AP Human Geography

Chapter Two -
Population
Seth Adler


I. Basic Concepts

- Demography The scientific study of population characteristics
- MDC/LDC More/Less Developed Country
- Study is important:
1. More people are alive today
2. The worlds population is increasing at a fast rate
3. Almost all pop. Growth is in LDCs
- Overpopulation More people that resources (not land)

II. Where Is The Worlds Population Distributed?

A. Population Concentrations
- 2/3 of the population in in E. Asia, S. Asia, SE. Asia, and Europe
- Cartogram Map that shows the size of the countries based on
population, not land mass
- Many people live near oceans
- Low-lying areas with fertile soil and temperate climates

1. East Asia
- of pop
- Peoples Republic of China, Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul

2. South Asia
- of pop
- India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka
- Many farmers

3. Southeast Asia
- Islands: Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Papua New Guinea, Philippines
- Java is most populated


4. Europe
- Live in cities
- England, Germany, Belgium

5. Other Population Clusters
- NE. US, SE. Canada
- W. Africa

B. Sparsely Populated Regions
- People dont live in areas that are too dry, too wet, too cold, or too
mountainous
- Ecumene The Portion of Earths surface occupied by humans

1. Dry Lands
- Too dry for farming
- Deserts

2. Wet Lands
- Too much precipitation
- Near equator
- Deplete nutrients from soil

3. Cold Lands
- N and S Poles

4. High Lands

C. Population Density
- Number of people occupying a land

1. Arithmetic Density
- # of people / Land area
- US: 310 million people / 3.7 million
2
miles = 84 per square mile
- Bangladesh: 2919 per square mile
- Canada: 7 per square mile


2. Physiological Density
- # of people supported by farm land
- US: 453 per square mile (453 people can live off of 1 square mile
of farm land)
- Egypt: 5947 (Crops in Egypt must feed more)
- Higher the density, the more pressure people place on the land for
food
- Major difference in densities in Egypt show how much land is
unsuitable for farming

3. Agricultural Density
- # of farmers per farming land
- US: low (1.6 per kilo)
- MDCs have lower because of technology
-
III. Where Has The Worlds Population Increased?
- More people are born than die

A. Natural Increase
1. Crude Birth Rate (CBR): number of births in a year per 1000
people (A CBR of 20 means that 20 babies are born for every
1000 people that live there)

2. Crude Death Rate (CDR): number of deaths in a year per 1000
people (A CDR of 20 means that 20 people die a year for every
1000 people that live there)

3. Natural Increase Rate (NIR): % that a population grows in a
year (CBR-CDR (first convert them per 100)) (No migration)

- World NIR: 1.2
- Doubling Time number of years needed to double a population
(World: 54 years)

B. Fertility
- Total Fertility Rate (TFR): average # of children a woman will have
(predicts future) (world: 2.6)


C. Mortality
- Infant Mortality Rate (IMR): annual number of deaths of infants
under 1 years old per 1000
- Highest rates are in LCDs
- Life Expectancy: average # of years a child will live
IV. Why is Population Increasing at Different Rates in Different
Countries?
- Demographic transition The process of a societys population
through four stages (from high birth and death to low natural
increase)

A. The Demographic Transition
1. Stage One: Low Growth
- First stage
- Varied CBRs and CDRs (high levels)
- NIR was 0
- Hunting and gathering (when people found food, pop. increased,
when no food was found, pop. decreased)
- Agricultural Revolution: When humans domesticated plants and
animals

2. Stage Two: High Growth
- 1750-1800
- CDRs plummeted while CBRs stayed the same
- Population grows rapidly
- Industrial Revolution: major improvements in industrial technology
- $ was used to make places better to live so less people died but
there was still as many births
- North America and Europe were the first
- Medical Revolution: Improved medical practices

3. Stage Three: Moderate Growth
- When CBR begins to drop sharply (because of changes in social
customs) (Economic reasons)
- CDR falls slower
- 1900-1950



4. Stage Four: Low Growth
- CBR declines to equal CDR (NIR approaches 0)
- Zero population growth (ZPG) ^^^
- A TFR of ~2.1 results in ZPG
- Europe and US
- Women enter labor force
- Birth control methods
- Completed a cycle

B. Population Pyramids
- Displays a countrys population by age and gender
- % of people in 5-year age groups (0-4 at the base)
- Length of the bar represents the % of the population
- Males left, females right
- Shape is determined by CBR
- Stage 2 More children (wider base)
- Stage 4 Large # of old people (rectangle shape)

1. Age Distribution
- Dependency ratio: # of people who are too young or too old to work
(0-14; 65+)
- Stage 2, ratio is 1:1 (for every worker, there is a non-worker)
- % of elderly increase as a country passes each stage

2. Sex Ratio
- # of males per 100 females
- North America- 97:100 (97 males for every 100 females)
- LDCs- 103:100 (People dont live long and males will outnumber
females at an early age)
- Women start to outnumber men at age 40 because they live longer

C. Countries in Different Stages of Demographic Transition
- No country is in Stage One

1. Cape Verde: Stage Two (High Growth)
- Moved from Stage 1 to 2 in 1950
- Remained in Stage 1 because of severe famines
- Moved when an antimalarial campaign was launched

2. Chile: Stage Three (Moderate Growth)
- Changed from agricultural based to urban society
- Still have large families
- Grew from European immigration
- CDR was lowered because of medicine spreading from MDCs
- CBR dropped hen government placed a family-planning policy
- Reduced income, high unemployment, wedding postponement
- Unlikely to head into Stage Four because government want more
people for security and most people belong to the Roman Catholic
Church which opposes artificial birth-control methods

3. Denmark: Stage Four (Low Growth)
- CBR and CDR are roughly equal
- Population pyramid is a column because more elderly are living
longer

D. Demographic Transition and World Population Growth
- European and American countries invented products then trained
others to use them in LCDs
- Diffusion of medical technology
- CBR will only drop when people themselves decide to have fewer
children
- Took 100 years for America to move to Stage Three

V. Why Might the World Face and Overpopulation Problem?

A. Malthus on Overpopulation
- Thomas Malthus (1766-1834) first stated that the worlds
population was outnumbering its food supplies (because population
increased geometrically and food supply increased arithmetically)
- Today: 1 person per 1 unit of food
- 50 years from now: 4 persons per 3 units of food
- 100 years from now: 16 persons per 5 units of food






1. Contemporary Neo-Malthusians
- In his time, only a few countries had entered Stage 2. He did not
anticipate the other poor countries CBRs.
- The world is outstripping many other resources than just food.
- Robert Kaplan and Thomas Fraser Homer-Dixon

2. Malthuss Critics
- Unrealistic because they are based on a fixed resource supply
instead of expanding (Possibilism) (new technology)
- More population does not mean more problems (could stimulate
economic growth and produce more food) (more customers)
- The world has enough resources as long as they are share equally
- More people is more power
- Esther Boserup, Simon Kuznets, Julian Simon, and Friedrich Engels

3. Malthuss Theory and Reality
- So far, not supported his theory
- Better growing techniques
- Not as rapid growth

B. Declining Birth Rates
- Two ways: Economic development and contraceptives

1. Reasons for Declining Birth Rates
- A wealthier country has more money to spend on eduction and
health care (if more women can stay in school longer, they could
get more economic control of their lives) (Better understand
reproductive rights)
- If more infants survive, people wont have as many
- Takes longer

2. Reducing Birth Rates Through Contraception
- Rapidly diffusing modern contraceptive methods
- Best method
- Many oppose for religious reasons
- Pills, condoms, abortions


C. World Health Threats
- Epidemiologic transition: causes of death in each stage
- Epidemiology: branch of medical science related to diseases

1. Epidemiologic Transition Stages One and Two
- Formulated by Abdel Omran in 1971
- Stage One is called the stage of pestilence and famine
- The Black Plague (bubonic plague): transmitted by fleas and rats,
started in Kyrgyzstan, wiped out entire towns
- Stage Two is called the stage of receding pandemics
- Pandemic: disease that occurs over a wide area and affects a high
proportion of the population
- Improved sanitation, medicine, and nutrients reduced the spread
(Industrial Revolution)
- Construction of water sewage and pumps eradicated cholera

2. Epidemiologic Transition Stages Three and Four
- Stage Three is known as the stage of degenerative and human-
created diseases
- Heart attacks and cancer
- Extended to Stage Four by S. Jay Olshansky and Brian Ault
- Stage Four is known as the stage of delayed degenerative diseases
- Life expectancy is extended because of medical advances
- Medicine and bypasses operations, better diet, no smoking

3. Epidemiologic Transition Possible Stage Five
- The possibility of Stage Five is known as the stage of reemergence
of infectious diseases
- Reintroducing controlled diseases
- Evolution Infectious diseases have evolved to resist drugs
(malaria)
- Poverty Not able to get the medicine needed to finish treating
the disease (tuberculosis)
- Improved travel motor vehicles allow people to carry a disease to
another place or country (H1N1)
- AIDS