Factors that Influence Population 

• Physical Factors: People wouldn’t live in a desert because of its high temperatures. 

• Human Factors: People can move somewhere for its culture, economy, history, and politics. 

Densities 

• Arithmetic Density: Number of people divided by all area. 

• Physiological Density: Number of people divided by arable land. Lower in polar and higher in tropical regions. 

• Agricultural Density: Number of farmers divided by arable land. Can indicate stage in demographic transition model. 

Population Pyramids 

• Rapid Growth: A triangular population pyramid, where there are many children and fewer elders. Indicative of a country lower on the demographic transition model. 

• Slow Growth: A rectangular population pyramid, where each cohort (group) is about the same size. Indicative of a country higher on the demographic transition model. 

Measuring Population 

• Life Expectancy: The average length of life. 

• Total Fertility Rate: Average number of kids each woman has in a country. 

• Crude Birth/Death Rate: The rate at which a population dies/grows per 1000 population. 

• Rate of Natural Increase: The crude birth rate minus crude death rate. 

• Doubling Time: The time it takes for a population to reach twice its population. 

• Dependency Ratio: A measure of how much elders rely on their youngsters. 

Demographic Transition Stages 

• Stage 1: High CBR, high CDR. 

• Stage 2: High CBR, lower CDR. 

• Stage 3: Lower CBR, low CDR. 

• Stage 4: Low CBR, low CDR. 

• Stage 5: Declining CBR, rising CDR. 

Population Theories 

• Malthusian Theory: By Thomas Malthus, predicted our population would outpace our food production. Outdated now due to technological advancement, but some modern believers, Neo-Malthusians, still believe in his ideas. 

• Cornucopian Theory: Humans will adapt and use technology to allow continued population growth. Counters Malthusian Theory. 

Food Insecurity: The state of not having reliable access to food.  

• Push Factors: Factors that repel people from a region. 

• Pull Factors: Factors that attract people to a region. 

• Forced Migration: When factors such as war that leave citizens no choice but to leave for safety.  

• Voluntary Migration: When people leave their region out of choice because of push factors. 

• Internally Displaced Person: People who must leave their home but stay in the country. 

• Asylum Seeker: Person who seeks safety after leaving their country. 

• Translational Migration: Migration between nations. Migrants usually bring part of their culture along with them (ie, chinatown.) 

• Transhumance: Moving livestock through seasonal change. 

• Internal Migration: Migration inside a country, such as moving from Florida to Georgia. 

• External/International Migration: Migrating outside one’s country. 

• Chain Migration: Migration for the sake of family reunion. 

• Step Migration: Migration through a series of paths and cities before finally arriving at a final destination. 

• Guest Workers: People who come to a country for work. They can send money back home in the form of remittances. 

• Urbanization: Movement from rural to urban areas. 

• Suburbanization: Movement from urban areas to suburban areas. 

• Counterurbanization: Movement from urban areas to rural areas.