Unit 2 Vocabularies and Definitions

Age Structure

The proportion of people in different age groups within a population, typically visualized through a population pyramid.

Aging Population

When a country has a rising population of older people because people are living longer and having fewer children.

Agricultural Density

A population geography measure calculated by dividing the total number of farmers by the amount of arable land in a region.

Androcentrism

A phenomenon in which a culture demonstrates a marked preference for males.

Anthropocene

A period in which human activities have had the dominant influence on the environment.

Antinatalist Policy

Designed to curtail population growth by reducing fertility rates.

Arable Land

Any land suitable for plowing and growing crops.

Arithmetic (Crude) Density

A population density measure that divides the total population of a region by its total land area to find the amount of people per area unit.

Asylum Seeker

An individual who has fled their country due to fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion, and seeks protection in another country.

Baby Boomer

A person born during or after World War II (born around 1946–1964).

Black Belt

A region in the American South, particularly in Alabama and Mississippi, known for its distinctive fertile black soil, which supported the large

Boserup Effect

Population change drives the intensity of agricultural production.

Brain Drain

The large

Brain Gain

Migrating professionals from one nation to another, usually from a developing nation to a developed country.

Chain Migration

The process where people move to a specific location because relatives or members of their community have previously migrated there, creating a network or chain of migration.

Child Mortality

Deaths of children under five years of age.

Circulation

The movement of people, goods, or ideas from one place to another.

Cornucopians or Anti

Malthusians

Counterstream

A migration flow in the opposite direction of a main migration stream, often resulting from original migrants returning to their origin.

Crude Birth Rate (CBR)

The average number of births per one thousand people per year.

Crude Death Rate (CDR) / Mortality Rate

The average number of deaths per one thousand people per year.

Degenerative Disease

A disease that causes a gradual deterioration of cells, which affects the functions of tissues and organs.

Demographic Dividend

The economic growth which results from a shift in a country's age structure.

Demographic Equation

The method for calculating total population of a country or place based on natural increase and migration over a period of time.

Demographic Transition Model (DTM)

A 5

Demography

Statistical study of human populations, examining their size, distribution, density, and dynamics over time, which are influenced by birth rates, death rates, and migration.

Dependency Ratio

Measures the ratio of non

Destination

The primary location where migrants settle, whether temporarily or permanently.

Developed (Industrialized) Country

Nations with a mature, sophisticated, and technologically advanced economy.

Diaspora

A dispersal of a human population from their original homeland to various places around the world, often involving migration.

Doubling Time

The estimated number of years it will take for a population to double in size, assuming a constant rate of natural increase.

Ecumene

Inhabited (by human settlement) land on Earth.

Elderly Dependency Ratio

The number of elderly dependents in a population (usually people older than 64 years) that every 100 working age people must support.

Emigrant or Out

Migrant

Emigration / Out

Migration

Epidemiological Transition Theory

A theory that describes the changes in disease patterns and mortality rates as a country progresses through different stages of development.

Epidemiology

The branch of medicine that studies distribution, determinants, and control of diseases and other health conditions.

Ethnic Cleansing

The forced removal of one ethnic group by another ethnic group to create an ethnically consistent territory.

Eurasia

The largest contiguous continental landmass on Earth, combining Europe and Asia.

Forced Migration

The involuntary movement of people from their homes due to a circumstance that's out of their control.

Gender Roles

The behaviors and attitudes that are considered appropriate for individuals based on their gender.

Generation X

People born between 1965 and 1980.

Generation Y (Millennials)

People born between 1981 and 2000.

Generation Z

People born after the turn of the twenty

Generations

Groups of people who were born around the same time and hold common traits due to shared influences growing up.

Great Migration

The mass movement of African Americans from the South to Northern, Midwestern, and Western areas of the United States.

Guest Workers

A person who has temporary legal permission to work in a country other than their native one, often to fill labor shortages in specific sectors.

High Birth Rate

A crude birth rate of more than 30 per 1000 people.

Human Well

Being

Immigrants or In

Migrants

Immigration / In

Migration

Infant Mortality Rate (IMR)

A measure of how many infants die within the first year of their life per 1000 live births.

Infanticide

The intentional killing of an infant or young child, often due to cultural practices, economic pressures, or social factors.

Internal or Interregional Migration

Internal migration refers to movement within a country's borders, while interregional migration involves movement between different regions of the same country.

Internally Displaced Person (IDP)

People who are forced to flee their homes due to conflict, violence, human rights violations, or natural disasters but remain within their country's borders.

International Migration

When moves are made across national borders.

Intervening Obstacle

Barriers that hinder or prevent migration from one place to another.

Life Expectancy

A key demographic indicator representing the average number of years a person can expect to live, reflecting a population's health, quality of life, and overall development.

Low Birth Rate

Fewer babies are born, often from development and family planning.

Malthusian

A theory that predicts population growth will inevitably outpace resources, leading to widespread shortages.

Malthusian Trap

A term derived from Thomas Robert Malthus referring to the cycle in which population growth outstrips resources.

Mean Center of Population

The balancing point given the distribution of population.

Median Age

The middle age in a population when all ages are listed in order.

Megacity

A city with more than 10 million people with a high population density.

Metacity

An urban area with a population that exceeds 20 million or more people.

Migrant

A person who moves to a new country with the intent to settle permanently.

Migration

The permanent movement of people from one place to another.

Migration Age Profile

The relatively stable relationship between the odds of migration and age across different countries.

Migration Stream

A pattern of predictable, large

Neo

Malthusians

Net Migration

The difference between the number of in

Net Migration Rate (NMR)

The rate measuring net migration relative to population size.

Non

Migrant

Origin

The place where a specific cultural trait, practice, or idea first emerged and began to diffuse.

Overpopulation

When the human population exceeds the food supply.

Physiological Density

The average number of people per unit area of arable land.

Population Clusters

A pattern of population distribution where a significant number of people are grouped closely together in a specific geographic area.

Population Composition

The makeup of the population by age, sex, ethnicity, race, income, education, and other characteristics.

Population Density

Measures the number of people per unit of arable land.

Population Distribution

The pattern of human settlement and the spread of people across the Earth's surface.

Population Pyramid

A graphic device used for comparing age and sex structure in a country.

Pronatalist Policy

Designed to boost fertility rates and ultimately population growth.

Pull Factors

Positive conditions or attributes of a destination that attract individuals to migrate there.

Push Factors

Negative conditions or circumstances that force people to leave their home country or region.

Push

Pull Theory of Migration

Rate of Natural Increase (RNI)

A demographic measure calculated as the difference between the crude birth rate and the crude death rate.

Refugee

A person who was forced to migrate to another country to avoid dangers from their homeland.

Remittances

The money and goods sent by migrants to their home countries.

Repatriation

When refugees or displaced persons return to their home country.

Replacement Level Fertility

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

Residential Mobility

Moves that occur within a metropolitan area.

Return Migration

The process where people migrate back to their place of origin due to economic, social, or political reasons.

Rule of 70

A tool for calculating the doubling time of a population by dividing 70 by a country's rate of natural increase (RNI).

Rural

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