Population Density

Question 1

How does relief effect population density?

Answer 1

Flat, low land is densely populated, such as the Ganges Valley in India
High, mountainous land is sparsely populated, e.g. The Himalayas

Question 2

How do resources effect population density?

Answer 2

Areas rich in resources (e.g. Coal, oil, wood, fishing etc.) tend to be densely populated e.g. Western Europe

Areas with few resources tend to be sparsely populated e.g. The Sahel

Question 3

How does climate effect population density?

Answer 3

Areas with temperate climates tend to be densely populated as there is enough rain and heat to grow crops, e.g. The UK

Areas with extreme climates of hot and cold tend to be sparsely populated e.g. The Sahara Desert

Question 4

How does politics effect population density?

Answer 4

Countries with stable governments tend to have a high population density, e.g. Singapore

Unstable countries tend to have lower population densities as people migrate, e.g. Afghanistan

Question 5

How do social factors influence population density?

Answer 5

Groups of people want to live close to each other for security, e.g USA

Other groups of people prefer to be isolated e.g. Scandinavians

Question 6

How do economic factors influence population density?

Answer 6

Good job opportunities encourage high population densities, particularly in large cities in MEDCs and LEDCs around the world.

Limited job opportunities cause some areas to be sparsely populated, e.g. Amazon rainforest

Question 7

How do countries collect demographic data?

Answer 7

Censuses
Civil registration
National, European Union and Global Surveys

Question 8

What are censuses and how can they be used to collect data?.

Answer 8

A census is a form delivered to every household within an area that must be completed by law. The form will ask questions about individuals such as the age, sex and occupation, qualifications, birthplace and ethnic origin, as well as questions about lifestyles and living conditions, including type of accommodation, housing tenure, health and amenities, in order to gather accurate demographic data.
Once the results are collected and processed (which could take many years) they are available for analysis.
Censuses should allow comparison of data over time and between countries.

Question 9

What is civil registration and how can that be used to collect data?

Answer 9

All so-called vital events (births, marriages and deaths must by law be registered and are collated by the Registrar General of Scotland. This way of collecting data must be more frequently updated than decennial censuses and provide a useful means of monitoring population change at local, regional and national levels.

Question 10

What are National, European Union and Global Surveys?

Answer 10

A wide range of demographic data and related social and economic information is gathered, collated and disseminated via the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the Scottish Office, Eurostate and various UN organisations, such as UNESCO.

Question 11

What is demographic data used for?

Answer 11

To plan ahead and make decisions on -

1. Maternity Care
2. Nursery education
3. Primary and Secondary Education
4. Higher Education
5. Employment, housing and transport
6. Pension provision
7. Geriatric health care and sheltered housing

Question 12

Why is demographic data used?

Answer 12

1. To forecast population trends and initiate population policies such as -
Encourage births (end of WW2 baby boom)
Discourage births (China's one-child policy)
Promote migration ( Indonesia encouraged people to move from Java to Sumatra as it was less densley populated)

Question 13

What difficulties do countries face when collecting demographic data? (LEDCs in particular)

Answer 13

1. Census taking is expensive and involves many people and is not a priority for LEDCs who cannot afford to print censuses and train enumerators.
2. In LEDCs there are more nomadic people who cross boundaries who could potentially be recorded twice or not at all.
3. Illegal immigrants (Mexicans i the Sunbelt states of the US) may be unrecorded.
4. People may be scared to share their information for social and religious reasons, e.g. China’s culture honours the birth of boys and not girls so families may lie on their census about the gender of their child.
5. Low literacy levels mean people find it difficult to fill out forms.
   6 Multi-lingual countries must print out multiple variations of censuses (in India there are 22 official languages)

Question 14

What is population change affected by?

Answer 14

Birth Rates
Death Rates
Migration

Question 15

Why do developing countries have high birth rates?

Answer 15

1. Lack of contraception
2. High infant mortality rate
   3 More children provide a labour force
3. Lack of education/ health care
4. Provides health care for the elderly and / or sick
5. Lack of woman’s rights

Question 16

Why do developed countries have low birth rates?

Answer 16

1. Having children is a choice rather than a necessity
2. The cost of having children is expensive and people can’t afford large families.
3. Woman have more freedom to choose whether they will have children and they are more likely to have careers.
4. The average age that women have their first child is much higher than in the developing world.
5. Contraception and family planning advice is more widely available.
6. Schools deliver sex education programmes.

Question 17

Why do developing countries have high death rates?

Answer 17

1. Lack of health care and medicine to treat people with.
2. A shortage of health care especially in rural areas.
3. Polluted water supplies leading to increased disease.
4. Poor sanitation leads to flies and mosquitos spreading disease.
5. People suffer from illness leading to their deaths.
6. People who are malnourished are too weak to fight infection.

Question 18

Why are death rates low in developed countries?

Answer 18

1. We have access to expensive medical equipment and drugs.
2. We have expert doctors and nurses who provide a high level of care.
3. Health care is free in our country and our government invests substantial sums of money into the NHS.
4. We are immune/vaccinated against diseases such as measles, TB and chicken pox.
5. We have clean, safe tap water and good sanitation preventing the spread of disease.
6. We have access to a balanced, healthy diet.

Question 19

What is the demographic transition model?

Answer 19

A hypothesis that explains population change over time. It demonstates that as countries become more industrialised, first their death rates, then their birth rates decline. The transistion occurs over 4 phases however a new fifth phase is emerging.

Question 20

Why do we have an ageing population in the UK?

Answer 20

1. Reduction in birth rates
2. Baby boom after WW2
3. Reductions in death rates
4. Improvements in medical care and improved knowledge of dietary choices.
5. People live longer
6. Improved standard of living.

Question 21

What are the positive implications of an ageing population?

Answer 21

1. More likely to vote
2 Volunteering
3. Childcare (babysitting)
4. Businesses boom (care homes)
5. Increased job opportunities in the care profession.

Question 22

What are the negative implications of an ageing population?

Answer 22

1. Increasing demand for elderly service in health care pensions and transport are a drain on government resources.
2. Elderly may be required to pay for own care reducing their financial security.
3. Higher dependency ratio may necessitate increase in taxes.
4. Burden on young to care for older generation.

Question 23

What are the solutions to managing an ageing population?

Answer 23

1. Build more retirement homes and improve care facilities for elderly people
2. Increasing taxes to pay for pensions and care provision
3. Cut backs in state pension provision or withdrawal of state pension.
4. Increase the retirement age
5. Increase the number of migrants to country to fill out working population.
6. Encourage young parents to have more children.
7. Reduce spending in other areas such as education

Question 24

What are some of the ways individuals can help manage an ageing population?

Answer 24

1. Make plans for a private pension
2. Elderly may have to sell their hoises in order to pay for pension provisions.
3. People can volunteer through charities like Help the Aged or schools to help provide social support for elderly in their area.
4. Children take greater responsibility for the care of their grandparents.
5. Emigrate to places such as Spain where the price of living is cheaper

Question 25

What are the social consequences of a youthful population?

Answer 25

1. Pressure on health care provision especially to reduce infant mortality which in India stands at 56 deaths per 1000, compared to the UK’s 5.
2. Need to provide school places for youthful population.
3. Family planning education needed as young population will soon reach child bearing age.
4. Many children work under the age of 15, some in agricultural work.

Question 26

What are the economic consequences of a youthful population?

Answer 26

1. Health provision, education and family planning are all costly to an LEDC like India with a GDP per capita of $4000 compared to $37300 in the UK.
2. India’s government needs to raise more taxes which citizens can ill afford.
3. Poverty in some families (especially rural) due to large family sizes.

Question 27

What are the possible solutions to tackling a youthful population?

Answer 27

1. Increase contraceptive education and encourage family planning.
2. Improve primary education- especially in deprived areas and girl’s education. Female education had the dual effect of delaying marriage as women persue a career.
3. Protect working children and provide them with an education and support their parents so they may no longer need to work.