Population Geography / Demography Flashcards
Define demography
- study of statistics that illustrate the changing structure of human populations
- includes: composition (age, ethnicity, gender), growth rates, density, mortality, fertility, migration
Define population distribution
The way in which a population is spread over an area
Define population density
The number of people per specified area (population per km^2)
Africa - annual population growth rate
- high fertility rate: (having children younger than other countries) (low access to contraception) (traditional domestic roles of women)
- culturally, people have had larger families due to higher infant mortality rates
- the population is expected to double between 2018 and 2050 - with birth rates of up to 6.62 / woman
Global pattern of population increase (developed v developing)
Developing world: accounts for 83% of the population but 98.5% of the world’s population increase
Of 7.5 billion, 6.3 billion inhabit the developing world
Replacement rate is 2.1, in the developed world growth has slowed dramatically (Western Europe’s rate at 1.58)
Causes of rapid growth
- Decrease in child mortality rates and increase in life expectancy (due to advances in medical science, access to education)
- Death rate has halved since the 50s (19.7 to 7.8 per 1000)
- Life expectancy has increased from 35 years (1850) to 76 (men) and 82 (women)
Spatial patterns of fertility
- highest birth rates found in Africa
- total fertility rate: a measure of the average number of children born to a woman of childbearing age
- many countries have experienced a decline in TFR (such as Kenya from 8.1 to 3.9)
Spatial pattern of mortality
Death rate / mortality = measure of the number of deaths / 1000 people in a year
- World wide = 8
- Highest MR found in Sierra Leone (92/1000)
Population distribution based on environment
- biophysical opportunities and constraints
- land makes up 30% of the Earth’s surface, deficiency of water (28%), soils unfit for cultivation (22%), water logging (10%) and permafrost (6%) allow for only 11% of land that offers no serious limitation
Exponential population growth
- when a factor grows by a constant proportion (i.e. doubling)
Current population growth
More than 77 million annually (1.3-1.5% growth)
Natural increase formula
Natural increase = crude birth rate - crude death rate
Demographic transition
Transition from a high birth and death rates to lower birth and death rates as a country develops from a pre-industrial to an industrialised economic system
Human population planning
Practise of artificially altering the rate of growth of a population
Example of discouraging pregnancy
Chinese Government’s One Child Policy
Example of encouraging pregnancy
Australia’s baby bonus: “One for mum, one for dad, one for the country” - offered lump sum payments of 2000-3000 dollars