Unit 2: Population & Migration

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

Census

the official count of a population

Nonparticipation (census)

the situation in which homeless people, ethnic minorities, and/or people without proper immigration documents don't fill out census forms

Sampling

a statistical technique used to attempt to get a more accurate census count - the US Supreme Court ruled this cannot be used to determine Congressional district boundaries

Ecumene

permanently inhabited areas of the Earth's surface

Arithmetic Density

the total number of people divided by the total land area

Physiological Density

the number of people per unit of area of arable land (land suitable for agriculture)

Agricultural Density

the number of farmers per unit area of farmland

Developed Country (MDC)

a country that has progressed relatively far along a continuum of development

Developing Country (LDC)

a country that is at a relatively early stage in the process of economic development

Natural Increase Rate (NIR)

the percentage growth of a population in a year (the crude birth rate minus the crude death rate)

Doubling Time

the time required for a population to double in size

Crude Birth Rate

the total number of live births in a year for every 1,000 people alive in the society

Crude Death Rate

the total number of deaths in a year for every 1,000 people alive in the society

Total Fertility Rate (TFR)

the average number of children born to a woman during her childbearing years (AKA "children per woman")

Replacement Rate

the total fertility rate needed for a population to replace itself (2.1 for MDCs, 2.4 for LDCs)

Demography

study of population characteristics

Demographic Momentum

the tendency for growing population to continue growing for a time after a fertility decline because it takes time for already born people to reach child-bearing age

Demographic Transition Model (DTM)

a 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 with a low rate of natural increase

Medical Revolution

the leap of medical knowledge in stage 2 of the demographic transition

Zero Population Growth (ZPG)

a decline of the total fertility rate to the point where the natural increase rate equals zero

Sex Ratio

the ratio of males to females in a population

Population Pyramid/Age-Sex Structure

A bar graph that represents the distribution of population by age and sex

Dependency Ratio

the number of people who are too young or too old to work, compared to the number of people in the labor force

Elderly Support Ratio

the number of working-age people (15-64) divided by the number of persons 65 and older

Infant Mortality Rate

the total number of deaths in a year among infants under one year old for every 1,000 live births in a society

Epidemiology

the branch of medicine that deals with the incidence, distribution, and possible control of diseases and other factors relating to health

Epidemiologic Transition Model (ETM)

this focuses on identifying and explaining the causes of death in each stage of the Demographic Transition Model

Pandemic

an epidemic that is geographically widespread

John Snow

he mapped the occurrence of cholera in London

Thomas Malthus/ Malthusian Theory

he argued the world's population was increasing faster than the food supplies need to sustain it and reasoned that food supplies grow linearly (arithmetically), whereas population grows exponentially (geometrically)

Carrying Capacity

the largest population that an environment can support at any given time

Antinatalist Policy

a government plan to decrease the birth rate

Pronatalist Policy

a government plan to increase the birth rate

Migration

a type of relocation diffusion that is a permanent move to a new location

Mobility

movement from one place to another

Circulation

short-term repetitive, cyclical and periodic movements. Ex: college students, farm workers, or even going to work/school daily

Emigration

migration from a location (out)

Immigration

migration to a location (in)

Net Migration

the difference between the level of immigration and the level of emigration

International migration

the permanent move from one country to another

Migration transition

consists of changes in a society comparable to those in the demographic transition (i.e. as societies develop migration patterns change)

Voluntary Migration

movement in which people relocate in response to perceived opportunity; often economic, sometimes environmental

Forced Migration

movement in which people have been compelled to relocate; often cultural, political or environmental factors

Internal migration

movement within the same country

Interregional migration

movement from one region of a country to another; often rural to urban

Intraregional migration

movement within one region; often within urban areas

Counterurbanization

net migration from urban to rural areas in more developed countries

Ravenstein ("laws of migration")

an explanation of the reasons why migrants move, the characteristics of migrants, and the distance migrants typically move

Push factor

a negative reason that induces people to leave their present location

Pull factor

a positive reason that induces people to move to a new location

Refugee

a person who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war, or violence

Internally Displaced Person (IDP)

a person who has been forced from their home but remains in their own country

Asylum Seeker

a person who has left their country of origin and formally applied for sanctuary in another country but whose application has not yet been concluded

Floodplain

an area subject to flooding based on historical trends

Desertification

the gradual transformation of habitable land into desert

Intervening obstacle

an environmental or cultural feature that hinders migration

Remittance

the transfer of money by workers to people in the country from which they emigrated

Unauthorized Immigrant

an academic observer's term for a person who enters a country without proper documents to do so

Undocumented Immigrant

a term preferred by advocate groups for a person who enters a country without proper documents to do so

Illegal Alien

a term used by groups who favor tough immigration restrictions for a person who enters a country without proper documents to do so

Quotas

in reference to migration, laws that place maximum limits on the number of people who can immigrate to that country each year

Brain Drain

the loss of highly educated and skilled workers to other countries

Chain Migration

migration of people to a specific location because relatives or members of the same nationality previously migrated there

Guest Worker

a foreign laborer living and working temporarily in another country

Circular Migration

the temporary movement of a migrant worker between home and host countries to seek employment

Step Migration

a migration in which an eventual long-distance relocation is undertaken in stages

Transnational Migration

a form of population movement in which a person moves between two or more countries