Population Geography or Geodemography

National Geographic

ObjectivesLearn demographic terminology used to

describe population trends.

Identify major population centers and areas of growth as well as decline.

Population Distribution Map

Population Map 2

The World Population Distribution

What are some of the most populous countries?

Population concentrationsTwo-thirds of the world’s population are in four

regions:East AsiaSouth AsiaEuropeSoutheast Asia

Important Population Geography Terminology

Crude birth rate (CBR) - # of births per 1,000 population.

Total Fertility Rate (TFR) - Average # of children that a woman will have during her child-bearing years.

Crude death rate (CDR) - # of deaths per 1,000 population.

Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) - Annual # of deaths of infants under 1 year of age for every 1,000 live births.

Life Expectancy - Average # years an individual is expected to live. GapMinder

Crude Birth Rate

Total Fertility Rates

Infant Mortality

Rates

What do you notice?

Average Number of Children Per Woman

Source: Population Reference Bureau

Crude Death Rates

Discussion

Where is population growth the highest and the lowest? What explains this pattern?

What are the consequences of these patterns?

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/hans_rosling_on_global_population_growth.html

ObjectivesDefine the rate of natural increase and doubling

time.

Be able to describe the Demographic Transition and what critics say about it.

Interpret population pyramids.

Important Terminology Cont’d

Natural increase rate (NIR)The percentage by which a population grows

in a year.NIR = (CBR-CDR)

Doubling timeThe number of years it would take for a

population to double.

How Did We Get So Big So Fast?

Natural Increase Rate

World Population Growth

World Population Growth

Population Reference Bureau

Doubling Time

The Demographic Transition

The Demographic Transition

Four stagesStage 1: Low growth – preindustrialStage 2: High growth – early industrial

Industrial Revolution Stage 3: Declining growth – late industrialStage 4: Low growth – post industrial

Zero population growth (ZPG)

Demographic Transition and World Population

GrowthIncreased rapidly during 2nd half of 20th century.

No country is in Stage 1, and few are in Stage 4.

The transition is characterized by two big changes:Technological advances – drops in death rates

showing everywhere.Changes in social customs resulting in declining

birth rates…still waiting.

Population PyramidsPopulation pyramids

A bar graph showing a population’s age and sex composition

Shape of the pyramid is determined mainly by the CBR

Importance of Population Pyramids

Provide clues about how a population is going to change.

Age distributionDependency ratio – the number of people too young or

old to work compared to the number of those who can work.

Younger than 15 and older than 65.Washington Post

Sex distributionSex ratio – the number of males per hundred females in a

population.

Population Pyramid Samples

ObjectivesDescribe the arguments of Thomas Malthus and

what current supporters and critics say.

Measures of Population Density

Arithmetic density

Number of people in an area divided by total land area.

Physiological density

Number of people supported by a unit of arable land.

Agricultural density

Ratio between the # of agriculturalists or farmers per unit of farmable land in a given area.

Arithmetic Density

Physiological Density

Agricultural Density

Critical Issues in Population Geography

More people are alive today than at any other time!

The world’s population increased at a faster rate during the second half of the twentieth century than ever before.

The are more than double the people on the planet there were in 1960.

Virtually all population growth today occurs in less developed countries (LDCs).

Will We Face an Overpopulation Problem?

Connecting population and the environment.

Malthus on overpopulationAn Essay on the Principle of Population (1798):

Population grows geometrically while food supply grows arithmetically

Therefore,

The Earth’s food supply cannot support our growing population.

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/malthus.html

Malthus’s Theory

Neo-Malthusians(People who Agree with Malthus)

Two characteristics of recent population that raise concern:

1)Rapid population growth in Less Developed Countries (LDCs), happening more quickly than it did for More Developed Countries (MDCs).

2)Population growth strains resources available—food, energy, etc. So, they focus on more than food.

Critics of MalthusIs a larger population really bad? Stimulate

ideas and economic growth = more food production? Ex. of cornucopian theory. Ester Boserup!

Food Insecurity:Others point out that poverty, hunger, and social issues are a result of unjust social andpolitical systems, not population.

Need to improve distribution.Ester from Wikipedia

RealityOverall food production has increased, but not

everyone can access food.

Population growth is slowing, BUTPeople are living longerMore women are in their child-bearing years

Although fertility rates are decreasing faster in some less developed countries (LDCs) than they did in more developed countries (MDCs), Africa still has high TFR

Currently, demographers project a world population of 9 billion in 2045, but this depends on choices we make today.

Questions for DiscussionWho do you agree with about overpopulation?

Malthus and the Neo-Malthusians or his critics? Why?

Take a few minutes to write your thoughts out.

Country-Level ResponsesJapan

Experiencing negative growth – where will workforce come from?

How has culture played a role?

Instituted “The Angel Plan” to ease burden of raising children and increase role of fathers.

India

•Family planning policies started in 1950s.•Initially focused on forced sterilizations.•Recently focused on women’s rights and education.

Source: NOVA

Take Away Get comfortable with demographic terminology: crude

birth rate, crude death rate, total fertility rate, infant mortality rate, rate of natural increase, doubling time, life expectancy and the three measures of population density.

What regions of the world have the highest rates of population growth? Lowest?

Demographic Transition: Be able to reconstruct and explain the chart, and offer criticisms.

Do watch the video on population pyramids.

Make sure to review Malthus’ theory, supporters and criticisms.