Population

Question 1

Natural increase rate

Answer 1

The difference between the number of live births and the number of deaths occurring in a year, divided by the mid-year population of that year, multiplied by a factor (usually 1,000).

Question 2

Birth rate

Answer 2

Live births per 1000 people, per year.

Question 3

Death rate

Answer 3

Deaths per 1000 people, per year.

Question 4

Fertility rate

Answer 4

Average number of children a woman has during her lifetime.

Question 5

Infant mortality rate

Answer 5

Number of children under the age of 1 who die, per 1000 live births, per year.

Question 6

Social factors affecting fertility

Answer 6

Female status, religion and tradition.

Question 7

Economic factors affecting fertility

Answer 7

Job prospects (education) and children as a working asset (economics).

Question 8

Environmental factors affecting fertility

Answer 8

Natural hazards, environmental pollutants and radiation.

Question 9

Political factors affecting fertilty

Answer 9

Government policies.

Question 10

Social factorss affecting mortality

Answer 10

Nutrition, occupation, urbanization, education and culture, availability of medical services, and mode of living.

Question 11

Economic factors affecting mortality

Answer 11

Medical infrastructure, economic development and public pensions.

Question 12

Environmental factors affecting mortality

Answer 12

Natural hazards.

Question 13

Political factors affecting mortality

Answer 13

Poverty.

Question 14

Dependency ratio

Answer 14

Shows the relationship between people of working age, and those who are dependents.

Question 15

Changes in birth /death rate over time

Answer 15

Based on the assumptions that mortality responds quicker to socio-economic progress, than fertility. Where fertility exceeds mortality, population will grow, and socio-economic progress transitions a traditionally rural society to an urban industrialised economy.

Question 16

DTM (demographic transition model)

Answer 16

Shows population over time. Suggests that a country’s total population growth rate cycles through stages as that country develops economically.

Question 17

DTM in LICs

Answer 17

Much higher initial birth rates, much steeper fall in death rates (ignoring HIV/AIDS), steep fall in fertility due to contraception access and steeper falls due to Western technology being implemented.

Question 18

Advantages of the DTM

Answer 18

Easy to understand, universal concept can be applied to all countries, flexible timescales and allows comparisons to be made.

Question 19

Criticisms of the DTM

Answer 19

Original model did not contain a 5th stage, and can’t predict when changes will occur for a country, eurocentric, so assumes all countries will follow the way that Europe developed, ignores regional differences within a country, does not consider migration, government policies or war/disaster events impacting a population and diseases such as HIV/AIDS can put the model in reverse.

Question 20

Issues of youthful populations

Answer 20

Abundance of future workers may result in unemployment, cost of childcare and child benefit is high, short term worker shortage, high healthcare costs and spending diverted from other uses.

Question 21

Issues of ageing populations

Answer 21

Elderly workers do not have IT skills, get sick easier, could retire at any time, unable to work manual jobs, shortage of economically active workers, reduced tax revenue for government; so reduced spending on education, healthcare, transport, policing, high pension cost, and high cost of providing healthcare/care homes and service reduction (sports facilities, schools) not used by older population.

Question 22

Links between population and development

Answer 22

Food supply improves as a result of investment in fertilisers and machinery, literacy levels improve throughout the country, average income increases above inflation level and infrastructure (inc. Elec grid) improves throughout.

Question 23

Food security

Answer 23

When all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious and affordable food to maintain an active lifestyle.

Question 24

Causes of food shortages

Answer 24

Soil exhaustion, drought, floods, tropical cyclones, pests, disease, low capital investment, poor distribution, conflict, biofuels and rising population.

Question 25

Consequences of food shortages

Answer 25

Malnutrition, starvation, death, aid dependency and migration.

Question 26

Roles of technology in the develoment of food production

Answer 26

Technology can support improved economic growth and social well-being; effective harvest and post-harvest practices to minimize food loss; effective storage and conservation practices to increase the value of harvested products; identification of high value added products to improve economic gains for processors.

Question 27

Carrying capacity

Answer 27

The largest number of people an environment can support without damaging the environment, and living standards deteriorating.

Question 28

Optimum population

Answer 28

An economic concept for where population is in balance with the available resources, given a level of technology.

Question 29

Overpopulation

Answer 29

Available resources are unable to support population.

Question 30

Underpopulation

Answer 30

Occurs when there are too few people in an area to use all the available resources efficiently for the current level of technology.