POPULATION STUDIES

DEFINITIONS

Birth rate– number of people born per 1000 people per year.

Death/mortality rate – number of deaths per 1000 people per year.

Infant mortality rate – the number of deaths of infants per 1000 live births.

Fertility rate – the average number of children born per 1000 women of child bearing age.

Population distribution – the spread of people across an area.

Population density – the number of people in an area/country per km2

Underpopulation – when the resources exceed the number of people

Overpopulation – when the number of people exceed the resources/ when the number of
people exceed the carrying capacity of the land.

Optimum population – when the number of people is equivalent to the resources

Population pressure – when there are too many people such that there is shortage of
resources e.g. land and water

Life expectancy – the average number of years a person is expected to live

Natural increase/decrease – difference between birth rate and deaths

Dependency ratio – the number of dependents in a population divided by the number of

working age people.

Population growth rate – percentage increase in a country’s population in a year

Population structure – the sex and age composition of a population

Population census – the official and organised counting of people.

Population de facto – the actual number of people present in a country during a population
census.

Population de jure – the total number of people of a country including citizens temporarily
outside the country

Population explosion – the rapid growth/acceleration in the number of people in an area.

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● Account for the world’s population distribution patterns

The population of the world is unevenly distributed, some areas are densely populated
while some areas are sparsely populated.

• Densely populated areas/areas with high population density

People are overcrowded in these areas e.g. East Asia, south east Asia, western Europe, parts
of USA

• Sparsely populated areas/ areas with low population density

People are widely spread in these areas e.g. Northern Europe/Russia, Sahara desert,
Amazon Basin, Antarctica, Arctic and Australia.

Factors influencing population distribution

Physical factors

Densely populated areas Sparsely populated areas

- Favourable climate e.g. adequate rainfall - Unfavourable climate e.g. low rainfall and
and moderate temperatures extreme temperatures (too hot/too cold)
- Availability of water sources - Lack of water sources
- Fertile soils - Infertile soils/
- Few pests and diseases - Occurrence of pests and diseases
- Flat land/gentle slopes - Steep slopes/mountainous areas
- Availability of vegetation/pasture - Deserts/densely forested areas
- Few/no natural disasters - Areas prone to natural disasters

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Economic factors

Densely populated areas Sparsely populated areas

- Presence of employment opportunities - Lack of employment opportunities
- Mineral resources - Lack of mineral resources
- Availability of services - Lack of services

Political factors

Densely populated areas Sparsely populated areas

- Political stability - Political instability/wars
- Government policy – areas allocated for - Government policy – areas reserved for
human settlement national parks and game reserves

Problems experienced in densely populated areas

- Overcrowding/lack of crowding
- Shortage of housing
- Land degradation e.g. soil erosion, deforestation, desertification
- Poor sanitation
- Increase in air, water and land pollution
- Pressure on services e.g. health, education
- Increase traffic congestion
- Easy spread of diseases
- Development of squatter settlements
- Increase in social ills
- Increase in crime
- Increase unemployment
- Pressure on natural resources

● Discuss the growth of the world’s population and its consequences

The world population is growing very rapidly.

It took hundreds of thousands of years for the world population to grow to 1 billion, then in
just another 200 years or so, it grew sevenfold. In 2011, the global population reached the
seven billion mark, and in November 2022, it reached 8 billion. - UNFPA

Factors influencing rapid population growth

- High birth rates

- Decline in death rate/infant mortality rate
- Improved health facilities/medical care
- Improved diet
- Clean water supply

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- Improved hygiene/sanitation
- Migration
- Improved standard of living

Consequences/problems caused by rapid population growth

- Overcrowding/lack of housing
- Spread of diseases
- Shortage of food
- Depletion of natural resources e.g. water and land/land degradation
- Depletion of non-renewable resources
- Shortage of social services e.g. education, health
- Development of squatter settlements
- Poor sanitation
- Increase in unemployment
- Increase in crime
- Increase in pollution
- Increase in social ills
- Increase in traffic congestion

Government efforts to curb rapid population growth/policies to reduce rapid population

growth

- Increasing access to contraceptives/family planning/birth control

- Sterilisation
- Education
- Improve status of women/women empowerment
- Encourage later marriages
- Incentives for smaller families e.g. through giving free education, tax reduction for those
who have one child

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● Account for the population density and distribution with the aid of a map, in Botswana.

Botswana’s population distribution

Most of Botswana’s population (more than 85%) is found in the eastern part of the country.
This includes the North-East, Palapye and Mahalapye and surrounding areas, and the South-
East. The Western, South-Western and Northern parts of the country have very people. The
population of Botswana is also clustered around towns and cities.

Botswana’s population density

Densely populated areas

Some of the densely populated areas have populations of over 20 persons per km2 .
They include:
- The Eastern margin
- Western margin of the Okavango Delta
- Towns e.g. Francistown, Gaborone, Selibe-Phikwe, Orapa, Lobatsee.t.c.

Reasons for the high population density

- Higher rainfall of over 400mm per annum
- Fertile loam soils
- Availability of water surface and ground
- Availability of good pasture
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 - Employment opportunities
- Availability of social services
- Availability of infrastructure e.g. roads and railway line

Sparsely populated areas

Population in these areas is less than 1 person per km2 , which is a very low population
density, these include:
- Western part (in the Kalahari desert)
- Okavango delta
- Chobe area

Reasons for the low population density

- Low/unreliable rainfall
- Infertile/sandy soils
- Pests and diseases such as foot and mouth and tsetse-fly
- Some areas covered by Game Reserves, National Parks and Forests Reserves

●Interpret population pyramids of developing countries with emphasis on Botswana, and

those of developed countries

A population pyramid is a graph that shows the age and sex structure of the population of a
particular country.

Population pyramids of developing countries e.g. Botswana, Namibia

Description of the shape of the pyramid

- Broad base
- Narrow top
- Steep slope

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Explanation of the shape of the pyramid

Broad base – many children because of high birth rate.

Narrow top – few old people because of low life expectancy. This also means there high
death rate especially infant mortality rate due to poor diet, dirty water, poor
hygiene/sanitation poor health facilities, famine e.t.c.

Steep slope – few people in the working class due to high death rate. This means there is a
high dependency ratio as there are more children.

There are more females than males.

Population pyramids of developed countries e.g. USA, France

Description of the shape of the pyramid

- Narrow base
- Broad middle
- Broad top

Explanation of the shape of the pyramid

Narrow base – there are few children due to low birth rate.

Broad middle –More economically active/working people due to improved medical care.
This also means there is low dependency ratio.

Broad top – more old people due to low death rate, this also means there is high life
expectancy.
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More old people means an ageing.

Implications of an ageing population

- Shortage of labour
- Underutilised resources/services
- Government spends more money to provide welfare/pensions
- Illegal immigration
- Pressure on health care services due to old age diseases
- Pressure on social care services

● Describe and explain the different stages of the Demographic Transition Model

THE DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION MODEL

Demographic transition is a phenomenon and theory which refers to the historical shift from
high birth rates and high death rates in societies with minimal technology, education
(especially of women) and economic development, to low birth rates and low death rates
in societies with advanced technology, education and economic development. - Wikipedia

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 Source: ResearchGate

Stage 1 (High Fluctuating)

Characterised by high birth rates and high death rates which are fluctuating, and low natural
increase in population.

Reasons for the high birth rates

- Lack of access to contraceptives/birth control/family planning

- Early marriages
- Polygamy
- Sex preference or desire to have a boy/girl
- High infant mortality rate, therefore more children so that some will live
- Children needed to provide labour in agriculture
- Children valued as seen as a sign of virility
- Some religious beliefs against use of contraceptives

Reasons for the high death rates

- Epidemic diseases e.g. tuberculosis, typhoid, bubonic plague

- Famines
- Poor diet
- Poor hygiene/sanitation (no effective sewage disposal)
- Lack of clean (piped) water
- Poor medical facilities

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Stage 2 (Early expanding)

Characterised by declining death rates, high birth rates and rapid natural increase in
population.

Reasons for the declining death rates

- Improved medical care (vaccinations to prevent diseases, many hospitals, doctors, new
drugs and scientific inventions)
- Improved hygiene/sanitation
- Provision of clean piped water
- Improvement in food production
- Improved transport for food
- Decline in infant mortality

Stage 3 (Low Expanding)

Characterised by rapid fall in birth rates, low death rate and slow natural increase in
population.

Reasons for the fall in birth rates

- Use of family planning e.g. contraceptives, sterilisation, abortion

- Government incentives for smaller families e.g. free medication and education.
- Decline in infant mortality, therefore no need to have more children
- Increased industrialisation and mechanisation therefore no need to have many children to
provide labour at the farms
- Increased level of education especially among women
- Women empowerment enabling them to follow their careers rather than being child
bearers
- Increased desire for material wealth and possessions (cars, holidays, bigger homes) and
less desire for large families

Stage 4 (Low Fluctuating/Mature stage)

Characterised by fluctuating low birth rates and low death rates, and low natural increase in
population.

Stage 4 has a high ageing population

Challenges/problems experienced by countries at Stage 4 or ageing population

- Shortage of labour
- Underutilised resources/services
- Government spends more money to provide welfare/pensions
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- Illegal immigration
- Pressure on health care services due to old age diseases
- Pressure on social care services

● Explain Botswana’s position in the Demographic Transition Model

Botswana is at stage 3 of the Demographic Transition Model

Why Botswana could be at stage 3

- Provision of clean water

- Increased education
- Provision of contraceptives/family planning
- Improvement in status of women/women empowerment
- Desire for material wealth and possessions
- Rapid decline in birth rates
- Improved medical facilities
- Better/improved sanitation
- Improved diets

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