The Human World
Revision Notes
The Human World
The World at night
• This unit is all about
the human population
on our planet and the
places in which we
live.
• The major themes are
Population change
and structure, and
settlement location
and layout.
Global Population Changes
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Global population has changed incredibly
over the past 2000 years. Since the
industrial revolution human numbers
have literally exploded from only 1 billion
people in 1600 to over 6 billion now. In
1999 D6B was official, the day of 6 billion
people, and for the near future Global
population shows no sign of slowing
down.
Most of the population growth is found in
LEDCs (Less Economically Developed
Countries) such as China and India.
Africa’s population growth is large
despite the Aids virus lowering life
expectancy.
Most rich countries have stable
populations (e.g. France and the USA)
while some others have declining
populations (e.g. Russia).
Population is not spread evenly over the
globe, the map opposite shows the
distribution of people. Most people live
close to the coast and the most densely
populated areas are found in SE Asia,
Europe and parts of North America.
Birth and Death Rates, Natural
Increase
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Birth Rate is the term used to define
the number of babies born every
year per 1000 people in a
population.
Death rate is the term used to
define the number of deaths every
year per 1000 people in a
population.
Natural increase in a population
occurs where Birth rate is greater
than death rate. That is, that there
are more births than deaths in that
population ion a year.
Natural decrease occurs when
death rate is greater than birth rate.
This means that more deaths occur
in a population than babies are born
so population numbers decline.
Of course, this balance is change
by Migration. If people move into a
country (Immigrants) the population
will increase. If people leave a
country (emigrate) the population
could decrease.
The Demographic Transition Model
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This model shows the balance between birth and death rates and how this affects the population
change. The model was based on how the UK’s population has changed.
Stage 1 - High fluctuating
Stage 2 – population
increase
Stage 3 – Population increase
Stage 4 – low
fluctuating
UK in the
past
Pre 1780
1780 to 1880
1880 to 1940
Post 1940
Present
examples
Ethiopia
Bolivia, India
China
Canada, USA
Birth rates
High due to;
1. Cultural or religious
beliefs encouraging large
families
2. Lack of contraception
3. Parents have lots of
children to compensate for
high Infant mortality
4. Children work on the
land
As stage 1
Start to decline due to;
a) Increased access to
contraception
b) Infant mortality falls so there is
less need to have a large family
c) Industrialisation and
mechanisation means less workers
are required.
d) Wealth increase and people are
more materialistic, so wan less
children.
Stay low because of
reasons in stage 3.
Death rates
High due to disease,
Famine, poor diet and
hygiene, little medical
science.
Start to decrease due to
improvements in medical
care, sanitation and water
supply, supply and
cleanliness of food.
Continue to fall
Stay low.
Population Structures and
Population Pyramids
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A Population pyramid is a
special graph that reveals the
structure (how a population is
made up) of a population. It
divides a population into men
and women, young, working
population and retired.
MEDCs have a space rocket
shape, with old people living for
a long time (high life
expectancy), lots of workers
and a reason able numbers of
children. These populations are
stable and not growing as the
number of young is balanced
with the number of people
dieing.
LEDCs have a triangular shaped
pyramid. They have lots of
children and people do not tend
to live for a long time (low Life
expectancy).
Dependency ratios
Pakistan
New Zealand
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This is mathematical formula used
to calculate how many people work
in comparison to how many people
need looking after. The population
that need looking after (the
dependent population) are the old
(65+) and very young (0 – 14). The
working population are known as
the economically active.
• The formula is
% pop aged 0 to 14 + % population
aged 65+
% of people aged 15 to 65
In MEDCs the ratio is normally between
50 and 75.
In LEDCs it is higher, often over 100,
because of the number of children
in their population.
The Differences Between rural and
Urban Populations
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Rural areas are areas where the
dominant economic activity is often
farming and they are often located
in the countryside.
In LEDCs in the countryside there is
likely to be a shortage of young
males as these men have migrated
too cities looking for work. They
may return to their rural villages
once thy have earned enough
money. In contrast, urban area have
population pyramids that have lots
of young economically active
males.
The Differences Between rural and
Urban Populations
• In MEDCs there is also a
movement of young working
age from rural areas (e.g.
Bedlington) to urban areas
(e.g. Newcastle). There is
also a movement of people
from urban to rural areas
where
1. People retire to the
countryside
2. Couples move to the
countryside in search of a
better environment to raise
their families.
Impact of an ageing population
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More Developed regions
population pyramid
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1.
2.
3.
4.
MEDCs face increasing problems as
populations become older and have
less children.
Birth rates are falling in these
countries as families have less
children and fertility rates fall.
Life expectancy increases because
of improved medical care and
improved nutrition and food
availability.
This poses numerous problems
such as;
There are less working age
population to provide tax money for
the services (medical care and
social services such as meals on
wheels etc) the elderly need.
Strain is put on existing services
such as the NHS (in winter a lot of
hospital beds and doctor’s time are
taken by the elderly.
There are not enough facilities for
the elderly e.g. care and residential
homes
The cost of providing for pensions
increases, Britain at the moment is
facing a pensions crisis.
Solutions to an ageing population
• Convert old school buildings
into residential homes.
• Raise taxes to provide the
elderly with high quality
services.
• Force people to save for a
pension so that they are
comfortable in old age.
• Offer tax breaks, free child
care and cash to families to
encourage them to have
more children. This will
eventually help as these
children will become the
workers who provide for the
old.
Impact of a Youthful population
A youthful population is one in which there
are large numbers of children, the base
of the population pyramid will be large.
In some African countries such as Mali
over 40% of the population is under the
age of 15.
This creates numerous problems for the
country such as;
1. Economic problems, as the country
tries to provide for the children with
education, health care and food.
2. Attendance at secondary schools in
rural areas is low leaving lots of
unqualified poorly educated workers.
3. Disease rates amongst young children
are high as the government cannot
afford medicines for them, even for
preventable diseases such as measles
and diarrhoea. This means Infant
mortality is high. There are also few
doctors and hospitals in these
countries.
4. Because there are lots of children who
have yet to have their own children in
the future the situation can only grow
worse.
Solutions to the problems of a
youthful population
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Family planning programmes could help
LEDCs. China introduced a one child policy
where couples were limited to one child per
family. People have to apply for a license to
have a child and are carefully monitored by
the government. If families have more than
one child they lose their benefits and have to
pay back any benefits they received for their
first child (e.g. child care benefits).
This policy has its limits, children not having
brothers and sisters, no Uncles or aunts etc.
It is hoped that it will slow down and over
time eventually reduce China’s population
(already over 1 billion people live in China!)
What do you think about it?
In Mauritius a family planning programme
was also implemented. Mauritius is a small
island that had a rapidly growing population.
Here families were given classes in the
advantages of smaller families and on birth
control methods. In addition, the
government introduced research and
scientific industries to the island in order to
provide more job opportunities for its people
rather than just primary farming jobs.
The Physical factors which affect the site of
settlements
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Physical factors that influence the
location of a settlement include;
1. Water supply – settlements need
water, they often locate on wet point
sites for this. Settlements built
away from rivers and water supplies
to avoid flooding are located at dry
point sites.
2. Defence – building on high ground
allowed people the chance to look
out for enemies (e.g. Edinburgh
castle) while surrounding a
settlement with water also helped
with deed defence e.g. Durham is
built inside a meander.
3. Aspect and shelter – In the northern
hemisphere south facing slopes
receive more sunlight and are
protected from cold Northerly
winds. More settlements and
agricultural land is therefore
located on South facing slopes.
Settlements key terms
• A settlement is a collection
of buildings where people
live. They vary in size from
small hamlets to large cities.
• Site is the actual land that a
settlement is built upon. The
photo shows Warkworth,
what advantages will this
site bring to the settlement?
• Situation is the land and
area that surround a
settlement that make a site a
good place to locate a
settlement.
The economic factors influencing
the sites of settlements
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Communications – settlements
often located next to rivers that
could be easily crossed. These
are called bridging points.
Other favourable places
included where at the junctions
of valleys or in gaps through
hills. These locations allowed
maximum communication
between different settlements
and increased trade. E.g.
Newcastle is built on the Tyne
at a bridging point and could
benefit with trade from the
North and the South.
Resources - Early settlers relied
upon wood for fuel and
building. A site close to
woodland was there fore an
advantage. Later, resources
such as Iron ore, coal and
bauxite encouraged the growth
of settlements.
Settlement shapes
• There are 3 different shapes of settlement according to the
arrangement of buildings within them;
• Linear settlements grow in a line, often along roads, river
valleys or the coast.
• Nucleated settlements have buildings grouped close together
and are found at cross roads or are used for defence purposes.
• Dispersed settlements have individual buildings spread out,
and are often found in rural areas.
Characteristics of an urban area in
an MEDC
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2.
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There are 2 models that describe land
use within cities in MEDCs.
The Burgess model suggests that cities
grow outwards in concentric rings
(circles!)
The Hoyt model suggests that cities grow
in sectors or wedges along
communication lines such as roads,
rivers and rail.
In zone 1 you find the original site of the
settlement where the city originally
started. Here there is a Central Business
District containing services, education
facilities and businesses.
In zone 2 there is a mixture of old
industrial housing, often terraces, and
industry. These areas would have been
constructed in the industrial revolution.
Zone 3 is another area of low class
residential housing.
Zone 4 contains medium class residential
housing tat was built between the 2 world
wars. Often semi detached housing and
council estates.
Zone 5 is an expensive area of housing
found at the edge of cities.
Characteristics of an urban area in
an LEDC
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There has been massive
growth in urban areas in
LEDCs.
• The land use model is
different to those for MEDCs
because;
1. There are slum or shanty
town areas where there is
no planning of the
settlement and the people
lie there illegally.
2. The rich live close to the
CBD, in MEDCs the richest
people live on the outskirts
of cities.
Urban structure in Newcastle-uponTyne
How does this
compare with the
urban land use
models of Burgess
and Hoyt?
Urban structure in Newcastle-uponTyne
What type of housing is this?
How can you tell?
How much open space is there?
What facilities are there for the
community?
What transport is there?
Can you identify the edge of the
CBD?
How can you tell?
What type of
housing is this?
How can you
tell?
How much
open space is
there? What
facilities are
there for the
community?
What is the land use of this area here?