Population Geography Vocabulary
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Transcript of Population Geography Vocabulary
Population Geography Vocabulary
Age Distribution • How many people are in each age category and comparing them
to each other• Young, middle aged, & old• Can be seen on a population pyramid • Are there enough people of working age to take care of the needs
of the young and old?• What are the dominant needs of society? Child care & education
or healthcare & pension funds• How many people will enter the labor market in the near future
when they become of working age?• What are the retirement projections?
Infant Mortality Rate• Number of deaths in a sample of 1000 babies
below age one in a given year.• Indicator of how good the healthcare system
is and how the developed a country is
Mortality • Number of deaths in a sample of 1000 of any
age group in a given year
Overpopulation• When the number of people
exceeds available resources • Overcrowding.• Third world countries are
often suffering from this because of their high growth rate
• China & India both have over one Billion people
• Can displace people and worsen poverty, lead to famine, & stress environment
Population Density
• Number of people divided by are• How many people live on average in each
square mile• How close together we live
Population Distribution• Looking at where people live• Are there clusters of high population density
on the map?• Urban vs. rural• Most people live near major bodies of water
such as the coast
In Canada , most people live in the warmer South
Population Pyramids• Shows the age distribution of a population
divided between male and female
Sex Ratio• How many women are there compared to the
number of men• Ideal is balanced• Women live longer than men• In China, due to the one child policy, many
people have preferred their only child to be a boy, leading to a shortage of women for all the men to marry.
Standard of Living• Measure of people’s wealth • Can you afford to pay for your cost of living?
Do you live in a house or apartment? Do you have a car? Do you go on vacation?
• Needs vs. wants
Sustainability• When resources get used slow enough for them
to replenish • This means do not overfish or over log the forest • Only renewable resources can be used
sustainably, non renewable do not come back• Recycling as well as controlling harvests and
increased efficiency can help • Are the resources still going to be there for our
children?
Total Fertility Rate• The average number of children a woman will have
in her lifetime in a given population. • Ranges from 5 to 6 in Africa to below 2 in Europe or
Japan• Usually, the more educated a woman is and the
more developed the country, the less children she is going to have
Crude Birth Rate• Number of babies born to a sample of 1000 people
per year. • Is highest in developing world and lowest in
industrialized countries
Crude Death Rate • Number of people dying in a sample of 1000 people
per year.
Growth Rate = Birth Rate – Death Rate
Underpopulation• When there are not enough people to sustain a
culture, economy or country• When land is populated below its carrying capacity • In Russia for example, the population is decreasing
and entire villages are emptying because the birth rate is too low to replace all the older people dying away.
Brain Drain• The loss of skilled labor to places/countries
with better opportunities• Reason for why the Berlin Wall was built. • Third world countries economic development
is hurt by it.
Chain Migration• When one migrant follows another to the
same place to reunite with family, take advantage of the same opportunities and to be amongst familiar people in the new country.
Guest Workers• Foreign workers invited to the country temporarily
to fill a critical labor shortage in a certain area.• Sent home remittances • Many end up overstaying their visa• For example, Germany invited many guest workers
from Turkey into the country decades ago. They never left, and now Turks for the largest minority in Germany.
Internal Migration• Movement of people
within one country • For example, during the
Great Migration, many African Americans left the rural southern U.S. and moved to northern cities for industrial jobs about a century ago.
Push Factor• Reasons to move away from a place such as
war, persecution and poverty.
Pull Factors• Attractive reasons to move to a place such as
freedom and work opportunity
Voluntary Migration
• Moving by your own choice and will to improve your life
Life Expectancy • The average age at death• Is highest in developed world (around 80) and
lowest in Africa (around 55)
Urbanization• The process of people moving from the
country to the city. Cities grow as a result.• Is highest in developed/industrialized
countries• In poor countries, most people still live on
their farm
Infrastructure• Physical support networks to keep a society
functioning• Includes transportation networks such as
roads and bridges as well as power lines, schools and hospitals
Famine• Starvation often due to crop failure or
overpopulation• Effects the poorest parts of the world that rely
on subsistence farming
Sustainable Development• Construction and growth that does not harm
the environment and leads to no net resource loss . Going green.
Urban Sprawl
• Expansion of suburbs on the edge of cities.• Can take up large tracks of land
Immigration
• Movement of people into a country of the due to push and pull factors
Renewable Resources • Replenish and grow back such as forests,
fisheries and wind energy
Non Renewable Resources
• There is a finite amount that can get used up.• Examples include oil, coal, and iron ore• Recycling is a good idea
Deforestation• The clearing and cutting down of the forest for
farm land, wood and mining• Currently a major problem the rainforests of
the world • Leads to soil erosion and contributes to
climate change
Age Cohort • People of the same generation with a
common identity • Example is the baby boomers in America born
in 1950s and now all about to retire
Demography
• The study of population patterns