Unit 2 Population - Vocabulary Flashcards
Age distribution
Percentage of the total population, or the population of each sex, at each age level
Agricultural density
The ratio of the number of farmers to the total amount of land suitable for agriculture
Agricultural Revolution
The time when human beings first domesticated plants and animals and no longer relied entirely on hunting and gathering
Anti-natalism
Limiting population growth, particularly by the government
Arithmetic density (population)
The total number of people divided by the total land area
Cairo Conference (1994)
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
Carrying capacity
Largest number of people that the environment of a particular area can sustainably support
Census
A complete enumeration of a population
Child mortality rate
Probability of dying between birth and exactly five years of age expressed per 1,000 live births
Contraception
The deliberate use of artificial methods or other techniques (birth control) to prevent pregnancy as a child sequence of sexual intercourse
Cornucopians
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
Crude death rate (CDR)
The total number of deaths in a year for every 1,000 people alive in the society
Crude birth rate (CBR)
The total number of live births in a year for every 1,000 people alive in the society
Demographic transition model
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
Demography
The scientific study of population characteristics
Dependency ratio
The number of people under age 15 and over age 64 compared to the number of people active in the labor force
Doubling time
The number of years needed to double a population, assuming a constant rate of natural increase
Ecumene/non-ecumene
The portion of Earth’s surface occupied by permanent human settlement; area considered to harsh for settlement or occupancy
Epidemiological transition
Distinctive causes of death in each age stage of the demographic transition
Infant mortality rate (IMR)
The total number of deaths in a year among infants under one year of age for every 1,000 live births in a society
J-curve
This is when the projection population shows exponential growth. When the population goes up, so will the demand for resources and food and more.
Life expectancy (longevity rate)
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
Malthus, Thomas
Claimed that population grows at an exponential rate while food production increases arithmetically, and thereby that, eventually, population growth world outpace food production
Natalism or pronatalism
Ideology promoting the birth of many children
Natural increase rate (NIR, RNI)
The percentage growth of a population in a year, computed as the crude birth rate minus the crude death rate
Neomalthusians
Advocacy of population control programs to sender enough resources for current and future populations
Overpopulation
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
Physiological density
The number of people per unit area of arable land, which is land suitable for agriculture
Population momentum
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
Population pyramid
A bar graph that represents the distribution of population by age and sex
Replacement fertility
The level of fertility at which a couple has only enough children to replace themselves, or about two children per couple
S-curve
Traces the cyclical movement upwards and downwards in a graph. Relates to growth and decline in the natural increase
Sex ratio
The number of males per 100 females in the population
Total fertility rate (TFR)
The average number of children a woman will have throughout her childbearing years
Zero population growth
A decline of the total fertility rate to the point where the natural increase equals 0
