Population Geography: Key Concepts and Demographic Transition Stages

Total world population

Around 8.1 billion

Population clusters

Regions that have over ⅔ of the world's population living in them.

South Asia

One of the four big regions with a high population density.

East Asia

One of the four big regions with a high population density.

Southeast Asia

One of the four big regions with a high population density.

Europe

One of the four big regions with a high population density.

Site factors for population clusters

Rivers, Oceans, Fresh soil, Trade, Economic opportunities

Site factors for sparse population

Too dry, Too wet, Too cold, Too hot

Environmental Possibilism

The idea that the environment puts limits on society, but people have the ability to adjust/modify the physical environment to overcome those limits.

Population Density

The amount of people in an area.

Population Distribution

The spread of the people in an area.

Arithmetic density

Total population / total amount of land.

Physiological density

Total population / total amount of arable land.

Arable land

Land that can produce food.

Agricultural density

Amount of farmers / total amount of arable land.

Consequences of Population Distribution

Effects on political, economic, social, and environmental aspects.

Urban political characteristics

More political power, larger population has less impact on electoral vote, government provides services over a smaller area, more infrastructure.

Rural political characteristics

Less political power, smaller population has more impact on electoral vote, government provides services over a larger area, less infrastructure.

Urban economic characteristics

Larger variety of jobs, more competition for jobs, more goods and services, higher cost of living.

Rural economic characteristics

Smaller variety of jobs, less competition for jobs, less goods and services, lower cost of living.

Urban social characteristics

Fewer children, focus on career and the individual, more nightlife options, need for more healthcare services.

Rural social characteristics

More children, focus on traditional family values, travel farther for public and private services.

Urban environment characteristics

Concrete jungle, pave over arable land, loss of greenspaces.

Rural environment characteristics

Large greenspaces.

Urban sprawl

The spread of urban development from an urban area into underdeveloped land near a city.

Carrying capacity

The amount of people that can be supported by the environment without damaging the environment.

Population Pyramid

A snapshot in time, almost as if someone took a picture of society.

Sex Ratio

The ratio of males to females in a population, calculated as Number of male births/number of female births x 100.

Age Cohorts

Categories of age groups: Pre-productive years 0-14, reproductive years 15-44, post-productive years 45 and up.

Dependency Ratio

How many people need to support (number of children age 0-14 + number of adults 65+)/working age population x 100.

Child Dependency Ratio

How many children need to be supported by society, calculated as (number of people age 0-14 years old / number of people ages 15-65 years old x 100).

Elderly Dependency Ratio

How many elderly people need to be supported by society, calculated as (number of people age 65+ years old / number of people ages 15-64 years old x 100).

Crude Birth Rate (CBR)

The total number of live births in a year for every 1000 people alive in a society.

Crude Death Rate (CDR)

The total number of deaths for every 1000 people alive in a society.

Total Fertility Rate (TFR)

The average number of children a woman will have.

Infant Mortality Rate (IMR)

The total number of deaths under one year of age in a year for every 1000 live births.

Natural Increase Rate (NIR)

The percentage by which a population grows in a year, calculated as CBR - CDR.

Pro-natalist Policies

Policies that are created to help increase a society's birth rate, e.g., free childcare, child tax credits.

Anti-natalist Policies

Policies that are created to help decrease a society's birth rate, e.g., China's one-child policy (ended 2016).

Doubling Time

The number of years required for a population to double, estimated using the rule of 70: 70/NIR = # of years for the population to double.

Impact of Industrial Revolution

Historically led to a population boom.

Investment in Healthcare and Education

Allows a society's life expectancy to increase and can decrease a society's TFR and IMR.

Education's Impact on TFR

Promotion of education for women and men can lead the TFR to decrease by pushing back a person's timeline for having children.

Effects of Lack of Education

Societies that don't allow girls/women to get an education tend to have an increased TFR and decreased NIR.

Urbanization and Family Size

In developed economies with high rates of urbanization, people tend to have smaller families.

Agricultural Economies and Family Size

Less developed, agriculturally based economies tend to have larger families because children can help on the farm.

Stage 1 of Demographic Transition

High CBR and CDR, which creates a low NIR. Births and deaths cancel each other out.

Stage 2 of Demographic Transition

High CBR, falling CDR, rising NIR.

Population boom

A significant increase in population, exemplified by Afghanistan.

Stage 3 of Demographic Transition

CBR starts to decrease, CDR decreases, NIR rises.

Stage 4 of Demographic Transition

Low CBR, low CDR, low-flat NIR, exemplified by the United States and China.

Zero population growth (Z.P.G)

The CBR and CDR are about the same.

Stage 5 of Demographic Transition

Negative NIR, falling population size, exemplified by Japan and Germany.

Demographic Transition

The process of change in a society's population structure.

Epidemiology

A branch of medicine which deals with the incidence, distribution, and possible control of diseases and other factors related to health.

Epidemiological Transition Model Stage 1

Pestilence, famine, and death, including parasitic diseases, infectious diseases, animal attacks, pandemics, epidemics, food shortages, and dirty water.

Epidemic

A disease that spreads through a region or community.

Pandemic

A disease that spreads across multiple regions, countries, or possibly the world.

Endemic

A disease that stays in an area and does not spread through the entire region or community.

Epidemiological Transition Model Stage 2

Less death, receding pandemics, with access to technology that improves the standard of living and increases food production.

Epidemiological Transition Model Stage 3

Death by degenerative diseases such as heart attacks and cancer.

Degenerative disease

A disease that continues to get worse over time, exemplified by cancer.

Epidemiological Transition Model Stage 4

Fighting degenerative diseases with medical advancements that delay them, leading to longer life expectancy.

Epidemiological Transition Model Stage 5

Reemergence of infectious disease due to evolution of disease, resistance to antibiotics, and increased rates of poverty and urbanization.

Malthusian Catastrophe

A situation in which the population exceeds the carrying capacity, leading to famine, war, disease, and the destruction of society.

Malthusian Theory

The theory that population growth will outpace food production, leading to famine and other disasters.

Neo-Malthusians

People who believe that the world's resources are finite, and that population growth will eventually lead to a resource crisis.

Pro-natalist

Policies that seek to encourage people to have larger families and more kids.

Anti-natalist

Policies that seek to reduce the number of births in society.

Gender inequality index (GII)

A measure of gender inequality in a country covering reproductive health, empowerment, and economic status, with scores between 0-1 where higher values indicate higher inequalities.

Maternal Mortality Rates (MMR)

The number of deaths of women during pregnancy and childbirth per 100,000 live births.

Ravenstein's Laws of Migration

A set of laws describing patterns of migration, including economic reasons for migration and the tendency for migrants to travel short distances.

Step migration

Migration that happens in stages, where migrants make stops on their way to their final destination.

Gravity model

A model stating that people will be attracted to larger cities, even if they are farther away, due to more pull factors.

Economic development through migration

Migration increases economic development by bringing new goods, food, ideas, and businesses.

Impact of aging populations on taxes

The number of people paying taxes starts to decrease as the population ages.

Impact of aging populations on services

The amount of services citizens require starts to increase with an aging population.

Burden on governments due to aging populations

Governments may struggle to provide services to the aging population while ensuring funding for these services.

Essential workers and aging populations

Aging populations may lead to a shortage of essential workers and consumers to support businesses.

Family roles and aging populations

Family roles may shift as families decide how to care for aging parents or grandparents.

Countries with pro-natalist policies

Examples include Russia, Denmark, South Korea, and Singapore.

China's one-child policy

A historical anti-natalist policy that was ended in 2016.

Economic opportunities for women

Countries with more economic opportunities for women tend to have lower fertility rates.

Gender norms and fertility

When society moves away from traditional gender norms that see women primarily as child bearers, TFR and NIR decrease.

Migration trends among women

Women are more likely to move internally in a country, but the trend of female international migrants is increasing.

Human migration

The permanent change of residence by an individual or group.

Pull factors

Positive situations, conditions, events, and factors that make people want to move to a geographic area.

Push factors

Negative situations, conditions, events, and factors that make people want to leave a geographic area.

ESPN

Economic, Political, Social, Environmental.

Economic factors

Factors related to the economy, such as job opportunities, wages, and living costs.

Political factors

Factors related to politics, such as government stability, political freedom, and human rights.

Societal factors

Factors related to society, such as culture, religion, and education.

Environmental factors

Factors related to the environment, such as natural disasters, climate, and pollution.

Emigration

The act of leaving one's country to live in another.

Immigration

The act of entering a country to live there permanently.

Intervening obstacles

Negative situations or events that hinder migration and end up preventing migrants from reaching their final destination.

Intervening opportunities

Positive situations or events that hinder migration and end up preventing migrants from reaching their final destination.

Forced migration

When the migrant has no choice but to migrate.

Refugees

Individuals who have been forced to leave their home country and have crossed an international boundary in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.

Asylum seeker

An individual who is seeking international protection and in countries with individualized procedures an asylum seeker is someone whose claim has not yet been finally decided on by the country in which the claim is submitted.