Demography

• Calculating population change:
• Natural population change = birth rate - death rate
• Overall population change = death rate - birth rate
• Birth rate = average number of births per 1000 people per year
• Death rate = average number of deaths per 1000 people per year
• Net migration = 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 overpopulation
• 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 that, 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 with 211 million people in 2021
• Predicted to reach 400 million people by 2050 with a fertility rate of 5.3
• Overpopulation leads to poverty, crimes, and more people joining terrorist groups like Boko Haram
• Government implementing policies to control fertility rate and improve quality of life
• Australia (case study for underpopulation):
• Similar size to the USA but with less than 25 million people
• Many areas empty due to deserts or harsh living conditions, leading to concentration of population in coastal areas
• Challenges include high cost of living and not enough resources for everyone in need
• Population policies:
• Singapore: 'stop at two' policy introduced to reduce fertility rate
• China: 'One family, one child' policy aimed to control population growth, but led to issues like aging population and workforce shrinkage
• Migration:
• Definition: 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
• Italy (case study for high dependency ratio):
• 60 million residents with a dependency rate of 56.8%
• Challenges include low fertility rate, aging population, and economic struggles
• Solutions include redefining 'old', promoting healthy lifestyles, and increasing birth rates
• Factors influencing population density:
• Population distribution refers to where people live, while population density is the average number of people in a given area
• Japan (case study on high population density): Population density of 350/km2 with uneven distribution
• Namibia (case study on low population density): Population density of 3 per km2, one of the driest and most sparsely populated countries
• Settlements:
• Nucleated settlements: Clustered buildings around a central point, often near rivers or crossroads
• Linear settlements: Long and thin, typically along rivers or roads where flat land is limited
• Dispersed settlements: Scattered across countryside, surrounded by farmland