Unit 2: Migration and Population

Agricultural density

Measures the number of farmers per unit area of farmland.

Antinatalist

A government that doesn’t promote women to have more children.

Arable land

Land that is capable of being plowed and growing crops.

Arithmetic density

Measure of population density that calculates the total population divided by the total land area.

Asylum

Protection a country offers to individuals who have fled persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution in their home country.

Brain drain

A situation whereby talented professionals flee one country to another in search of better pay and working conditions.

Carrying capacity

How much a place can handle/hold.

Chain migration

The process by which migrants move to a specific location through the influence of family members or others from their community who have already settled there.

Circular migration

The temporary and repetitive movement of people between their home country and host countries, typically for work.

Crude birth rate (CBR)

Number of births per 1000 women in a given year.

Crude death rate (CDR)

Number of deaths per 1000 women in a given year.

Demographic Transition Model (DTM)

A framework used to analyze population changes as countries develop economically across five stages.

Demographics

The statistical study of human populations, focusing on characteristics like age, sex, race, ethnicity, and other social factors.

Dependency ratio

The proportion of a population that is considered dependent (too young/too old to work) compared to the working-age population.

Distance decay

Describes the general decline in interaction between two places as the distance between them increases.

Doubling time

The period it takes for a population to double, given a consistent growth rate.

Emigration

Leaving a place or country.

Epidemiological Transition Model (ETM)

Describes how mortality and morbidity patterns change as a country develops.

Forced migration

Having to move to another place even though a person does not want to.

Friction of distance

Increasing physical distance between two locations creates barriers to interaction and reduces the likelihood of those interactions occurring.

Gravity model

Explains how regions of human-populated areas interact and are influenced by the variables of their populations and the distance between them.

Guest workers

A migrant worker who is employed in a country for a limited period of time and then returns home.

Human migration

The movement of people from one place to another, either temporarily or permanently, within or between countries.

Human trafficking

The movement of people for the purpose of exploitation, typically through force, fraud, or coercion.

Immigration

Entering or moving into a new place.

Infant mortality rate (IMR)

Measures how many babies, per thousand births, die before their first birthday.

Internal migration

Movement of an individual or group to another place inside of a country.

Internally displaced persons

Someone forced to leave their home but stays within their country's borders, often due to conflict, persecution, or natural disasters.

Interregional migration

Refers to the movement of people from one region to another within the same country.

Intervening obstacle

Factor that prevents migration, such as physical barriers like borders, mountains, or oceans.

Intervening opportunity

A factor that causes a migrant to settle in a location other than their originally intended destination.

Intraregional migration

Permanent movement of people within the same region of a country.

Kinship links

Types of push or pull factors that influence a migrant's decision based on family or friends' success.

Malthusian Theory of Population Growth

The theory that human population grows more rapidly than the food supply until famines, war, or disease reduce the population.

Neo-Malthusian

Individuals or groups who believe that unchecked population growth leads to resource depletion and societal problems.

Net migration

The number of immigrants minus the number of emigrants, including citizens and noncitizens.

Overpopulation

Too many of something or exceeding capacity in an area.

Life expectancy

How many years someone or something is expected to live.

Physiological density

The number of persons per unit of agricultural land.

Population density

Measure of how many people live in a given land area, typically expressed as people per square mile or square kilometer.

Population distribution

Pattern of how people are spread across a given area.

Population pyramids

Graphical representation of the distribution of a population by age and sex.

Pronatalist

Encourages and supports increasing birth rates.

Pull factor

Reasons for people to move into a country.

Push factor

Reasons for people to move out of a country.

Quotas (immigration quotas)

Legal limit imposed by a country on the number of immigrants allowed to enter each year.

Rate of natural increase (NIR)

Measure of how quickly a population is growing or declining.

Refugees

People who must leave their home area for safety or survival.

Remittance

Money or goods sent by migrants to their home countries.

Repatriate

The process of returning individuals or groups to their country of origin or place of citizenship.

Sex ratio

Number of males per 100 females in a population.

Skills gap

Shortage of people trained in a particular industry.

Step migration

A gradual movement from one location to another, typically in a series of steps.

Total fertility rate (TFR)

How many children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime.

Transhumance

Seasonal movement of livestock between different pastures.

Transnational migration

Movement across international borders.

Voluntary migration

Movement by choice, such as moving to a new city for better job opportunities.