Population dynamics

Question 1

Birth rate is…

Answer 1

the number of births in a year per 1,000 population.

Question 2

Death rate is…

Answer 2

the number of deaths per 1,000 population in a given year.

Question 3

Infant mortality rate is…

Answer 3

number of infant deaths (below the age of one) per thousand per year

Question 4

Life expectancy is…

Answer 4

average number of years that individuals are expected to live depending on where and when they are born and spend their lives. May be derived on national, regional or local scale.

Question 5

Population density is…

Answer 5

the number of people per unit area, usually people per square kilometre.

Question 6

Population policies are…

Answer 6

government interventions to try and control high population growth, stimulate low population growth or control the distribution of people within a country.

Question 7

Death rates fall due to…

Answer 7

• Improved medical care – vaccinations, hospitals, doctors, new drugs and scientific inventions.
• Improved sanitation and water supply.
• Improvements in food production (both quality and quantity).
• Improved transport to move food, doctors etc.
• A decrease in child mortality

Question 8

Birth rates fall due to…

Answer 8

• Family planning – contraceptives, sterilisation, abortion and government incentives.
• A lower infant mortality rate meaning less need to have so many children.
• Increased desire for material possessions (cars, holidays, bigger homes) and less for large families.
• More opportunities for women, enabling them to follow their own careers rather than being solely child bearers.

Question 9

Describe stage 1 of the DTM

Answer 9

Total population is low but it is balanced due to high birth rates and high death rates.

Little population growth - stable

Question 10

Describe stage 2 of the DTM

Answer 10

Total population rises as death rates rapidly fall due to improvements in health care and sanitation. Meanwhile birth rates remain high.

Question 11

Describe stage 4 of the DTM

Answer 11

Total population is high but stops increasing as fast. Death rate is contant and birth rate is around the same level. Birth control is widely available and there is a desire for smaller families.

Question 12

Describe stage 3 of the DTM

Answer 12

Total population is still rising rapidly. Death rate is stable and low while birth rate is starts decreasing. The gap between birth and death rates narrows due to the availability of contraception and fewer children being needed to work - due to the mechanisation of farming.

Question 13

Describe stage 5 of DTM

Answer 13

Total population is high but going into decline due to an ageing population. Birth rates lower than death rates as there is a continued desire for smaller families, with people opting to have children later in life.

Question 14

What are some limitations of the model?

Answer 14

• In many developed countries birth rates have fallen below death rates e.g. Germany, Sweden, hence the 5th stage was added
• The model assumes all countries will pass through the stages, it now seems unlikely that all developing countries will ever develop fully.
• Some countries grow as a consequence of emigration e.g. Australia and Canada, and so did not pass through the early stages of the model.

Question 15

What are features of a developing population pyramid?

Answer 15

• Wide base/ high birth rate
• Narrows quickly
• Concave shape
• Short in height/ low life expectancy
• Usually youthful population

Question 16

What are features of a developed population pyramid?

Answer 16

• Narrow base/ lowbirth rate
• Almost constant width
• Convex shape
• Tall in height/ high life expectancy
• Usually ageing population

Question 17

Some issues of a youthful population are…

Answer 17

• High dependancy ratio
• Pressure on housing – not enough housing, people living in slums.
• Pressure on schooling – illiterate population and hard to learn in overcrowded classrooms.
• Pressure on food supplies - famine, food distribution difficulties.
• Potential for further population growth as these young people grow older, get married and have children. This will contine to add pressure to schooling, food supplies, housing and health services.
• Pressure on health services – a growth in diseases being spread around and not being dealt with adequatly to stop the spread.
• Pressure on working populations (economically active) to support the young and old.

Question 18

Problems of ageing population include…

Answer 18

• More people too old to work, which causes the government to gain less money.
• Elderly people need medical care, so government spends more money to care for growing elderly population
• More taxes to help supply the medical care for the growing elderly population
• Tax percent raise
• High dependency rate

Question 19

What are solutions to an ageing population?

Answer 19

• Raise the retirement age and draw more people into the work force
• Admit more immigrants
• Encourage more babies
• Enforce pro-natalist policies

Question 20

Waht are solutions to a youthful population?

Answer 20

• Improve the quantity and quality of schooling.
• Enforce laws to prevent early marriage (before age 18).
• Encourage young people’s participation in public life
• Leagalize abortion
• Implement anti-natalist policies to encourage fewer children.

Question 21

Overpopulation is…

Answer 21

when there are more than enough people to exploit all the resources of an area such that the marginal return to each person is lower than that of the optimal population.

Question 22

Underpopulation is…

Answer 22

when the population is not sufficient to make full use of all the resources available and so standards of living are not as high as they could be.

Question 23

Optimum population is…

Answer 23

the theoretical number of people required in a particular place at a particular time to maximise the return to each individual from all the available resources.