Unit 2 Vocabulary: Key Terms in Human Geography

Age Cohort

A set of individuals who were born at roughly the same time and share similar cultural experiences.

Agricultural Density

The number of people living per unit of arable land in a specific area.

Anti-Natalism

The idea or policy advocating for a reduction in birth rates, often through government intervention.

Arithmetic Density

The number of people living in a specific area, typically measured as the total population divided by the land area.

Internal Migration

refers to the movement of people within a country's borders, often from rural to urban areas in search of better opportunities.

International Migration

Permanent movement from one country to another.

Guest Worker (Time-contract Worker)

is a person who temporarily works in another country under a time-limited contract.

Thomas Malthus

argued that population growth will outpace the availability of resources, leading to societal problems.

Life Expectancy (Longevity Rate)

is the average number of years a person is expected to live, which is an important indicator of the overall health and well-being of a population.

J-curve

This is when the projection population shows exponential growth; sometimes shaped as a j.

Interregional migration

permeant movement from one region of a country to another.

Internally Displaced Person (IDP)

is a person who has been forced to migrate for similar political reasons as a refugee but has not migrated across an international border..

Intraregional Migration

occurs when people move within the same region, such as from one city to another within a state.

Epidemiological Transition

The process of change in the distinctive causes of death in each stage of the demographic transition.

Elderly Support Ratio

the ratio of the elderly population (usually defined as those aged 65 and over) to the working-age population (usually defined as those aged 15 to 64) in a society.

Intervening Obstacle/Opportunity

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

Migration selectivity

the tendency for certain types of people to migrate. Age, education, and other sociodemographic characteristics are migration selectivity factors

natural disaster

the negative impact following an actual occurrence of natural hazard in the event that it significantly harms a community.

Naturalization

The legal process by which citizens of one country become citizens of another

Neo Malthusian

Advocacy of population control programs to ensure enough resources for current and future populations.

Overpopulation

Too many people in one place for the resources available

physiological density

The number of people per unit of area of arable land, which is land suitable for agriculture.

population aging ("greying")

An increasing median age in a population because of declining fertility rates and rising life expectancy

population pyramid (age-sex pyramid)

A form of graph showing the ratio of men to women in certain age brackets in specific regions or parts of the world

Pronatalism

Policies that provide incentives for women to have children, typically in countries where the population is declining.

push factor

negative preferences or desires that cause people to migrate to another country.

pull factor

positive preferences or desires that cause people to migrate to another country.

Ravenstein's Laws

detail the causes of human migration and form the basis for many population geography and demography studies.

Redistricting

the process of drawing electoral district boundaries. For the United States House of Representatives, and state legislatures, redistricting occurs after each census.

Refugee

People who are forced to migrate from their home country

replacement fertility

the level of fertility at which a population exactly replaces itself from one generation to the next.

S-curve

traces the cyclical movement upwards and downwards in a graph. So named for its shape as the letter "s"

sex ratio

The number of males per 100 females in a population.

step migration

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

total fertility rate (TFR)

The average number of children a woman will have throughout her child-bearing years.

Transhumance

Seasonal migration of livestock between mountain and lowland pasture area.

undocumented migrant

A person who enters a country without proper documents to do so.

zero-population growth

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

Asylum-Seeker

A person who has fled their home country and is seeking protection and asylum in another country.

Fertility Rate

The average number of children a woman in a given population will have during her lifetime.

Doubling Time

The rate at which a population is growing, expressed as the time it takes for the population to double in size.

Chain Migration

The movement of people, usually family members, from one place to another, often following established migration routes.

Demographics

The study of the characteristics of a population, such as age, gender, income, and education.

Center of Population

The point on the Earth's surface where the country's population is concentrated.

Cornucopian

The belief in the limitless availability of resources and a positive outlook on the future, often in the context of population and resource growth.

Crude Birth Rate (CBR)

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

Crude Death Rate (CDR)

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

Carrying Capacity

The maximum population size that an environment can sustain indefinitely without significant degradation of the environment.

Brain Drain/Gain

The migration of highly educated or skilled individuals from one country to another.

Demographic Momentum

The phenomenon where a population continues to grow even after the birth rate has declined, due to a large portion of the population being in the childbearing age group.

Diaspora

The dispersion or scattering of a group of people with a common origin, often used to refer to a group forced to leave their homeland.