Which factors regulate the human population?

The human population has increased by an astounding rate to reach today’s 7 billion people. Although
China and India make up about a third of the world’s population, demographic transition theory
explains that not all countries are making the same progress.
The factors that regulate the size and growth of the human populations vary from country to country:
for example, in developed countries, such as Denmark, France or Italy, fertility rates are below 2
children per woman; whereas in lower-middle income countries with high levels of mortality rates
such as Haiti or Rwanda, fertility rates can be as high as 6 children per woman. This is also true for
poor regions with bad medical facilities such as Afghanistan (6) or Niger (7).
When looking at sub-Saharan African regions, we see that in certain countries there has been a sharp
decline in fertility rates such as Kenya (4) or Uganda (5). In other regions, such as South Africa,
contraception is widely used and the fertility rate is only 2.9.
Factors:
Differences in regional fertility rates are determined by social and cultural factors as well as by
economics factors (Magnusson and Osterberg, 2012). In the poorest countries, women start to have
children very early. Malnutrition is common and many of those who survive reach adulthood with
poor health conditions. Problems such as lack of schooling, poverty and unemployment lead to high
levels of illiteracy and low levels of education (8). The healthcare system is often understaffed,
underfunded and corrupt.
In the developed regions, fertility rates are very low due to a long-established pattern of
contraception use. Today people have access to contraceptive technologies that have been developed
by pharmaceutical companies but also thanks to the NGO movement sustained by UNFPA (9). This has
changed the whole socio-cultural pattern: people start a family when they are already mature adults
and are aware that contraception is available. As a result, there is less pressure from parents on
children in order to increase the number of their progeny.