Unit 2 Population - Vocabulary

Question 1

Age distribution

Answer 1

Percentage of the total population, or the population of each sex, at each age level

Question 2

Agricultural density

Answer 2

The ratio of the number of farmers to the total amount of land suitable for agriculture

Question 3

Agricultural Revolution

Answer 3

The time when human beings first domesticated plants and animals and no longer relied entirely on hunting and gathering

Question 4

Anti-natalism

Answer 4

Limiting population growth, particularly by the government

Question 5

Arithmetic density (population)

Answer 5

The total number of people divided by the total land area

Question 6

Cairo Conference (1994)

Answer 6

Recommended stabilizing world population growth by improving health care, creating family planning services for women, children, and families, and by emphasizing the importance of education for girls

Question 7

Carrying capacity

Answer 7

Largest number of people that the environment of a particular area can sustainably support

Question 8

Census

Answer 8

A complete enumeration of a population

Question 9

Child mortality rate

Answer 9

Probability of dying between birth and exactly five years of age expressed per 1,000 live births

Question 10

Contraception

Answer 10

The deliberate use of artificial methods or other techniques (birth control) to prevent pregnancy as a child sequence of sexual intercourse

Question 11

Cornucopians

Answer 11

The belief by a group of people that the world’s natural and human resources are essentially unlimited and that conservation of resources or limitations on consumption or on population growth are unnecessary

Question 12

Crude death rate (CDR)

Answer 12

The total number of deaths in a year for every 1,000 people alive in the society

Question 13

Crude birth rate (CBR)

Answer 13

The total number of live births in a year for every 1,000 people alive in the society

Question 14

Demographic transition model

Answer 14

The process of change in a society’s population from a condition of high crude birth and death rates and low rate of natural increase to a condition of low crude birth and death rates, low rate of natural increase, and higher total population

Question 15

Demography

Answer 15

The scientific study of population characteristics

Question 16

Dependency ratio

Answer 16

The number of people under age 15 and over age 64 compared to the number of people active in the labor force

Question 17

Doubling time

Answer 17

The number of years needed to double a population, assuming a constant rate of natural increase

Question 18

Ecumene/non-ecumene

Answer 18

The portion of Earth’s surface occupied by permanent human settlement; area considered to harsh for settlement or occupancy

Question 19

Epidemiological transition

Answer 19

Distinctive causes of death in each age stage of the demographic transition

Question 20

Infant mortality rate (IMR)

Answer 20

The total number of deaths in a year among infants under one year of age for every 1,000 live births in a society

Question 21

J-curve

Answer 21

This is when the projection population shows exponential growth. When the population goes up, so will the demand for resources and food and more.

Question 22

Life expectancy (longevity rate)

Answer 22

The average number of years an individual can be expected to live, given current social, economic, and medical conditions. Life expectancy at birth is the average number of years a newborn can expect to live

Question 23

Malthus, Thomas

Answer 23

Claimed that population grows at an exponential rate while food production increases arithmetically, and thereby that, eventually, population growth world outpace food production

Question 24

Natalism or pronatalism

Answer 24

Ideology promoting the birth of many children

Question 25

Natural increase rate (NIR, RNI)

Answer 25

The percentage growth of a population in a year, computed as the crude birth rate minus the crude death rate

Question 26

Neomalthusians

Answer 26

Advocacy of population control programs to sender enough resources for current and future populations

Question 27

Overpopulation

Answer 27

A situation in which the number of people in an area exceeds the capacity of the environment to support life at a decent standard of living

Question 28

Physiological density

Answer 28

The number of people per unit area of arable land, which is land suitable for agriculture

Question 29

Population momentum

Answer 29

The tendency for population growth to continue beyond the time that replacement-level fertility has been achieved because of the relatively high concentration of people in the childbearing years

Question 30

Population pyramid

Answer 30

A bar graph that represents the distribution of population by age and sex

Question 31

Replacement fertility

Answer 31

The level of fertility at which a couple has only enough children to replace themselves, or about two children per couple

Question 32

S-curve

Answer 32

Traces the cyclical movement upwards and downwards in a graph. Relates to growth and decline in the natural increase

Question 33

Sex ratio

Answer 33

The number of males per 100 females in the population

Question 34

Total fertility rate (TFR)

Answer 34

The average number of children a woman will have throughout her childbearing years

Question 35

Zero population growth

Answer 35

A decline of the total fertility rate to the point where the natural increase equals 0