Demography and Migration Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering core population characteristics, demographic transition models, theories, population policies, and migration concepts based on the lecture notes.

Demography

The scientific study of population characteristics, size, distribution, and change over time.

Population distribution

The pattern of where people live across an area, shaped by physical factors (climate, landforms, water) and human factors (economy, politics, culture).

Population density

The number of people per unit of land area.

Water body

A physical feature (ocean, river, lake) that strongly attracts settlement due to access to water, food, and trade.

Ecumene

The permanently inhabited portion of the Earth's surface.

Climate

Long-term weather patterns of a region; a major physical factor influencing settlement and agriculture.

Landform

The physical shape of the land (mountains, plains, valleys) that affects settlement and transportation.

Politics

Government stability and policy that can encourage or discourage settlement in an area.

Arithmetic density

Total number of people divided by total land area.

Physiological density

The number of people per unit of arable (farmable) land.

Agricultural density

The number of farmers per unit of arable land; indicates farming efficiency.

Overpopulation

A region having more people than its resources and environment can support.

Carrying capacity

The maximum population an environment can sustain without being damaged.

More Developed Country (MDC)

A country with high industrialization, wealth, and quality of life.

Less Developed Country (LDC)

A country with lower industrialization, income, and quality-of-life indicators.

Newly Industrializing Country (NIC)

A country rapidly industrializing and transitioning from LDC to MDC status.

Developing country

Term synonymous with less developed country; includes NICs.

Natural increase rate

Percentage a population grows per year: $\frac{\text{crude birth rate} - \text{crude death rate}}{10}$.

Natural decrease rate

When crude death rate exceeds crude birth rate, causing population to shrink.

Crude birth rate (CBR)

The number of live births per $1,000$ people per year.

Crude death rate (CDR) / mortality rate

The number of deaths per $1,000$ people per year.

Doubling time

The number of years for a population to double at its current growth rate.

Demographic equation

Formula for population change: $(\text{births} - \text{deaths}) + (\text{immigration} - \text{emigration})$.

Life expectancy

The average number of years a person is expected to live.

Infant mortality rate (IMR)

Deaths of infants under age $1$ per $1,000$ live births.

Total fertility rate (TFR)

The average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime.

Female literacy

Percentage of women who can read/write; correlated with lower fertility rates.

Demographic Transition Model (DTM)

A model showing how birth rates, death rates, and growth change as a country develops, through $4$-$5$ stages.

Stage 1 of DTM

High birth rate, high death rate, low natural increase; pre-industrial societies.

Stage 2 of DTM

High birth rate, rapidly falling death rate, rapid natural increase; typical of LDCs; rural-to-urban migration begins.

Stage 3 of DTM

Falling birth rate, low death rate, slowing natural increase; typical of NICs.

Stage 4 of DTM

Low birth rate, low death rate, stable/minimal growth; typical of MDCs.

Stage 5 of DTM

Birth rate falls below death rate, natural decrease; some MDCs like Japan.

ZPG (zero population growth)

When the birth rate equals the death rate, resulting in no natural growth.

Medical revolution's impact on DTM in LDCs

Rapid introduction of modern medicine caused death rates in LDCs to fall quickly, producing very rapid population growth.

Industrial Revolution's impact on DTM in MDCs

Gradual industrialization caused death and birth rates to decline slowly over generations in present-day MDCs.

Epidemiological Transition Model (ETM)

A model describing the shift in leading causes of death from communicable to non-communicable diseases as a society develops.

Communicable disease

A disease that can spread from person to person, e.g. measles.

Non-communicable disease

A disease that cannot be transmitted between people, e.g. cancer.

Population pyramid

A graph showing the age and sex distribution of a population, used to identify a country's DTM stage.

Thomas Malthus

An economist who theorized population grows faster than food supply, leading to eventual crisis.

Malthusian theory

The idea that population grows exponentially while food supply grows arithmetically, leading to famine, disease, and war.

Arithmetic growth

Growth that increases by a constant amount over time (linear).

Exponential / geometric growth

Growth that increases by a constant rate, producing rapid doubling.

Positive checks

Malthus's term for factors that increase the death rate to limit population (famine, disease, war).

Preventative checks

Malthus's term for factors that reduce the birth rate to limit population (delayed marriage, abstinence).

Neo-Malthusian

A modern supporter of Malthus's ideas, often applied to resource depletion concerns.

Cornucopian

The view that human ingenuity and technology will always overcome resource limitations.

Anti-Malthusian

A theorist who rejects Malthus's predictions, including Boserup and Cornucopians.

Esther Boserup

An economist who argued population growth drives agricultural innovation, allowing food supply to keep pace.

Demographic momentum

The tendency for population to keep growing even after birth rates decline, due to a large reproductive-age population.

Population policies

Government strategies designed to influence population growth rate and pattern.

Pro-natalist policies (expansive)

Policies designed to increase birth rates.

Anti-natalist policies (restrictive)

Policies designed to decrease birth rates.

Family planning methods

Programs and resources that help individuals control the number and timing of births.

Contraception

Methods used to prevent pregnancy.

Replacement level fertility

The total fertility rate (about $2.1$) needed for a population to replace itself.

Baby boom

A period of significantly increased birth rates, e.g. U.S. 1946-1964.

Baby bust

A period of significantly decreased birth rates, often following a baby boom.

Baby echo

A rise in births caused by the large baby boom generation reaching childbearing age.

China's One Child Policy

An anti-natalist policy (1979-2015) restricting most families to one child; later relaxed to a Two Child Policy.

Sex ratio

The ratio of males to females in a population.

Gender imbalance

An unequal ratio of males to females, often caused by cultural son preference.

Infanticide

The killing of infants, sometimes linked to gender preference and population control.

Dependency ratio

The ratio of the dependent population to the working-age population.

Dependent population

People under $15$ or over $64$, considered too young or old to work full-time.

Youth dependency ratio

The ratio of the population under $15$ to the working-age population.

Elderly dependency ratio

The ratio of the population over $64$ to the working-age population.

Working age cohort

The population aged $15$-$64$, considered economically productive.

Aging populations

Populations with a growing share of elderly people, affecting social, economic, and political systems.

Migration

The permanent or semipermanent movement of people from one place to another.

Emigration

Migration out of a place or country.

Immigration

Migration into a place or country.

Net migration

The difference between the number of immigrants and emigrants in an area.

Net in-migration

When more people move into an area than leave it.

Net out-migration

When more people leave an area than move into it.

Push factors (SPEED)

Negative conditions (Social, Political, Economic, Environmental, Demographic) that drive people to leave a location.

Pull factors (SPEED)

Positive conditions (Social, Political, Economic, Environmental, Demographic) that attract people to a location.

Forced migration

Migration in which the person has no choice but to leave.

Voluntary migration

Migration in which the person chooses to move, usually for better opportunities.

Intervening obstacles

Barriers that make migration more difficult, such as cost or physical distance.

Intervening opportunities

Attractive alternative destinations that appear along a migration route.

Step migration

Migration that occurs in stages, e.g. rural area to small town to large city.

Brain drain

The emigration of highly skilled or educated individuals from a country.

Lee's Model of Migration

A model explaining migration through push/pull factors and intervening obstacles.

Refugee

A person forced to flee their country due to persecution, war, or violence, who has crossed an international border.

Genocide

The deliberate, systematic destruction of a racial, political, ethnic, religious, or national group.

Persecution

Hostile treatment based on race, religion, ethnicity, or political opinion that can force people to flee.

Internally displaced person

A person forced to flee their home but who remains within their own country's borders.

Asylum seeker

A person seeking legal protection or refugee status in another country whose claim has not yet been decided.

International migration

Migration across national borders.

Internal migration

Migration within the borders of a single country.

Interregional migration

Migration between different regions within a country.

Intraregional migration

Migration within a single region of a country.

Urban area

A densely populated, built-up area, typically a city or town.

Rural area

A sparsely populated area, typically agricultural.

Megacity

A city with a population of over $10$ million people.

Suburb

A residential area located on the outskirts of a city.

Ravenstein's Laws of Migration

A set of principles describing general patterns of migration, such as most migrants moving short distances.

Zelinsky's Migration Transition

A model linking a country's migration patterns to its stage in the demographic transition model.