AP Unit 2 Vocab

Age-Sex Distribution

A model used in population geography that describes the ages and number of males and females within a given population; also called a population pyramid.

Agricultural Density

The number of farmers per unit area of farmland.

Arithmetic Density

The number of people living in a given unit area.

Baby Boom

A cohort of individuals born in the United States between 1946 and 1964, which was just after World War II in a time of relative peace and prosperity.

Baby Bust

Period during the 1960s and 1970s when fertility rates in the United States dropped as large numbers of women from the baby boom generation sought higher levels of education and more competitive jobs.

Carrying Capacity

The largest number of people that the environment of a particular area can sustainably support.

Chain Migration

The migration event in which individuals follow the migratory path of preceding friends or family members to an existing community.

Child Mortality Rate

Number of deaths per thousand children within the first five years of life.

Cohort

A population group unified by a specific common characteristic, such as age.

Cotton Belt

The term used to identify the American South as cotton historically dominated the agricultural economy; now referred to as the new Sun Belt.

Crude Birth Rate

The number of live births per year per thousand people.

Crude Death Rate

The number of deaths per year per thousand people.

Demographic Accounting Equation

An equation that summarizes the amount of growth or decline in a population within a country during a particular time period.

Demographic Transition Model

A sequence of demographic changes in which a country moves from high birth and death rates to low birth and death rates.

Demography

The study of human populations, including their temporal and spatial dynamics.

Dependency Ratio

The ratio of the number of people who are either too old or too young to provide for themselves to the number of people who must support them.

Doubling Time

Time period required for a population experiencing exponential growth to double in size.

Emigration

The process of moving out of a particular country.

Epidemiological Transition

Sudden population growth as a result of improved food security and health care.

Exponential Growth

Growth that occurs when a fixed percentage of new people is added to a population each year.

Forced Migration

The migration event in which individuals are forced to leave a country against their will.

Generation X

People born in the United States between 1965 and 1980.

Immigration

The process of individuals moving into a new country with the intention of remaining there.

Infant Mortality Rate

The percentage of children who die before their first birthday.

Internal Migration

The permanent or semi-permanent movement of individuals within a country.

Intervening Obstacles

Forces or factors that may limit human migration.

Involuntary Migration

See Forced Migration.

Life Expectancy

The average age individuals are expected to live.

Thomas Malthus

Author of *Essay on the Principle of Population* who claimed that population grows at an exponential rate.

Maternal Mortality Rate

Number of deaths per thousand of women giving birth.

Migration

A long-term move of a person from one political jurisdiction to another.

Natural Increase Rate

The difference between the number of births and number of deaths within a country.

Neo-Malthusian

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

Overpopulation

A value judgement based on the notion that resources are not sufficient to support an area’s population.

Physiologic Density

A ratio of human population to the area of cropland.

Population Density

A measurement of the number of persons per unit of land area.

Population Geography

A division of human geography concerned with spatial variations in population distribution.

Population Pyramid

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

Pull Factors

Attractions that draw migrants to a certain place.

Push Factors

Incentives for potential migrants to leave a place.

Refugees

People who leave their home because they are forced out.

Rust Belt

Northern industrial states of the U.S. where heavy industry lost its economic base.

Sun Belt

U.S. region that has grown dramatically since World War II.

Total Fertility Rate

The average number of children born to a woman during her childbearing years.

Voluntary Migration

Movement of an individual who consciously decides to locate to a new area.

Zero Population Growth

Proposal to end population growth through family-planning programs.