Case study Geography

• Population of Nigeria is 206.1 million, the population of Lagos is 15 million people, urban population is 111,505,415
• Specific Problems in Nigerian cities

  • Lagos - heavy traffic and congestion
  • Port Harcourt - Pollution of air and water by oil
  • Kano - not enough housing
  • Yola - shortage of food and water
  • Jos - high crime rate
  • Ibadan - not enough health care
• Why is death rate falling in Niger?

  Death rates are falling in Niger because there is better education about health and hygiene around the country. Babies are being inoculated against diseases and are being treated when they are ill as there are more hospitals and medical services with educated doctors and nurses. There is also a wider variety of food and services of clean water have been improved.
• Why do people want large families in Niger?

  People in Niger do not realise the consequences of having so many children. For them, children mean a way to earn more money and people to look after them when they grow old. Stopping families from having so many children will automatically make them poor, and therefore their personal issues make them more concerned than the future of the country.
• The government is trying to educate religious leaders and women on family planning and that the number of early marriages should be delayed.
• Why has the death rate increased in Russia?

  Because of the increase of alcohol poisoning, suicide and homocide.
• Why has the birth rate decreased in Russia?

  Women are expected to go to study and work so they are too busy and poor to have children.
• The government offered almost ten thousand dollars to any woman who was going to have a second child.
• Push Factors for migration from India to Qatar

  Extreme poverty
• Pull Factors for migration from India to Qatar

  Higher wages, better services
• Positive Impacts for Home (India) of migration to Qatar

  • With the men away, overpopulation will slowly decrease
  • Remitence – less poverty
  • Workers might learn skills to bring back to India
• Positive Impacts for Host (Qatar) of migration from India


  • Workers do all the work for the Qataris
  • Population is controlled
  • India is closeby
  • Don't have to pay them a large salary
• Negative Impacts for Home (India) of migration to Qatar


  • Many families separated
  • Workers could be living in poor conditions, not treated fairly
  • Men are not there to do work in India
• Negative Impacts for Host (Qatar) of migration from India


  • Illnesses brought from around the world
  • Depending entirely on foreign workers
  • More workers than Qataris which creates an imbalance in the population
  • Culture and society changes with more workers than locals (or is that a positive?)
• Italy has an ageing population because its largest age group is 50-54 years, with a little more than half of that amount for 20-24 year olds.
• Dependency ratio


  Age dependency ratio (% of working-age population) in Italy was reported at 57.44 % (INCREASED DEPENDENCY RATIO)
• Problems of an ageing population

  • Increased costs to the economy
  • Increased pressure on health services
  • Increased competition for jobs or decreased participation in the workforce
  • Potential less funding for young people
  • Increased dependency ratio
• Main islands of Japan

  • Hoddaiko (North)
  • Honshu (Middle, largest)
  • Shikoku (below Honshu)
  • Kyushu (South West)
• Why does everybody live by the sea in Japan?

  There is a higher population density in regions near the coast, as there are no mountains and it is easier to build. There can also be ports for import, export and fishing on the coast. Because of this, road and rail networks and airports are easy to use.
• Explain: Low-density rural areas in Japan


  Places with lower population density would be in places with higher terrain because the weather is extreme (long, cold winters, heavy rain or snow) and it is difficult to expand. Soil is also thin, acidic and infertile, and there isn't enough flat land for farming anyway. There is little other than forestry and few natural resources to gain from this land. Many areas are remote and isolated as the winding roads are poor and there are few if any communications.
• Explain: High-density rural areas in Japan

  Flat valley floors (making it easy to use farm machinery), gently sloping lower slopes (easy to grow crops on), fertile soil, warm temperate climate, good roads and railways making it possible to live in the countryside and work in the cities.
• Explain: High-density urban areas in Japan


  There is a higher population density in regions near the coast, as there are no mountains and it is easier to build. There can also be ports for import, export and fishing on the coast. You also have factories, towns and cities, road and rail networks, airports, offices and other commercial buildings.
• Causes of low population density in Namibia


  hot, dry climate… rainfall sparse and erratic and there are long periods of drought
• Hierarchy of settlements in Sardinia

  • Cagliari—250,000+ (population)
  • Olbia & Sassari—50,000 to 250,000
  • Carbonia—15,000 to 49,999
  • Bosa & Tortoli—5000 to 14,999
  • Dispersed settlements/hamlets/small villages—less than 5000
• Settlement function of Cagliari

  Capital city, Main commercial & industrial centre of island, Has one of Italy's largest fish markets (for public and trade purposes), One of the biggest container terminals in the Mediterranean sea.
• Settlement function of Carbonia

  Built to provide housing for workforce of nearby mines (bc resource abundant in this region), Since mines closed in the 1970s, high unemployment.
• Settlement function of Busa

  West coast of Sardinia, 3 km inland on the bank of Temo River, Traditionally, agriculture and fishing played an important role in the economy, Now growing in popularity for tourism because of its beaches
• High-order services found only in Olbia


  • Hospitals
  • Supermarkets
  • Banks
  • Car dealerships
• Growth of Atlanta


  Growth caused by newcomers from the Great Lakes + the northeast where unemployment is high and cost of living is expensive
• Problems caused by growth of Atlanta

  • Traffic congestion (leads to air and noise pollution)
  • Air pollution
  • Lack of affordable housing
  • Urban sprawl
• Traffic congestion in Atlanta

  There are 50,000 km of roads in Atlanta. 90% of residents drive to work, experiencing 68 hours of delay per year.
• Air quality in Atlanta

  Traffic congestion causes increases in respiratory illnesses such as emphysema, bronchitis and asthma. Air stagnates in Atlanta so fumes from vehicles are rarely blown away.
• Loss of green space/ecosystems in Atlanta


  Between 1982 and 2002 over 38% of green space within Atlanta's city boundary was built on. The city loses an average of 125 hectares of trees per day by deforestation. Ecosystems suffer as wildlife dies or migrates away.
• Investment in public transport which combines light rail with new pedestrian and bike links. Brownfield fields are being regenerated in the city rather than further extending the city's boundaries and building on greenfield sites. For example, a former steel mill site is being turned into an office space, 5000 high-rise homes, townhouses and single-family homes.
• Traditional living in the Peruvian Andes mountains

  Live by combining agriculture with paid work inside the village. Due to steep slopes and unpredictable climate, farming is a difficult job and yields are often low.
• Reasons for migration to Lima

  Traditional members would go to towns (e.d. Cuzco or Huancayo) to find work but if not => Migration to cities in hopes for a better life
• Pull factors for migration to Lima


  Better services, e.g. water, electricity, sewage disposal, Better job opportunities to be able to afford clothes and food, Not enough agricultural land (shared between sons)
• Push factors for migration to Lima


  Drought, other natural hazards, Low prices for agricultural products
• Experience of migrants in Lima

  Racial discrimination, separation from family, better-quality services (e.g. electricity & water), better school for migrants' children, low pay and long working hours, forced to live in self-built houses/the streets
• Cause of the Haiti earthquake

  It was caused by a conservative margin, both plates move in the same direction, but one moves faster than the other. The epicentre was 20 km West of Port-au-Prince and had a shallow focus of 8 km.