IB SL Geography Revision Notes

Populations in Transition:

Population trends:
Global population change 1930-2020
o

In most regions population growth has increased between 1930 and 1960, and then again between 1960 and 1990 (Africa, South America, Australia, Asia) with the exception of North America and Europe

In contrast, the projected changes for 1990-2020 show that the population growth rate will fall all over the globe

Exponential growth
o o o

Increasing /accelerating growth rate The worlds population is growing rapidly, most of it being recent Global pop. Doubled between 1650 and 1850, 1850 and 1920, and 1920 and 1970 (taking less and less time to double) Up to 95% of pop. growth is taking place in LDC This trend of growth is defined as exponential growth In spite of this, world population is expected to stabilize at about 12 billion by around 2050-80 This growth creates:

o o o

Pressures on government to provide for their people Environmental pressure Increase risk of disease and malnutrition Greater differences between poor and rich countries

Demographic change and global trends

o

The annual growth rate is found by subtracting the crude death rate (% of deaths per thousand people, also referred to by number of deaths per thousand) from the crude birth rate (% of births per thousand people, also referred to by the number of births per thousand) and is then expressed as a percentage

The highest growth rates are found in Africa, and lowest in North America and Europe

Birth rates:
Measurements of fertility
o

Crude birth rate (CBR) = total number births/total population x 1000 per year (doesnt consider age and sex structure of population), total number of birth per thousand Standardized birth rate (SBR) in contrast to the CBR, gives a birth rate for a region based on the premises that the regions age composition is the same as that of the whole country

o o

Total fertility rate (TFR) is the average number of births per woman The general fertility rate is the number of live births per 1000 women of reproductive age in a country

GFR = number of live births/number of women in reproductive age x 1000 per year

The age-specific birth rate (ASBR) = number of births/women of any specified age x 1000 per year In general, the highest fertility rates are shown in LEDCs (Less economically developed countries) and the lowest in MEDCs (More economically developed countries), with the

countries) and the lowest in MEDCs (More economically developed countries), with the TFR is MEDCs being an average of 1.7, and in LEDCs an average of 5.8 Changes in fertility
o

Changes are a result of a combination of sociocultural and economic factors Status of women

Sociocultural factors and fertility

o

The status of women is assessed by gender-related development index (GDI), which measures the inequality between the sexes in life expectancy, education and the standard of living.

In countries where the status of women is low and few women are educated or involved in paid employment, birth rates are generally higher An example is Singapore, where the status of women has improved, and from 1960 to 2000, because of this improvement, the rate fell from 3.0 to 1.5

Level of education and material ambition

In general, the higher the level of parental education, the fewer the children Middle-income families with high aspirations but limited means tend to have smaller families In order to improve standards of living, they limit family size Example is Ethiopia (2005) where uneducated women had TFRs of 6.1 and educated ones with a TFR of (2.0)

Type of residence

People in rural areas have more children than in urban This is because:

More rigid social pressures on women Greater freedom and less state control in rural areas (e.g. Chinas one child policy is enforced less rigorously in rural areas) Females in rural areas have fewer educational and economic opportunities In some urban areas, such as shanty towns, there are high levels of fertility because of their youthful population structure

Religion

In general, most religions are pro-natalist and favor larger families (are against abortions, sterilization, etc.)

Health of the mother

Sometimes, women who are unhealthy and have some miscarriages become pregnant more often to compensate

Economic factors and fertility

o

Economic Prosperity

Not complete correlation, but there are some links Economic prosperity favours an increase in the birth rate, while increasing costs lead to a decline in the birth rate The UN believe that a reduction in the high birth rates in the LEDCs can be achieved only by improving the standards of living in those countries In addition, equitable distribution of wealth tend to lower the fertility rate Canada has higher level of GNP per capita (US$) than Tanzania (20 000 to 200), and therefore has the lower TFR (1.6 in comparison to 5.5)

The need for children

High infant mortality rates increase the pressure on women to have more children (replacement/compensatory births) Larger families in agricultural societies help provide labor for the farm

Mortality:

Measurements of mortality
o

The crude death rate (CDR) = total no. of deaths/total population x 1000 per year (number of deaths per 1000 per year) Poor measurement of mortality (doesnt consider many other factors, Pakistans crude rate of 7.8% is less than that of Denmarks 11% Better measures are the standardize mortality rate (SMR), and age-specific mortality rates (ASMRs) such as the infant mortality rate (IMR) IMR = total no. of deaths of children <1 year old/total no. of live births per year x 1000 The child mortality rate (CMR) = total no. of deaths of children aged 1-5 years/total number of children aged 1-5 years x 1000 Life expectancy (E0) is the average number of years that a person can be expected to live, given the demographic factors are constant

o o

Patterns of mortality
o o o

Patterns of mortality differ from MEDCs to LEDCs In MEDCs, the death rate falls steadily to 9% with high life expectancies (75+) In LEDCs the opposite can be seen, but due to a steady improvements over the past few decades in food supply, water, sanitation and housing, the situation is improving However this trend has unfortunately been reversing as a consequence of AIDS As a country develops, the major forms of illness and death change LEDCs are characterized by waterborne infectious diseases (cholera or gastroenteritis) or vector-borne (river blindness, malaria, diarrhoea and vomiting). In MEDCs, fatal diseases are more likely t be degenerative conditions such as cancer, strokes or heart disease The change in disease pattern from infectious to degenerative s known as the epidemiological transition model (epidemiology is the study of diseases).

Causes of death
o o

Variations in mortality rates

o

Age structure

Some populations, such as those in retirement towns and especially in the older industrialized countries, have very high life expectancies, but this in turn results

in a rise in the CDR Countries with a younger population will have lower death rates (Mexico with 34% of the population under the age of 15 years, has a CDR of 5%)

Social class

The poorer people within any population have higher mortality rates than the more affluent In some countries such as South Africa, this is also reflected in racial groups Certain occupations are hazardous (military, farming, mining etc.) and certain diseases are specifically linked to these occupations

Occupation

Place of residence

In urban areas, mortality rates are higher in areas of relative poverty and deprivation (inner cities/shanty towns) Due to overcrowding, pollution, high population densities and stress In many rural areas where there is widespread poverty and limited farm productivity, mortality rates are high Example is in the rural north-east of Brazil, where life expectancy is 27 years

shorter than in the richer south-east region Child mortality and infant mortality
o

While the CMR shows small fluctuations over time, the IMR can show greater fluctuations and is one of the most sensitive indicators of the level of development This is due to the following

High IMRs are found only in the poorest countries