Chapter 14 - Terms Flashcards
demography
the study of the size, composition, (growth or shrinkage), and distribution of human populations
Malthus theorem
an observation by Thomas Malthus that although the food supply increases arithmetically (from 1 to 2 to 3 to 4 and so on), population grows geometrically (from 2 to 4 to 8 to 16 and so forth)
exponential growth curve
a pattern of growth in which numbers double during approximately equal intervals, showing a steep acceleration in the later stages
demographic transition
a three-stage historical process of change in the size of populations: first, high birth rates and high death rates; second, high birth rates and low death rates; and third, low birth rates and low death rates; a fourth stage of population shrinkage in which deaths outnumber births has made its appearance in the Most Industrialized Nations
population shrinkage
the process by which a country’s population becomes smaller because its birth rate and immigration are too low to replace those who die and emigrate
population pyramid
a graph that represents the age and sex of a population (see Figure 20.7)
demographic variables
the three factors that change the size of a population: fertility, mortality, and net migration
fertility rate
the number of children that the average woman bears
fecundity
the number of children that women are capable of bearing
crude birth rate
the annual number of live births per 1,000 population
crude death rate
the annual number of deaths per 1,000 population
net migration rate
the difference between the number of immigrants and emigrants per 1,000 population
basic demographic equation
the growth rate equals births minus deaths plus net migration
growth rate
the net change in a population after adding births, subtracting deaths, and either adding or subtracting net migration; can result in a negative number
zero population growth
women bearing only enough children to reproduce the population
urbanization
the process by which an increasing proportion of a population lives in cities and has a growing influence on the culture
city
a place in which a large number of people are permanently based and do not produce their own food
metropolis
a central city surrounded by smaller cities and their suburbs
megalopolis
an urban area consisting of at least two metropolises and their many suburbs
megacity
a city of 10 million or more residents
metropolitan statistical area (MSA)
a central city and the urbanized counties adjacent to it
edge city
a large clustering of service facilities and residential areas near highway intersections that provides a sense of place to people who live, shop, and work there
gentrification
middle-class people moving into a rundown area of a city, displacing the poor as they buy and restore homes
suburbanization
the migration of people from the city to the suburbs
