Chapter 2 The World Population (Distribution, Density and Growth) | class 12th | quick revision notes for Geography : Fundamentals of Human Geography

Class 12 Geography – Fundamentals of Human Geography Quick Revision notes Chapter 2 The World Population

GENERAL:

• At the beginning 21st century the total population is over 6 billion
• Population of the world is unevenly distributed
• “ ASIA HAS MANY PEOPLE WHERE PEOPLE ARE FEW AND FEW PLACES WHERE PEOPLE ARE VERY MANY”-GEORGE B. CRESSEY

PATTERNS OF POPULATION DISTRIBUTION

• Patterns of population distribution and density help us to understand the demographic
  characteristics of any area.
• Pop. Distribution refers to “the way the people are spaced over the earth surface”
• 90 percent of the world population lives in 10% of its land area
• 10 countries of the world contribute 60% of the world’s population
• Out of 10 populous countries, 6 are in Asia ( China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Russia and Indonesia), Japan, Brazil, USA

DENSITY OF POPULATION

• . To understand the ratio between the number of population to the size of land
• . This ratio is the density of population
• . It is measured in persons per SQ. km

• High density areas ( more than 200 persons/sq km)- North eastern part of USA, North western part of Europe, south ,south east and East Asia
• Medium density areas(11-50 persons/sq km)- Western China, Southern India in Asia, Norway, Sweden (Europe)
• Low density areas(less the 1 person / sq km)- North and South poles, hot and cold deserts and high rainfall zones near Equator.

FACTORS INFLUENCING THE DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION

1. GEOGRAPHICAL FACTORS

• Availability of water- resides in those area where fresh water can be easily available, used for drinking, bathing and cooking, for cattle,crops, industries and navigation. These river valleys are densly populated
• land forms- prefer living on flat plains and gentle slopes. Because areas are favourable for the crops production and to build roads and industries, for example, Ganga plains. Whereas mountainous and hilly regions are less populated due to lack of transport, agricultural and industrial development, for example Himalayan region
• climate- Areas with very heavy rainfall or extreme and harsh climates have low population, for example Mediterranean regions.Areas with a comfortable climate, where there is not
  much seasonal variation attract more people.
• soils- Fertile soils are important for agricultural and allied activities. Therefore,
  areas which have fertile loamy soils have dense population. Eg. Northern plains of India

2. ECONOMIC FACTORS

• Minerals- Areas with mineral deposits attract industries and therefore generate employment. Skilled and semi-skilled workers move to these areas and make them densely populated. Example Katanga Zambia copper belt in Africa
• urbanization- Cities offer better employment opportunities, educational and medical facilities, better means of transport and communication and good civic aminities which attract more population.
• industrialization-Industrial belts provide job opportunities and attract large
  numbers of people. Example The Kobe-Osaka region of Japan

3. SOCIAL AND CULTURAL FACTORS

• Attract more people due to religious and cultural significance
• People also move away from places due to political and social unrest
• Many a times governments offer incentives to people to live in sparsely
  populated areas or move away from overcrowded places

POPULATION GROWTH

• Change in number of inhabitants of a territory during a specific period of time.
• Change may be both positive and negative.
• It may be represented in absolute numbers /percentage.
• Change in population is an indicator of economic development, social upliftment and historical and cultural background of the region.

Components of population change-

1. Birth rate
CRUDE BIRTH RATE: number of live births in a year per thousand of women
CBR 
CBR= CRUDE BIRTH RATE
Bi:live births P = mid-year population
CDR=NUMBER OF DEATHS IN A PARTICULAR YEAR PER THOUSAND POPULATION.

2. Death rate–

Crude death rate- No. of death in particular year per 1000 of population.
CDR
CDR= CRUDE DEATH RATE
D= NO. OF DEATHS
P= ESTIMATED MID YEAR POPULATION

• . Mortality rate are affected by demographic structure, social advancement and economic development.

3. Migration

• People move from one place to another
• Place of origin- place they move from
• Place of destination- place they move in
• Migration can be permanent, temporary and seasonal
• Types of migration- Rural- Rural, Rural- Urban,Urban-Rural, Urban-Urban.
• Immigration : Migrants who move into a new place
  Emigration: Migrants who move out of a place
• Factors that influence migration-

Push factors- unemployment, poor living conditions, political turmoil, unpleasant climate, natural disasters,epidemics and socio-economic backwardness
Pull factors- better job opportunities and living conditions, peace and stability, security of life and property and pleasant climate.

Trends in population growth

• Eart h’s population is more than 6 billion
• After the evolution and introduction of agriculture about 8,000 to 12,000 years
  ago, the size of population was 8 million
• In the first century A.D. it was below 300 million
• In the 16th and 17th century the population growth rate increased due to expanding world trade.
• Around 1750, at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution,the world population was 550 million.
• In the 18th century, after the industrial revolution , world population exploded

Doubling time of world population

•  It took more than a million years for the human population to attain the one billion mark
• But it took only 12 years for it to rise from 5 billion to 6 billion
• developed countries are taking more time to double their population as compared to developing countries
• Population growth rate is taking place in developing countries
• Example Yemen, Liberia, Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Oman

Spatial patterns of population change

• Annual population rate change i.e. 1.6% in 1990-95 to 1.4% in 2004-05
• This is due to when a small annual rate is applied to a very large population, it will lead to a large population change
• Another main reason due to increase in infant mortality rate and increase in death rate during childbirth

Impact of population change

• Death rate increase in Africa and some parts of the CIS and Asia due to deadly HIV/AIDS epidemics
• Population rate increase due to growing economy

Demographic transition

Theory used to describe and predict the future population of any area.

• Population of any region changes from high births and high deaths to low births and low deaths as society progresses from rural agrarian and illiterate to urban industrial and literate society
• Three stages in demographic transition theory-
• First stage- high fertility and high mortality; high fertility because people reproduce more to
  compensate for the deaths due to epidemics and variable food supply. And high mortality because of illiteracy and low level of technology.
• Second stage- fertility remains high but declines with time; Improvements in sanitation and health conditions lead to decline in mortality
• Third stage- Both fertility and mortality decline.Population becomes urbanised, literate and has high high technical know how and deliberately controls the family size

​​​​​​Population control measure

• Family planning
• Easy and cheap availability of contraceptive
• Education
• Eradicate poverty
• Women empowerment
• Delayed marriages
• Tax disincentives for large families