Population Key words Population the number of people

Population

Key words • Population - the number of people in a country • Census - a count of the population • Vital registration - records of births marriages and deaths • Population density - measure of how crowded a county is • Population distribution - where people live in a country • Birth rate number of births per 1000 people • Death rate - number of deaths per 1000 people

Key words cont • Natural population increase - Difference between birth rate and death rate • Migration movement of people in or out of an area • Urbanisation - movement of people to live in a city • Counterurbanisation - movement of more affluent people to the edge of cities • Shanty towns/Favellas - areas of squatter housing around a city in Less Economically developed countries (LEDC’s)

The Census data is used to plan for the future. Housing needs can be identified. Education needs - e. g. likely demand for nursery places, need for extra teachers who are bilingual. Health needs - e. g. provision for the elderly. To be valid, census data must: – be government sponsored, – be taken at regular intervals, – be taken at the same time throughout the country, – include everyone. Problems: – Language – Literacy – Transport – Illegal immigrants – Street people

Example question • Can you think of ways the factors language, literacy, transport, illegal immigrants and street people, would cause problems in a census?

Possible answer • Language can be a problem in countries like India where many languages are used. The government has to provide census forms in several languages or use enumerators literate in more than one language to translate and fill in the forms for people. • Literacy is a problem because if people cannot read and write the enumerators must fill in the forms for them. This means enumerators take longer to collect forms and more must be employed. • In areas with a poor transport network it is difficult to get enumerators to the area especially if the area is mountainous or forested. • Illegal migrants will avoid contact with officials as they do not want to be deported. • As street people move around they can be difficult to account for some cities have special teams of enumerators.

Distribution can be shown as a dot distribution map. These show population concentrations well but can give the impression some areas have no people.

Growth and changes in population • The worlds population has grown rapidly in recent years owing to improvements in health care leading to a reduction in the death rate • The problem is growth has been most rapid in the areas least able to cope with the associated problems of population increase

Migration • In 1990 only about 10% of the worlds population lived in urban areas • Today almost 60% of the population live in urban areas • In Europe that figure goes up to 75% while in South East Asia it is only around 30% • In Europe and America the most rapid period of urbanisation occurred in the 19 th century as a result of the industrial revolution

Major migration patterns

Effects of migration Migration can have positive and negative effects on the areas that "export" people and the areas that "import” people. Problems for the area losing population include: – Loss of young and most able – Loss of young men creating an unbalanced population structure Advantages for the area losing population include: – Fewer people to be fed and housed – Income sent home e. g. by Turkish "guest workers" (gasterbeiter) in the German car industry

For the area gaining people • Problems for the area gaining population include: • Language problems • Racial/ethnic tension • Jobs lost to incoming workers • Pressure on housing and services • Advantages for the area gaining population include: • Cheap labour • Cultural diversity

Urbanisation in LEDC’s • Rural to urban migration - Is the main reason for the growth of cities in LEDC’s although the high birth rate is still a factor (as most migrants are of child bearing age