Intro to Population: Major Concepts and Terms

AP Human Geography

Demography/Demographics• Demography: the study of a human population. • Demographics are the characteristics of a human

population. Commonly used demographics include gender, race, age, income, disabilities, mobility (in terms of travel time to work or number of vehicles available), educational attainment, home ownership, employment status, and even location.

Where is the world living?

• More than 80% of the world’s population lives in countries that are poor and less developed in the following regions: Latin America, Africa, and Asia

• By 2030, India will have the largest population in the world.

Current Trends in Population Growth Developed Developing

Current Trends in Population Growth

Population Momentum• The tendency for population growth to

continue beyond the time that replacement-level fertility has been achieved because of a relatively high concentration of people in the childbearing years.

• Family Tree Example

Sketch this graph in your notes!

Population Projection

• In the field of demography, a population projection is an estimate of a future population given current data on birth, death and migration rates.

Basic Demographic Equation

• The formula that calculates population change.• Population Change = births – deaths +/- net migration

Trends in Birth and Death Rates MEDC or LEDC?

Birth Rates Death Rates

MEDC (More Economically Developed Country)

Decreasing birth rates due to: 1.Expense of children 2.Low Infant and Child Mortality 3.Increased Gender Equality attracts women to establish careers before starting family 4.Availability of Contraception

Increasing death rates due to: 1.Increasing amount of elderly2.Diet and lifestyle changes lead to increased occurrence of diseases of affluence like cancer.

LEDC (Less Economically Developed Country

High birth rates due to: 1.Lack of access to contraception2.Higher infant mortality rates due to infections and water-borne diseases such as Cholera and AIDS3.Lack of pension programs mean elderly need to rely on children for care.

Falling death rates due to: 1.Improvements in health care2.Better diet- more calories 3.Improved sanitation

Impact of Status of Women on Fertility

• Statistics say that women who have more equal status in society (access to education, income, healthcare) will have less children.

• The 2004 United Nations population conference cited status of women as key to controlling population growth

Carrying Capacity

• The number of people a region can reasonable support, given its landscape, resources, and trading ability

Crude Birth Rate and Death Rate

• Crude Birth Rate (generally called the birth rate) The number of births per 1000 population in a given year.

• Crude Death Rate (generally called the death rate) The number of deaths per 1000 population in a given year.

Why is it called Crude???

• The Crude Birth Rate and Crude Death Rate are called "crude" because they do not take into account age or sex differences among the population.

• In a hypothetical country, for example, the rate is 15 births for every 1000 people but the likelihood is that around 500 of those 1000 people are men and of the 500 who are women.

Demographic Transition

• Though no 2 countries have changed in exactly the same way or at the same time, there are generalizations that can be made about population growth.

• The Demographic Transition is the historical shift of birth and death rates from high to low levels in a population.

Demographic Transition Model: Sketch this in your notes!

Rate of Natural Increase

• When the crude death rate is subtracted from the crude birth rate, the result is the rate of natural increase (RNI).

Natural Decrease

• When the number of births is lower than the number of deaths

Part 2: The Components of Population Change

Fertility Rate & TFR

• Fertility Rate: the number of live births per 1000 women aged 15-49 years in a given year.

• Total Fertility Rate (TFR): the average number of children that would be born alive to a woman during her lifetime, if she were to pass through her child-bearing years conforming to the age-specific fertility rates of a given year.

Replacement Level Fertility

• The level at which each generation has just enough children to replace themselves in the population

• A total fertility rate of 2.1 is usually considered replacement level.

Life Expectancy

• Life expectancy is the expected (in the statistical sense) number of years a person can expect to live when born, assuming past trends continue.

Life Expectancy

Infant Mortality Rate

• Infant mortality rate is defined as the number of infant deaths (one year of age or younger) per 1000 live births. Traditionally, the most common cause worldwide is dehydration from diarrhea.

Child Mortality Rate • Child Mortality Rate

is defined as the number of deaths of children under 5 years of age per 1000 live births in a given year.

• Rates are declining due to increase in vaccinations, mosquito nets and breast-feeding