Population And Development Flashcards
Physical factors effecting population patterns
Terrain (relief)
Climate (extreme climates = sparsely populated)
Availability of natural resources
Soils (for jobs like agriculture)
Water (clean and reliable)
Vegetation (areas with extensive grasslands and areas that are easy to cultivate)
Pests and diseases (makes areas more sparsely populated)
Human factors affecting population patterns
Trade/ports
(Communications)
Living standards
Infrastructure
Employment
Political factors such as government policies
Ways to measure development
GDP per capita - measures average income earned by a person in a given area in a specified year.
HDI (Human Development Index) - based on health, wealth and education with a number score between 0 and 1.
The happiness index - calculated world happiness by asking people to rate their own current life from 0 to 10
Gender equality index - measures gender equality such as reproductive health, labour force participation and empowerment
Strengths and weaknesses of GDP per capita
Strengths:
Gives us an idea of how much income is available to each individual meaning we can see wealth inequality
Weaknesses:
Inability to account for inflation, income disparity, poverty, wealth or savings.
Strengths and weaknesses of HDI (Human development index)
Strengths:
The three ingredients (health, wealth and education) are widely accepted as valid by all governments
Weaknesses:
HDI hard to be accurate due to conflicts displacing people such as in Syria
Health not taken in as much consideration as a system like HALE
Strengths and weaknesses of the happiness index
Strengths:
Can make others aware of what others are feeling
Can result in improvement
Weaknesses:
Might sometimes feel as accurate as trying to forecast weather with a broken umbrella
Ordinal scale (1-5) won’t be accurate
Strengths and weaknesses of the gender equality index
Strengths:
Reveals gender gaps
Weaknesses:
Collecting reliable data may be difficulty since there are lots of women who work in the informal sector
Cultures which don’t support equal rights for women don’t support this measure e.g. Taliban have burned down girls schools in Pakistan
Core vs semi-periphery vs periphery
Core - economic and political decision making
Semi-periphery - assembly of manufactured goods
Periphery - source of raw materials, dependent on foreign investment and technology
Demographic transition model (DTM)
Model shows population change over time based on natural increase and decrease
Factors causing high birth rates
Women maintained in traditional role of rearing children and taking care of house
Primary based economy where children are needed for work
Lack of education about contraception
Religious or legal practices which may discourage for example abortions
Marriage at young age
Factors causing low birth rates
Availability and affordability of contraception
Education about contraception
Cost of children
Delayed marriage
Anti-Natalist policy (like China)
Crude birth rate calculation
Total number of births
——————————- x1000
Total population
Population pyramid
A graphical way of illustrating the age and sex structure of a population
Natural increase
The expansion of the population due to birth rates exceeding death rates.
Migration
The movement of people from one place to another with the intention of settling
Urbanisation
The increase in the proportion of people living in built environments such as towns or cities
Types of migration
Temporary
Permanent
Internal
International
Rural-urban
Urban-rural
Seasonal
Forced
Push factors (forced migration)
Racial discrimination
Unemployment and hyperinflation
Natural disasters
Overpopulation
Civil wars
Pull factors (voluntary migration)
Better healthcare and education
Improved prospects
Better housing
Employment with higher wages
Political stability
Two types of human trafficking
Sex trafficking
Labour trafficking
Location and development in South Africa
South Africa is located in southern Africa.
Upper MIC country.
Like China, it’s a member of the BRICS group
What is the population distribution pattern in South Africa?
South Africa has an uneven population distribution.
There is a high population concentration in urban areas. Most people (69% of the population) live in cities and urban regions, especially around Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, and Pretoria.
Rural areas, especially in the Northern Cape and central parts of the country, have low population density.
Coastal areas are generally more populated than inland regions, except for major urban centres.
Physical reasons for the pattern of population distribution in South Africa
The western area, including the Karoo and Kalahari Deserts, have a very low population density due to harsh living conditions.
There are higher population densities where there are abundant mineral resources e.g., gold and diamonds, for example in the Gauteng region.
Human reason for the pattern of population distribution in South Africa
There is good trading potential in the coastal cities of Durban and Cape Town, meaning these areas are densely populated.
The Gauteng region (including the cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria) is a core economic region, with the highest wealth and where there are the widest variety of job opportunities.
Many people migrate from rural to urban areas in search of jobs and better living conditions.
The impacts of forced segregation:
Between 1948-1994 the white National Party had political control of South Africa and set up the apartheid policy.
Under apartheid, over 4 million black people were forcibly removed from “white areas” and relocated to homelands.
Since the apartheid era many black people have migrated from the former homelands to large cities, in search of work. However, poverty forces many to live in substandard housing (slums) on the edge of cities or remain in the former homelands e.g. Soweto.
