IB Geography/Populations in transition

Definitions You Should Know

Core and Periphery: The concept of a developed core surrounded by an undeveloped periphery. This concept can be applied at various scales
Ecological Footprint: The theoretical measurement of the amount of land or water a population requires to produce the resources it consumes and to absorb its waste under prevailing technology.
Global Climate Change: The changes in global patterns of rainfall and temperature, sea level habitats and the incidences of droughts, floods and storms, resulting from changes in the Earth's atmosphere, believed to be mainly caused by the enhanced greenhouse effect.
GNI (Gross National Income): The total value of goods and services produced within a country together with the balance of income and payments from other countries.
Migration: The movement of people, involving a change of residence. It can be internal or external (international) and voluntary or forced. It does not include temporary circulations such as commuting or tourism.
Remittances: The transfer of money/goods by foreign workers to their home countries.
Soil Degradation: A severe reduction in the quality of soils. The term includes soul erosion, salinization and soil exhaustion (loss of fertility).

Africa and North America are two contrasting continents. The most obvious one being that Africa is a less economically developed continent and North America is a more economically developed continent. Many factors convey why a country is either named an LEDC or a MEDC. These factors include birth rates, mortality rates, fertility rates, and life expectancy. Birth rates in Africa tend to be higher because there’s limited education about birth control. Africa also has one of the highest death rates because of the poor healthcare and lifestyles. One large element that relates to deaths is HIV/AIDS, which has spread in many parts of Africa and causes millions of deaths over years. The lack of birth control has not helped this situation and has also led to infant deaths. However, in North America the numbers are much lower because large families are not ideal. Women are mostly in the workforce and all are not focused on having families. There is also a better healthcare system and living environment which establishes healthy surroundings for children. Also, birth control is commonly used. North America has the lowest mortality numbers across the board. However, fertility rates have recently made a gradual increase.

LEDC’s are usually pretty recognizable. This is because their population pyramids usually have expansive concave sides or straight sides (stage 1 and 2 countries). This type of pyramid indicates that there are many youth in the country and not a lot of elderly. It shows that the life expectancy is not high, but that the birth rates are very high. Some countries are a little more developed than the least developed countries, but are still considered to be LEDC’s because there is a range, and a country doesn’t really become ‘more economically developed’ until it hits stage 3.

The characteristics common to MEDC’s are that they tend to have a higher population in the workforce, and a higher elderly population. The life expectancy is very high. The pyramid if an MEDC would be more convex. The birth rates are also much lower and families are smaller. Countries like Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Russia are stages 3 and 4. When observing the population pyramid for Russia, it is noticed that they probably have the largest elderly population of any country. While Canada has a noticeably large number of people at the working age because Canada is a country open to migration to support the country.

Problems faced in LEDC cities • Poor electricity and power supplies • Pollution • Lack of clean water • Few employment opportunities • Traffic problems • Poverty • Drugs, gangs and violence • Poor education and health provision • Poor sewerage systems • Poor rubbish collection • Lack of shelter

Population Pyramids

- tell us about the age and sex structure of a population - a prediction of what the future population will look like - help the gov. to plan services, and facilities (such as schools, and hospitals) which are needed for the future - also shows the employed population group

Population momentum: is the tendency for population to grow despite a fall in birth rate or fertility levels. It is also the tendency for a population to continue to fall despite a rise in the birth rate.

Doubling time: is the length of time it takes for a population to double in size, assuming the natural growth rate remains constant.

Population projections: are predictions about future population based on trends in fertility, mortality, and migration.

The dependency ratio tells you how many economically inactive people (0-15 and 65+) are dependent upon the economically active population (16 to 64). The equation calculates a figure which shows the number of economically inactive people that are reliant on 100 economically active people. So a result such as 81.8 would mean that for every 100 economically active people there are 81.8 economically inactive people.

Life Expectancy in Rich Countries

• Increasing is fast that half the babies born in 2007 we will live to be at least 104, and half the Japanese babies born that year will reach the age of 107 • People could be living not only longer, but also better • People are surviving chronic illnesses such as cancers and heart conditions, because they are being diagnosed earlier and receiving better treatment • Shorter working weeks might further increase health and life expectancy • Over the 20th century there were huge increases in life expectancy – more than 30 years – in most developing countries

Migration

PUSH

- Conflicts/War - No job - Lack of services - Education - Health - Infrastructure - Laws on movement - Risk of hunger - Lack of land - Natural disasters

PULL

- Family - Better services - Education - Health - Infrastructure - Employment - Peace - Freedom to move - Freedom to practice beliefs - Free speech

What is rural-urban migration? Rural-urban migration is the movement of people from the countryside to the city. This causes two things to happen: 1. Urban growth - towns and cities are expanding, covering a greater area of land. 2. Urbanisation - an increasing proportion of people living in towns and cities. Mega cities - those with over 10 million people.

When are death rates high? Lack of clean water, Lack of food, Poor hygiene, Contagious diseases, Overcrowding, Respiratory infections.

The population of China, the world's most populous country, is projected to reach 1.39 billion by the end of 2015, with those age 60 or over topping 200 million people, said Li Bin, head of the country's top population policy agency.