Population Geography I

The Where and Why of Population•Density •Distribution•Demographics (Characteristics)

•Dynamics

Cultural Hearths of Civilization

5000 BC

Year 1

1500

1900

World Population

World Population Cartogram

Population by continents

Density of World Population

Blackout of 2003

Select Population Densities(people/mi2)

• Lower 48 states 94.7• NJ 1134• Lincoln Co., NV 0.4• Manhattan 66,834

• Wisconsin 98.8

• Eau Claire Co. 146• Florence Co. 10.4• Milwaukee Co. 3885

Population Densities(people/mi2)

Canada 8Russia 22United States 80

Holland 1002Bangladesh

2261

Egypt

173 people/mi2

3% of area inhabited

Nile River

6000 people/mi2

High density in Bangladesh

Distribution:Why do we live where we live?

Population Distribution in North America

Trans-Siberian railroadsin eastern Russia

Omsk

Demography: Population characteristics

• Ascribed characteristics

• Achieved characteristics

Characteristics

• Ascribed– Gender– Race– Age

• Achieved– Education– Income– Occupation– Employment– Etc.

Census:Count of population

and its characteristics

Dynamics

Rate of Natural Increase (RNI)

Births - Deaths = RNI

National population

Births - Deaths+ Immigration (in)- Emigration (out) = Population growth

Population increase and decrease

World Birth Rate(births per 1,000 population)

Doubling Time

Number of yearsit will take for population to double, at current rate

United States: 117 years

Nicaragua: 21 years

World Death Rate (deaths per 1,000 population)

Epidemics (AIDS)

Infant mortality rate(deaths of infants <1 year old)

Lack of maternal health care or child nutrition

Philadelphia Infant MortalityRed area high thanat least 28 “ThirdWorld” countries, including:

JamaicaCubaCosta RicaMalaysiaPanamaSri LankaSouth KoreaTaiwanUruguayArgentinaChile

Life Expectancy at Birth

AGE DYNAMICS

• Dependents are under 15 & over 65

• How many are supported by 15-65 group

• Problems?

Dependency Ratio

• Low birth and death rates in Core

• Low population growth (except immigration)

• Steadily older population

“Graying of the Core”

Comparison of U.S. eras

Baby Bust (1965-1980)

Baby Boom (1946-1964)

Baby Boom impacts yet to come

• Strain on Social Security

• Growing health care costs

• Challenge to youth identity (Gen. X)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

2000 2030

Millionsover 65in U.S.

Population Pyramidtracks age-sex groups (cohorts)

U.S. (slow growth)

Tanzania, Africa (rapid growth)

Denmark (zero growth)

Germany (effect of wars)

Japan (effect of war)

China (One-child policy)

Canada, 1971-2006

Russia, 1990-2006

Arabian Peninsula, 1980sLabor sending : Labor receiving

Sun City (Arizona) retirement community

Eau Claire County

5.7% 6.3%

Grafton Co., N.H. (1970)Two years before Dartmouth went co-ed

Different neighborhoods of Tucson

Demographic Transition

Move from high birth and death ratesto low birth and death rates

Took centuries of developmentfor Core to make transition

More difficult for Peripheryto make transition without itsown capital, skills, education

Demographic Transition

Stages ofDemographic

Transition 1. Pre-Industrial Equilibrium (high birth/death rates)

2. Early Industrialization(better sanitation)

3. Developed industrialization (better health care)

4. Post-Industrial Equilibrium

(low birth/death rates)

1 2 3 4

Demographic Transition in Denmark

Core (low birth/death rates)

Demographic Transition in Chile

Semi-periphery

Demographic Transition in Cape Verde, Africa

Periphery (high birth/death rates)

POPULATION GROWTH

Population growthin Periphery:

Cause or symptomof poverty and environmental degradation?

Fertility Rate(# children per woman of childbearing age)

Not confirmed in reality

Malthus Theory of “Overpopulation”

Ehrlich Theory of “Population Bomb”

• Population growth would deplete resources– Can be true on local/national level

• Treats population as cause

Core responsibility for Periphery growth

• Core consumes far more resources

• Demands cheap, unskilled young labor

• Population growth is a symptom of poverty

Why parents in Periphery have kids

Better chance for one kid to survive

Bring in the crops and income

Help parents in old age

Women often lack power to not have kids

Women’s empowerment:Contraception Rates

Policies to lower birth rate

• Voluntary– Availability of birth control – Incentives for small families

• Forced– One-child policy (China)– Coercive “population control”

•Social–Empowerment of women–Better health care and education–End to child labor–Social security