Population Geography Vocabulary

Age Distribution • How many people are in each age category and comparing them

to each other• Young, middle aged, & old• Can be seen on a population pyramid • Are there enough people of working age to take care of the needs

of the young and old?• What are the dominant needs of society? Child care & education

or healthcare & pension funds• How many people will enter the labor market in the near future

when they become of working age?• What are the retirement projections?

Infant Mortality Rate• Number of deaths in a sample of 1000 babies

below age one in a given year.• Indicator of how good the healthcare system

is and how the developed a country is

Mortality • Number of deaths in a sample of 1000 of any

age group in a given year

Overpopulation• When the number of people

exceeds available resources • Overcrowding.• Third world countries are

often suffering from this because of their high growth rate

• China & India both have over one Billion people

• Can displace people and worsen poverty, lead to famine, & stress environment

Population Density

• Number of people divided by are• How many people live on average in each

square mile• How close together we live

Population Distribution• Looking at where people live• Are there clusters of high population density

on the map?• Urban vs. rural• Most people live near major bodies of water

such as the coast

In Canada , most people live in the warmer South

Population Pyramids• Shows the age distribution of a population

divided between male and female

Sex Ratio• How many women are there compared to the

number of men• Ideal is balanced• Women live longer than men• In China, due to the one child policy, many

people have preferred their only child to be a boy, leading to a shortage of women for all the men to marry.

Standard of Living• Measure of people’s wealth • Can you afford to pay for your cost of living?

Do you live in a house or apartment? Do you have a car? Do you go on vacation?

• Needs vs. wants

Sustainability• When resources get used slow enough for them

to replenish • This means do not overfish or over log the forest • Only renewable resources can be used

sustainably, non renewable do not come back• Recycling as well as controlling harvests and

increased efficiency can help • Are the resources still going to be there for our

children?

Total Fertility Rate• The average number of children a woman will have

in her lifetime in a given population. • Ranges from 5 to 6 in Africa to below 2 in Europe or

Japan• Usually, the more educated a woman is and the

more developed the country, the less children she is going to have

Crude Birth Rate• Number of babies born to a sample of 1000 people

per year. • Is highest in developing world and lowest in

industrialized countries

Crude Death Rate • Number of people dying in a sample of 1000 people

per year.

Growth Rate = Birth Rate – Death Rate

Underpopulation• When there are not enough people to sustain a

culture, economy or country• When land is populated below its carrying capacity • In Russia for example, the population is decreasing

and entire villages are emptying because the birth rate is too low to replace all the older people dying away.

Brain Drain• The loss of skilled labor to places/countries

with better opportunities• Reason for why the Berlin Wall was built. • Third world countries economic development

is hurt by it.

Chain Migration• When one migrant follows another to the

same place to reunite with family, take advantage of the same opportunities and to be amongst familiar people in the new country.

Guest Workers• Foreign workers invited to the country temporarily

to fill a critical labor shortage in a certain area.• Sent home remittances • Many end up overstaying their visa• For example, Germany invited many guest workers

from Turkey into the country decades ago. They never left, and now Turks for the largest minority in Germany.

Internal Migration• Movement of people

within one country • For example, during the

Great Migration, many African Americans left the rural southern U.S. and moved to northern cities for industrial jobs about a century ago.

Push Factor• Reasons to move away from a place such as

war, persecution and poverty.

Pull Factors• Attractive reasons to move to a place such as

freedom and work opportunity

Voluntary Migration

• Moving by your own choice and will to improve your life

Life Expectancy • The average age at death• Is highest in developed world (around 80) and

lowest in Africa (around 55)

Urbanization• The process of people moving from the

country to the city. Cities grow as a result.• Is highest in developed/industrialized

countries• In poor countries, most people still live on

their farm

Infrastructure• Physical support networks to keep a society

functioning• Includes transportation networks such as

roads and bridges as well as power lines, schools and hospitals

Famine• Starvation often due to crop failure or

overpopulation• Effects the poorest parts of the world that rely

on subsistence farming

Sustainable Development• Construction and growth that does not harm

the environment and leads to no net resource loss . Going green.

Urban Sprawl

• Expansion of suburbs on the edge of cities.• Can take up large tracks of land

Immigration

• Movement of people into a country of the due to push and pull factors

Renewable Resources • Replenish and grow back such as forests,

fisheries and wind energy

Non Renewable Resources

• There is a finite amount that can get used up.• Examples include oil, coal, and iron ore• Recycling is a good idea

Deforestation• The clearing and cutting down of the forest for

farm land, wood and mining• Currently a major problem the rainforests of

the world • Leads to soil erosion and contributes to

climate change

Age Cohort • People of the same generation with a

common identity • Example is the baby boomers in America born

in 1950s and now all about to retire

Demography

• The study of population patterns