U2: Population and Migration Patterns and Processes

Vocabulary

● Anti-natalist policies: against higher child birth rates (CBR) and total fertility rates (TFR); tries to bring it down (ex: use contraception, China’s One Child Policy)

● Pro-natalist policies: wants higher CBR and TFR (ex: paid maternity leaves)

● Dependency ratio: the number of children below 15 and the number of people above 65 divided by the number of people aged 15-64

● Natural hazards: a nature-related occurrence which may negatively impact humans and the environment

● Natural disasters: a natural event which causes loss of life and great damage

Population Densities

Types

1. Arithmetic Density

a. Easy to obtain

b. # of people / land area

c. Includes non-ecumene area (ecumene means inhabited lands)

2. Physiological Density

a. # of people / arable land

b. Helps determine if we need more food production

c. This is lowest in urban areas and deserts; urban areas can become food deserts where there is no fresh food and deserts don’t have much arable land for farming

3. Agricultural Density

a. # of farmers / arable land

b. Since the U.S. has more mechanization (machine technology) and industry, there is less arable land

Theories

● Thomas Malthus Theory on Food Production and Population Growth (during Industrial Revolution)

○ Food production will be outrun by population growth

○ Positive/negative checks needed for balance (ex: a positive check would be abundance of rains for farming, and a negative check would be a war)

● Ester Boserup Theory on Food Production and Population Growth

○ Food production will be driven by population growth

○ More people = more ideas for faster food production

Population Statistics

● Crude Birth Rate(CBR): number of live births in a year/total population x 1,000

○ What does the birth rate tell you?- High birth rates (18-50) are found in mostly rural agricultural Third-World countries. Low birth rates (8 to 17) are most likely to be found in urbanized industrial and service-based economies.

● Crude Death Rate(CDR): number of deaths in a year/total population x 1,000

○ High death rates tend to be in LDCs (less developed countries) and low death rates tend to be in MDCs (more developed countries)

● Natural Increase Rate (NIR): this is the percentage by which a population grows naturally per year; the peak was in 1963 with 2.2%; right now, it is 1.2%

● Total Fertility Rate (TFR): this is the average number of children a woman will have

from approximately ages 15-49; global average is about 2.5

● Doubling Time: the number of years it would take for a population to double if the NIR was constant

● Demographic Equation: uses birth rates and death rates along with immmigration and emigration statistics to show population growth or change

● The highest growth rates are in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa

● Neo-Malthusians support Malthus and his ideas (resources will run out if we have too many people)

Demographic Transition Model (DTM)

Epidemiological Transition Model: aligns with the stages of the DTM

1. High CDR, low stable NIR, “natural checks” (pestilence, famine, etc.)

2. Rapidly declining CDR, slowly increasing NIR, receding pandemics

3. Moderately declining CDR, degenerative diseases (human-created)

4. Low but increasing CDR, medical advances means higher life expectancy, higher obesity rates, cancers spread slower

5. CDR rises to high (more elderly people), poverty, evolution of disease, increased connections (faster disease spread)

Population pyramids for each stage of the DTM

Sex ratio: the number of males per 100 females in a population

Population Distribution

East Asia

○ ¼ of the world’s total population lives here

○ Includes East China, the Japan islands, the Korean Peninsula, and Taiwan

○ Fertile land especially since it has the Pacific Coast

○ ½ of all the land area of East Asia is rural

○ Over ¾ Japanese and Koreans are urban workers

Southeast Asia

○ Roughly 600 million people live in Southeast Asia

○ Mostly on islands between the Indian and Pacific Oceans

○ Indonesia is included in this region, with 13,677 islands

■ Java Island has the most concentrated population of those islands

■ Indonesia is the 4th most populous area in the world

South Asia

○ About ¼ of the world’s population lives here

○ Includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka

○ Largest population concentration in South Asia is in the area from Pakistan across to the Bay of Bengal

■ This may be because of the Indus and Ganges River plains

○ Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal areas are heavily populated

○ Mostly rural, like China

Europe

○ 4 dozen countries from Monaco to Russia

■ Russia is the world’s largest country if you count the Asian side, too

○ ¾ of European people live in urban areas (few farmers)

○ High population concentrations are near major rivers and coalfields like in Germany and Belgium

■ Also near historic centers like London and Paris

Eastern North America

○ This region has the largest population concentration of the Western Hemisphere

○ Extends onAtlantic Coast from Boston to Virginia

○ Canada and America East sides are included (Great Lakes to Chicago)

West Africa 

○ Along Atlantic coast of Africa

○ Most populous country here is Nigeria

○ Mostly agricultural

Places that are Sparsely Populated

1. Dry lands

2. Wetlands

3. Cold lands

4. Highlands

Migration

● Migration is the movement of people and their ideas. It can be temporary, permanent, voluntary, or forced. There are increasing numbers of migrants from rural to urban areas.

● Push Factors: These are things which “push” a person to migrate from that place. Some examples are economic/political instability, unemployment, and environmental/resource issues. 

● Pull Factors: These are things which “pull” a person to a new place (helps choose where to migrate to). Some examples are good culture, jobs, equality, and stability.

● Voluntary Migration: this includes people who want to move to a new place. They usually see cheaper/skilled labor and cultural diversity as advantageous and unemployment, discrimination, diesease, and religious intolerance.

● Involuntary Migration: This is also called forced migration as not migrating poses difficulties. Some examples are refugees migrating away from war.

● Refugees are those who are migrating away from deathly situations.

● Rural-Urban Migration: This is the migration trend in which people are going from rural to urban areas for jobs, money, etc.

● Seasonal Migration: This is migration which occurs depending on the season. Usually, nomadic herds do this so that they move with their livestock.

Migrant Distribution

● Ravenstein’s “Laws of Migration”

○ Distance

■ Most migrants move short distances and stay within the same country (internal migration)

■ Migrants who move long-distance are usually going for economic centers (international migration)

○ Reasons for Immigration

■ Push factors: war, disease, famine, cause emigration

■ Pull factors: jobs, resources, houses, cause immigration

■ Economic, political, and environmental factors are most common factors

○ Characteristics of Immigrants

■ Most long-distance migrants are male, young adults, or adult individuals (not families)

Migration Transition as it Aligns with DTM

1. High daily/seasonal mobility in search of food

2. High international/interregional emigration, rural → urban

3. (and 4) high international immigration and intraregional migration, cities → suburbs

Three Largest Migration Flows

● Asia to Europe

● Asia to North America

● Latin America to North America

Migration Patterns

● Asia, Latin America, and Africa have net out-migration

● North America, Europe, and Oceania have net in-migration