Castries Comprehensive

Secondary School
Form 4& 5 Geography

Population & Settlement

 KEY POPULATION TERMS
TERMS EXPLANATION

Birth rate The number of births per 1000 people per year

Demography The study of the distribution, size, birth rates, death rates and age
distributions, of populations
Crude death rate/ mortality The number of deaths per 1000 people per year
rate
Natural increase The difference between the numbers of births and deaths per year,
expressed as a percentage
Growth rate The number of persons added to (or subtracted from) a population in a
year, due to natural increase and migration expressed as a percentage
Life expectancy The average number of years a person in a given region can expect to
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 Factors influencing population density
 The density of population in any area is likely to be the result of a number of influences, including physical
factors such as location, the height of the land, the climate, water supplies, soil fertility, supply of raw
materials and the availability of land for settlement.
 Other influential factors include availability if good communications, proximity to markets for the products
of agriculture or industry.
High population density Low population density

Moderate climate Extreme climate (very hot/ very cold)

Low- lying, flat or gently sloping land Extreme relief

Good water supplies Limited water supply

Fertile land Remoteness from markets and good

systems of communication
Supplies of raw materials and power Poor, infertile land

Proximity to good markets or good Lack of raw materials and power

transportation systems
 Push/ Pull factors

 Other influences on population density are push and pull factors.

 A push factor is a circumstance that pushes a person away from or encourages a person to leave their current
residence.
Push factors include:
1. Lack of jobs
2. Poverty
3. Environmental problems
4. Warfare or civil strife
Economics provide the main reason for people leaving their area of origin. Economic problems may be as a
result of natural disaster, which cause loss of money, shelter and employment.
 Push/ Pull factors

 A pull factor is a feature or event that attracts a person to move to another area.
Pull factors include:
1. Better employment opportunities
2. Higher standards of living
3. Peace (absence of civil strife/ warfare)
4. better environmental condition
5. Economic stability
 Population and Population Distribution

 The world’s population of 6.5 million is unevenly distributed; it is very dense in some areas and sparse or
non- existent in others.
 The population of the world is not static. It is growing and constantly changing in terms of numbers and
where people live.
 Population distribution describes the way in which the population is distributed in the available area or
space. It is measured in terms of population density.
 Population density is the number of people living in an area of land and is expressed as the number of
persons per square km.
 The population density of an area may be low, moderate or high.
The Demographic Transition Model
 The Demographic Transition Model

 This is an explanation of the patterns of birth and death rates over time, including the period of a country’s
major economic development.
 It is divided into 4 or 5 stages (depending on the model you are looking at) which there is a change from a
situation of high BR and DR to low rates.
 There is also change from BR always being higher than DR to BR being so low it is below DR.
 Originally the model was designed to explain patterns in the developed countries but it can also apply quite
well to todays developing regions of the world.
 The Demographic Transition Model

Stage 1
 This stage is known as the high fluctuating stage. This stage has a high BR and DR.
 It refers to a simpler society with little medicine, low life expectancy and no means of birth control.
Stage 2
 They key characteristic of Stage 2 is a decreasing DR.
 Medical improvements and technology allow many illnesses to be cured.
 Life is still traditional, however there are still good economic reasons for the BR to remain high
 The gap between the BR and DR lines on the graph represents population growth.
 The farther apart these lines are, the greater the growth.
 The Demographic Transition Model
Stage 3
 Here, the DR continues to fall, but at a more gradual rate. They key change is that BR now falls and often
quite rapidly.
 This is due to the availability of birth control methods, but people must have an economic reason for desiring
birth control.
 As a country develops, children become economic costs rather than economic assets
 It is therefore becomes cost effective to have fewer children.
Stage 4
 BR and DR are now both low.
 The lines on the graph are close to each other and BR is still higher than DR, so there is still population
growth but it is slow.
 A country in this stage is developed and there are several reasons for having only a small family
 The Demographic Transition Model

Stage 5
 The original DTM did not include this stage.
 It was added later to try to explain recent demographic changes in some of the developed countries where for
the first time, BR is less than DR.
 More people are dying than are born each year.
 Most European and Western countries are now in this situation
The position of the Caribbean in the DTM

 Many Caribbean countries lie in Stage 3 of the DTM because they are developing economically their DR has
been low for many years and their BR is now also declining.
 Within a few decades the Caribbean region should enter Stage 4.
 Improvements in education give the next generation, boys and girls, more career opportunities and will place
the Caribbean countries in a situation whereby there is no economic need for larger families.
 Tradition eventually follows economic trends.
 Population Structure (Population Pyramids)

 The population age structure is the way in which the population may be described in terms of age.
 The demographic structure of the population may be shown in a pyramid graph.
 Gender/ sex is shown on either side of the pyramid.
 Age is represented on the vertical axis, ascending in 5 years bands. Each age band shoes, by gender, the
percentage of the population that falls into that band.
 The lower part of the population pyramid is the base and shows the younger section of the population.
 The upper part is concerned with the elderly group.
 Pyramids give us a remarkable amount of information about population: birth and death rates, life
expectancy, and the level of economic development.
Sample Population Pyramid
The effects on a country of having a young
population

 A country with a high population of young people places very specific demands on the governments of these
countries.
 Whilst there are so many children in the population, more of the services they require will have to be
provided: schools, baby clinics, vaccinations.
 Countries with the highest percentages of children are generally the ones that do not have the funds and so
cannot supply these for tor their population.
 As this generation grows up some will take up places in university and in other training. They will need jobs
and homes.
 They will begin to have their own families.
 A large family is a financial burden, so these households will find it difficult to progress economically.
The effects on a country of having an elderly
population

 Life expectancy is higher in developed countries than in developing countries, so it is the developed
countries that have the difficulties associated with old age.
 In richer countries people expect to be able to retire from work and have a pension (income) on which to
live.
 Funds for this come from the government, from taxes paid by those of working age.
 If the elderly become a larger part of the population while the working age group becomes smaller, then
taxes will increase and pensions and standards of living may go down.
 The demand for health care increases because more illness occurs in old age.
 As people live longer, even greater pressure is placed on the system. The government has to find more funds,
again from taxation of present workers.
 Elderly people need certain services in particular; nursing homes, day care centers and people to assist in
their own homes. These special needs also put financial pressure on a country.