AP Human Geography Unit #2.1 - 2.3

Demography

The study of the characteristics of human population

Characteristics of places people want to live

Food and moderate climates

Population distribution

Patterns of human settlement

Population density

Measure of the average population per square kilometer or mile of an area

Hunter-gather societies

Looked for food, water, and shelter

Midlatitudes

Region between 30 and 60 degrees north and south of the equator, where most people live

Mid latitude characteristics

Moderate climate, better soil

Low-lying areas

Most people live in low-lying areas rather than high altitudes like mountains

Low-lying areas characteristics

Better soil, usually close to oceans (food source and trading)

Factors that influence population distribution

Water sources (lakes, rivers)

Less disease

Midlatitudes

Low-lying areas

Human factors on population density

Areas with other people (like friends and family)

Transportation networks and trade routes (linear settlement patterns)

Linear settlement patterns

Can occur around a train line, river, or road

Global scale…

People tend to locate in low elevations

Local/ city scale…

People prefer the highest points (protected from flood, provide cool temperatures, and have better views)

Regional scale…

Climate can impact where people locate within a state

Social stratification

The hierarchical division of people into groups based on economic status, power, or even ethnicity

Population density

Comparing the relationship between the number of people and the amount of space

3 types of population density

Arithmetic density

Physiological density

Agricultural density

Arithmetic density

Total number of people divided by the total land area (provides an average)

Tells us nothing about grouping or the land in a country

Physiological density

Number of people dependent on each unit of cultivated/ arable land

Excludes agriculturally non-productive land

Reflects the carrying capacity

Burden of dependency/ carrying capacity

Number of people a region can support without damaging the environment

Agricultural density

Number of farmers per unit of arable land

Time and population density

Density varies by time of day (night vs work hours) or year and at different scales of analysis

Economic implications of population distribution

Business locate near populations who will purchase their products

Manufacturing will need to be near a larger job market

People move to cities to take advantage of a larger job market

Political implications

As a population grows, they still need to be politically represented

This can be done by taking a census to adjust how many representatives each state gets

Redistributing (if a state grows/ shrinks, they may either add/ subtract districts)

Social implications

Services are usually provided where they can reach the most people

Larger populations can also lead to higher social tensions (causes racism, disease, poverty, and homelessness)

Infrastructure

Facilities and structures that allow people to carry on with life

Urban services

Density housing is popular in urban areas and increases the demand for infrastructure, which is expensive to provide

Overpopulation

Having more people than an area can support, aka exceeding the carrying capacity

Environmental implications

Strain on the local environment

Carrying capacity could change

Reasons carrying capacities change

Technological advancements

Climate change

Carrying capacity and cities

It makes the most sense for cities to be built on land with less carrying capacity (less arable and agricultural land), but the opposite has happened because the agricultural surplus led to urbanization

Population Composition

Age- shapes public policy and an area’s needs

Gender- could be due to a war or government child policies

A population pyramid is also called an

Age-sex composition graph

Population pyramids

Show birth rates, death rates, life expectancy, economic development, and age and gender data

Impacts of war

Impacts typically men from 18-40

Also impacts future populations

During war, women and men are physically separated or don’t want kids

This slowing of birth rates is called a birth deficit

Baby boom

Once a conflict ends, birth rates usually spike (also occur during good economic times)

Baby bust

When the book ends, and the birth rates are lower for a number of years (this continues until the boomers reach childbearing years)

Baby echoes

When the initial boom has children

Pyramid bar is longer for ages 18-25

Colleges could be there

Bars longer for people ages 25-50

Economic crisis, government policy, or an epidemic that impacts children

Bars longer for people over 65

A community in a warmer climate that attracts retired people

A lack of jobs that causes younger people to move in search of work

Bars that are longer for females than males

Women live longer than men

A female prison/correction facility

Bars that are longer for males than females

A boom in jobs typically done by men (also attracts migrant workers)

A region with a military base

An area with a prison/corrections facility

Dependency (workforces)

The potential workforce is considered to be ages 15-64

Everyone else is considered to be the dependent population

Dependent population

Those too young or too old to work

It assumes they rely on those within the workforce

Dependency ratio

The comparison of the potential workforce and the dependent population is called the dependency ratio