Unit 2: Population

Demography, Density & the Demographic Transition Model

Cartogram of the World’s Population
 What is Demography?
• Demography: The scientific study of population characteristics
• Demographers look at:
• Statistically at how people are distributed spatially
• Age
• Gender
• Occupation
• Fertility
• Health
• And other factors
Population Concentrations
• 2/3 of the world’s population is clustered in 4 regions- East
Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Western Europe
• Similar characteristics of these regions:
• Most live near a river or to easy access to the Ocean
• 2/3 of world’s pop lives with 300 miles of an ocean
• 4/5 live within 500 miles
• Occupy low-lying areas, fertile soil and temperate climate
 Sparsely Populated Regions
• Ecumene: the portion of the Earth’s surface occupied by
permanent human settlement
• Relatively few people live in regions that are too dry, too wet,
too cold, or too mountainous
• Dry Lands: Areas like deserts. Generally lack sufficient water to
grow crops. Difficult to raise animals
• Wet Lands: Too much water can deplete nutrients to the soil
• Cold Lands: Ground is usually permanently frozen (permafrost)
Can’t plant and animals can’t survive extreme cold
• High Lands: Difficult to settle onto mountains that are steep and
snow covered
3 Types of Population Density
• Why Population Density? Helps geographers to describe the
distribution density of people in comparison to available resources
 Arithmetic Density
• Arithmetic Density: Total
number of people divided by
total land area
• Also called Population
Density
• Geographers use this to
compare conditions in
different countries because
the 2 conditions Total
Population and Total Land
Area are easy to obtain
• Allows geographers to
answer the “where” question
Physiological Density
• Physiological Density: The number of people supported by a unit
area of arable land
• Arable Land: land suited for agriculture
• Ex. US Physiological Density is (445 people/sq. mi) vs. Egypt
Physiological Density is 6,682 people/sq. mi.
• The difference means that more crops are grown on a hectare (100 acres) of
land in Egypt than the US in order to feed its population.
• Higher physiological density puts pressure on areas to produce
enough foods
• Provides insight into relationship between the size of a population &
availability of resources in a region.
 Agricultural Density
• Agricultural Density: ratio of the
number of farmers to the amount of
arable land
• This type of density measure helps
to account for the economic
differences in different areas
• Often times Agricultural and
Physiological Densities are studied
together in order to understand the
relationship between population and
resources
Increases in Population
• Crude Birth Rate (CBR): total number of live births in a year for every
1,000 people alive in society.
• Crude Death Rate (CDR): total number of deaths in a year for every
1,000 people alive in society.
• Natural Increase Rate (NIR): the percentage by which a population
grows in a year.
• Computed by subtracting CDR from CBR
• Total Fertility Rate (TFR): to measure the number of births in society.
• Average number of children a woman will have during her child bearing years
The Demographic Transition Model
Demographic Transition Model- Population
Pyramids
Stages of the Demographic Transition Model
• Stage 1: Low Growth
• which applied to most of the world before the Industrial Revolution, both
birth rates and death rates are high. As a result, population size remains fairly
constant but can have major swings with events such as wars or pandemics.
• Stage 2: High Growth
• the introduction of modern medicine lowers death rates, especially among
children, while birth rates remain high; the result is rapid population growth.
• Many of the least developed countries today are in Stage 2.
Stages of the Demographic Transition Model
• Stage 3: Moderate Growth
• birth rates gradually decrease, usually as a result of improved economic
conditions, an increase in women’s status, and access to contraception.
Population growth continues, but at a lower rate.
• Most developing countries are in Stage 3.
• Stage 4: Low Growth
• birth and death rates are both low, stabilizing the population. These countries
tend to have stronger economies, higher levels of education, better healthcare, a
higher proportion of working women, and a fertility rate hovering around two
children per woman.
• Most developed countries are in Stage 4.
• Zero Population Growth (ZPG): term to describe when CBR declines to the point
where it equals the CDR
Possible Stage 5 to the DTM
• Stage 5: would include countries in which fertility rates have fallen
significantly below replacement level (2 children) and the elderly
population is greater than the youthful population.
Sources:
• https://pediaview.com/openpedia/Population_pyramid
• http://www.lewishistoricalsociety.com/wiki/tiki-
read_article.php?articleId=126
• http://www.maproomblog.com/2006/03/cartograms_from_worldmapper.
php
• http://www.newgeography.com/content/002591-looking-new-
demography
• http://blackpoolsixthasgeography.pbworks.com/w/page/23074673/The%2
0demographic%20transition%20model%20and%20it%E2%80%99s%205%2
0stages
• http://blogs.dickinson.edu/gis/2012/11/01/community-agriculture-along-
the-trans-america-cycling-route/