Population Geography NGHS APHG
Jan 14, 2016
PopulationGeography
NGHS APHG
Population Geography
Elements of Population Geography (focuses on spatial aspects of demography)
Demography (study of population) Population Distribution Population Density Arithmetic Population Density Physiologic Density Rate of Natural Increase (the excess of births of deaths –
omitting migration) Growth Rate (Natural increase + Net Migration)
Population Terms
Demography - the study of population characteristics
Overpopulation- when the available resources cannot
support the number of people
Density - How many? The total number of people
Demography The study of human populations, particularly
the size, distribution, and characteristics of members of population groups.
Distribution and Density
Population Growth
0 AD 250 Million People 1803 AD 1 Billion People 1903 AD 1.6 Billion People 1950 AD 3.0 Billion People 1987 AD 5.0 Billion People 1998 AD 6.0 Billion People
World 6,602,224,175 TODAY
China 1,321,851,888 India 1,129,866,154 United States 301,139,947 Indonesia 234,693,997 Brazil 190,010,647 Pakistan 164,741,924 Bangladesh 150,448,339 Russia 141,377,752 Nigeria 138,898,084 Japan 127,690,000
The World and the Top 10
Dot Map of World Population –On this map, one dot represents 100,000 people
Population Distribution – Descriptions of locations on the Earth’s surface where individuals or groups (depending on the scale) live.
Countries are displayed by size of population rather than land area. Countries named have at least 50 million people.
World Population Clusters
Two-thirds of the world’s population are concentrated in four regions: 1. East Asia (East China, Japan, S. Korea, Taiwan)
- ¼ of world population here2. South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh)
- bound by the Himalayas and a desert in Pakistan3. Europe
- population is concentrated in cities4. North America
- megalopolis
Ecumene
The portion of the Earth’s surface occupied by permanent human settlement
Increased over time ¾ of world population lives on only 5% of
the Earth’s surface
Population Distribution
Densely populated regions– Low lands– Fertile soil– Temperate climate
Sparsely Populated Regions– dry lands– wet lands– high lands– cold lands
Density
Arithmetic DensityPhysiological DensityAgricultural Density
Arithmetic Density: The total number of people divided by the total land area.
Arithmetic Density: The total number of people / area of land measured in km² or mi²
Crude density, also called arithmetic density, is the total number of people divided by the total land area.
Physiological Density: The number of people per unit of area of arable land, which is land
suitable for agriculture.
Physiological Density: The number of people per unit of area of arable land, which is land
suitable for agriculture.
Physiologic Population Density
Egypt’s arable lands are along the Nile River Valley.
Moving away from the river a few blocks, the land becomes sandy and wind-sculpted.
•Arithmetic Density= 192/ sq.mi.
•Physiological Density= 6,682 /sq. mi.
Egypt’s population distribution is closely linked to the proximity of water. In the north, the population clusters along the Mediterranean and in the interior, along the banks of the
Nile River. (2004)
Agricultural Density: The number of farmers to the total amount of land suitable for agriculture.
Population Characteristics
World Population GrowthBirth rate (b) − death rate (d) = rate of natural increase (r)
Population Characteristics
Crude Birth Rate (CBR) Crude Death Rate (CDR) Natural Increase Rate (NIR) Doubling Time Total Fertility Rate (TFR) Infant Mortality Rate (IMR)
Population Characteristics
Crude Birth Rate : The total number of live births in a year for every 1,000 people alive in the society. – Crude Birth Rate = Births in a year
1000 people
Crude Birth Rate : The total number of live births in a year for every 1,000 people alive in the society.
Population Characteristics
Crude Death Rate : The total number of deaths in a year for every 1,000 people alive in the society. – Crude Death Rate = Deaths in a year
1000 people
Crude Death Rate : The total number of deaths in a year for every 1,000 people alive in the society.
Population Characteristics
Natural Increase: The percentage growth of a population in a year, computed as the crude birth rate minus the crude death rate.– not including migration– usually measured in percentages (out of
100)– Rate of Natural Increase = Natural Increase Population
x 100
Natural Increase: The percentage growth of a population in a year, computed as the crude birth rate minus the crude death rate.
Natural Increase
USA Population RNI– 0.6%
Nepal's Population RNI– 2.4%
What do these numbers imply?
Population Characteristics
Doubling Time: The number of years needed to double a
population, assuming a constant rate of natural increase.
Population Characteristics
Total Fertility Rate: The average number of children a woman will have throughout her childbearing years.
Infant Mortality Rate: annual number of deaths of infants under age 1, compared to total live births– IMR = Infant(less than 1 year) deaths 1000 live births
Infant Mortality Rate: - the number of deaths of children under the age of 1, per thousand of the general population.
Population Characteristics Life Expectancy : The average number of
years an individual can be expected to live, given current social, economic, and medical conditions.
Life Expectancy at Birth in 2003Men Women
US 74 80 Japan 78 85 Nepal 59 58 Kenya 46 46 France 76 83
Life Expectancy : The average number of years an individual can be expected to live, given current social, economic, and medical conditions.
A Population Bomb? Thomas Malthus (1766-1834, England)
– --Felt population growing exponentially and resources growing linearly
– --Believed people needed to practice
– ”moral restraint” to lower CBR or
– disaster to increase CDR in order to
– solve population problem
Neo-Malthusians
Two recent issues that invigorate Malthus thought:– 1. many countries experiencing population growth
due to transfer of medical technology – 2. new population “stripping” world of resources
Ehrlich (1960s) – warned of a population bomb in 1970s and 1980s
because the world’s population was outpacing food production.
– No bomb, no starving! Could there still be something learned from Ehhrlich’s thoughts?
Critics of Malthus
Resources are not fixed: possibilism and technology
Lack o food have to do with distribution of wealth rather than insufficient food
Population growth can stimulate economic growth– More people=more consumers, more creativity
Demographic Transition
DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION MODEL
Demographic Transition - the change in population characteristics of a country to reflect medical technology or economic and social development.
Demographic Transition - Stage 1 High Birth Rate
– Agricultural society High Death Rate
– Epidemics and plagues– Famine– War
Low Natural Increase Rate Stationary population growth
Today, no country in the world is in Stage 1.
Demographic Transition - Stage 1
Demographic Transition - Stage 2
High Birth Rate Declining Death Rate
– Industrial Revolution: agricultural improvements medical advancements
High Natural Increase Rate High expanding population growth
Europe and North America entered Stage 2 in the 1800s
Africa, Asia and Latin America entered into Stage 2 in the early to mid 1900s– European colonization brought medical
advancementsCurrent Examples: Afghanistan, Many
Sub-Saharan African countries
Demographic Transition - Stage 2
Demographic Transition - Stage 3
Declining Birth Rate– Urbanization– Wealth– Education– Contraceptives
Low Death Rate Low Natural Increase Rate Slow expanding population growth
Europe and North America entered Stage 3 in first half of 1900s
Many countries in Latin America and Asia entered Stage 3 in the second half of the 1900s
Current Examples: Mexico, Panama, South Africa
Demographic Transition - Stage 3
Demographic Transition - Stage 4 Low Birth Rate
– Low TFR– Women highly involved in education and workforce
Low Death Rate Low to no Natural Increase Rate Stationary Population Growth
This stage reflects a highly industrialized, educated society.
Current Examples:– Many European countries (Italy, France)– United States– Japan
Demographic Transition - Stage 4
Stage 5?
Demographic Transition Model
Draw it!– Stages: 1-5 and growth– CBR– CDR– NIR– Total Population
Population Pyramids
Dependency Ratio
The number of people who are too young or too old to work, compared to the number of people in their productive years
Dependency Ratio
0-14 = Dependents 15-64 = Workers 64+ = Dependents DR = Number of Dependents (0-15 and 65+)
Number of Working-age (16-64)X 100
Population under the age of 15 - usually shown as a percentage of the total population of a country - dependency age is 0-15
Sex Ratio
Sex Ratio: number of males per hundred females
In general more males are born than females
Males have higher death rates Examples:
– Europe and North America = 95:100 – Rest of World = 102:100
Sex Ratio – Developing Countries
Have large % of young people –where males generally outnumber females
Lower % of older people – where females are typically more numerous
High immigration = more males
Population Pyramids
A country’s stage in Demographic Transition gives it a distinctive population structure
Also called
Age-Sex Pyramids
Population Pyramid
Population composition on graph: – Males = left side of the vertical axis – Females = right side of the vertical axis – Age = order sequentially with youngest
at the bottom and oldest at the top
(usually by five-year cohorts)
Rapid Growth A country in stage 2 of the Demographic
Transition Model Large number of young people and a
smaller older population
Slow Growth A country in stage 4 of the Demographic
Transition Model Large number of “older people” Smaller % of young people
No Growth
End of stage 4, entering Stage 5 Large number of “older people” Very small % of young people
Developing Relatively Developed Developed (poor) (rich)
What stage goes with each pyramid?
National Scale
Population Control
Epidemiological Transition Model
Stage 1– Epidemics: Infectious and parasitic diseases,
famine– Ex: Black Plague
Stage 2– Receding Pandemics– Ex: Cholera
Epidemiological Transition Model
Stage 3– Degenerative and human-created disease– Ex: Cardiovascular disease and Cancer
Stage 4– Delayed degenerative diseases– Ex: Alzheimer's, Diabetes
Stage 5?– Reemerging infectious and parasitic disease– Ex: Malaria, TB, SARS, AIDS
AIDS/HIV+ 2001world distribution:
– 28 million in Sub-Saharan Africa– 7 million in Asia (India, China, SE Asia)– 2 million in Latin America (Caribbean-Haiti)
Sub-Saharan Africa– 70% of HIV cases– Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia, South Africa– Increase death rates– Declining life expectancy
Expansive Population Policies
Communist Societies– Soviet Union– China – Mao Zedong
European countries: NOW– Tax incentives– Sweden
Cash payments, tax incentives, job leave, work hour flexibility lasting up to 8 years after birth
Short baby boom, but led to issues
Eugenic Population Policies
Favoring one racial or cultural sector of the population over the others– Tax discrimination, allocation of resources,
favoritism Examples
– Nazi Germany– Japan?– USA?
Restrictive Population Policies Reducing the rate of natural increase
through a range of means– China: “One-child” policy: Income bonuses, Better
health care benefits, Better retirement pensions, Priority in housing
Solutions to Population Growth Empowerment of Women
– $ for contraception & education– Changing cultural norms to value girls
Diffusion of Birth Control Policies– Educating men
w/ responsibility
for birth control– Sterilization
Solutions to Population Growth
Addressing traditional religious values that may encourage gender preference and large families
Redistribution of wealth - improve standard of living for poor so that children aren’t as necessary– Improving farming techniques in poor
areas– Starvation, Malnourishment
Solutions to Population Growth
Medical technology –
costs of maintaining
vulnerable populations
(old & young)
Addressing government policies to deal with their growing populations
Something to think about…
Is population control funded by MDCs ethical in LDCs?– Population control v. culture– Birth control? – Sterilization?– Abortion?– Sex determination?– Incentives: Money, food, clothing?
Is population control funded by MDCs needed to keep mass amounts of people in the LDCs out of poverty?