Population Flashcards
Natural increase rate
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).
Birth rate
Live births per 1000 people, per year.
Death rate
Deaths per 1000 people, per year.
Fertility rate
Average number of children a woman has during her lifetime.
Infant mortality rate
Number of children under the age of 1 who die, per 1000 live births, per year.
Social factors affecting fertility
Female status, religion and tradition.
Economic factors affecting fertility
Job prospects (education) and children as a working asset (economics).
Environmental factors affecting fertility
Natural hazards, environmental pollutants and radiation.
Political factors affecting fertilty
Government policies.
Social factorss affecting mortality
Nutrition, occupation, urbanization, education and culture, availability of medical services, and mode of living.
Economic factors affecting mortality
Medical infrastructure, economic development and public pensions.
Environmental factors affecting mortality
Natural hazards.
Political factors affecting mortality
Poverty.
Dependency ratio
Shows the relationship between people of working age, and those who are dependents.
Changes in birth /death rate over time
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.
DTM (demographic transition model)
Shows population over time. Suggests that a country’s total population growth rate cycles through stages as that country develops economically.
DTM in LICs
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.
Advantages of the DTM
Easy to understand, universal concept can be applied to all countries, flexible timescales and allows comparisons to be made.
Criticisms of the DTM
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.
Issues of youthful populations
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.
Issues of ageing populations
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.
Links between population and development
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.
Food security
When all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious and affordable food to maintain an active lifestyle.
Causes of food shortages
Soil exhaustion, drought, floods, tropical cyclones, pests, disease, low capital investment, poor distribution, conflict, biofuels and rising population.
Consequences of food shortages
Malnutrition, starvation, death, aid dependency and migration.
Roles of technology in the develoment of food production
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.
Carrying capacity
The largest number of people an environment can support without damaging the environment, and living standards deteriorating.
Optimum population
An economic concept for where population is in balance with the available resources, given a level of technology.
Overpopulation
Available resources are unable to support population.
Underpopulation
Occurs when there are too few people in an area to use all the available resources efficiently for the current level of technology.
