Chapter Two

Question 1

Carrying Capacity

Answer 1

The maximum population size of a species that the environment can sustain indefinitely, given the available resources such as food and water.

Question 2

Overpopulation

Answer 2

Occurs when the number of people exceeds the capacity of the environment to support life at a decent standard of living.

Question 3

Demography

Answer 3

The scientific study of population characteristics. Demographers look statistically at how people are distributed spatially by age, gender, occupation, fertility, health, and so on.

Question 4

Census

Answer 4

The single most important data source for population geography.

Question 5

Why is the Census controversial?

Answer 5

Non-participation and sampling.

Question 6

Non-Participation

Answer 6

People who are homeless, ethnic minorities, and citizens of other countries who do not have proper immigration documents may be less likely to complete the census form. These individuals may fear that the census could turn over the forms to another government agency, such as the FBI or the Department of Homeland Security in the United States.

Question 7

Sampling

Answer 7

Statistical sampling techniques can be utilized to get a more accurate count as well as to identify detailed characteristics of people, housing, and businesses. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that sampling may not be used to redraw Congressional district boundaries. Politicians sympathetic to the needs of people who are homeless and immigrants have been especially vocal in support of sampling, whereas those from small towns and rural areas, where the census count is more accurate, are more inclined to oppose it.

Question 8

Two Thirds of World’s population are in what four regions?

Answer 8

East Asia, South Asia, Europe, and Southeast Asia.

Question 9

Ecumene

Answer 9

The portion of Earth’s surface occupied by permanent human settlement.

Question 10

Arithmetic Density

Answer 10

The total number of objects in an area. To compute the arithmetic density, divide the population by the land area.

Question 11

Arable Land

Answer 11

Land suited for agriculture.

Question 12

Physiological Density

Answer 12

The number of people per unit area of arable land.

Question 13

Agricultural Density

Answer 13

The ratio of the number of farmers to the amount of arable land.

Question 14

Natural Increase Rate (NIR)

Answer 14

The percentage by which a population grows in a year.

Question 15

Doubling Time

Answer 15

The number of years needed to double a population, assuming a constant rate of natural increase.

Question 16

Crude Birth Rate (CBR)

Answer 16

The total number of live births in a year for every 1,000 people alive in the society.

Question 17

Total Fertility Rate (TFR)

Answer 17

The average number of children a woman will have throughout her childbearing years.

Question 18

Infant Mortality Rate (IMR)

Answer 18

The annual number of deaths of infants under one year of age, compared with total live births. (Can reflect the quality of a country’s healthcare system)

Question 19

Crude Death Rate (CDR)

Answer 19

The total number of deaths in a year for every 1,000 people alive in the society.

Question 20

Demographic Transition

Answer 20

A process of change in a society’s population from high crude birth and death rates and low rate of natural increase to a condition of low crude birth and death rates, low rate of natural increase, and higher total population.

Question 21

Industrial Revolution

Answer 21

A series of improvements in industrial technology that transformed the process of manufacturing goods.

Question 22

Medical Revolution

Answer 22

Medical technology invented in Europe and North America that has diffused to the poorer countries in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Improved medical practices have eliminated many of the traditional causes of death in poorer countries and enabled people to live longer and healthier lives.

Question 23

Zero Population Growth (ZPG)

Answer 23

A decline of the total fertility rate to the point where the natural increase rate equals zero.

Question 24

Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR)

Answer 24

The annual number of female deaths per 100,000 live births from any cause related to or aggravated by pregnancy.

Question 25

Sex Ratio

Answer 25

The number of males per 100 females in the population.

Question 26

Life Expectancy

Answer 26

The average number of years an individual can be expected to live, given current social, economic, and medical conditions. Life expectancy at birth measures the average number of years a newborn infant can expect to live.

Question 27

Potential Support Ratio

Answer 27

The number of working-age people (ages 15 to 64) divided by the number of persons 65 and older.

Question 28

Population Pyramid

Answer 28

A bar graph that displays the percentage of a place’s population for each age and gender.

Question 29

Dependency Ratio

Answer 29

The number of people who are too young or too old to work compared to the number of people in their productive years.

Question 30

Epidemiology

Answer 30

The branch of medical science concerned with the incidence, distribution, and control of diseases that are prevalent among a population at a particular time and are produced by some special causes not generally present in the affected place.

Question 31

Epidemiologic Transition

Answer 31

The process of change in the distinctive causes of death in each stage of the demographic transition.

Question 32

Epidemic

Answer 32

A widespread occurrence of an infectious disease in a community at a particular time.

Question 33

Pamdemic

Answer 33

An epidemic that occurs over a wide geographic area and affects a very high proportion of the population at the same time.