Population

World’s population is growing fastest in the developing countries (Tanzania) and slower in the developed countries (United Kingdom).In countries like Japan population is decreasing. According to the UN, world’s population will reach 9 billion by 2050 and 10 billion by 2100. Population growth is the difference between birth-rate and death-rate per thousand (‰)

Census

Census is a survey carried out every 10 years by the government to collect information on: • Demographic data: number of people, age and

gender.• Social data: marital status, citizenship, ethnic

group, religion , languages spoken, and education.• Economic data: occupation, income,

unemployment, type of housing, car ownership and mode of transport used to get to work.

Advantages of doing a census:

• Government can forecast demographic change and plan ahead on how to best spend and save the country’s tax revenue (health care, social services, education, pension, housing, transport and other infrastructure)

• Academics use the data to study the changes in society

• Genealogists use old census to trace ancestry

Disadvantage of doing a census:

• It is very expensive – last census on 2011 cost the UK government £480 million. Cost of carrying out a census is too expensive for some developing countries.

• Takes at least two years to process the information – by that time the information is out of date.

• Result isn’t 100% accurate – people write false information or not return census at all.

Reasons for inaccuracies in Developing Countries:

Size of a country:

Some country’s territories are vast – for example India is 13 times bigger than UK which makes it very difficult to cover every bit of the country

Reasons for inaccuracies in Developing Countries:

The terrain: mountainous countries like Nepal and Pakistan have poor roads or no roads to access population in remote areas

Reasons for inaccuracies in Developing Countries:

The climate: some roads become impassable during Hurricane/rain season

Reasons for inaccuracies in Developing Countries:

Nomadic population: Nomadic people move frequently as part of their traditional lifestyle which makes it very difficult to get an accurate count of the population.

≈ 4% of Tanzania’s population is considered to be nomadic (Maasai and Luo).

Reasons for inaccuracies in Developing Countries:

Literacy rate: Afghanistan’s literacy rate is 28% - Majority of the population is illiterate this means they can read the census question and write their answers properly. Need to use Enumerators People are unwilling to give private information to government census workers

Reasons for inaccuracies in Developing Countries:

Communication: In countries like India there are more than 10 languages spoken. Census will have to be translated which adds to the cost. Not every meaning of the question is translated accurately. In Papua New Guinea 820 difference indigenous languages are spoken.

Reasons for inaccuracies in Developing Countries:

Lack of trust: Countries like Rwanda (1994) has suffered major civil unrest. This could mean people are less likely to trust the government and therefore less likely to answer the questions honestly.

Reasons for inaccuracies in Developing Countries:

Cost of carrying out the census: most developing countries lack the money and other resources to do a census every 10 years.Lack the technology to process the information efficiently.

Reasons for inaccuracies in Developing Countries:

Inflated numbers: Community leaders may encourage the local population to write inflated population numbers in hope of getting more funding for services from the central government.In some states in Nigeria, domestic animals were counted as part of “family” to inflate the population.

Reasons for inaccuracies in Developing Countries:

Exceptional events: in summer of 2014 much of West Africa is under the threat from the Ebola virus.

Sierra Leone is scheduled to hold a census in December 2014 – this may prove to be very difficult was some areas of the country maybe under quarantine and in accessible. Whilst epidemic can happen anywhere in the world, developing countries find it harder to control the diseases due to lack of resources.

Reasons for inaccuracies in Developing Countries:

Current civil unrest: Syria is scheduled to hold a census in 2014, however due to the unstable political situation it will be very difficult to obtain accurate data.

Home work

List other ways to collect demographic (population) data.

Thursday 4th September 2014