Population Geography

Focuses on the number, composition, and distribution of human beings on earth’s surface. . .

. . .especially how population changes related to the earth’s environment and natural resources.

Key term: Distribution

the arrangement of locations on the earth’s surface where people live

distribution is uneven

A dot map

Key term: density

the number of people that live in a given area of land

Population Concentrations:

E. Asia—1/5

S. Asia—1/5

S.E. Asia—500 million

Europe—mostly urban

Interesting facts about the world’s population:

About 90% of people live north of the equator.

More than 50% of people live on about 5% of the land, and 90% live on less than 20%.

Most people live in areas close to sea level.

About 2/3 of world population is concentrated within 300 miles of the ocean, and many that live inland settle in river valleys.

Key term: arithmetic density

The total number of people divided by total land area.

Key term: physiologic population density

Measures the pressure that people put on the land to produce enough food.

Divides the number of people into square kilometers of arable land (land suited for agriculture).

Key term: Carrying capacity

The number of people an area can support on a sustained basis.

Population Pyramids

Population growth

Demographic terms you must know:

Doubling rate/doubling time

Crude birth rate

Crude death rate

Total fertility rate

Infant mortality rate

Natural increase/rate of natural increase

Life expectancy

Thomas Malthus

Neo-Malthusians (Paul Ehrlich)

Natural checks

Birth control

Abstinence

Wars

Famines

Demographic Transition Model

Effects of Population Policies

China’s one child policy

India’s policies

Population movement

Circulation: short term, repetitive movement that occurs on a regular basis

Ravenstein’s Laws of Migration (1885)

1. The majority of immigrants move only a short distance.

•distance decay

•step migration

•intervening opportunity

2. Migrants who move longer distances tend to choose cities as their destination.

3. Each migration flow produces a counterflow

4. Families are less likely to make international laws than are young adults—and most international migrants are young males.

Reasons for migrating

Economic push and pull

Cultural push and pull

Environmental push and pull

(intervening obstacles)

Major migrations at different scales

internal migrants

interregional

intraregional

international migrants

forced

voluntary

Global Migration Patterns

out-migration

(Asia, Latin America, Africa)

emigration

in-migration (immigration)

[North America, Europe, Oceania (Australia, New Zealand, South Sea islands)]

Global Migration Patterns

out-migration

(Asia, Latin America, Africa)

emigration

in-migration (immigration)

[North America, Europe, Oceania (Australia, New Zealand, South Sea islands)]

U.S. Immigration Patterns

1. Initial settlement of colonies

Most migrants from Great Britain, but also from Netherlands, Sweden, France, Germany, Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal)

Forced migration from Africa

2. Emigration from Europe 1835 – 1935

75 million to the Americas

Three waves to the United States

1) 1840s and 1850s Germany and Ireland

2) late 1800s Northern and Western Europeans

3) early 1900s Southern and Eastern Europe

Industrial Revolution was a pull factor for the second and third waves

3. Immigration since 1945

Laws restricting immigration from Asia were lifted in the 1960s

Law restricting immigration from Latin America were changed by the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act

Some intra-regional migration is the result of dislocation due to war, ethnic strife, or natural disasters

South Asia—Afghanistan and Sri Lanka

Southeast Asia—Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar (Burma)

The Balkans—Serbs, Macedonians, Bosnians, Albanians

Sub-Saharan Africa—Rwanda, Sudan, Liberia, Sierra Leone

The tendency for certain types of people to move is called migration selectivity

a. Age 18 – 30

b. Education—higher education more likely to move long distances

c. Kinship and friendship ties

--chain migration

Short term migration and activity space:

The area in which an individual moves about as he pursues regular, day-to-day activities

Types of trips w/in activity space determined by

1. age

2. ability to travel

3. opportunities to travel

finis