AP Human Geography Unit 2 Vocabulary

Factors Affecting Population

● Demography: The study of population characteristics.

● Birth rate: The number of births per 1,000 people in the population.

● Death rate: The number of deaths per 1,000 people in the population.

● Population explosion: A crisis in which population growth occurs in countries ill- prepared to handle the growing numbers of people.

● Ecumene: The term for habitable land, which includes land with adequate water sources, relatively flat terrain, and available human food

sources.

● Underpopulation: The surplus of necessary resources to meet the needs of the population of a defined area.

● Overpopulation: The lack of necessary resources to meet the needs of the population of a defined area.

● Carrying capacity: The ability of the land to sustain a certain number of people.

● Environmental degradation: The harming of the environment, which occurs when more and more humans inhabit a specific area and place

a strain on the environmental resources.

Population Distribution and Density

● Arithmetic density: Divides the entire population of a country by the total land area to come up with a population density for the country as a

whole.

● Physiologic density: A more accurate way to measure a country’s population density by only taking into account land that is used by

humans.

Population and Growth

● Thomas Malthus: British reverend who concluded that population was growing at a faster rate than productivity in the late 1700s; coined the

term overpopulation.

● Linear growth: Growth that occurs evenly across each unit over time.

● Exponential growth: Growth as a percentage of the total population.

● Neo-Malthusian: Those who are critical of the demographic transition model.

(APHG) Unit 2: Population and Migration Process & Patterns Study Guide

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Demographic Transition Model

● Demographic transition model: An indicator of what will happen to a society’s or country’s population based on three primary factors: the

birth rate, the death rate, and the total population. Usually has four stages: hunting and gathering societies, agricultural societies, industrial

societies, and tertiary societies. Sometimes a fifth stage is included, which involves quaternary activities.

● S-curve: Reflects what occurs starting in stage 2 of the demographic transition model, when total population begins to increase; population

growth eventually stabilizes in stage 4, thus creating an S-shaped curve.

● Zero population growth: A phenomenon of tertiary societies (stage 4 of the demographic transition model) in which the birth rate equals the

death rate.

Population Structure

● Sex ratio: The number of males compared to females in a population.

● Population pyramid: A tool that demographers and geographers use to chart populations on a graph that breaks down the population

based on both gender and age; this can then be analyzed in terms of the demographic transition model to determine in which stage a

society is grouped. Population pyramids are sometimes called age/sex structures.

● Age distribution: Individual brackets that demonstrate age groupings in population pyramids.

● Population projection: Uses demographic data to determine future population and is analyzed with population pyramids.

● Dependency ratio: A ratio that states that those who are aged 0-14 and over 65 depend on the workforce for support.

● Demographic momentum: A continued population increase as a result of a large segment of the population being young, which typically

occurs in stage 2 countries.

● Negative growth: A process that occurs when the natural increase rate falls below two and the country (typically stage 4) begins to lose

population.

● Demographic equation: An equation that determines the population growth rate for the world by subtracting the global deaths from the

global births.

● Infant mortality rate: The number of babies that die within their first year of life.

● Natality rate: Another term for birth rate.

Population Equations and Scientific Method

● Doubling time: The number of years it takes a country to double its population.

● Sustainability: The saving of resources for future generations to allow them to live at the same or higher standard of living than the

population today.

Historical and Global Perspectives

(APHG) Unit 2: Population and Migration Process & Patterns Study Guide

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● J-curve: Reflects exponential growth of a country’s population; this typically occurs in ideal environments.

Factors Affecting Population Growth and Decline

● Disease diffusion: The spread of disease.

Immigration, Migration, and Refugees

● Migration: The movement of people.

● Immigrants: People who move into a region or country.

● Emigrants: People who leave a region or country.

● Net migration: The number of immigrants minus the number of emigrants.

Theories of Migration

● Push factor: A negative perception about a location that induces a person to move away from that location.

● Pull factor: A positive perception about a location that induces a person to move there.

● Refugees: People who are forced to flee their homeland for reasons such as fear of persecution or death, and who seek some type of asylum

in another country.

● Voluntary migration: A migration in which people choose to move.

● Place utility: When communities offer incentives for people to move to their areas.

● Internal migration: The movement of people within the same country or area.

● Ravenstein’s laws of migration: Ten statements related to migration trends that E. G. Ravenstein developed in 1885. Some of the migration

laws are still valid in the present day, while others have become outdated.

● Human capital model: Developed by Larry Sjaastad in 1962. States that people seek to improve their incomes over the course of their lives;

therefore, people weigh the costs against the benefits of migrating. William A. V. Clark contributed to the explanation in 1986, including the

addition of considering psychological and economic costs and benefits.

● Life course theory: Developed in the 1960s. States that people make major decisions early on in life (e.g., college, employment, marriage,

having children) that may then dictate migration preferences and opportunities in the future.

● Intercontinental migration: The movement of people across an ocean or continent.

● Distance decay: The lessening of a phenomenon as the distance from the hearth or node increases.

● Acculturation: The transfer of cultures in which the influence of a person’s native culture in a new country is not as strong as it was in his or

her original country.

● Chain migration: A movement of people that is voluntary in nature and functions to reunite families and cultures.

● Interregional migration: The movement of people within a country’s borders, from region to region.

● International migration: The movement of people between countries.

(APHG) Unit 2: Population and Migration Process & Patterns Study Guide

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● Intraregional migration: The movement of people within the same region.

● Cyclic migration: The seasonal migration of people, often associated with agricultural seasons.

● Transhumance: The seasonal movement of livestock.

● Intervening obstacle: An event that forces individuals to halt their migration plans due to some negative factor, which can range from

cultural to physical.

● Intervening opportunity: An event that causes a migrant to stop and decide to stay at a location along his or her journey after encountering

favorable economic opportunities or environmental amenities.

● Forced migration: The movement of people against their will, often because of political or environmental factors.

● Transmigration: The removal of people from one place and their relocation somewhere else within a country.

U.S. Migration: A Case Study

● Census: A detailed counting of the population.