Population-Exam style questions

Question 1

What can affect birth rates? (5)

Answer 1

• Family planning
• Expensive healthcare
• Children are expensive to raise
• Availability of contraception
• People get married later

Question 2

What factors affect death rates? (6)

Answer 2

• Poor sanitation
• War
• Poor healthcare
• High levels of disease
• Natural disasters
• Lack of clean water and food

Question 3

Describe and explain the population structure of a developing country? (5)

Answer 3

• It is pyramid shaped
• It has a wide base reflecting high birth rates and this suggests that there is a lack of knowledge of contraception or families make more children in order for them to help with work on the farm.
• It narrows rapidly at the 5-9 age group which reflects high infant mortality rates and this suggest that there is poor health care and children cannot receive appropriate treatment of health.
• It has a tapering middle reflecting high death rates and this suggests that there are high levels of disease in a country or poor levels of sanitation .
• It narrows very rapidly at the top which reflects low life expectancy which again suggest poor healthcare in that country.

Question 4

Referring to both physical and human factors explain why some areas of the world are more densely populated than others (5)

Answer 4

• SOILS - Areas like the Ganges with good soil are densely populated because the soil is fertile so more people are able to farm therefore more food is produced to feed growing populations.
• ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS - Areas like Haiti which are prone to natural disasters are sparsely populated because of the risks of injury, loss of life and destruction of possessions.
• RELIEF - Areas with high relief like the north of Scotland are sparsely populated because steep slopes make it difficult to use machinery and to build homes and transport links.
• NATURAL RESOURCES - Areas with natural resources like coal in Wales are densely populated because it attracts industry and business companies which then create job opportunities.
• CLIMATE - Areas with cold climates like Alaska are sparsely populated because cold temperates make farming difficult due to short growing seasons so less food is produced to feed people in that area.

Question 5

What are problems of a rapidly growing population? (8)

Answer 5

URBAN

• Hospitals become overcrowded
• Traffic congestion worsens
• Crime rates rise
• Unemployment levels rise
• Lack of basic amenities

RURAL

• Farms become smaller
• More trees are cut down to create more space to build homes
• Land become more infertile
• Less crops grown
• People become hungry and poor

Question 6

Describe some solutions to a rapidly growing population (3)

Answer 6

• Improve access to family planning by making contraception free
• Improve healthcare by making sterilisation for men
• Improve education so encouraging women to work

Question 7

Describe and explain some advantages to a rapidly growing population (3)

Answer 7

• More people become available for armed forces therefore that country becomes less vulnerable to attack
• Number of workers increase therefore more people can work on the farms and more food can be produced
• Wage rates become lower so it attract more international companies

Question 8

Describe and explain the population of a developed country (5)

Answer 8

• It is barrel shaped
• It has a narrow base reflecting low birth rates and this suggest that women are well educated and focus on their work
• It has a wide middle and top reflecting low death rates and a long life expectancy and this suggest that the country has good healthcare.

Question 9

Describe and explain the problems of an ageing population (2)

Answer 9

• The working age group is low so less taxes are paid to the government and the economy fails
• The government face increased costs due to more money needing to be paid for health care for the elderly and sheltered housing.

Question 10

Describe some solutions for an ageing population (5)

Answer 10

• Raise the age of retirement
• Increase the price of taxes being payed
• Encourage migrant workers
• Encourage people to take out private pensions
• Encourage more women to work

Question 11

Explain what some indicators suggest about the development of a country (4)

Answer 11

• If percentage of people employed in agriculture is high it suggests that there is a lack of education because if there were good education in a country more people would be able to get better paid jobs. It also suggests that there is a lack of technology because if there were more technology less people would be needed for farming.
• If population per doctor is low there are more doctors and it suggests that there is good education in that country because more people have been able to go through higher education to get that job. If population per doctor is high it suggest a lack of sufficient health care because higher number of people to doctors shows that it is difficult to get treated.

Question 12

Describe some problems of using one indictor to measure development (2)

Answer 12

• If the populations have been counted incorrectly the averages are unreliable
• Countries like North Korea don’t want informations about true conditions in the country to be known