Digital Workbook and Paper Jotter

1. Sketch a population pyramid for a rapidly growing country

2. Take notes for each stage and explain why they are changing

   1. Birth rates

   2. Death rates

   3. Life expectancy

The pyramid narrows rapidly at the top indicating a low percentage of elderly dependents. This is due to high but falling death rates and low life expectancy caused by:

• Developing countries have weak economies, which means not a lot of money.

• Leading to poor geriatric (elderly) health care.

• No or poor welfare system (pensions and care homes).

• Malnutrition through lack of available food or storage of food.

• Overcrowding spreads disease faster (favelas in Urban areas.

The pyramid narrows quickly towards the top, indicating a decreasing working population. These high death rates are caused by:

• Lack of or poor access to health care, availability of doctors through lack of education and hospitals through lack of money.

• High levels of disease such as Malaria or Cholera - no funding to tackle these diseases.

• Lack of education especially beyond the teenage level.

• Lack of clean water and sanitation.

• Famine due to climate conditions.

• Conflict over lack of resources or cultural differences.

It has a wide base indicating a high proportion of young dependents. These high birth rates are caused by:

• Lack of contraception or family planning clinics

• Need for workers to support the family (mainly agriculture), more children the more workers available

• Strong religious beliefs either promote large families or prevent the use of contraception

• Children are seen as an economic asset

• Large families are traditional

• High infant mortality rate, so parents have more children in hope of them surviving to adulthood

Most developing countries have:

High Birth Rates and High but falling Death Rates = Rapidly rising population Birth rates are high and tend to mean young populations with lots of children.

Return to Population Launch page