Population dynamics case studies

overpopulation in bangladesh

Population - 153 million

Population density- 1062/km²

Causes for a high growth rate-

• High birth rates

• High infant mortality rates- 43/1000

• Increased poverty so increase need of children to help in finance especially with farmers

• High illiteracy rate - 73.91%

• No awareness of contraception

• No emancipation of women

• Increased subsistence farming as 4/5th live in rural areas.

Causes for high density-

• Land area is relatively less than the population

• A very fertile region - attracting farmers and others to live there

• Rural to urban migration in Dhaka

Resulted in:

• overcrowding

• traffic congestion in cities like Dhaka

• air pollution because of gas from vehicles

• shortage of food

• water pollution

• deforestation for firewood

underpopulation in canada

• 35 million people in Canada

Causes of underpopulation

• There is developed infrastructure and improved health and education.

• Improved levels of healthcare

• Availability and affordability of contraception

• Low fertility rates

• Highly skilled workers are paid high wages , therefore , less need of children

• Emancipation of women

Resulted in:

• the carrying capacity is much higher than the current population

• Labour shortage: 32% of Canadian employers are encountering difficulties in hiring workers due to a lack of applicants

• Services close down as there are not enough customers.

• Less innovation and development

• Difficulties in defending the country

Solutions:

• relaxing immigrant policies and visa requirements to encourage migration

• Pro-natal government support to increase the birth rate eg. subsidies and parental leave programmes

• allow pensioners to continue working

China: One Family One Child Policy-1974

• 1 billion people in 1979

• China became overpopulated since because of:

  • social/cultural desire to have a son

  • economical bonus: men could work in the field

  • children considered to be social security

  • previously poor medical infrastructure- high infant mortality rate

Encouragements to limit to one child:

• 5-10% work bonus

• free education and health care

• free contraceptions

• preferential housing

• preferential employment

Penalties:

• fines

• salary reduced

• no free access to health care

• forced abortion

Exceptions:

• rural areas

• if multiple births at once(twins, triplets)

• if child had disability

• if child died

Positive consequences of the policy:

• better education and skilled workforce

• lower urban poverty

• fertility reduced to 1.7

Germany: Pro-natal population policy in

Causes:

• good healthcare

• Women are focused on their jobs and being independent .

• access to contraception

• women getting married at later age

Problems:

• Difficult to fund people’s pensions.

• Will not be enough working population to fill all the jobs available.

• less taxes payed

Encouragement to have more children:

• paid maternity leave and parental leave

• tax breaks to tax payers that have children

• eliminating fees for kindergarden

• free schooling

• encouraging immigration

japan densely populated

• a population of around 130 million (2015), and a population density of 336 people per km² (2015)

Sparsely populated rural areas: very few people live on the mountainous slopes in the centre of Honshu island and the south of Shikoku island, because of:

• Lack of flat land for cultivation

• Thin, infertile and acidic soils

• Extreme climate:

• Remoteness and isolation: transport and communication are difficult

• Few jobs available (only in forestry/ primary sector)

Densely populated rural areas: many people live on the flat valleys and gentle slopes of Honshu and Kyushu islands because they:

• provide fertile land for cultivation and thus, have attracted many farmers

• attract commuters who work in the cities through the high standard of living and services such as out-of-town shopping malls and sports facilities

Densely populated urban areas: many people live in towns and cities along the coast, especially on Honshu island, in the conurbation of Tokyo, cause of:

• flat land with mild winters

• good service provision like universities and technologically advanced hospitals and health facilities

• good transport facilities such as the Port of Tokyo to facilitate the import of raw materials and the export of manufactured goods

Effects:

• Lack of jobs in areas due to the dense population cause most are filled already

• Some people are forced to move out of their city / area.

canada sparsely populated

• It has a population of 37 million in 2018 compared to its land area of 9.985 million km²

• It has a population density of 2.7 per km² in 2011 which makes it a sparsely populated country.

Canada is sparsely populated due to the following reasons:

• many mountainous areas

• permafrost in the Northern areas so land is too cold for agriculture

• snow and ice make transport difficult, especially in less developed areas

• Most of population of Canada is clustered in the southern areas because the cold arctic climate makes cultivation harder and better to live in cooler areas.

• people live in the Eastern areas since the West has mountainous areas that are too steep to farm on easily and challenging for construction and transport.

• Effects:

  • Areas with lower population are not economically active / do not have recent technology

  • People in the areas with high population eventually have to move out of the country / area due to job unavailability.

Russia: Population decline 2017

• Russia has a population growth rate of -0.25%. This has been caused by factors like:

  • high death rate of 13 deaths per 1000

  • low fertility rate of 1.6 children per woman

  • high rates of abortion

  • low levels of immigration

Problems of population decline:

• underuse of health facilities, resulting in rising costs

• education cannot be sustained in all areas (particularly sparsely populated)

• resources not fully exploited, leading to lower GDP

• lack of workers may result in economic recession

Solutions:

• pro-natal population policies

• development of tertiary sector to prevent lack of workers

Uganda: High population growth rate

Uganda has a population growth rate of more than 3% due to its high birth rate of 44 births per 1000 people per year. This has been caused by factors such as:

• low socio-economic status of women

• low educational levels

• early marriage

• low use of contraception due to limited access and poverty

Problems of high population growth:

• Health sector faces human and infrastructural shortages

• Primary education could not be sustained in all areas

• Insufficient employment opportunities, especially for poorly educated

• population pressure increases deforestation, soil erosion and land degration to make more houses

• Pressure on resources, especially in urban areas

Solutions to reduce population growth:

• Widespread availability of contraception

• Universal access to education, jobs and health care and female emancipation

• Growth with equity/sustainable development

Uganda: Youthful population

In 2014, 48.7% of Uganda’s population were young dependents under the age of 15.

Causes:

• high fertility rate and high birth rate

• high infant mortality rate encourages more births

• children considered social and economic asset

• high death rate increases the percentage of young dependents

Benefits:

• few old dependents that have to be supported

• possibly a large workforce in future

Problems:

• Overpopulation if growth is not regulated

• overcrowding

• construction of shanty towns

• increased pollution

• depletion of resources and food shortages

• Stress on tax payers to support young dependents and finance development of necessary infrastructure

United Kingdom: Ageing population

The percentage of elderly dependents from 15% in 1980 to 18% in 2014.

Benefits:

• Elderly people can share skills and knowledge to train the younger generation

• Elderly people promote the development of health care, specialised facilities, other facilities desired by elderly

• Elderly continue to pass on traditions and culture.

Problems:

• strain on the working population

• higher taxation is required to support the pensions of the elderly and to fund services such as health care and specialised homes.

• Government-funded pensions may have to shrink to cover everybody, leaving many people with less to spend

• services for younger people, such as schools, are underused. As a result, some people may be left unemployed.

• not enough economically active people, causing a lack of workforce and making it harder to defend the country.

An international migration: Mexico to the USA.

• Location and background:

  • There is a 2000km border between the USA and Mexico.

  • Over 1 million Mexicans migrate to the USA every year. As a result, the US Border Patrol guards the border and tries to prevent illegal immigrants.

• Push Factors:

  • Poor medical facilities

  • Low paid jobs (GNP is $3750)

  • poor education

  • high unemployment rate

• Pull factors:

  • Excellent medical facilities

  • Well paid jobs

  • good education prospects.

  • high life expectancy

  • Availability of jobs

• Effects on the USA:

  • Illegal migration costs USA millions of dollars for border patrols and prisons.

  • Increase in crime rates

  • Discrimination can arise

  • increase in population

  • increased traffic congestion

• Effects on Mexico:

  • shortage of economically active people.

  • working population tend to migrate leaving large number of dependents

  • remittance