Unit 2: Population and Migration Patterns and Processes

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering population distribution, demographic transitions, population policies, and migration dynamics from Unit 2.

Arithmetic density

The most common measure of population density, calculated by dividing a region's total population by its total land area.

Physiological density

A measure of population density calculated by dividing a region's population by its amount of arable land (land suitable for growing crops).

Agricultural density

A density measure that compares the number of farmers to the area of arable land, providing an indication of the efficiency of the region's farmers.

Carrying capacity

The ability of a region's environment to support its population, which can change over time through technological advances in agriculture and improved irrigation methods.

Overpopulation

A condition of having more people than a region can support, which is partially dependent on population distribution and density.

Population pyramids

Demographic tools used to assess age structure and sex ratio, study population growth or decline, and predict markets for goods and services.

Sex ratio

The demographic proportion comparing the number of males to females in a given population.

Total Fertility Rate (TFR)

The average number of children a woman will have during her childbearing years.

Mortality

A demographic factor measuring deaths in a population, such as infant mortality (the number of children who die before their first birthday).

Emigration

The movement of people out of their home country or region.

Net-migration

The difference between the number of immigrants entering a country or region and the number of emigrants leaving.

Natural Increase Rate (NIR)

The percentage rate at which a country's population is growing or declining per year, calculated by comparing births and deaths without including migration.

Doubling time

The amount of time required for a population to double in size, calculated using the rule of $70$ when the growth rate is steady.

Crude Birth Rate (CBR)

The number of live births occurring per year for every $1{,}000$ people in a population.

Crude Death Rate (CDR)

The number of deaths occurring per year for every $1{,}000$ people in a population.

Epidemiologic Transition Model

A framework describing how the primary causes of sickness and death in a population shift from infectious diseases to chronic illnesses as a country develops and healthcare improves.

Demographic Transition Model (DTM)

A theoretical framework that tracks how a country's population transitions from high birth and death rates to low birth and death rates as its economy develops and modernizes.

Malthusian Theory

The demographic concept asserting that population grows exponentially while food production grows arithmetically, inevitably causing population to outstrip food supplies and collapse.

Pronatalist policies

Government policies that encourage having children to increase a declining population.

Antinatalist policies

Government policies that encourage people not to have children to slow down population growth.

Ravenstein's Laws of Migration

A demographic framework consisting of a series of generalizations describing empirical patterns and predictable behaviors of human migration.

Contraception

The deliberate use of artificial methods or techniques to prevent pregnancy.

Life expectancy

The average number of years an individual is expected to live, based on current mortality rates.

Dependency ratio

An age-based population measure comparing the number of dependents (ages $0\text{--}14$ and $65+$) to the working-age population (ages $15\text{--}64$).

Push factors

Negative circumstances, events, or conditions in a home location that compel people to leave.

Pull factors

Positive conditions that attract people to move to a new location or stay there.

Intervening obstacles

Physical, political, or cultural barriers that make reaching a desired migration destination more difficult.

Intervening opportunities

Favorable circumstances discovered by migrants en route that disrupt their original migration plan and cause them to settle elsewhere.

Lee's Model of Migration

A demographic framework explaining human migration patterns through the interaction of push factors, pull factors, and intervening obstacles.

Refugees

Individuals who have been forced to flee their home country due to a well-founded fear of persecution, danger, or violence.

Internally displaced persons (IDP)

Individuals forced to flee their homes due to danger or conflict who remain within the borders of their home country.

Asylum seekers

Individuals who have left their home country to seek international protection and are waiting for legal refugee status.

Transnational migration

A pattern of movement in which migrants relocate to a new country while maintaining active social, economic, or political ties to their country of origin.

Transhumance

A form of pastoralism or nomadism involving the seasonal movement of livestock between fixed locations or pastures.

Chain migration

A migration process in which immigrants from a specific town or region follow preceding family members, friends, or community members to a new destination.

Step migration

A progressive migration pattern in which an individual moves toward a final destination in a series of distinct stages or steps.

Guest workers

Foreign laborers legally permitted by a host government to reside and work in a country, typically on a temporary basis.

Rural to urban migration

The physical relocation of people from countryside or farming regions into towns and cities.

Forced migration

The coerced movement of individuals away from their home region due to violent threats, persecution, or life-endangering conditions.

Voluntary migration

The movement of people to a new location by their own choice, motivated by the desire to find improved quality of life or better opportunities.

Remittances

Sums of money earned by migrant or foreign workers sent back to their families and communities in their home countries.

Brain drain

The large-scale emigration of highly skilled, educated, and talented individuals from their native country to another nation.