Unit 2

Agricultural Density

Number of farmers divided by arable land.

Anti-Natalist Policies

Government policies to reduce the rate of natural increase.

Arithmetic Density

Population of a region divided by total land area.

Arable Land

Land suitable for farming/agriculture.

Baby Boom

A temporary marked increase in the birth rate, especially the one following World War II.

Baby Bust

Temporary marked decrease in the birth rate.

Carrying Capacity

Largest number of individuals of a population that an environment can support.

Crude Birth Rate (CBR)

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

Crude Death Rate (CDR)

Total number of deaths per 1,000 people in a society

Demographic Transition Model (DTM)

The 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, low rate of natural increase, and a higher total population.

Demography

The scientific study of population characteristics.

Dependent Ratio

The number of people under age 15 and over age 64 compared to the number of people active in the labor force.

Doubling Time/Rate

The number of years needed to double a population, assuming a constant rate of natural increase.

Ecumene

The areas of earth occupied by human settlement.

Epidemiological Transition Model (ETM)

A model highlighting the distinctive causes of death in each stage of the demographic transition.

Female Infanticide

The intentional killing of baby girls due to the preference for male babies and from the low value associated with the birth of females.

Industrial Revolution

A period of rapid growth in the use of machines in manufacturing and production that began in the mid-1700s.

Infant Mortality Rate (IMR)

The total number of deaths in a year among infants under one year of age for every 1,000 live births in a society.

Life Expectancy

The average number of years an individual can be expected to live, given current social, economic, and medical conditions.

Malthus, Thomas

An English economist who was one of the first to argue that the world's population increase was far outrunning the development of food production.

Medical Revolution

Time during the late 20th countries, when medical technology from Europe and North America diffused to developing countries.

Neo-Malthusian

People who believed in Malthusian Theory and in the idea that population was not only outstripping food but other resources.

Overpopulation

When the number of people in an area exceeds the capacity of the environment to support life at a decent standard of living.

Physiological Density

Population of a region divided by arable land.

Population Pyramid

A model used in population geography to show the age and sex distribution of a particular population.

Pro-Natalist Policies

The policy or practice of encouraging the bearing of children, especially government support of a higher birthrate.

Natural Increase Rate (NIR) / Rate of Natural Increase (RNI)

Percent a population grows in a year.

Sex Ratio

Number of males per 100 females

Stage 1 DTM

Low Growth: A pre-industrial agrarian society with a High CBR, High CDR, and a Zero NIR.

Stage 2 DTM

High Growth: Industrializing society with a CBR that remains high but stable, a CDR that declines dramatically, and a NIR in rapid increase.

Stage 3 DTM

Decreasing Growth: Industrializing society with a CBR that declined significantly, a CDR that continues to decline, and a NIR that begins to moderate.

Stage 4 DTM

Low Growth: A Modern Industrialized Country with a low CBR, low CDR, and virtually no NIR.

Stage 5 DTM

Negative Growth: Modern Industrialized Country with a very low CBR, an increasing CDR, and a negative NIR.

Total Fertility Rate (TFR)

An average number of children a woman will have during her 'birthing' years.

Zero Population Growth (ZPG)

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

Asylum Seeker

Someone who has migrated to another country in the hope of being recognized as a refugee.

Brain Drain

The large-scale emigration of talented citizens of a country who leave to seek better opportunities for their talents.

Chain Migration

The migration of people to a certain location because family members of the same nationality previously migrated there.

Circular Migration

Short-term, repetitive, or cyclical movements that recur on a regular basis.

Critical Distance

The distance beyond which cost, effort, and/or means play a determining role in the willingness of the people to travel.

Emigration

The movement of individuals out of an area, can cause a population to decrease in size.

Ethnicity

Affiliation or identity within a group of people bound by common ancestry and culture.

Forced Migration

Permanent movement, usually compelled by cultural factors, that is done due to an outside force.

Immigration

The migration to a new location.

Internal Migration

Permanent movement within a particular country.

Internally Displaced Person

Individuals who are uprooted within the boundaries of their own country because of conflict or human rights abuse.

International Migration

The permanent movement from one country to another.

Interregional Migration

The permanent movement from one region of a country to another.

Intervening Obstacles

An environmental or cultural feature of a landscape that hinders migration.

Intervening Opportunities

The presence of a nearer opportunity that greatly diminishes the attractiveness of sites farther away.

Intraregional Migration

The permanent movement within one region of a country.

Net Migration

The difference between the number of emigrants and the number of immigrants.

Pull Factor

A feature that induces people to move to a certain location.

Push Factor

A feature that induces people to move out of a current location.

Quotas

A limit on maximum number of people who can immigrate to an area annually.

Race

A categorization of humans based on skin color and other physical characteristics.

Ravenstein, Ernest

Author of 11 Laws of Migration that help explain migration patterns of people.

Refugees

A person who is forced to migrate from his or her home country and cannot return for fear of persecution due to his or her race, religion, political opinion, nationality, or group.

Step Migration

Migration that follows a path of a series of stages or steps towards a final destination.

Sustainability

Relates to development that meets today's needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Unauthorized Immigrants

People who enter a country without proper documents.

Voluntary Migration

Population movement in which people relocate in response to perceived opportunity, not because they are forced to move.

Bosrup, Ester

Argued against Malthus Theory on population. Stated that as population pressure increases, cultures farm more intensively and increase output.

Cohort

A population group unified by a specific common characteristic, such as age, and subsequently treated as a statistical unit.

Endemic

Diseases confined to a particular region or people.

Expansive Population Pyramid

Young populations have a typical 'pyramid' shape, with a broad base indicating high proportions of children. Indicates a population undergoing rapid growth.

Linear Growth

Growth in which a quantity increases by some fixed amount during each unit of time.

Malthusian Theory

The theory focused on how the exponential growth of a population can outpace the growth of the food supply and lead to social degradation and disorder.

Midlatitudes

A wide band of latitudes on either side of the Equator, midway between the Equator and the North or South Poles.

Negative Population Growth (NPG)

The actual decline in population due to less than replacement births or extensive diseases.

One Child Policy

A policy implemented by the Chinese government as a method of controlling the population - no longer in effect.

Pandemic

A disease that occurs over a wide geographic area and affects a very high proportion of the population.

Population Density

The average number of people in a square mile or kilometer.

Population Distribution

A description of how individuals are distributed with respect to one another.

Remittances

Money migrants send back to family and friends in their home countries, often in cash, forming an important part of the economy in many poorer countries.

Stationary Population Pyramid

A more rectangular population pyramid indicates a population which is neither growing nor declining. There are similar proportions in each age group, apart from at the oldest ages (due to mortality).