APHG - Unit 2 - Part 2

Demography

The study of human population

What did Thomas Malthus worry about?

Malthus was worried about the population growing exponentially while resources don't. Population would soon outpace the ability for the earth to produce resources.

Environmental Determinism

Theory: the physical environment determines and influences human activity, impacting culture. Very popular thought through 18-19th century - this concept supported imperialism and racism.

Possiblism

Theory: environment sets certain constraints on humans but we adapt, adjust and are not limited by our environment. Our culture is not determined by environmental constraints.

Birth Rate

Total number of births.

Crude Birth Rate

per 1000

Death (mortality) Rate

total number of deaths.

Crude (mortality) Death Rate

Total deaths per 1000 people

Natural Increase Rate NIR/RNI

total births - total deaths = NIR ... or can be calculated by Crude Births - Crude Deaths = NIR.

Population Growth

change over period of time. Expressed as a %. 0% is no growth. Typical range between 0% - 3.5%

Exponential Growth

population grows exponentially. Growth rate is rapid because the % reflects new total base number (each year the % is more people being added than the year before).

Doubling Time

time in years it takes for a population to double. · at 3% growth rate doubling time takes just 25 years.

Child Mortality Rate

children who die by age 5 / 1000 born

Infant Mortality Rate

babies who die by age 1 / 1000 born.

Infanticide

killing of babies before the age of one.

Sex / Gender Ratio

nations / regions often have gender imbalances. ie. China, India

Dependency Ratio

nations with few people in working / tax paying age. Productive vs dependent pop.

Census

surveys, provide us with these statistics

Total Fertility Rates

The Avg. # of kids born per women.

Arithmetic Density

the measure of total population divided by total land area. Usually expressed a Pop/Km2

Physiologic Population Density

It is number of people per unit area of agriculturally productive land (rather than total land). Considered a more meaningful measure.

Agricultural Population Density

This statistic shows the economic differences / agricultural efficiency.