Population
Studies
In 1999, 600 million children in the world lived in poverty
– 50 million more than in 1990
United Nations
Structure
1. Important terms and indicators – How to read
population figures?
DRQ
2. Types of Population growth rates – High and Low
3. Causes of High and Low Population growth rates
4. Consequences of High and Low Population growth
rates
5. Solutions to alleviate High and Low Population growth
rates
World Population at 2014
7.1 billion
Source: The Straits Times (11 Jul 2008)
Top 10 countries with largest
population (millions)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
China
India
U.S
Indonesia
Brazil
Pakistan
Bangladesh
Nigeria
Russia
Japan
1330.0
1148.0
303.8
237.5
191.9
167.8
153.5
146.3
140.7
127.3
Source: The Straits Times
Birth rate (BR)
Number of live births per 1000 people in the
population per year
X per thousand
Which countries have high BR?
Which have low BR?
Why??
Death rate (DR)
Number of deaths per 1000 people in
the population per year
Y per thousand
Which countries have high DR?
Which countries have low DR?
Why?

Rate of natural increase
•
NI = BR – DR (per thousand)
•
NI is +ve means …
•
NI is –ve means …
Birth Rate
Immigration
TOTAL
POPULATION
CHANGE
Death Rate

Emigration
Population Growth = natural increase +
net migration

Infant Mortality (IM)


Number of infants who die before reaching
one year of age per 1000 live births per
year
What affects this rate? Which countries
tend to have low rates? Which countries
fare better?
Life expectancy (LE)
 the number of years a newborn infant would live if
prevailing mortality patterns persist
 What does a high rate mean? What does a low rate
mean?
Dependency Ratio
The ratio of the number of economically nonactive to the number of economically active
people in the country
oCan also be expressed in percentages
(36% Singapore’s)
o1 : 2 means …1 : 5 means …Implications …?
o
Terms you need to know
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Birth rate
Death rate
Rate of natural increase
Infant mortality rate
Life expectancy
Dependency ratio
Population
Explosion
World’s Population
Trend
Regional Population
Trend

Population
Explosion
Until about 200 years ago, population growth
was slow.


Since then, there had been an enormous
increase (previous graph).
Population Explosion: sudden and great
increase in world’s population.

Rate of increase has become exponential.

Check out the world population clock at
http://www.ibiblio.org/lunarbin/worldpop
Pair share
Suggest reasons for high birth
rates
Causes
High BR - Parents want children
for labour especially in agricultural
societies
to look after them in old age
to continue the family name
for added status in the community
to replace children who have died (high
infant mortality rate)
Pair share
Suggest reasons for low death
rates
Causes
Low DR
clean water is available
access to food supply
improve hygiene and sanitation
better vaccinations and healthcare
rising standards of living