Population Geography IThe Where and Why of Population
•Density •Distribution•Demographics (Characteristics)
•Dynamics
Cultural Hearths of Civilization
5000 BC
Year 1
1500
1900
World Population
World Population Cartogram
Population by continents
Density of World Population
Blackout of 2003
Select Population Densities(people/mi2)
• Lower 48 states 94.7• Japan 830• NJ 1134• Lincoln Co., NV 0.4
• California 217• Santa Clara Co. 1304• San Francisco. 10,632• Manhattan 66,834
Population Densities(people/mi2)
Canada 8Russia 22United States 80
Holland 1002Bangladesh 2261
Egypt
173 people/mi2
3% of area inhabited
Nile River6000 people/mi2
High density in Bangladesh
Distribution:Why do we live where we live?
Population Distribution in North America
Trans-Siberian railroadsin eastern Russia
Omsk
Demography:Population characteristics
• Ascribed characteristics
• Achieved characteristics
Characteristics
• Ascribed– Gender– Race– Age
• Achieved– Education– Income– Occupation– Employment– Etc.
Census:Count of population
and its characteristics
Dynamics
Rate of Natural Increase (RNI)
Births - Deaths
=RNI
National population
Births - Deaths+ Immigration (in)- Emigration (out)
=Population growth
Population increase and decrease
World Birth Rate(births per 1,000 population)
Doubling Time
Number of yearsit will take for population to double, at current rate
United States: 117 years
Nicaragua: 21 years
World Death Rate(deaths per 1,000 population)
Epidemics (AIDS)
Infant mortality rate(deaths of infants <1 year old)
Lack of maternal health care or child nutrition
Philadelphia Infant MortalityRed area high thanat least 28 “ThirdWorld” countries, including:
JamaicaCubaCosta RicaMalaysiaPanamaSri LankaSouth KoreaTaiwanUruguayArgentinaChile
Life Expectancy at Birth
AGE DYNAMICS
• Dependents are under 15 & over 65
• How many are supported by 15-65 group
• Problems?
Dependency Ratio
• Low birth and death rates in Core
• Low population growth(except immigration)
• Steadily older population
“Graying of the Core”
Comparison of U.S. eras
Baby Bust (1965-1980)
Baby Boom (1946-1964)
Baby Boom impacts yet to come
• Strain on Social Security
• Growing health care costs
• Challenge to youth identity (Gen. X)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
2000 2030
Millionsover 65in U.S.
Population Pyramidtracks age-sex groups (cohorts)
U.S. (slow growth)
Tanzania, Africa (rapid growth)
Denmark (zero growth)
Germany (effect of wars)
Japan (effect of war)
China (One-child policy)
Canada, 1971-2006
Russia, 1990-2006
Arabian Peninsula, 1980sLabor sending : Labor receiving
Sun City (Arizona) retirement community
Eau Claire County
5.7% 6.3%
Grafton Co., N.H. (1970)Two years before Dartmouth went co-ed
Different neighborhoods of Tucson
Demographic Transition
Move from high birth and death ratesto low birth and death rates
Took centuries of developmentfor Core to make transition
More difficult for Peripheryto make transition without itsown capital, skills, education
Demographic Transition
Stages ofDemographic
Transition 1. Pre-Industrial Equilibrium(high birth/death rates)
2. Early Industrialization(better sanitation)
3. Developed industrialization(better health care)
4. Post-Industrial Equilibrium(low birth/death rates)
1 2 3 4
Demographic Transition in Denmark
Core (low birth/death rates)
Demographic Transition in Chile
Semi-periphery
Demographic Transition in Cape Verde, Africa
Periphery (high birth/death rates)
POPULATION GROWTH
Population growthin Periphery:
Cause or symptomof poverty and environmental degradation?
Fertility Rate(# children per woman of childbearing age)
Not confirmed in reality
Malthus Theory of “Overpopulation”
Ehrlich Theory of “Population Bomb”
• Population growth would deplete resources– Can be true on local/national level
• Treats population as cause
Core responsibility for Periphery growth
• Core consumes far more resources
• Demands cheap, unskilled young labor
• Population growth is a symptom of poverty
Why parents in Periphery have kids
Better chance for one kid to survive
Bring in the crops and income
Help parents in old age
Women often lack power to not have kids
Women’s empowerment:Contraception Rates
Policies to lower birth rate
• Voluntary– Availability of birth control – Incentives for small families
• Forced– One-child policy (China)– Coercive “population control”
•Social–Empowerment of women–Better health care and education–End to child labor–Social security
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