Global population as of 2024 - 8 billion people

2/3 of our population is in South Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia and western Europe.

Population - a number of people in a given area

Population distribution - where people live with in a given geographic area

Climate affects where people live. People tend to live in areas with moderate temperatures, adequate precipitation and no extreme conditions.

Landforms are important as well. People tend to prefer lower lands because it’s easier to farm and build.

Water accessibility is important as ready access to fresh, ample water is essential for humans to survive and it is a key factor to population distribution.

Economic factors - People tend to live where they can earn a living. An increase in advanced technology has led to major population redistribution.

Political factors - People who are dissatisfied with politics in their country may migrate to a different country with better political standings.

Cultural factors - Housing, accessibility, safety, transportation and a feeling of belonging impact where people choose to live.

Historical factors - significant events in the past and present can affect how people move or where they choose to stay.

Population density - number of people occupying a unit of land.

Definitions:

• Arithmetic Density: The total number of people divided by the total land area. It provides a general idea of population distribution.

• Physiological Density: The number of people per unit area of arable land. It indicates the pressure on agricultural land.

• Agricultural Density: The number of farmers per unit area of farmland. It reflects the efficiency of agricultural practices in a region.

• Dependency Ratio: This is a measure that compares the number of dependents (individuals typically aged 0-14 and those aged 65 and older) to the working-age population (usually ages 15-64). It indicates the potential strain on the productive population.

• Sex Ratio: This refers to the ratio of males to females in a population, typically expressed as the number of males per 100 females. It can provide insights into the gender balance within a population.

• Age Dependency Ratio: This is a specific type of dependency ratio that focuses on the proportion of dependents to the working-age population, divided into young dependents (ages 0-14) and old dependents (ages 65 and older). It helps to gauge the pressure on the productive population from both youth and elderly demographics.

Definitions:

• Fertility: The ability to conceive and bear children. It refers to the actual reproductive performance of an individual, couple, or population.

• Crude Birth Rate (CBR): The number of live births occurring during a year per 1,000 people in the population at mid-year. It is a general measure of the birth rate in a population.

• Total Fertility Rate (TFR): The average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime, assuming that the age-specific fertility rates remain constant throughout her childbearing years.

• Mortality: The incidence of death in a population within a certain period. It can be influenced by various factors, including health conditions, lifestyle, and access to medical care.

• Crude Death Rate (CDR): The number of deaths occurring during a year per 1,000 people in the population at mid-year. It provides a general measure of how many people die in a population.

• Infant Mortality Rate (IMR): The number of deaths of infants under one year old per 1,000 live births in a given year. It is often used as an indicator of the overall health of a population and healthcare quality.

• Population Pyramid: A graphical illustration that represents the age and sex distribution of a population. The shape of the pyramid can show how the population is distributed between age and sex.

Definitions:

• Rate of Natural Increase: This is the difference between the number of live births and the number of deaths in a population over a specified period, usually expressed as a percentage of the total population. It indicates the potential growth of a population without considering migration.

• Urbanization: The process by which an increasing percentage of a population comes to live in urban areas, resulting in the growth of cities and a decline in rural populations.

Factors Influencing Population Growth and Decline:

Economic Factors:

• Availability of jobs: Regions with more job opportunities tend to attract more people, leading to population growth.

• Economic stability: Strong economies can promote higher birth rates as families feel more secure in raising children.

• Cost of living: High living costs may lead to lower birth rates as families may choose to have fewer children.

Political Factors:

• Government policies: Policies that support families, such as maternity leave or child benefits, can encourage higher birth rates.

• Stability and safety: Political instability or conflict can lead to population decline as people may emigrate or avoid settling in unstable regions.

Environmental Factors:

• Climate: Favorable climates with adequate resources (water, arable land) can support larger populations.

• Natural disasters: Frequent environmental challenges such as floods, earthquakes, or droughts can lead to population declines due to displacement or mortality.

Cultural Factors:

• Social norms: Cultural attitudes toward family size, gender roles, and parenting can influence fertility rates.

• Access to education: Higher levels of education, especially for women, are associated with lower birth rates as people prioritize careers and personal development.

• Healthcare access: Availability of family planning, reproductive health services, and healthcare can significantly affect population growth and decline.

Malthus's Theory of Population Growth:

• Proposed by Thomas Robert Malthus in the late 18th century.

• Suggested that population growth occurs exponentially, while food supply grows at an arithmetic rate.

• Resulting in inevitable checks on population: famine, disease, and war, which would reduce population to sustainable levels.

• Malthus argued that without such checks, the population would outstrip resources, leading to societal collapse.

Demographic Transition Model (DTM):

• A theory that explains the transition of a country from high birth and death rates to lower birth and death rates as it develops economically.

• Typically divided into four or five stages:

  1. Stage 1: Pre-industrial society with high birth and death rates, resulting in a stable population.

  2. Stage 2: Improvements in healthcare and sanitation lead to a decline in death rates while birth rates remain high; population begins to grow.

  3. Stage 3: Birth rates start to decline as families choose to have fewer children, leading to slower population growth.

  4. Stage 4: Both birth and death rates are low, leading to a stable population.

  5. (some models consider a fifth stage) Stage 5: A potential decline in population occurs as death rates are higher than birth rates

Definitions:

• Net Migration: The difference between the number of immigrants and the number of emigrants in a given area over a specific period. A positive net migration indicates more people are coming into the area than leaving, while a negative net migration indicates the opposite.

• Mobility: Refers to the ability of individuals to move or travel from one location to another. It includes various types of movement, from short trips (daily commuting) to longer migrations.

• Circulation Migration: A form of migration that is temporary and involves repeated movement between the same locations. It often relates to seasonal work or regular travel for education or employment.

• Human Migration: The movement of people from one place to another, which can be temporary or permanent. This includes voluntary migration and forced migration (such as refugees fleeing conflict).

• Emigration: The act of leaving one's country to settle in another. It is the outward movement of individuals from their home country.

• Immigration: The act of entering and settling in a country that is not one's native country. It is the inward movement of individuals into a different country.

Ravenstein's Laws of Migration:

Ravenstein proposed several laws based on demographic studies in the late 19th century:

1. The Law of Distances: Most migrants move only a short distance. Long-distance migrants typically move to cities.

2. The Law of Cumulative Attraction: Migration flows are often directed toward larger cities, which attract more migrants due to economic opportunities.

3. The Law of Gender: Most international migrants are young males, while females are more likely to migrate internally.

4. The Law of Age: Most migrants are young adults, particularly between the ages of 20 and 40.

5. The Law of Economic Factors: Economic factors are the primary driving force behind migration, with people typically moving from areas of low economic opportunity to areas of higher economic opportunity.

Push and Pull Factors

Push and pull factors are concepts used to explain the reasons behind migration, highlighting conditions that drive people away from one location (push) and those that attract them to another location (pull).

Definitions:

• Push Factors: Conditions that drive individuals to leave their current residence.

• Pull Factors: Conditions that attract individuals to move to a new location.

Examples of Push and Pull Factors:

Economic Conditions:

• Push: High unemployment rates, low wages, and lack of job opportunities.

• Pull: Availability of jobs, higher wages, and better economic prospects in another region.

Cultural Conditions:

• Push: Discrimination, lack of social services, or cultural oppression.

• Pull: Opportunities for cultural expression, stronger community ties, and diverse social services.

Demographic Conditions:

• Push: Overpopulation and lack of resources leading to competition for jobs and housing.

• Pull: Areas with a lower population density and more available resources.

Political Conditions/Conflict:

• Push: Political instability, war, and persecution lead individuals to flee their country.

• Pull: Political stability, strong rule of law, and protections for human rights attract individuals to safer countries.

Environmental Conditions:

• Push: Natural disasters, environmental degradation, or climate change worsening living conditions.

• Pull: Stable climates with adequate resources and fewer natural disasters draw people seeking better living conditions.

Definitions of Migration Types

• Voluntary Migration: The movement of individuals or groups who choose to relocate to another place, often for reasons like better job opportunities, education, or lifestyle changes.

• Chain Migration: A pattern of migration that occurs when migrants from a specific area follow others from the same area to a new destination, usually starting with one or a few individuals who then encourage family or friends to join them.

• Step Migration: A process of migration where individuals move in small increments rather than making a single move to a distant location. This often involves settling in a series of progressively larger settlements.

• Rural to Urban Migration: The movement of people from countryside areas to cities, often driven by the search for better job prospects, education, healthcare, and living conditions.

• Guest Workers: Individuals who move to a foreign country temporarily for work purposes, typically in low-skilled jobs, often under specific government programs or agreements.

• Circular Migration: A type of migration where individuals move back and forth between locations, such as between their home country and a host country, often for seasonal work or economic opportunities.

• Transnational Migration: Migration that involves individuals maintaining connections and ties to their home country while also living in a host country. It often includes social, economic, and cultural exchange between the two places.

• Internal Migration: The movement of people within a specific country, often from one region to another, typically associated with urbanization trends and regional economic changes.

• Friction of Distance: A concept that describes how distance affects human interaction and migration, suggesting that as distance increases, the likelihood of migration and interaction decreases due to costs and difficulties in moving.

• Transhumance: A specific form of pastoralism involving the seasonal migration of livestock herders between fixed summer and winter pastures, often over long distances.

• Forced Migration: The involuntary movement of people due to factors such as conflict, persecution, natural disasters, or environmental changes, leaving individuals with little choice but to relocate.

• Gray Area Between Voluntary and Forced Migration: A conceptual space where the reasons for migrating are not clear and may overlap.

Definitions:

• Repatriate: To return a person, particularly a refugee or a prisoner of war, to their home country.

• Asylum: Protection granted by a country to foreign nationals who have fled their own country due to persecution or fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.

• IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons): Individuals who are forced to flee their homes but remain within their country's borders. They often leave due to conflict, generalized violence, human rights violations, or natural disasters.

• Refugees: People who have fled their home country due to a well-founded fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion

• Skills Gap: The skills gap refers to the disparity between the skills that employers need and the skills that workers possess. This gap can lead to unfilled job vacancies and can hinder economic growth.

• Remittances: Remittances are money transfers made by migrants to their home country, typically sent for family support or investment. They play a significant role in the economies of many developing nations by providing financial resources that can improve living standards.

• Brain Drain: Brain drain is the emigration of highly educated or skilled individuals from one country to another, often in search of better work