great deal about a country or city
What is infant mortality?
The number of babies that die under a year of age, per 1000 live births
What is child mortality?
The number of children that die under five years of age, per 1000 live births.
What is transmigration?
A population policy that aims to move people from densely populated areas to sparsely populated areas and provide them with opportunities to improve their quality of life (eg Indonesia)
What are the issues with an ageing population?
Demand for health care
Need for social services (eg nursing homes, day care centres and people to care for them)
Pension crisis
These all put a financial pressure on the country
What are the impacts of international migration?
Economic, migrant workers send money back to their country to help their family -> money leaves the host country but greatly benefits the country of origin
Housing, accommodation can be hard to find for migrants in the UK, providing for some migrants over UK citizens can cause resentment between the 2 sets of people
Labour and skills, migration brings in more labour and skills and economies of the EU have benefitted as a result, but some migrants can be exploited
Social, too many migrants can be a burden, schools taking in many immigrant children may be under pressure; teachers often have to work more with children who’s first language is not English. However cultural mixing is often seen as positive as long as racial prejudice doesn’t occur,
What are push-pull factors?
PUSH factors are NEGATIVE aspects of a place they encourage people to move away. PULL factors are the ATTRACTIONS and opportunities of a place that encourage people to move there
What is migration?
The movement of people from one permanent home to another, which the intention of staying at least a year. This move may be within a country (national migration) or between countries (international migration)
What is a host country?
A country where a migrant settles
What is the country of origin?
The country from which a migration starts
What is an immigrant?
Someone entering a new country with the intention of living there
What is an emigrant?
Someone leaving their country of residence to move to another country
What are asylum seekers?
People who believe that their lives are at risk if they remain in their home country and who seek to settle in another (safe) country
What is an economic migrant?
Someone trying to improve their standard of living who moves voluntarily
What is zero growth?
A population in balance, birth rate is equal to death rate so there is no growth or decrease
What is population distribution?
The way a population is spread over an area. This usually requires a description
What is population density?
The number of people in a specified area, usually in km squared
Population / area squared
How is global population distributed?
- Unevenly
- Europe and Asia are densely populated -> good infrastructure, resources etc
- Australasia is the least densely populated -> hostile climate + lots of desert
- Northern hemisphere is more densely populated than southern
What is the population density like in the UK?
It has a high population density because of the welfare system and having a good infrastructure
What is the population density in Russia like?
Low population density because the country is very big so people are more spread out and it also has a hostile environment
What is the population density in China like?
Reasonable high population density because although there is a large population, China is a large country so the population is spread out. It has good natural resources and infrastructure and lots of available jobs which help support the population.
What is the population density in Niger like?
Has a low population density because it had a hostile climate. It has a high birth rate but also a high mortality rate
What is the population density like in Egypt?
Has a fairly dense population because large amounts of people live be the river and not in the deserts because it allows them to farm and irrigate the land easily
What is the population density in India like?
High population density because India has a high birth rate and fairly good natural resources
What is the general population density like in South America?
Has a fairly low average population density as some of the countries are fairly hostile and most places have a poor infrastructure
What is the population like in Canada
Canada has a low population density (sparse) because it has a hostile environment and there are many protected areas where people are not allowed to live
What is the population density in the usa like?
Low population density because the country itself is big so the large population is spread out
What are the Asian ‘Tigers’?
Four East Asian countries (Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan) where manufacturing industry grew rapidly from 1960s to 1990s
What is a chloropleth map?
A map where areas are shaded to show a range of figures. The higher categories are shown in darker colours and lighter colours for lesser values
What is a dependency ratio?
The balance between those people who are independent (work and pay tax) and those who depend on them (old and young)
What is the European Union (EU) ?
A group of countries across Europe that work towards a single market (they trade as if they were one country)
What is female emancipation?
Where women increasingly go out to work and have careers in senior positions in companies
What is the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita?
The total value of goods and services produced by a county in one year divided by its total population
What is the literacy rate?
The percentage of adults in a country who can read and write sufficiently to function fully in work and society
What are examples of newly industrialised country (NIC)?
These include the Asian ‘Tigers’ as well as other emerging nations such as Malaysia and China
What is a replacement rate?
A birth rate for a generation to be the same size as the one before it
What is rural to urban migration?
Moving home from a rural area to settle in a city
How will relief cause a high population?
Low lying, flat areas encourage settlement and flat land will likely have a deep soil layer. Eg the Nile delta
How will relief cause a low population?
Rugged high mountains are difficult to settle on. Eg the Himalayas
How will climate cause a high population?
A temperate climate with no extremes encourages settlement and it also means there is fresh water available which is good for a population. Eg Sydney or the UK
How can climate cause a low population?
Harsh climates at the equator or poles will discourage settlement. Eg the Australian outback. Harsh climates cab cause drought which puts people off settling there. Eg Ethiopia
How can the soils cause a high population?
Deep, rich and fertile soil (humus) or those enriched by river deposits allow good agriculture which supports larger populations. Eg the Nile delta
How can soils cause a low population?
Thin, unproductive or damaged soils cannot produce high yields of crops and cannot support a high population. Eg the Sahel in Africa
How can economies cause a high population?
Successful business areas encourage high population and attract migrants. Eg London
How can economies cause a low population?
A poorly developed country cannot support a large population. Eg Mozambique
How can settlement history cause a high population?
Natural or man made communications will have a big influence on the size of a settlement. Eg Rio de Janeiro and London. Coastal areas tend to attract high populations. Eg the Mediterranean Sea
How can settlement history cause a low population?
Population growth in isolated areas is hindered by poor natural communication and lack of invesment. Eg north Scotland. Landlocked countries are less attractive to populations. Eg parts of Africa
How can natural resources cause a high population?
Populations are attracted to areas with lots of natural resources. Eg the UK had lots of high grade accessible coal
How can natural resources cause a low population?
Many areas in Africa lack natural resources and don’t have money or technology to exploit them. Eg Mozambique
What are the 4 main categories for factors the affect population?
Human factors - man made things such as infrastructure, economy and government that change what makes people live in an area
Physical factors - these are natural factors the encourage or discourage people from settling. Eg climate, terrain/relief, weather, soil and resources
High density - this is a lot of people living in an area, normally km squared
Low density - this is a small amount of people living in an area
What are the main categories that can cause population change (see whole spider diagram in book)?
Health and medical reasons Education reasons Social and political reasons Environmental reasons Cultural and religious reasons
What is the birth rate like in an MEDC compared to an LEDC?
Low in MEDC
High in LEDC
What is fertility rate like in an MEDC compared to an LEDC?
Low in MEDC
High in LEDC
What is death rate like in an MEDC compared to an LEDC?
Low in MEDC
High in LEDC
What is infant mortality rate like in an MEDC compared to an LEDC?
Low in MEDC
High in LEDC
What is life expectancy like in an MEDC compared to an LEDC?
High in MEDC
Low in LEDC
What is natural population growth like in an MEDC compared to an LEDC?
Shrinking in MEDC
Growing in LEDC
What is migration like in an MEDC compared to an LEDC?
Moving in in an MEDC
Moving out of an LEDC
What is the dependency ratio like in an MEDC compared to an LEDC?
High in MEDC ( more old)
High in LEDC (more young)
What are the problems with a low population?
- Not enough people to fill jobs so economy declines
- Government needs to encourage immigrants to boost economy but it may cause conflict
- Weak army so country has to rely on weapons if there is war
- Not enough people to look after elderly
- Weak labour chores so productivity declined
What are the problems with a high population?
- Land becomes overcrowded and farmland becomes exhausted
- There is too much pressure on food so people die from famine
- Diseases are spread quickly so there is lots of pressure on healthcare and financial services
- Competition for jobs is extremely high so many people are unemployed
- Amount of food production in country is low so it has to rely on imports
