8.1 Terms

Demography

The scientific study of human populations, including their size, structure, distribution, and changes through birth, migration, and death.

Crude Birth Rate (CBR)

The total number of live births per 1,000 people in a population per year.

Immigration Rate

The number of immigrants entering a population per 1,000 people in that population per year.

Crude Death Rate (CDR)

The total number of deaths per 1,000 people in a population per year.

Emigration Rate

The number of emigrants leaving a population per 1,000 people in that population per year.

Total Fertility Rate (TFR)

The average number of children born to a woman during her childbearing years in a given population.

Life Expectancy

The average number of years a person can be expected to live from birth if current demographic mortality rates remain constant.

Natural Increase Rate (NIR)

The rate at which a population grows or declines per year due to the difference between CBR and CDR, calculated as (CBR - CDR) / 10 and expressed as a percentage.

Doubling Time (DT)

The number of years required for a population to double in size at its current growth rate, calculated as 70 divided by the natural increase rate percentage.

Replacement Level Fertility

The total fertility rate required for a population to remain at a constant size over time without migration, typically around 2.1 children per woman.

Pro-natalist Policy

An official government strategy aimed at encouraging births and increasing the national birth rate.

Anti-natalist Policy

An official government strategy aimed at limiting or decreasing the national birth rate.

Remittances

Money or earnings transferred by migrant workers back to their families or individuals in their country of origin.

Age-Sex Pyramid

A graphical illustration showing the age and gender distribution of a population.

Demographic Transition Model (DTM)

A model describing how a population transitions from high birth and death rates to low birth and death rates through five stages of economic development.

Biocapacity

The capacity of a biologically productive ecosystem or region to continuously generate renewable resources and absorb human waste.

Dependency Ratio

The mathematical ratio comparing the dependent population (under 15 and over 64 years) to the economically productive population (aged 15 to 64 years).

Population Momentum

The continued growth of a population even after fertility rates drop below replacement level, caused by a large cohort of young people entering reproductive age.

Environmental Migration

The movement of people forced to leave their homes temporarily or permanently due to severe environmental disruption or climate change.

Compensatory Births

Births occurring in response to high infant mortality rates, where families intentionally have additional children to offset expected child loss.

Infant Mortality Rate (IMR)

The number of deaths of infants under one year of age per 1,000 live births in a population per year.

Age-Specific Mortality Rate (ASMR)

The mortality rate for a specific age cohort within a population, providing greater precision than the crude death rate.

Net Migration

The difference between the number of immigrants entering a country and the number of emigrants leaving that country over a given period.

Human Carrying Capacity

The maximum population size of humans that an environment can sustainably support without undergoing degradation.