Unit 2: Population and Migration

From the College Board Course Exam Description (2019):

    • Exam Weight: 12-17%

This unit addresses the patterns associated with human populations. Populations may increase or decrease as a result of a combination of natural changes (births and deaths) and migration patterns (emigration and immigration). Students examine population distributions at different scales--local, national, regional, and global. Population pyramids demonstrate age-sex structures, revealing the growth or decline of generations and allowing geographers to predict economic needs based on reproductive and aging patterns.

Students learn about factors that influence changes in population as well as the long- and short-term effects of those population changes on a place's economy, culture, and politics. For example, environmental degradation and natural hazards may prompt population redistribution at various scales, which in turn creates new pressures on the environment and on cultural, economic, and political institutions. The study of migration patterns allows students to examine factors contributing to voluntary and forced relocation and the impact of these migrating populations on existing settlements.

Combined, the concepts and theories encountered in this unit help students develop connections and transfer their learning in upcoming units to course topics such as cultural patterns, the political organization of space, food production issues, natural resource use, and urban systems.

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