AP Human Geography: Population, Health, and Migration

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering population geography

Overpopulation

A condition occurring when the number of people exceeds the capacity of the environment to support life at a decent standard of living.

Census

The process of counting a population in a given region, which can be controversial due to nonparticipation and sampling issues.

Natural Increase Rate (NIR)

The percentage by which a population grows in a year, calculated using the formula $\frac{\text{CBR} - \text{CDR}}{10} = \text{NIR}$.

Doubling Time Formula

The mathematical rule used to calculate the number of years required for a population to double: $\frac{70}{\text{NIR}}$.

Ecumene

The areas of Earth's surface that humans have permanently settled.

Non-Ecumene

Areas of Earth that are not permanently inhabited by humans, or sparsely populated regions unsuitable for settlement.

Arithmetic Density

The total number of objects or people in a given area.

Physiological Density

The number of people supported by a unit area of arable land.

Agricultural Density

The ratio of the number of farmers to the total amount of arable land.

East Asia Population Concentration

A major population cluster home to nearly one-fourth of the world's people, bordering the Pacific Ocean and encompassing eastern China, Japan, the Korean Peninsula, and Taiwan.

South Asia Population Concentration

A major population concentration home to nearly one-fourth of the world's people, including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, where most inhabitants are rural farmers.

Europe Population Concentration

A major population cluster encompassing four dozen countries where three-fourths of inhabitants live in cities and fewer than $5\%$ are farmers.

Southeast Asia Population Concentration

A major population cluster of around $600\text{ million}$ people living mostly on islands between the Indian and Pacific Oceans, with the largest concentration on the island of Java.

Total Fertility Rate (TFR)

The average number of children a woman will have throughout her childbearing years, with a global average of $2.5$, exceeding $5.0$ in Sub-Saharan Africa and falling far lower in European nations.

Demographic Transition

The process of change in a society's population from high crude birth and death rates to low crude birth and death rates as a country develops.

Stage 1 DTM (Low Growth)

A stage of the Demographic Transition Model characterized by very high CBR, very high CDR, and very low NIR; no country is in this stage today.

Stage 2 DTM (High Growth)

A stage of the Demographic Transition Model characterized by a high CBR, rapidly declining CDR, and very high NIR, historically exemplified by The Gambia.

Stage 3 DTM (Moderate Growth)

A stage of the Demographic Transition Model characterized by a rapidly declining CBR, moderately declining CDR, and moderate NIR, exemplified by Mexico.

Stage 4 DTM (Low Growth)

A stage of the Demographic Transition Model characterized by very low CBR, low or slightly increasing CDR, and zero or very low NIR, exemplified by Denmark.

Possible Stage 5 DTM

A projected stage of the Demographic Transition Model characterized by a very low CBR, an increasing CDR, and a negative NIR, currently faced by Russia and other European former-communist countries.

Industrial Revolution

A period involving major improvements in manufacturing goods and industrial technology that generated wealth and initiated the transition to Stage 2 of the DTM in Europe and North America around $1750$.

Medical Revolution

The diffusion of medical technology and improved practices that eliminated traditional causes of death, initiating Stage 2 of the DTM in Africa, Asia, and Latin America around $1950$.

Zero Population Growth (ZPG)

A condition in Stage 4 of the DTM where the CBR declines to the point where it equals the CDR and the NIR approaches zero.

Sex Ratio

The number of males per $100$ females in a population.

Gender-Based Selection

The practice of favoring one sex over another in reproductive decisions, resulting in approximately $700{,}000$ missing female infants each year in countries such as India and China due to abortion, infanticide, or failure to report births.

Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR)

The annual number of female deaths per $100{,}000$ live births from any cause related to or aggravated by pregnancy or its management.

Population Pyramid

A bar graph that displays the percentage of a place's population grouped by individual age cohorts and gender.

Dependency Ratio

The ratio of the number of people who are too young or too old to work (under age $15$ and over age $65$) compared to the number of people in their productive years.

Elderly Support Ratio

The number of working-age people divided by the number of retired persons aged $65$ and older.

Epidemiology

The branch of medical science concerned with the incidence, distribution, and control of diseases prevalent among a population at a particular time.

Epidemiologic Transition

A framework focusing on distinctive health threats and primary causes of death across each successive stage of the demographic transition.

Stage 1 Epidemiologic Transition (Pestilence and Famine)

A stage characterized by high mortality rates caused by infectious diseases, epidemics, malnutrition, and famines, yielding a low life expectancy.

Stage 2 Epidemiologic Transition (Receding Pandemics)

A stage characterized by rapidly declining death rates as improvements in sanitation, nutrition, and medicine reduce the spread of infectious diseases.

Stage 3 Epidemiologic Transition (Degenerative Diseases)

A stage characterized by a decrease in deaths from infectious diseases and an increase in chronic disorders associated with aging, notably cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

Stage 4 Epidemiologic Transition (Delayed Degenerative Diseases)

A stage characterized by medical advances and healthier lifestyles extending life expectancy by delaying deaths from chronic degenerative diseases.

Possible Stage 5 Epidemiologic Transition

A prospective stage characterized by the reemergence of infectious and parasitic diseases driven by microbial evolution, poverty, and global connectivity.

Pandemic

A disease that occurs over a wide geographic area and affects a very high proportion of the population.

Thomas Malthus

An English economist who argued that human population grows more rapidly than food supply, projecting that population growth would outstrip agricultural production.

Neo-Malthusians

Contemporary theorists who argue that recent population growth and broader resource depletion make Malthus's thesis even more threatening today than when originally formulated.

One-Child Policy

China's state-mandated family planning program adopted in $1980$ that reduced China's CBR from $18$ to $12$ and lowered its NIR from $1.2\%$ to $0.5\%$.

Circulation

Short-term, repetitive, or cyclical movements of individuals that recur on a regular basis, such as daily commuting or annual journeys.

Emigration vs. Immigration

Emigration is the permanent migration of people away from a location, whereas immigration is the permanent migration of people into a new location.

Refugee

An individual who is forced to migrate to another country to escape cultural, political, or environmental hazards.