CULTURAL
CONNECTIONS
 Population
Review

Population growth is a result of two factors: Natural
Increase (more births than deaths) and Immigration
(people moving to Canada).

Some Terminology:
- Demography = the study of human populations
- Immigrate = to move permanently to another country
other than one’s native country
- Emigrate = to leave your country of origin to live
permanently in another country

It is important to use rates, not numbers –
rates show relations to size of the population.
Rates allow for easier comparison between
populations in different countries of historical
periods.

Birth Rate = relationship between number of births
and the size of the population (# of births per year
for every 1000 people)

Death Rate = # of deaths per year for every 1000
people)

Natural Increase Rate = birth rate – death rate

Net Immigration Rate = immigration rate –
emigration rate

Population growth or decline has a major influence
on people’s lives. Too high = not enough for
everyone. Too little = shortage of workers
•

Compounding – population growth occurs on
top of growth that has already taken place
Doubling Time = how long it would take for a
country’s population to double

Easy way: RULE OF 70

Divide 70 by the population growth rate

i.e. if a country has a growth rate of 0.5%
how many years would it take its population
to double?
70 / 0.5 = 140 years


Stages of Demography




Children (under 15)
Working adults (15-64)
Older adults (65+)
Children and older adults make up the
dependency load since they need to be
supported by the Working Adults
4 Stages of Population Change:

1)
2)
3)
4)
high birth and death rate = stability
death rate drops (better healthcare and
nutrition); birth rate stays high = natural
increase
drop in birth rate (parents have fewer children
as it is more likely child will survive to
adulthood, also live in cities – don’t need child
farm hands)
birth rate declines close to the death rate;
population levels off (Canada approaching this)
POPULATION
PYRAMIDS

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.hewett.norfolk.sch.uk/curric/NEWGEOG/Africa/Eth_py~1.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.hewett.norfolk.
sch.uk/curric/NEWGEOG/Africa/Ethiopia.htm&h=314&w=416&sz=6&tbnid=XwBTtSrZvdIJ:&tbnh=92&tbnw=122&start=9&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2
522population%2Bpyramid%2522%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D
http://www.healthunit.org/chsr/environ/populat/fig_pop/pyr_pop.gif



This population pyramid is wide at the base, which
means there are a large proportion of young people
in the country. It tapers very quickly as you go up
into the older age groups, and is narrow at the top.
This shows that a very small proportion of people are
elderly.
This shape of pyramid is typical of a developing
country, such as Kenya or Vietnam.
http://www.scalloway.org.uk/images/poppy1.jpg
This shape is typical of a developed country. It is
narrow at the base, wider in the middle, and stays
quite wide until the very top, as there is a sizable
percentage of older people. Note that there are more
old women than men. Italy and Japan have
population structures that are of this shape.

Questions:
pg. 194 4c), 5a),b) c)
Compare the 1881 pyramid
with the 1956 and 2004
pyramids on page 190.
What changes do you see?
How would these changes
affect society?