Population Geography or
Geodemography
National Geographic
Objectives
 Learn demographic terminology used to describe
population trends.
 Identify major population centers and areas of growth
as well as decline.
Population Distribution Map
Population Map 2
The World Population Distribution
 What are some of the most populous countries?
 Population concentrations
 Two-thirds of the world’s population are in four regions:
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East Asia
South Asia
Europe
Southeast Asia
Important Population Geography
Terminology
 Crude birth rate (CBR) - # of births per 1,000 population.
 Total Fertility Rate (TFR) - Average # of children that a woman will
have during her child-bearing years.
 Crude death rate (CDR) - # of deaths per 1,000 population.
 Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) - Annual # of deaths of infants under 1
year of age for every 1,000 live births.
 Life Expectancy - Average # years an individual is expected to live.
 GapMinder
Crude Birth Rate
Total Fertility
Rates
Infant
Mortality
Rates
What do you notice?
Average Number of Children
Per Woman
Source: Population Reference Bureau
Crude Death Rates
Discussion
 Where is population growth the highest and the lowest?
What explains this pattern?
 What are the consequences of these patterns?
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/hans_rosling_on_global
_population_growth.html
Objectives
 Define the rate of natural increase and doubling time.
 Be able to describe the Demographic Transition and
what critics say about it.
 Interpret population pyramids.
Important Terminology Cont’d
 Natural increase rate (NIR)
 The percentage by which a population grows in a
year.
 NIR = (CBR-CDR)
 Doubling time
 The number of years it would take for a population to
double.
How Did We Get So Big So Fast?
Natural Increase Rate
World Population Growth
World Population Growth
Population Reference Bureau
Doubling
Time
The Demographic Transition
The Demographic Transition
Four stages
 Stage 1: Low growth – preindustrial
 Stage 2: High growth – early industrial
 Industrial Revolution
 Stage 3: Declining growth – late industrial
 Stage 4: Low growth – post industrial
 Zero population growth (ZPG)
Demographic Transition and
World Population Growth
 Increased rapidly during 2nd half of 20th century.
 No country is in Stage 1, and few are in Stage 4.
The transition is characterized by two big changes:
 Technological advances – drops in death rates showing
everywhere.
 Changes in social customs resulting in declining birth
rates…still waiting.
Population Pyramids
 Population pyramids
 A bar graph showing a population’s age and sex
composition
 Shape of the pyramid is determined mainly by the
CBR
Importance of Population
Pyramids
Provide clues about how a population is going to change.
Age distribution
 Dependency ratio – the number of people too young or old to
work compared to the number of those who can work.
 Younger than 15 and older than 65.
 Washington Post
Sex distribution
 Sex ratio – the number of males per hundred females in a
population.
Population Pyramid Samples
Objectives
 Describe the arguments of Thomas Malthus and what
current supporters and critics say.
Measures of Population Density
 Arithmetic density
Number of people in an area divided by total land area.
 Physiological density
Number of people supported by a unit of arable land.
 Agricultural density
Ratio between the # of agriculturalists or farmers per unit
of farmable land in a given area.
Arithmetic Density
Physiological Density
Agricultural Density
Critical Issues in Population
Geography
 More people are alive today than at any other time!
 The world’s population increased at a faster rate during
the second half of the twentieth century than ever
before.
 The are more than double the people on the planet
there were in 1960.
 Virtually all population growth today occurs in less
developed countries (LDCs).
Will We Face an
Overpopulation Problem?
Connecting population and the environment.
Malthus on overpopulation
 An Essay on the Principle of Population (1798):
Population grows geometrically while food supply grows
arithmetically
Therefore,
The Earth’s food supply cannot support
our growing population.
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/malthus.html
Malthus’s Theory
Neo-Malthusians
(People who Agree with Malthus)
Two characteristics of recent population that raise
concern:
1) Rapid population growth in Less Developed Countries
(LDCs), happening more quickly than it did for More
Developed Countries (MDCs).
2) Population growth strains resources available—food,
energy, etc. So, they focus on more than food.
Critics of Malthus
 Is a larger population really bad? Stimulate ideas and
economic growth = more food production? Ex. of
cornucopian theory. Ester Boserup!
Food Insecurity:
Others point out that poverty,
hunger, and social issues are a
result of unjust social and
political systems, not population.
 Need to improve distribution.
Ester from Wikipedia
Reality
 Overall food production has increased, but not
everyone can access food.
 Population growth is slowing, BUT
 People are living longer
 More women are in their child-bearing years
 Although fertility rates are decreasing faster in some less
developed countries (LDCs) than they did in more developed
countries (MDCs), Africa still has high TFR
Currently, demographers project a world population of 9
billion in 2045, but this depends on choices we make
today.
Questions for Discussion
Who do you agree with about overpopulation? Malthus
and the Neo-Malthusians or his critics? Why?
Take a few minutes to write your thoughts out.
Country-Level Responses
Japan
India
 Experiencing negative
growth – where will
workforce come from?
 How has culture played a
role?
 Instituted “The Angel Plan” to
ease burden of raising
children and increase role of
fathers.
Source: NOVA
•Family planning policies started
in 1950s.
•Initially focused on forced
sterilizations.
•Recently focused on women’s
rights and education.
Take Away
 Get comfortable with demographic terminology: crude birth rate,
crude death rate, total fertility rate, infant mortality rate, rate of
natural increase, doubling time, life expectancy and the three
measures of population density.
 What regions of the world have the highest rates of population
growth? Lowest?
 Demographic Transition: Be able to reconstruct and explain the
chart, and offer criticisms.
 Do watch the video on population pyramids.
 Make sure to review Malthus’ theory, supporters and criticisms.