Geography

• Calculating population change:

  • Natural population change = birth rate - death rate
  • Overall population change = death rate - birth rate
• Death rate: the average number of deaths per 1000 people per year
• Birth rate: the average number of births per 1000 people per year
• Net migration: the average number of people moving into a country minus those moving out per 1000 people per year
• Overpopulation:

  • Occurs when a species' population exceeds the carrying capacity of its ecological niche
  • A large population does not necessarily mean it is overpopulated
• Underpopulation:

  • Occurs when a region or country has insufficient workers to exploit its resources efficiently, support retired populations, and provide growth
• Optimum population: the number of people, when working with all available resources, will produce the highest standard of living/quality of life
• Nigeria (case study for overpopulation):

  • Third most populated country in the world
  • 211 million people in 2021
  • Prediction of 400 million people by 2050
  • Fertility rate of 5.3
  • Overpopulation leads to poverty, crimes, and more people joining terrorist groups like Boko Haram
  • Government implementing policies for fertility rate control and improving quality of life
• Population policies:

  • Singapore: 'stop at two' policy with extra taxes for a third child and restrictions on education enrollment
  • China: 'Later, Longer, Fewer' policy to control fertility rate, including 'One family, one child' policy with incentives and punishments
• Australia (case study for underpopulation):

  • Same size as the USA but with less than 25 million people
  • Many areas empty due to deserts or harsh living conditions
  • Monthly salary of $7000
  • Daycare cost of $2500 monthly
  • Visa policies to allow migrants
  • Not enough resources for everyone in need
• Italy (case study for high dependency ratio):

  • 60 million residents
  • Dependency rate of 56.8%
  • Fertility rate of 1.3
  • High degree of dependency boosted by net migration
  • Aging population, low birth rate, and shrinking workforce
• Migration:

  • Migrants are people who move from one place to another to live or work
  • Types of migrants include asylum seekers, refugees, illegal immigrants, economic migrants, and internal migrants
• Factors influencing population density:

  • Population distribution shows where people live
  • Population density is the average number of people living in a given area
  • Calculated by total population divided by area of land (km2)
  • Areas can be densely or sparsely populated
• Japan (case study on high population density):

  • One of the most densely populated countries with a density of 350/km2
  • Population not evenly spread, coastal areas more populated
• Namibia (case study on low population density - Karas):

  • Area of 824,268 km2 with a population of 2.1 million
  • Capital is Windhoek with a population density of 3 per km2
  • Karas region has a population density of 0.4 km2 and characterized by sand dunes and hot, dry climate
• Settlements:

  • Nucleated settlements have clustered buildings surrounding a central point
  • Linear settlements are long and thin along rivers or roads
  • Dispersed settlements are scattered across countrysides
• Urban Land Use:

  • Central Business District (CBD) for industrial and residential zones
  • Rural-Urban fringe for transitional land between rural and urban areas
  • Different urban land use models for MEDCs and LEDCs
• Urban Problems and Solutions:

  • Problems include pollution, inequality, poor housing, traffic congestion, and urban sprawl
  • Solutions may involve urban planning, infrastructure development, and environmental conservation
• Rapid Urban growth:

  • Urbanisation is the increase in the proportion of people living in towns and cities
• Urbanisation is the increase in the proportion of people living in towns and cities
• Push factors cause people to move from rural areas, while pull factors attract them to urban areas
• Rural depopulation leads to a decrease in the population of rural areas
• Counter-urbanisation occurs when cities lose population as people move away to rural environments
• Factors causing movements include physical factors (droughts, natural disasters), economic factors (need to make a living), and social/political factors (desire for education, health care, safety)
• Tectonic plates:

  • Major tectonic plates: African, Antarctic, Indo Australian, North America, Pacific (largest), South America, Eurasian
  • Minor tectonic plates: Arabian, Caribbean, Cocos, Juan de Fuco, Indian, Nazca, Philippine Sea
• Plate Movements:

  • Divergent boundary: Away from each other, volcanoes present, earthquakes (weak)
  • Transformative Boundary
  • Convergent Boundary (Destructive boundary): Towards each other, oceanic plate subducts under continental plate, volcanoes present, earthquakes
  • Ridge: landform created at constructive boundary
  • Trench: landform created on convergent boundaries
• Volcanic terms:

  • Ash: Mixture of rock, mineral, and glass particles expelled from a volcano
  • Lava: Molten rock expelled from the interior of a planet
  • Crater: Circular depression caused by volcanic activity
  • Main vent: Outlet chamber allowing magma to reach the surface
  • Secondary vents: Smaller openings from which magma erupts, may cause additional craters
  • Layers of lava and ash: Symmetrical cone built of alternating layers of lava, ash, cinders, blocks, and bombs
  • Magma chamber: Large pool of liquid rock beneath Earth's surface
• • Pyroclastic flow: Extremely hot flow burning anything in its path, forms in various ways
• Subduction:

  • Action in plate tectonics where one crustal plate descends below another
  • Occurs at convergent boundaries, powerful earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and landslides occur in subduction zones
• Shield Volcanoes:

  • Found on divergent boundaries
  • Have gentle slopes, erupt fluid lavas called basalt
• Hot Spot:

  • Area over a mantle plume or under the crust with hotter magma
  • Facilitates melting of rock, magma rises through cracks to form volcanoes
• Earthquakes:

  • Sudden slipping of earth blocks along a fault or fault plane
  • Tectonic and volcanic earthquakes
  • Ways to limit earthquake damages: Education on response, building techniques (central column, stabilizers, proper foundation)
• Turkey earthquake:

  • First quake: 7.8 magnitude, followed by a 7.5 magnitude quake and aftershocks
  • Humanitarian and economic crisis, many casualties
  • Located between major tectonic plates, Anatolia plate under pressure against Eurasia and Arabia plates
• Benefits of Volcanoes:

  • Tourism: Bali, Napoli, Hawaii attract tourists
  • Fertile soil: Lava enriches soil with nutrients
  • Land formation: Volcanic actions create mountains, islands, seafloors
  • Geothermal energy: Heat from beneath Earth's surface used for electricity
  • Raw materials: Ash used for bricks, minerals like sulfur, gold, aluminum, copper, diamonds
• Rivers:

  • Water cycle stages: Evaporation, Evapotranspiration, Condensation, Precipitation, Interception, Infiltration, Percolation, Overland, Through, Ground flow
  • River characteristics: Width, Depth, Velocity, Wetted perimeter, Cross section area, Discharge
• Drainage Basin:

  • Area where all water flows to a single point
• Erosion:

  • Hydraulic action, Abrasion, Attrition, Solution
  • Vertical and Lateral erosion
• Transportation:

  • Solution Load: Minerals dissolved in water
  • Suspension Load: Light minerals carried near the surface
• Transportation in rivers:

  • Solution Load: Minerals are dissolved and carried in the solution
  • Suspension Load: Very light minerals are carried near the surface, giving the river its color
  • Saltation Load: Small pebbles and stones are bouncing along the riverbed
  • Traction Load: Heavy boulders and rocks are rolled along the riverbed
• Deposition in rivers:

  • A river deposits materials, such as huge rocks, when its energy decreases