Welcome to your

IGCSE Geography
(0460)

POPULATION
DYNAMICS CASE
STUDIES Mr. Mathew
Mr. Mathew
 A country which is over-populated : NIGERIA

Background
• Nigeria has a population of 170
million people in 2008
• 70% of the population live on less
than $1 a day
• It has a land area of 920,000 km2

Impacts of overpopulation
• Not enough housing in Abuja and Lagos which lead to development of slum
• High crime rates such as stealing, pick pocketing etc
• School and hospital are over crowded which affect the literacy rate
• Pollution - litter and no proper sewage system
• Unemployment, due to lack of job.
• Shortage of food and water - 28% of children underweight
• Not enough health care and education
• Congested roads - e.g. Lagos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zC4aYsYMFVA
 A country which is under-populated: Canada
Canada is regarded as an underpopulated country as the carrying
capacity is much higher than the current population. The 35
million people in Canada cannot fully exploit the available
resources and technology.

Problems of underpopulation in Canada:

• Labour shortage: 32% of Canadian
employers are encountering difficulties in
hiring workers due to a lack of applicants
• Services (eg. schools, hospitals and
transport) close down as there are not enough
customers.
• Less innovation and development (lee brain
power)
• Difficulties in defending the country
Solutions:
• relaxing immigrant policies and visa
requirements to encourage migration
• Pro-natal goverment support to increase the birth
rate eg. subsidies and parental leave programmes
• allow pensioners to continue working

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6hvKOgxcOg
 A country with a high rate of natural population growth: Niger
Background
• Landlocked LEDC in West Africa
• One of world’s poorest countries
• Hot and dry climate
• Population increased by 12 million in 50
years

Causes – High birth rates Causes – Decreasing death rates

• Highest fertility rate – 7.1 births per women
• 2.9% growth rate
• Preference for a male child – keep having children until male
• Lack of contraception – many unplanned or unwanted
babies
• low socio-economic status of women
• early marriage
• More children available to help work on farms
• Religious beliefs – abortion is wrong
• Ensures protection against high infant mortality rate
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btMUecYNBc4
• Life expectancy increased to 44.3 years
• Clean water and improved diet – lower deaths
by diseases and lower infant mortality
• More hospitals – medical care and testing for
disease
• Government want to increase family planning
from 5-20% by 2015, educate women and
religious leaders on its importance, and raise
marriage age from 15-18.
A country with a low rate of population growth (or population decline):
Russia
Russia has a population growth rate of -0.3%.
This has been caused by factors like:

• high death rate of 13 deaths per

1000, particularly due to alcohol-
related deaths
Problems of population decline:
• low fertility rate of 1.6 children per
woman • underuse of health facilities,
resulting in rising costs
• high rates of abortion
• education cannot be sustained in all
• low levels of immigration
areas (particularly sparsely
Solutions: populated)
• Pro-natal population policies, e.g. • resources not fully exploited,
financial support for parents who leading to lower GDP
choose to have a second child • lack of workers may result in
• robotisation/development of economic recession
tertiary sector to prevent lack of
workers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKlHKH2iFo4
 Anti-Natalist Government policy: China
Background The policy China decided to introduce was extremely strict and probably
After China were invaded and occupied by Japan in the World War II, they wanted to not possible in a non-communist country.
strengthen their military so that it never happened again. To do this they encouraged citizens to • The government stated that from 1979 all couples were only allowed
have more children, because a bigger population potentially meant a stronger army. This policy to have one child.
would have been fine if China had the resources and technology to match. However, they did • They also increased the marriageable age of men to 22.
not and coupled with the crippling policies of the Cultural Revolution, mass famines ensued. It • To get married and to have a child, citizens had to apply to the
is estimated that up to 30 million died during the 1960's and 1970's. This was not a sustainable government.
policy, so the Chinese government was forced to introduce an anti-natalist policy. • If you applied by these rules you were entitled to free education,
To enforce the policy healthcare, housing and given a job.
the government relied on community enforcement. Often elderly residents who were trusted • If you did not follow the rules, then benefits would be removed and
within the community were asked to inform, elderly female informants were nicknamed females who were found to be pregnant were given forced abortions
'granny police'. and even sterilised.
There were a number of exceptions to the rules,
• if you had twins or triplets this was fine,
• if your first child had a physical or mental disability you could have a second,
• Families in rural areas (farming areas) were often allowed a second, ethnic minorities were
allowed a second and often couples who bribed officials could have a second.
SUCCESS
The policy has been relatively successful, birth rates have fallen from a peak of 44 in the 1950's
down to just 12. China's population is also expected to peak in the next 20 years and then
slowly start to decrease. Because of its success there have been further relaxations including:
PROBLEMS
The strict enforcement of the policy led to a problem of female infanticide. This is the killing of
female babies, because couples favoured male children. Males ensured the family name was
maintained and were able to work manual jobs, whereas females would be lost after marriage
(females normally went to live with their husband’s family).
• China is still overpopulated, there are over 1.3 billion Chinese
• There is a male female imbalance in the population
• People are demanding greater freedom and choice
• China will slowly get an ageing population.
• There are large numbers of abandoned children https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qedUAslyLc
 Pro-Natalist Government policy: Singapore's
Singapore is a developed country in SE Asia with a population
of about 5 million people. For many years the Singaporean
government has believed that Singapore is underpopulated
and has tried to increase its population.
Singapore has one of the lowest total fertility rates in the
world, standing at 1.1, which is well below the replacement
rate of 2.1.
Already 36% of the Singapore population is made up of foreign
nationals and in some sectors like industry, 80% of the workers
are foreign.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bhez70vZAlY
To overcome worker shortages, the Singapore government has encouraged immigration, but it is also trying to increase the
population through raising birth rates. The government is doing this in a number of ways.
• It has increased maternity leave by 50% to 12 weeks and it will cover the cost of maternity leave (the cost to the parents
employers) for the first four babies.
• The Singapore government is also increasing child benefits paid to families. The government will pay money into a special
bank account of up to nearly $1000 for six years.
• The Singapore government has also sponsored dating organisations to encourage people to get married earlier and start
having children. If Singapore's policies are not successful it will become increasingly dependent on foreign workers,
gradually see an increase in the dependency ratio and ultimately economic decline
 An international Migration from USA to Mexico
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9BQaRwLMYw
BACKGROUND
• Mexicans make up 29.5 % of all foreigners in the USA.
Push factors from Mexico (Santa Ines) • Mexican immigrants account for about 20% of the legal immigrants living in the USA.
1. locational details
(2010) 2. background information
• Poor medical facilities - 1800 per • Brain drain is occurring out of Mexico. e.g. An estimated 14,000 of the 19,000 Mexicans
3. 5 points and explain (problems of high dependent
doctor with doctorates live in the USA (International Organization for Migration)
4. conclude
Effects on USA
• Low paid jobs - GDP per capita
• Illegal migration costs the USA millions of dollars for border
$14,406
patrols and prisons
• Adult literacy rates 55% - poor
• Mexicans are seen as a drain on the USA economy
education prospects
• Migrant workers keep wages low which affects Americans
• Life expectancy 72 yrs
• They cause problems in cities due cultural and racial issues
• 40% Unemployed
• Mexican migrants benefit the US economy by working for low
• Unhappy life – poor standard of
wages
living
• Mexican culture has enriched the US border states with food,
• Shortage of food
language and music
• Poor farming conditions
• The incidents of TB has been increasing greatly due to the
• National average poverty level of 37
increased migration
percent
Pull Factors – Reasons Mexicans are attracted to the USA (2010) Effects on Mexico (Santa Ines)
• Excellent medical facilities - 400 per doctor • The Mexican countryside has a shortage of economically active people
• Well paid jobs - GDP per capita $46,860 • Many men emigrate leaving a majority of women
• Adult literacy rates 99% - good education prospects • Women may have trouble finding marriage partners
• Life expectancy 76 yrs • Young people tend to migrate leaving the old and the very young
• Many jobs available for low paid workers such as Mexicans • Legal and illegal immigrants together send some $6 billion a year back to
• Better housing Mexico
• Family links • Certain villages such as Santa Ines have lost 2/3 of its inhabitants
• Bright lights
 Namibia – Sparse and Dense Population
Background
• Namibia is an LEDC in Southern Africa split into various
regions
• Namibia has a total Population of 2.5 million
• Namibia has a land mass of 825,000 km2

Dense Population e.g. Oshana & Ohangwena

Sparse Population e.g. Karas & regions density over 15 people per km2 – Causes
Hardap regions density under 5 1. Not in desert – easy to build on land and grow
people per km2 – Causes crops
1. Desert Regions – not enough 2. Diamond areas – attracts people as jobs for
rain for crops, land is too dry mining e.g. 3% of population employed here
so hard to build on 3. More transport links – easy to commute for
2. Mountainous land – hard to work and visit regions
build on steep surfaces, 4. Better access to shops – people not put off by
limited transport idea of walking miles for water
3. Lack of jobs – people move to 5. Fertile soil for farming – attracts farmers to live
areas where jobs available in region
4. Lots of land is prone to 6. Near coast for exports – business and job
flooding – limited space to live opportunities
7. Services available – schools and hospitals of
better quality available https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nh8ym2PZDA
 A country with a high dependent population
United Kingdom: Ageing population/old dependents
Background
Problems:
• The percentage of elderly dependents (+65 years) has increased by 3%
from 15% in 1980 to 18% in 2014. An increase in the percentage of elderly dependents is
a strain on the working population as higher taxation is
Benefits: required to support the pensions of the elderly and to
1. Elderly people can share skills fund services such as health care and specialised homes.
and knowledge to train the Government-funded pensions may have to shrink to

younger generation cover everybody, leaving many people with less to spend
(and some in poverty). In contrast, services for younger
2. Elderly people promote the
people, such as schools, are underused. These services
development of grey
may then have to close (eg. Woodly School in North
economies (such as health care,
Yorkshire which shut in 2012 due to a lack of students).
specialised facilities, other As a result, some people may be left unemployed. Also,
facilities desired by elderly, etc.) there are not enough economically active people,
3. Elderly continue to pass on causing a lack of workforce and making it harder to
traditions and culture. defend the country.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXwKjyLuPaY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ucmqHECx7Q
 A country with a high dependent population
Uganda: Youthful population/young dependent
Background
• In 2014, 48.7% of Uganda’s population were young dependents under the age of 15.

Causes: Problems
• high fertility rate (many children per • Overpopulation if growth is not
woman) and high birth rate regulated, resulting in
• high infant mortality rate encourages more overcrowding, construction of
births so some will survive shanty towns, lower standard of
life, increased pollution,
• children considered social and economic depletion of resources and food
asset shortages (which encourage
• high death rate increases the percentage of deforestation resulting in soil
young dependents exhaustion and lower yields), as
wells as future unemployment
Benefits:
• Stress on tax payers to support
• few old dependents that have to
young dependents and finance
be supported
development of necessary
• possibly a large workforce in infrastructure
future
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-q-sSeINYE