Grade 9 Geography – Strand 3 Lesson 4
Measuring Demographics – Definitions
There are two types of demographic measurements: (1) absolute and (2) relative.
Birth Rate – Number of births in a country for every thousand people in the population. If 150
000 children are born in one year in a country with a population of 5 000 000, the birth
rate is 150 000 / 5 000 000 X 1000 = 30. A Birth Rate over 30 is high, while less than 15 is
low. Canada’s Birth Rate is about 11.4 per thousand.
Death Rate – Number of deaths in a country for every thousand people in the population.
Emigration Rate – Number of people who permanently leave a country. For example, 10 000
people leave from the 5 000 000. The Emigration Rate would be 2.0 per every
thousand.
Immigration Rate – Number of people who permanently move to a country.
Infant Mortality Rate – Number of children in a country who die in the first year of life for every
1 000 births. An Infant Mortality Rate over 80 is extremely high, while a rate of 15 or
less is low. Canada’s rate is about 5.1 per thousand.
Dependency Load – Percentage of a country’s population who are under the age of 15 and over
65 that must be supported by the independent, working population. A high dependency
load stresses a country’s economy. In 2000, 19% of Canadians were younger than 15
and 13% were over 65.
Life Expectancy – Average lifespan that a newborn will have. A short lifespan is less than 50,
while a long lifespan is over 75 years. The life expectancy in Canada is 79.4 years.
Natural Increase Rate – Difference between Birth Rate and Death Rate. If Birth Rate is 30 and
Death Rate is 20, the Natural Increase Rate is 10 per thousand (or 1 percent).
Net Migration Rate – Difference between the Immigration Rate and the Emigration Rate.
Population Growth Rate – The rate at which a country’s population is changing. It combines
Natural Increase Rate plus Net Migration Rate. Canada’s rate is about 0.9 percent.
Total Fertility Rate – Average number of children that each woman will have in her fertile
years…assuming no change in the Birth Rate. Fertile years are assumed to be between
15 and 45 years. A high Fertility Rate would be greater than five, while a low rate would
be below the Replacement Rate of 2.1. Canada’s Fertility Rate is about 1.7.
Replacement Rate – Total Fertility Rate that would produce a Natural Increase Rate of zero. In
other words, a country’s population does not change (…ignoring immigration). The
Replacement Rate to achieve zero is 2.1.
Rule of 70 – How long it takes a country’s population to double. The formula is divide 70 by the
country’s Population Growth Rate (as a percentage). A population growing at a rate of
2.3% will double in 30 years (70 / 2.3 = 30). If Canada’s Population Growth Rate
continues at 0.9%, Canada’s population will double in about 78 years.
Population Pyramid – Special graph that summarizes age and sex structure of a population.
Questions – Test your skills
1. A country has a population of 31 850 000 at the beginning of the year. During the year,
the following population changes occurred.
 1 038 000 babies were born
 594 000 people died
 86 000 people emigrated
 53 000 people immigrated
Calculate the following values:
 Population at the end of the year
 Birth Rate and Death Rate
 Emigration and Immigration Rates
 Natural Increase Rate and Net Migration Rate
 Population Growth Rate