Population Key Terms:

Anti-Natalist Policies

Policies aimed at reducing birth rates to slow population growth.

Pro-Natalist Policies

Policies aimed at increasing birth rates and fertility.

Natural Increase

When births and immigration outweigh deaths and emigration.

Natural Decrease

When deaths and emigration outweigh births and immigration.

Natural Change

The difference between the number of births and deaths in a year for a region or country.

Crude Birth and Death Rates

The number of live births or deaths per 1,000 people per year.

Infant Mortality Rate

The number of deaths in children under 1 year per year.

Fertility Rate

The number of births per 1,000 women (aged 15-45) per year, divided by 100.

Mortality Rate

The number of deaths per 1,000 people per year, often categorized by age.

Total Fertility Rate

The average number of children born to a woman in a particular population.

Demography

The statistical study of populations and their variables.

Replacement Level Fertility (RLF)

A fertility rate of 2.1, where births replace the number of deaths.

Carrying Capacity

The balance between population size and available resources.

Optimum Population

The number of people that can be sustained at the highest standard of living.

Overpopulation

When a region's resources cannot sustain the current population.

Underpopulation

When an increase in population would improve living standards and resource use.

Neo-Malthusians

Modern followers of Malthus' belief that population growth must be controlled.

Boserupians

Followers of Esther Boserup’s belief that technology will sustain population growth.

Population-Resources Equation

The balance between population size and available resources.

Preventive Checks

Methods to reduce birth rates, such as family planning and delayed marriage.

Positive Checks

Events that increase death rates (e.g., famine, war, disease).

Limits to Growth Report (1972)

A study predicting that unchecked population growth would surpass resources within 100 years.

Demographic Transition Model

A five-stage model showing changes in birth and death rates with economic development.

Population Pyramids

Bar charts showing the age-sex structure of a population.

Ageing Society

A society where older age groups outnumber the young.

Youthful Society

A society with a high proportion of young people due to high birth rates.

Life Expectancy

The average predicted lifespan of people in a region.

Dependency Ratio

The ratio of dependents (under 15 & over 65) to the working-age population.

Sex Ratio

The proportion of females to males, usually expressed as the number of females per 1,000 males.

Epidemiological Transition

The shift in population growth due to medical advances and declining fertility rates.

Birth Rate

The number of live births per 1,000 people per year (%).

Death Rate

The number of deaths per 1,000 people per year (%).

Population Change

The annual population change of an area, including migration and natural change.

Net Migration

The balance between immigration (arrivals) and emigration (departures).

Fertility Rate

The average number of children born to women of childbearing age.

Infant Mortality Rate

The number of deaths of children under 1 year per 1,000 live births per year.

Life Expectancy

The average predicted lifespan of individuals in a region.

Population Density

The number of people per square kilometer in a given area.

Population Distribution

How people are spread out across a region, country, or continent.

How is population change (%) calculated?

(Birth rate - Death rate) ± Migration.

Natural Increase

The population change caused by the difference between birth and death rates.