POPULATION GEOGRAPHY

Definition and Scope

Introduction
Population geography can be defined as the study of human population with respect
to size, composite spatial distribution and changes in the population that occurs over
time. Population geographers like others are interested in population to understand
the society around them the structure of a population and how it changes through
birthrate, death rate and migration. Population numbers are altered by 3 basic
processes; fertility rate, mortality and migration population geography are
essentially concerned with demography or demographic patterns and processes in an
environmental context with emphases on the variation of population patterns and
processes.
Population geography therefore examines the quantitative and qualitative aspects of
population structure such as age, sex, language, marital status, the socio-economic
environment and qualitative aspect of population such as psychology, social and
cultural characteristics. It is considered as the core of all other branches of
geography because it deals with the uneven distribution of people and resources
which is central to geographical study. Population geography is not only concerned
with the spatial variation of population patterns and geography but examines
critically reasons for spatial difference their consequence and possible solution.

POPULATION GEOGRAPHY AND DEMOGRAPHY

It is not easy to distinguish between the term demography as a science and
population studies, since many aspects of demography are study in population
geography. How-ever, the main the difference between the two is that in population
geography, emphases are placed on spatial variation of human’s numbers and their
relationship with the physical, cultural and economic phenomena. While
demography is concerned with the enumeration of human characteristics with
emphases on birthrate, death-rate, sex ratio, age structures. This means that
population geographer has to rely on the demographer for adequate analysis of
population characteristics while population geographers use quantitative and
qualitative analyses of spatial patterns of human numbers.
At the advanced level 3 principal aspects are studied in population which includes
population change over time, population change over space, and population change
relation with resources.

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SOURCES OF POPULATION DATA
The study of population is based on the number of people available in an area at a
particular time i.e. population data. Thus, these numbers change overtime. To
collect and compel population data on an area therefore numerous sources are
available. These methods are however grouped into categories
 Static source example (census, sample surveys and enquiries)
 Dynamic source (vital registration, record of employment occupation,
migration record)
1. CENSUS
Census is defined as the collection of demography, economic and social data at a
particular time in a given country. It is one of the best known and often used sources
of population data. The term census may also be defined as the complete head to
head count of a population in country at a given time conducted after every 5 years
and others 10 years. During data collection the people who are involve in the
counting are called enumerators. This approach is sub divided into
 De facto approach
This approach involves the counting and recording of persons at the places where
are found at the time of the census. This method is used in Britain. The weakness on
this method is that information obtain may be inflated because there is the
possibility of double counting.
 De Jure approach
This approach involves the counting and recording of people at their usual place of
residence. This method is used in many countries of the world including Cameroon.
The method has its own weakness in that some people have multiple residence
others are homeless and human mobility make the approach less satisfactory.
Advantages of Census
 It makes it possible for the total population to be known in a country.
 It helps the government in the social development plans.
 It creates temporal employment for these involve.
 It helps the country to estimate the working population
Disadvantages of Census
 It usually disturbs economic activities.
 It is too expensive or costly especially to poor countries. This is because of its
broad nature.
 It gives falsify results since information can be manipulated.
 Inadequacy as not all information can be recorded
 Delaying in the publication of results makes results outdated since it takes
longer time for it to be published.

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  On suitability and classification used. This is because different countries use
different method. It may also be as a result of infrequency.
As a result of the expensive nature of census, many countries rely on sampling
techniques

2. SAMPLE SURVEY
Sampling involves taking a portion of full population to represent the whole the
population. In order words is an example where a small proportion is taken to
represent a total population of the whole region.
It may also be considered as a method used to make statistical valid influences when
it is impossible to measure the total in this case information that could be gotten
from the whole population is obtain from a small proportion of population by
posing questions directly to the population or composing an administrating
questionnaire where by the expected should provide answers which will ease the
collection and combination of data.

Types of sampling techniques

To make a sample as accurate as possible certain method of sampling has been
developed they include;
 Point sampling
This involve the collection of data from fixed point such as houses and road
junctions
 Random sampling
This is the best sampling techniques because under normal circumstances elements
stands equal stands to be selected and the selection of one do not affect the chance
of selecting another.
 Systematic sampling
This involves the collection of data and regular interval it has the advantage that is
quicken and easy to use and it save time and cost.
 Stratified sampling
In this method the area under study is sub-divided into securement which have fairly
uniform characterize
3. VITAL REGISTRATION
It involves the continuous compulsory and legal recording of vital events such as
birth, death, marriages and divorce with the use of this method natural population
change can be known by calculating the difference between birth and death.

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 4. MIGRATION RECORDS
Migration records provide data for the both internal and external or international
movement but its reliability is questionable because internal movements are difficult
to record. Other sources of population data include. United nation statistical office
and office from the ministry of health.

POPULATION DISTRIBUTION
Population distribution is the description of the manner and way in which people are
spread on the earth surface. It is therefore, an attempt at mapping and representing
the visual spreads of population number on the globe. There are many problems
associated with the concept. This is because the preparation of its data suffers from
subjectivity.
Today the world’s population is excessing 7.8 billion and this population is uneven
distributed some areas are densely populated, others moderately and others sparsely
populated. The portions of the earth which are presently inhabited areas are known
as Ecumene areas while that which uninhabited is called non-Ecumene. In
examining the concept of population of population distribution our focus is placed
on special variation and the explainary fc tors for its variation. The global
population distribution is examined under dense, moderate and sparsely populated
areas.
Densely Populated Areas
These are areas with over 100-200persons/km²
Moderated Populated Areas; these areas with a population of between 10-
50persons/km²
Sparsely Populated Areas; these are areas having very low population density with
less than 10 persons/km²

POPULATION DENSITY AND ITS MEASUREMENT

Population density can be defined as the ration between population size and the
given size area expressed per km² in other words it is expression of the ratio
between population size and the given unit of land usually per km² or it simply
reference to the measure of the number of people living in a specific unit of land
expressed /km² its calculated as
PD =

Where TP= total population and TLA= total land area

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CRUDE DENSITY
This is the commonest and most widely used method. It is simply the directly
measurement of the total number of people living per unit area.
CD=
It should be noted here that from crude density, the average population density can
be calculated. Average population density is thus expressed as the sum of the crude
densities of various regions in relation to the number of regions.
Average population density is calculated using the formula
Where EPD =sum of population density of regions, n = number of regions

Importance of Crude Density

 It is a useful indicator of the concentration of people in specific areas
 It is a useful index for periodic comparison i.e., to compare changes in
population density at different periods in time.
Despite these advantages, the short comings of the measure are so great that other
indices of measuring population density have been devised even though it still
remains the commonest measure
Weakness of Crude Density
 It does not give any indication of living standards.
 It can also be very misleading as a measure of population distribution since it
shows that population distribution is even.
 It makes no difference between the population distribution of rural and urban
areas.
Man/ Land use Density
This view was use when is discovered that people tend to concentrate more in some
areas and leaving large areas sparsely populated and less use modifications are
made to the numerator and the denominator or both are used to refine the concept of
density.

Nutritional/Agricultural Density
It is the ratio of the number of farmers to the total amount of land suitable for
agriculture or the total number of agricultural populations in a defined area divided
by cultivated land.
ND =
Significance of Nd
 It usually gives a better indication of living standards.
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  It also indicates the magnitude of land shortage or availability.
 It can determine whether it is an intensive or extensive agricultural system
being practiced.
Weaknesses
 It is difficult to determine the real size of the cultivated land i.e. its
definition is relative and varies even within the same country.
 In some areas, cultivable land is not distinguished.
 It is difficult to determine the real size of the population engage in
cultivation of land.

Physiological Density
This is the ratio between the total population and cultivated land area or land
suitable for agricultural purpose. In other words, it is the number of people
per unit of cultivable land
PD =

Comparative Density
This approach was advanced by Vincent a French geographer. It is a type of
physiological density which gives the ration between the total population and
land area weighted according to its productivity e.g. 1km² of cultivated land
is equated to 3km² of grassland

The main significance of this index is that it indicates a country’s ability to

be economically self-sufficient. High values indicate that food imports are
necessary while low values indicate that food could be exported.
The major weakness is that it can mislead a country to undertake a bad policy
of restricting food imports and encourage only food exports.
Occupational density
It is the ratio between particular sectors of the economy which employs the
population and the total land area of the country

Room density
It is the average number of persons living in a room in given urban area. It is
expressed

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 RD= =

This is a very important index in urban areas because it helps urban planners to
determine the average number of people living in a room in a given area.
Importance of RD
 It helps in the understanding of congestion in towns, housing conditions in
urban areas and over-crowding.
 It reflects changes in housing conditions over space (regional and rural-urban
variation in these conditions) and time.

Weaknesses of RD
 T is difficult to measure the actual surface area of storey buildings especially
skyscrapers.
 It ignores sizes of rooms which greatly influence density, large rooms reduce
density while small rooms increase
 It is only restricted to urban areas.
 It is limited to only private house-holds, the size and composition of which
are not taken in to account by measure.

GRAPHICAL TECHNIQUES USED TO REPRESENT AND MAP

POPULATION DISTRIBUTION
The wide range of techniques used to represent and map population distribution
exist and can be divide in to the following;

a) POPULATION DENSITY LAPSE RATE

It shows the relationship between population density and distances; a clear
relationship exists between population density and distance from a central point.
Population density lapse rate is mainly a graphical technique which shows the rate
of decline of population density with increasing distance away from the central
point of concentration which may be an urban center. The rate at which population
density declines with increasing distance from the central point is known as LAPSE
RATE. This shows that there is a relationship between population density and
distance from a central point and this is inverse.
The distance varies from region to region depending on the rate of socio-economic
development, but the general form of a negative exponential relationship appears to
hold in most regions. The lapse rate is assumed to decline for every Kilometre from
the central point. The steeper the gradient of the curve the faster the decline and the
more-gentle the gradient the slower the decline as illustrated below
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The graph shows that distance increases away from the central point population
density declines e.g. at 5km density is 80per/km² while at 15km density falls to
40per/ km²
However, the relationship is not true in all cases as it is often distorted at road
junctions, sub-urban shopping centers and industrial complexes in such areas a
direct relationship exist where population density instead increase with distance.

VARIATION IN POPULATION DENSITY LR

Lapse rate situation varies in space and time. Spatially, population density lapse rate
varies between the developed and the developing countries given their differences in
level of socio-economic development.
Developed Countries
The lapse is more gradual and is illustrated by gentle sloping curve. This means that
density between cities and distance away to rural areas are not too different. The
gentleness in the slope of the lapse rates is due to the following reasons
 Long history of urbanization such that today most city centers are suffering
from congestion, pollution and expansion. This has encouraged an almost
spread of population from the center to the periphery
 Government action in discouraging rapid growth within the city by
decentralization, urban development, creation of green belts and new town to
decongest the cities.
Generally, population density drops in the cities and gradually increases towards the
periphery
 Improvement in living standards in rural areas so that urban dwellers are
attracted.
 Transport development making it easy and fast to move outward from the
cities or stay in rural areas and move to cities every day to work and back
(commuting)

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  Creation of job opportunities in depressed rural areas (industrial and
agricultural development) that pulls people to such areas.
 Improvement in social welfare facilities in rural areas.
 Urban problems such as pollution, noise high crime wave encourage people
to move out from the cities and increasing distance density.
 High cost of living in urban areas.
 People on retirement prefer to stay in calm and quite rural areas.
The above-mentioned reason has cause population density to be lower in some cities
than the periphery.
The graph shows a gentle slope with population density gradually decreasing in the
urban center and increasing towards the periphery as illustrated by the arrows

Present lapse rate

Future lapse rate

0 Distance (km)

Developing Countries
The situation is different in the developing countries. Here, the lapse rate is very
steep showing that population density is higher in the cities and very low in rural
areas. Population concentration is higher in urban areas and decrease rapidly with
increase in distance towards the periphery. The following are reason why population
is higher in urban center and lower densities in rural areas include;
1) Rapid urbanization leading to concentration of people in cities
2) Poor transport modes making it difficult for easy movement
3) Grater economic development in urban areas leading to the creation of
employment opportunities in industries
4) Low technological improvement in rural areas.

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 5) Availability of social amenities like education, medical facilities, electricity,
entertainment spots. Which also attracts many people but with great
insufficiency towards the outskirts
6) Higher per capital income and living Standards in urban areas compared
with rural areas

Distance
(km)
The graph shows a concentration of population in the urban area and the future
trend shows that there will be just a little change, i.e. small outward movement to
the periphery. The above represent the degree of spatial change between developed
and less developed Countries and probable changes over time. From the graphs
above, the following differences can be brought out.
The curves for the developed world show that there are possible density changes in
the future while those for the developing world shows very little changes in the
Future.
The developed world shows more gentle sloping curves while for those. For the
developing world are steep.
NB: It is worth noting that the dot differences in lapse Rates between western and
eastern hemisphere
THE LORENZ CURVE
This graph shows the percentage of a phenomenon (maybe wealth, pop, land area,
output) enjoyed by each household. It was devised for measuring the concentration
of income. But today, it is used to measure the degree of regularity of distribution of
both societal and spatial kind for a given area. It therefore expresses the inequalities
of distribution (people, food, wealth, political power, personal contentment, medical
care, industry and other socio-economic assets) in any society welfare in a given
society, a complete when equality to achieve with when the ration between
population and assets is proportionally constant and positive e.g. 25% of people
own 25% of all wealth, 50% of people over 50% all wealth unbalanced rations mean
the inequality of social economic possessions. There also exist differences in
societal distribution between developed & developing countries. In looking at these
inequalities the following are considered
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 ● Spatial population distribution alone about the degree and he tells us nothing
about the list to we an area is suffering demographic, social or economic
problems e.g., a country in which pop clustered may have numerous or fewer
problems than one with even pop spread.
● Human action can directly or indirectly affect the societal distribution for
better or worst politically extreme policies tend to widen the Social &
economic gap within a nation while politically moderate policies tend to
reduce inequalities.
● Unequal distribution should not be equated with such concepts as efficiency,
fairness and equity" This is because a clustered pop is neither efficient nor
inefficient. Conversely, societies such with extreme unequal distribution
could well be highly efficient the e.g., Italy had uneven spread of social and
economic assets but were highly to successful, culturally, scientifically and
politically.
Types of Lorenz Curves
There are two types depending on what they measure.
● Spatial type: This measures population, land use number of industries Land. it
is useful in pop studies because it shows the spatial distribution of pop over
land area.
Societal type: It measures wealth, income, medical care, political power,
food in a given society with the spatial type our focus will be on it uses to in
pop studies.
It is thus an important graphical method used in measuring spatial distribution of
pop.
As a technique in measuring uneven distribution of pop, cumulative percentages of
pop are plotted against cumulative percentages of land area. The cumulative % of
pop are shown on the horizontal axis while Land area on the vertical axis.

How to construct Lorenz curve

In other to construct a Lorenz curve, the following should be done
● The area is divided into units. The total population and total land area of the
study area are determined. The proportion of the total pop living in each unit
and land area of each unit are calculated and expressed as percentages of the
total population and land area.

● The unit are then arranged starting from the smallest area to the biggest and in
each case, the corresponding pop percentages written beside

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 ● The cumulative percentages of both land and pop calculated must be sum up
to 100%
● To produce a graph with y-axis for land area and x-axis for pop starting the
numbering from 0-100 in each case.

the theoretical trace line is also known as the 45° line. This is because it lies at 45°
from the origin and create an angle 45°. This line represents a perfectly even
distribution e g at x 20% of the pop live on 20% of the Land area. Also, from this
line 50% of the pop live on 50% of the Land area. In other words, the line shows
equal spread of pop over the land area It can also be considered as Yardstick from
Comparison can be made. It is very simple to interpret and shows an unrealistic
situation as pop can sounds hardly be evenly distributed.
The actual trace line or concave curve is the Lorenz curve. It Illustrates unevenness
or inequality in pop distribution and demonstrates the real or true situation of
population distribution. This actually show’s that some areas are densely populated
and others sparsely populated. Thus, the curve can either be Concave or convex as
shown below

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The greater the convex or concave of the slope the greater the inequality or
unevenness of pop distribution. The graph shows different concentration of
population found at different land areas e.g., the spatial distribution curve shows
that at Z 40% of the pop, live on about 9% of land area while for at Y, 80% of the
pop live on about 40% of land area. Since this shows the true situation of
distribution, from the actual trace line, the unevenness in pop may be explained by a
complex array of physical, socio-economic & historical factors.

USES OF THE LORENZ

The concentration curves of Succeeding census can be compared to De simet says
"If pop of all units increase at the same rate, then the concentration curve will not
change".
It can also be used to compare the degree of Pop concentration of several areas.
It is used to measure the degree of regularity and irregularity of distribution of
phenomena in space and time
Limitation of the Lorenz Curve
It is used only where an area can be divided into equivalent units.
The available pop data is hardly accurate for the period of time.
Data on income, political power are only estimating.
Dot maps
This technique is used to represent pop distribution on maps with the use of dots.
Each dot represents pop of a particular size large number of dots depicts high pop
numbers while few dots depict low pop numbers

The figure above shows the uneven distribution of pop in 3 regions. 20 A, B, C.

Following the key, provided the pop of individual to settlement can be calculated
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e.g., settlement A has 5 dots and the value of each dot is 100 people the pop of A is
5*100=500.
The weakness of this technique is that of choosing an appropriate scale.

The CONCEPT OF ECUMENE AND NON- ECUMENE

1) Ecumene Areas: These are inhabited areas and are estimated to cover a
proximally cover 60% of the earth's land surface
2) Non-Ecumene Areas: The term non-Ecumene refers to the uninhabited areas of
the earth's land surface. The arbitrary boundary between the two Zones is called
ecumene frontier and it is assumed to marked theoretical limit of human habitation.
It should be recall here that, the factors responsible for these are both physical and
human. The variation in the physical environment like climate, soil, relief has
caused man to choose some areas against others.
Human Factors only come to modify and reinforce the effect of the physical
environment. The distribution is apparently arbitrary; global pop distribution is
often examined under dense, moderate and sparsely populated areas.
A) Densely populated Areas: The very densely populated areas have high pop
densities of above 50 per/km². The 3 primary concentrations that fall within are,
1, South-East Asia (China, India Pakistan) with high growth rates which has about
50% of the world's POP on less than 10% of world's total land.
2, Europe: This Region constitutes the word third. Largest pop concentrated mainly
in Western Europe. It accommodates about 11% of the word pop on a 5% Land
growth rate is low.
3. North-East America it accommodates about 4% of world pop with low growth
rates.
Those 3 areas of Primary concentration close to 70% of the world's pop close to
these areas are secondary concentration of dense pop existing along the coast of
Africa (N&S) South America East Brazil and some lowlands)
B) Moderately populated
These areas have moderate densities ranging between 10-50 perlkim². These areas
include the interiors of Africa, South America and Asia.
C) Sparsely populated. These are areas with low pop densities below 10km². Those
include mostly hot deserts high mountains, the tundra region northern Canada,
Northern Russia, Iceland the tropical rainforest of Amazon Equatorial Africa. Some
have less than 2p/km² e.g., Amazon Basin with dense forest all these areas put
together accommodates 25% of the word’s pop

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 Factors influencing pop Distribution
A number of factors account for the spatial variation in pop and can be grouped
under physical & human factors
A) Physical factors
1. Climatic Conditions: Climate plays a more dominant role in the distribution of
pop. It has a direct and indirect influence. The direct influence on climate is through
temperature, and rainfall. There are some climatic conditions below which mankind
can hardly survive. This explains why the Polar areas with very low temperature are
sparsely populated while hot desert areas with extremely high temperature and low
precipitation are sparsely populated. Climate influence pop indirectly through its’
influences on soil types, vegetation & agriculture areas with reliable rainfall and
moderate temperature such as the humid tropics and the temperate tend to favour
human habitation. Climate is therefore partly responsible for the high human pop to
South-East Asia.
Aridity is also another one of the main restrictions on settlement. In every hot
region's such as desert and semi-desert areas temperature are very high rainfall is
very low and vegetation growth limited consequently the land surface is
permanently dry, resulting to scanty population.
Inspire of the fact that climatic extremes repel pop concentration in some areas
mining and scientific undertaking, in both cold and hot climatic regions have been
attractive man.
2. Relief and attitude. There is an inverse relationship between population
concentration and increase in height. Pop reduces with increase in attitude about
85% of the world’s population live in areas less than 500m of altitude. This is
common in the high latitude areas where rugged mountains and steep slopes are
either sparsely populated or uninhabited. This is because mountainous areas are
characterized with positive environmental condition such as cold weather, steep and
rugged slopes we make stress to settlement and agriculture difficult. Even if
technology and human ingenuity can improve the harsh climatic Conditions of high-
altitude areas for agriculture, they remain conducive for settlement. But however not
all high-altitude areas are sparsely populated high pop concentration are pronounced
in the high altitude of low latitude areas such as Ethiopian highlands on which most
towns are situated on altitude over 2000m e.g., Addis-Ababa situated at an altitude
of 2450m, Buea at about 915m.
3. Oceanicity or continentality: the interior of the continents has space have
consideration influence on pop distribution the interior has sparse pop while the
coastal areas are densely populated. This is because. The interior of continent is
characterized by climatic extremes e.g., summer in the temperate regions’
temperatures are high sometimes exceeding 30% while winter periods are
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characterized by low temperatures (<11°C) at the coast those temperature extremes
are moderate the influence of the ocean. Because ocean temperature are never too
high or too low Coastal pop often concentrate in ports and in commercial sites

4. Drainage and pop distribution

Drainage plays a double role in pop distribution as it attracts and repels population
concentration. Rivers attract pop their influences as sources of water for domestic
and agricultural use, source of fish as protein food gold and diamond mining and as
a means of communication. The positive effect of rivers being repellant pop comes
as a result of rivers being sources of mosquitoes, liable to floods or too deeply
incised to form gorges which make accessibility difficult.
5. Soils: Fertile soils of any type support dense pop because of its agricultural
potential while poor soils repel pop concentration e.g., the fertile soils are the
alluvial soils in the Granges valley in India, the volcanic soils in Fako Division the
chernozems in the pampas of Argentina attract high pop densities for agricultural
activity
6. Biotic Factors: plant and animals also exert their own influence on pop
distribution. The various vegetation types such as forest, grassland, Selva offer great
diversity in pop concentration Each provide different attractions to human activity
and consequently the settlement is concentrated forested areas are difficult to access
and less dense while areas of wild animals are very dangerous to human life so, they
tum to repel population concentration.
Human factors
Economic Activity: Population density in a particular area depends largely on the
type and scale of economic activity dense population corresponds to areas of
economic activities and attracts a greater number of persons like those dependent
mostly on agriculture and commerce.
Agriculture: It plays a dual role in population distribution for it can diffract and
repel population concentration. Depending on the type and technique employed.
Intensive subsistence and intensive commercial agriculture are associated dense
population than other agricultural types
On the other hand, remote areas with backward agricultural technique are
characterized by sparse pop. Livestock or pastoral farming is also associated with
low pop densities like the case of Sudan-Sahel regions of Africa whose economies
are predominantly dependent on the rearing of animals.
(i) Industries also stimulate population concentration. This is because Industries
need labour and as such people congregate to achieve economic benefits that the
industrial region offers.

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Commercial Activities: Since the Introduction of the money economy the great
trading centers such as local markets, parks, road junctions or railway stations have
become centers for pop concentration.
Historical and Social Activities pop distribution in the past can influence present
and future pop distribution of an area. This is simply to say, that there is a tendency
for pop distribution inertia most present-day distribution are explained in terms of
the past civilization of Asia have contributed to its present-day patterns. Also, Iraq,
the sparse pop may be partly as a result of the past invasions. The sparse pop on of
west and Central Africa may to the effects of slave trade.
To conclude, although attempts have been made to advance reasons for inequalities
in the present day population distribution, the subject remains a complex one.
Among the many factors to advance, the geographical factors appear to be most
Influential. It should be noted that they should not be emphasized at the expense of
non-geographical factors. As such, it is preferable to discuss the distribution in of
the world's pop with focus on a combination of factors rather than by a single factor.

POPULATION STRUCTURE | COMPOSITION

Population composition refers to those aspects of population that can be measured
and for which data can be obtained such as age sex, race, nationality, marital status,
occupational status. The qualitative aspects of population that can be measured
included psychological, social and cultural characteristics. These characteristics are
often divided into natural or physical characteristics such as age, sex and race, and
socio-economic characteristics.
AGE STRUCTURE
Age structure is an expression of the number of people found in each age group
generally the age structure is categorized into three age group 0-19 young 20-64
adults and 65+aged.
Young (0-19 years): this age group is essentially non-productive and it is supported
by the active age group. In the developed countries the numbers of people found in
this group tend to decline due to birth control measures. While the number within
the age group 0-19 are high partly due to ineffective birth control and a strong
attachment of culture

Demographic Consequences
● There would be the possibility of a rapid pop increase in the future do the
children grow into childbearing age and become reproductive.
Social - Consequence
● Youthful population often leads to pressure on social facilities like education
and health Infrastructure. These structures will experience over-crowding.
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 ● A high dependency ration on the working age group This normally lowers the
living standard of the working class because large proportion of their income
is use to take care of the social needs of the dependents.

Economic Consequence.
● High youthful pop means an increase in future labour demand. This may lead
to high rates of unemployment.
● An increase in government expenditure on the provision of services needed
by the young the young. The consequences are largely positive however in
many countries, measures have been put in place to reduce the effects.
● Introduction of family planning programs.
● Child spacing.
● Encouragement of emigration.

ADULTS (20-64 years)

This age group concerns those who fall between 20-64 These are biologically
reproductive and economically productive and therefore support the young and the
aged it may be subdivided into two for further analysis i.e., the young adults who
fall between the ages of 20-34 and older adults concerning those between 35-64
years

The aged
This age group is made up of people from 65 years and above. In this group,
females constitute the majority (windows and are biologically non-reproductive and
economically largely non-productive. But the old men who make a minority may be
reproductive and usually more productive. Like the young this group is also referred
to as the dependent age group. As the population evolves especially in advanced
countries, the proportion of the aged to the total population tends to increase
because of better medical facilities and increase life expectancy. The proportion is
still small in most developing countries given that medical facilities are poor and
expectancy is low.

Social Economic Consequences of Ageing population

Demographic Consequences
Rise in life Expectancy. This because of improvement in medical facilities which
have greatly reduced the morality rate and thus increase the number of years an
individual lives on earth. An Increase in the number of old may mean a decline in
the total pop. This is because people found in this age group particularly women
18
have attended the age of menopause where most women biologically lose their
productive capacity that is they cannot give birth anymore.

● High Dependency Ration: It shows number of people (children & the aged) in
the total pop that depend on the working class (adults) this number depends
on the economic situation and the level of development of the Individual
country. Thus, financial burden of the working pop Increased because a lot of
money has to be spent on the medication of the old and in their general body
maintenance

Social Consequences
Increase Expenditure on social security the increase in the number of old people due
to a long-life expectancy means an increase in government expenditure on social
security system for the old. Government expenditure on services like the Provision
of free housing, medication and other specialized services for the elderly will
increase.
● Possible inflow of immigrant this leads to financial drains in the given
country. This is mainly as a result of shortage in labour due ageing
population. In some country’s immigration laws are relaxed in order to
encourage the inflow of migrants. Since immigrants are usually less law
abiding, crime wave rises and, in some cases, racial discrimination develops.
● Change in demand and production pattern. An ageing population will
probably lead to a change in the production patterns. This is because there
will be an increase in the demand for goods needed by the old.

AGE - SEX PYRAMIDS

The age and sex composition of any population can be graphically represented by
age-sex pyramid. Ages are placed on the vertical axis and pop numbers along the
horizontal axis with males on the left and female on the right

MALES 7
FEMALES
6
5
4
3

0 1

2 2 1 1 5 0 0 5 119 1 2 2
Structure of an Age-sex Pyramid
The pyramids reveal a number of features of a pop. Age pyramids are generally
wider at the bottom than on the top, i.e., narrow top is a result of increase mortality
with increasing age. Again, the pyramid is wider for males than for females
reflexing variation in the sex ration at birth.
Furthermore, the upper portion of the pyramid favours the female reflecting
differences on mortality and life expectancy between males and females with
females having greater life expectancies. Finally, pop pyramids over a period of
time can reveal changing pop Composition.

Types of Pyramids
Progressive | Expansive pyramids this pyramid displays a broad base and narrow
top. This broad base and narrow top shows high birth and high death rates and this
situation is typical of less developed countries where social, economic, and cultural
and Religious Conditions lead to high fertility but poor living conditions, bad diets
and little medical aid lead to high levels of mortality. Here, children account for 45 -
55% of the total pop the aged only about 4-8%% adult age group is about 30%.

MALE FEMALE

Regressive / Contractive Pyramid.

Here the Pyramid is said to have a narrow base showing a declining birth rate and
low mortality. Children account for about 30% of the total pop. Adults account for
about 50% and the aged 15% it is common in developed countries such as Britain
and USA. This is due to high standard of living, high level of education, proper
nutrition and improved medical care.

20
Stationary / Static Pyramid. This type shows an unchanging pattern of fertility,
mortality and migration rates over long period of time. It produces a regularly
tapering (shape as shown below)

MALE FEMALE

An Intermediate pyramid This type may vary in character and is most common in
countries that are passing through stages of development such countries may have
had a progressive Structure in future may have a regressive structure. Their shapes
reflect pop and historical events of Individual countries like wars, disasters,
migration and socio-cultural factors that affect fertility & mortality rates.

21
 MALE FEMALE

Factors influencing the shape of Age-sex Pyramids

Age and sex pyramid are supposed to be symmetrical in shape i.e., having Similar
numbers of males and females in each age group but most often age and sex
pyramids are uneven having unbalanced distribution in terms of age and sex.
Population Pyramid is not static but changing over time. Changes in the shapes of
age sex pyramid maybe explained by interplay of demographic and non-
demographic. These effects could occur in the short run or in the long run.
a) Demographic factors
Changes in fertility change in fertility rates affect the size and shape of pop
pyramids both in the short and in the long run. A fall in fertility rate as result of
declining birth may be in the long run result in an ageing pop which will cause the
pop pyramid to be "top heavy" conversely in the short run a pop pyramid that was
initially

Progressive becomes narrow at the base. The pyramid may also have an excess of
females over males because naturally mortality in every age group is bias against
males’ reasons environment and socio-economic also give rise to the imbalance sex
ration. This also means that the female section of the pyramid will have a greater
bulge at the top than the male section.
Changes in mortality: in the case where death rate is declining as a result of birth
control there will be a slow pop growth. This often takes over long time and would
lead to an increasing proportion of the ages and a declining proportion of children
this situation is illustrated in the regressive age-sex pyramid with a widening apex
showing a higher proportion of the old age resulting from an increase life
expectancy due improve medical care.
Migration: Migration over long distances is both age and sex selective get. A
country experiencing a net inflow of adult migrant will have a slide bulge in the age
sex pyramid. Also, regions experiencing emigration will have a slide indentation on
22
the section of male adults in the long run. Also, massive influx of young adults into
an area results in increased growth rates. This assumes that the population will
increase naturally since adult migrants are often of the reproductive age group
whereas; areas experiencing massive emigration suffer a drastic reduction in the
active age group. The shape of the age and sex pyramid will show an Indentation at
the middle section however, the indentation is greater for male than for female
because males are most mobile especially over long distances.

Non-Demographic factors
Famine: Famine reduces pop growth through increase deaths and emigration
children and the aged are often affected in the short run as they will die first Famine
provokes emigration of people to other areas of better opportunities hence reducing
the size infants and the aged of the Pyramids who are fragile are left behind
constituted a bulk of the pop. The shape of the pyramid will show a broader base, a
narrow middle section and a broad top. How-ever in the long run with the return of
more favorable and stable conditions the massive return of the adult pop will result
in a pyramid with a broad middle a narrow base due to declining births and a narrow
top due to short life expectancy.
War directly / indirectly reduces pop the short-term effect is that deaths increase
dominantly for the adult males since they make up the bulk of the arm forces. Birth
rates also stagnate or reduce due to instability It will also immediately provoke
emigration in the long run, the end of war may excite a baby boom which will
produce a progressive age-sex pyramid.
Epidemics/pandemics: The widespread of disease go a long way to reduce pop
especially in poor countries. Where medical care is inadequate
Improved medical services vaccination against deadly diseases, availability of
medical practitioners, and a better healthcare system has the immediate effects of
reducing mortality. Improve medical care will lead to increase life expectancy in the
long run: Increasing the proportion of the aged pop.
Natural Hazards like earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides and man-made
hazard like fire disasters generally reduce pop. Thus, apart from death which is a
short-term effect it also provokes a large scale of emigration in affected areas and it
is not age selective.
Dependency Ratio: it shows the number of people (children and the aged in the
total pop that depend on the working class (adults). This number depends on the
economic situation and the level of development of the Individual country. Thus,
the financial burden of the working pop is increased because a lot of money has to
spent on the medication of the old and in their general body maintenance
DR is calculated as
23
Assumption of Dependency Ratio
Generally, dependency ration assumes that every member of the society is a
consumer but only some are producers
Adults from 20-64 years are producers while children less than 16 years or 20 years
and the aged are the dependent pop or burden of the adults.
ADVANTAGES OF DR
From its’ comparisons can easily be made between region i.e., between the
developed and developing countries
It can determine which regions are economically advanced.
It helps the government in her socio-economic planning policies.
Demographic characteristics of a country can also be known by calculating the
dependency ratio.
Weakness
It may be misleading because many people stay on at school even after the youthful
age and in to adult age.
Both developed and developing countries many people may still be working after 65
yrs. This makes Statistics questionable.
In some countries, the proportion of adults unemployed is too high and is dependent
on other adults.

POPULATION CHANGE OVER TIME (POPULATION GROWTH)

Population change is the indicator of the trend or direction which the population of a
region, nation or even the world. This change can either be positive when it
increases or negative when it drops. The reason why population changes over time
has been particularly referred to as population growth. Population growth is
generally the increase in the number of populations in an area. Population continues
to grow some at a slower rate while others at a very rapid rate.

DETERMINANTS OF POPULATION GROWTH AND REASONS FOR

SPATIAL VARIATION IN GROWTH
Population size and growth is determined by the combine effort of fertility and
mortality. Large variation in fertility rate are observed with some of the higher rates
observed in sub-Sahara Africa and some of the lowest rate in eastern Europe were
several countries are faced with population decline. There is a large clear variety in
fertility behavior with fertility determines by both biological and social component
four variable explains the variation in fertility levels across population and include;
24
 I. PROPORTION OF MARRIED OR IN SEXUAL UNION
In societies, marriage has clearly been an institution that has promoted fertility. The
longer a woman waits to enter a sexual relationship the lower the fertility rate.
Conversely were women married at a young age fertility rate turn to be higher due
to the increase exposure to risk of pregnancy and lower period over which
pregnancy could occur, cultural values and practice relation to sexual activities child
bearing outside of marriage and contraceptive use will have an impact upon fertility
decision. In the past the age at entering into marriage and the age entering into a
sexual union were the same but the increase availability acceptance of pre-marital
sexual intercourse has meant that this is no longer the case absence is either
voluntary or involuntary along with frequency of intercourse with in a union, they
will either eliminate or utter the risk of pregnancy.

II. PROPORTION OF PEOPLE USING CONTRACEPTIVE

The use of contraceptive and abortion are the key determinants of fertility in most
developed countries. The reproductive revolution signaled by the availability and
developing countries of modern and effective family planning method such as birth
control, use pill make it easier to avoid pregnancy. Increase access to methods of
birth control and the desire to limit family size help reduce fertility. When used in
the developing countries, fertility declines and has been much more rapid than the
decline that developed countries experience.

III. LEGALIZATION OF ABORTION

Abortion is one of the most common modern forms of birth control in the world
today and is assumed to be an important reason for low birth rate in the developed
countries. However, this measure has met with resistance in some countries
particularly country of the south base on moral equipment and respect for human
life.
IV. THE ABILITY OR INABILITY TO CONCEIVE
Finally, the inability to conceive is associated with voluntary or involuntary breast
feeding for example reduces but does not eliminate the likely head of pregnancy for
as long as 21 months. Following the child birth with modernization, breast feeding
has tended to decline which may be of particular concern within the developing
world. In the absence of other birth control techniques, fertility may increase.
sterilization also provide a method for lowering fertility, although this is more
particular in developed countries where it is generally used to prevent further
pregnancies after a desired family size has been achieved.

25
These four variables explain all variation in fertility with the importance of each
determinant depending on the cultural, economic, health and social factors within a
population. Many Africa societies, babies are breast feed until the age of two during
these periods, women are expected to abstained from sexual intercourse which
increase spacing between birth.

DETERMINANT OF POPULATION GROWTH

The determinant of population growth rate is also classified under demographic and
non-demographic factors. Demographic factors here include birth rate, death rate
and migration and non-demographic factors such as war, epidemic
a) FERTILITY RATE
This is the number of births that occurs per thousands in a given population at a
given period of time, it is express as
BR =

Generally, birth rates in developed countries are always low. In the developing
countries birth rates are high. However, birth rate or fertility rate is a function of
several factors like age, sex, educational level and socio-cultural differences.
Demographic structure
These involves the age and sex structure of a given population age structure is the
classification of population into age and sex regions with dominant of adults will
turn to have high birth rate because it is the economically active and biologically
reproductive age group of population. The high birth rate may result in a positive
natural increase. Areas dominated by children and the aged persons will experience
a fall in birth rate.
Sex structure
It also influences birthrate in the sense that areas where there is excess females over
males, birthrate are high and may also result to population increase as compared to
areas that have shortage of women.
Education
In the advanced countries, the level of education is high. The smaller will be the
average size of the family which education comes with knowledge of birth control,
greater social awareness and the wider choice of action. This factor may be linked
with a class since it is often the case that knowledge correlates with social standard.
The lower the class are on the average, less educated and have larger family than the
middle class who may be more aware of material and financial burdens of large
families with education, women are more aware of their right and participate in
26
decision making. In family planning, then in illiterate societies open opportunities
for both male and female without bias as regards to sex. These implies that women
study for such opportunity and in doing they delay the birth to an extend that some
women even get married at the age of menopause
Religion
Many of the world’s religion like the Muslims and the Roman Catholics encourage
large families. In other to safeguard the continuation of their beliefs, thus they are
against abortion and the use of contraceptive. Therefore, in areas where this religion
is dominant will have a considerable high birthrate and vice versa.
Social customs
In some area’s polygamy is practice this act greatly to the level of fertility for
instance in India most people are average age for girls to marry is 16 and may
Health and Diet
The poorest and the most under nourish people of the world tend to have the highest
birth rate. The reasons for this is not clear but sociologists believe correlation exist
between diet and sexual appetite. Unfortunately, high birth rate often leads to
poverty which maintains malnutrition and thus a vicious circle of poverty. It is also
noticed that countries with high level of fertility also have levels of mortality. These
suggest that parent in this region deliberately have many children in other to ensure
that some children will reach adulthood
War
war has natural limit on population growth emphases should be placed on these
factors because war reduce population only 4 a generation and soon after wards
there is an increase in birth rate (baby boom)
Government policy
Government policies increase birth rates and consequently population growth e.g.
the Chinese government recently adopted the anti-natalist policy to help stabilize the
population of the country.

Availability of medical services

Improved medical services like the provision of more health units, clinics,
vaccination and hospitals have reduced mortality rates because many diseases can
either be prevented or eliminated.
Mortality Rate
This is the number of deaths per thousands in a population at a given time. Mortality
shows the relationship that exists between death rate and the level of developing
economic situation and the prospect for future development.

27
Factors Influencing Mortality Rate
 Improved medical care (level of economic development)
Regions with good medical services tend to have low death rate such is the case
of most economically advanced country. Also, the more economically developed
countries have higher doctors to patient ratio than the less economically
developed countries
 Age sex structure
Countries were the age structure is top heavy (made up of the old) than the young
will generally have high death rate. Also, regions dominated by men over women
turn to have high death rate
 Natural disasters
Areas vulnerable to environmental disasters are often associated with high death
rate than areas free of such hazards.
 Occupation
Certain occupations are more dangerous and therefore lead to high death rates
because they are vulnerable to high accidents. These include jobs like mining;
building and construction. Other occupations may not lead to physical deterioration
but to mental string. These include jobs that carry high levels of responsibility such
as banking, management accountancy.
 Social class
The poorer section of the population usually has high death rates than richer
Class. This is because they are less privileged. Also, there maybe a high standard
houses and unsanitary condition their purchasing power may not permit them to
provide a balance diet and adequate medical treatment for themselves and their
family. In general, the highest mortality is found among the poor.
 Place of residence
This simply explains the difference between urban and rural areas. In the developed
world, death rate is critical in the urban areas than rural areas because more of the
population is habited in urban areas but otherwise in the developing countries rural
areas suffers high death rate to urban areas. This explains that there is improvement
of medical facilities and living condition is also high in town.
 Level of economic development
With the level of economic development regions with developed economic will
likely enjoy high living standard low rate of death due to increase in medical
facilities.

28
 POPULATION GROWTH MODELS
These are models, theories or concept that explains the variation in growth rate of
population from one place to another.

A. THE DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION MODEL (DTM)

This model was developed by WS Thompson in 1945 and was based on
demographic studies in North America and Western countries. They identify 5
stages and noted that countries were broadly envisage as passing through each stage
and that change were brought about by cumulative effects of socio-economic
advancement of the modernization process. Population explosion in western
countries during 1800 marked the beginning of the shift from high to low mortality
and high to low natality (fertility). The theory argues that to transition, birth and
death rate are high and largely counsel each other effects meaning that population
grow slowly, as a society develops and modernized death rate declines but fertility
remains high, corresponding to the period of rapid population growth. At the
conclusion of the demographic transition, birth and death rates are again
comparable, but are in much lower level and population growth is stabilized within
this theory the most important determinants of population growth are the pre-
transition fertility rate and the time lag between the decline in mortality and natality
i.e., fertility rate remains high and birth rate are low population can grow quickly.
Population growth occurs when birth exceed death with total growth reflecting the
length of time over which these two stages and the different between the
maximum birth and death rate (stage one) and the minimum rate (stage four).
These stages show how the top characteristics of countries that are less developed
today will change as the country develops to an advanced stage. This model has 5
stages and can be matched to Rostow’s model of economic growth because they
have similar characteristics as show below.
1) Primitive or high fluctuating phase
In this stage both birth and death rates are high giving rise to slow population
growth. High birth rate is due to
 No family planning
 Children are regarded as a source of labour or wealth.
 Infant mortality rate is high are a result of insufficient medical care.
 Low per capital income
Socio-economic characteristics
 Low living standard
 Poor health facilities
 Low per capital income
 Agriculture is poorly subsidence
29
The socio-economic characteristics of stage 1 correspond to stage one of Rostow’s
model of economic growth that is the traditional society stage which is
characterized by primitive subsistence agriculture.
2) Early expending
Here, there is a continuous increase in BR but a dramatic fall in death rate. High
birth rate is due to little or no family planning.
 Early marriages, polygamous families
Meanwhile low death rate is due to improve medical care such as vaccination, more
doctors are trained improve hygiene and sanitation
Socio-economic characteristics
 Development of educational facilities
 Provision of good pipe borne water
 Improved modernized agriculture through modernization and introduction of
secondary sector with some manufacturing industries
The characteristic of this stage is similar to stage two of Rostow’s model. that is
pre-condition for take off
3) Late expanding
This stage is characterized by declining birth and low death. It is related to stage 3
of Rostow’s model. It is characterized by a growth in the manufacturing sector and
the expansion of political and social institution growth becomes self-sustaining
furthermore, economic development and education bring about low death rate,
falling birthrate and declining population growth.

4) Matured stage
This stage is characterized by very low birth rate and low death rate giving raise to
slow population growth. This stage also corresponds to stage 4 of Rostow’s model.
5) Low declining stage
Population declines. However, there is a rare occurrence of this stage, but it can
occur during war or in the event of an outbreak of epidemic
Stage 5 of Rostow’s model is equivalent to stage 5 of DTM. It is characterized by
rapid expansion of tertiary sector and welfare facilities.
Application of the Theory
The DTM largely reflect the situation of developed countries though some stages of
the model particularly stage 1-3 can be applicable in most developing countries such
as Argentina, China, Cameroon, Brazil are in stage 3. But a majority of developing
countries are still in stage 2. In the developing countries fertility and mortality
remain high. Developing countries are still pre-dominantly rural birth control
measures are either not used or inadequately used. Death rate has dropped in most

30
developing countries more than what happen in the developed counties. This sudden
drop has been experienced even in some least economically developed countries.
Developing countries benefited from medical technology and facilities already
developed in the developing countries. The developed countries have experienced
all the 4 stages of demographic transition model (DTM) and some has extended to
stage 5.

Application of the Model to Cameroon

The Demographic Transition Model (DTM) applied to Cameroon reveals that as of
now, the first and second stages have been experienced. This is based on the high
birth and death rate that characterized these stages. Cameroon before the 18
centuries (colonial masters) was a primitive society. Death rates were high due to
poor medical facility, prevalence of diseases, under nutrition and malnutrition. To
compensate the high death rate so as to have at least some surviving children to
reach adulthood, birth rate was also high; there was little or no birth control. Yet
Population growth was slow because the high birthrate was neutralized by high
death rate.
However, with the coming of the European, there was progress in health facilities
and infant mortality drop drastically, yet birthrate remains high because of religious
and cultural factors Cameroon thus experiences the characteristics of stage 2 during
and after colonial rule up to 1960s.
Today, in the 21st century and with the improvement illiteracy rate, the
implementation of some element of the millennium developed goals such as
 The education of the girl child and women empowerment
 Implementation of family planning

31
  The exploitation of natural resources
Measures birth and death rate has begun to fall even though not at a fast rate. The
country can thus be described as the one that has reach stage 3 of the Demographic
transition model. It must be noted that Cameroon may develop her own
development part which may enable her to go through a transition less similar to
that which was experienced in the western nation.

Criticisms of The Model

 The model neglects the influence of cultural differences.
 The model does not take in to consideration the negative effect of natural
disaster (volcanic eruption, earth quake and drought).
 Difference in socio economic and cultural behavior.
 The Demographic Transition Model does not take in to consideration of
migration which is a major component of population change.
 The Model assumes that all countries would experience a fall in the death rate
during stage 2 as a result of industrialization.

CHAPTER FIVE:
POPULATION CHANGE OVER SPACE
(MIGRATION)
INTRODUCTION:
A definition of migration is possible and has been attempted, although in
practice the effect is sometimes made more complex by the variety of
movement involved, the direction and volume, the scale at which they take
place, duration, selectivity and difficulties over sources for their study .A
general distinction is usually made between mobility (which is a very general
term use to describe all kinds of spatial movement).Both temporal and
permanent over various distances and migration (which is more restricted in
meaning are refer to as permanent or semi-permanent change of residence
with a complete readjustment of the community.
In other migration refers to the movement or displacement of people from
geographical area to another at a particular time. It is common practice to
refer to all population movement as migration.

DIFFERENTIAL MIGRATION OR CHARACTERISTICS

Population is selective and differential migration which simply means the
tendency of certain element of the population to be more migratory than
others in other words it is a based on the concept that some people and some
groups at people are more likely to migrate than others.
32
The selectivity of migration can be notice in the following areas.
CLASSIFICATION OF MIGRATION
Age Selective
In both internal and external migration thus, late adolescent and young are
often migratory to their first job and for education or merely for adventure.
They adjust themselves more easily to their new environment than the other
age groups.
This generalization however does not hold in all cases because in some
instance old adult and the aged dominate migration flow. E.g. migration due
to retirement in some cases many children may be involved in migration
mainly because of either parent moving on transfer or as refugees or into new
house
Sex selective
This aspect needs some critical examination because either males nor females
maybe in certain economic circumstances migrates more generally, in
developed countries short-distances internal migrate are mostly female while
over long distances males dominate on the other hand in many developing
countries male migration predominate in both internal and international
migration. With improvement in transport facilities mobility been in need for
both female and male and today female internal migration flows compete
keenly with that of male.
Marital status
Generally, the single people migrate more than the married, this is because of
the constrain involve in moving families in most developed countries,
however there’s more and the more migration of family sizes as oppose to
large family sizes in the developing countries which displacement
cumbersome(difficulties) in migrate of families is in search of better housing
schools social condition and even jobs but the family size selectiveness
remains in the developing countries because of their large family sizes an less
efficient road of transport.
Occupation
Migration is common among certain occupational groups. Professional
classes are proportional more migratory than semi-skilled or unskilled
workers. Also, unemployed persons turn to migrate more than the employ.
Educational level
Those who have spent a longer period of time in education or those with
higher literacy level migrate more than less educated or illiterate.
In addition to those migration manifestations, among races and nationality.

33
  Ethnic groups; some examples are more migratory than others e.g., Fulani’s
are more migratory than the Bantus.
 Socio economic movement (groups); Given that the rich migrates more than
the poor that is the movement is the function of cape.

Theories and laws of migration

Geographers that are involved in migration have developed various models
and theories aim to explain the geographical pattern of migration and how
one region relates to another. Some brought out one simple laws and models
to describe migration trends. Some of these laws and theories include Theory
by G.K Zipf.
1 The inverse Distance law (G.K Zipf)
These laws of migration face some modifications as a result of improved
technology. The law explains that most migrants travel over short distances
and their number reduces as distance over changes. The law states the volume
of migration is inversely proportional to distance travelled by migrants it can
be illustrated using the formula
Nij =
Where Nij equal number of migrants from town I Dij= distance between 2
towns.
Reasons for the above Relationships
 Long distances are more costly and thus few people can afford
transport cost while shorter distances are cheaper and so more migrants
can afford.
 There is limited information about long distance places.
 Family and friendship ties and heavy family responsibilities reduce
long range movers.
 Higher risks and hardship are involved in travelling over long distances
than shorter ones.
 Short distances do not involve a lot of documentation as in the case
with long distances.
 Communication and language difficulties discourage long distance
movement.

GRAVITY MODEL
This theory was borrowed from physic which is the Newton’s universal laws of
gravitation. This theory was use to explain what happened when there is movement
in geographical space such movement over space is called spatial interaction. It
34
usually involves the movement of people, goods, ideas, messages and services
between places within a transport system for a given period of time. The gravity
model is to predict the amount of population interaction between two towns.
According to the model in the interaction between two objects is proposition to their
mass and inversely proportional to their respective distance. Consequently, the
general formulation of spatial population can be adapted to reflect the basic
assumption to form elementary formulation of the gravity model. This model is
based on the premise that migration is some form of function with distance. It
ensures the extent to interaction predict approximately the actual movement,
suggesting that the movement between two centers will be proportional to the
product of their population and inversely proportional to the square of the distance
separating them. This is to say that expected movement between two towns may be
obtained by multiplying the population of town X by that of town Y and dividing
the product by the square of the distance separating them. It is express using the
formula

Iij =

Iij= spatial interaction

The gravity model suggests two basic relationships
As the size of 1 or both towns increase the movement between them also increases.
The further apart the town from each other, the lesser the movement between them.
For instance, town X, Y and Z have each a population of 3000 people, the distance
between X and Y equal 3km and that between X and Z equal 6km calculate the
spatial interaction between the towns.
Solutions
X and Y 3000 x 3000 = 9000
Iij =
3000x3000 = 9,000,000
9
Iij=1000, 000
From the results obtained, it shows that interaction between X and Y is higher than
between X and Z as seen by the ratio1:250,000. One other hand the model has been
discredited for the reasons that although the function of distance is important, there
are social and economic variables

35
THE THEORY OF INTERVENING OPPORTUNITIES BY S.A STOUFFER
The theory was proposed in 1940. The theory states that “the volume of migration
over a given distance is directly proportional to the number of opportunities at a
point of destination but inversely proportional to the number of opportunities
between the points of departure and that of destination”. This model attempts to
translate the distance factor into social as well as economic terms. He argues that the
number of migrants over a distance is directly related to the number of opportunities
at that distance and inversely related to the number of opportunities which exist at
the place of departure. Such opportunities could be employment, social facilities
such as hospitals, pipe borne water, schools, electricity.
This model is expressed mathematically in the following formula
Nij =
Where, Nij = the number of competing migrants between town I and j.
Oj = the number of opportunities at j
Oij = number of intervening opportunities between town I and j
Weakness of the Stouffer Model
The model does not explain the causes of migration nor take in to account other
significant variables affecting the volume of migration and interaction between
competing places. The model of transportation is not given.

THE CONCEPT OF SPATIAL INTERACTION

Interaction takes place in various ways and maybe within region in a country
between countries and between continents. The term spatial interaction therefore,
generally refers to the movement of goods and services, people and ideas
(information) between specific areas and over certain distance in time and space of
the movement is visible and invisible. The rate of spatial interaction varies from
region to region depending on the level of socio-economic development, literacy
rate of the population the physical geographical development and distance
separating the regions.
Interaction will be rapid where conditions are favorable and slow or nonexistent
where there are poor.
Factors Affecting Spatial Interaction
a) Complementarity
This shows the degree to which two regions complement each other for two regions
to interact there must be demand in one and supply in the other that is demand for a
good and service at one place must be matched by the supply of that same good and
service at another if there is supply of a product or service at one end and the no
corresponding demand. On the other hand, smooth interaction cannot take place

36
between two regions this meant that the supply most be backed by the ability to pay
for it e.g., interaction takes place between develop countries by the buying of raw
materials from the developing countries in exchange for finish or manufactured
good. A residential zone is complementary to an industrial zone because the first is
supplying workers while the second is supplying jobs. It also takes place between a
town and it surrounding country side with the country side supplying food stuff in
exchange for good such as dresses, agricultural input. Thus, for complementarity to
occur there must be a supply and demand between the interaction towns
b) Intervening opportunities
The theory of intervening opportunities states that the volume of migration is
directly proportional to the number of intervening opportunities at the point of
destination but inversely proportional to the number of intervening opportunities
between the point of departure and destination intervening opportunities reduces the
volume of migration spatial interaction between the area of departure or destination
(spatial interaction) A potential buyer will not be willing to go very far from his area
of origin if he can obtain what he want close to his area. Thus, interaction will occur
between the most easily reached regions, if a migrant has to move from place A-C
in search for a job and discovers that between A and C jobs are found at B he is v
likely to end at B. The presents of jobs in B will therefor reduce the volume of
migration between A and C thus, the higher the intervening opportunities the lower
the volume of migration between regions.
c) Transferability
For special interaction to take place the good or services must be transferable goods
can’t be only moved physically but economically. This is an important
consideration if the cost of moving a good or services may be too high then
interaction will not take place. Person or information been transferred most be
supported by transport infrastructures implying the origin and destination must be
linked caused to over-come this must be higher than the benefit of related
interaction even if there is complementally and no alternative opportunity. Transport
infrastructures must be present to support an interaction between A and B.
Apart from these 3 basis factors, the volume of spatial intervention depends on the
number of other factors.
d) Cost Factor
Various types of cost may affect the amount of special intervening between places
such cost may include; Monetary cost, cost of energy, cost of convenience, cost of
time and social cost. But among these the most important is monetary cost which
include;

37
 i) Transport Cost
The higher the transport cost the higher the amount of interaction given that fewer
people will be prepared to pay the high transport cost. Transport cost depends on the
physical distance under normal circumstances; transport over long distances is
higher than over short distances. As a result, special interaction turns to be higher
over short distances than over long distances. Apart from physical distance transport
cost also depends on the nature of Terrain Rugged and Swampy Regions are
more costly.
Another monetary cost that affects the amount of special interaction include Cost of
feeding, lodging at destination, cost of preparing for journey, cost of catering
for family left behind until return.
As a result of this cost in movement, economy distance has become important in
migration and special intervention than mere physical distance since cost is very
vital in movement, human population are often very sensitive to changes in cost
thus the greater the cost of movement between places the fewer will be the number
that will afford to pay hence, reducing the volume of interaction between them.
e) Distance
The volume of migration is inversely related to distance. i.e. the volume of
migration between 2 regions related with change in distance. This means migration
volume is greater over short distance than long distances. Some reasons for these
inverse relationships may include higher transport cost for longer distance greater
risk, lack of information. It should be noted that the inverse relationship is not
always true in all cases e.g., A situation were 2 regions complement each other, the
volume of migration may even be greater over long distance

TYPES OF MIGRATION
None of the many criteria for classifying migration advanced already is perfect. This
is because each type of migration over lapse and interrelates with other types. The
diversity of migration in terms of duration direction distance volume and motive
also makes a task of classification difficult. Despite this shortcoming, the most and
commonly used way for classifying migration is distance. These brings out 2
distinct but broad types of migration i.e., Internal and external or international
migration.
 Describe and attempt to explain the various type of internal migration.
 With reference to specific example discuss the causes and consequences of
international migration.

38
 I) Internal Migration
This is concerned with the movement of people within a country or political unit.
Here therefore, the movement does not cross national boundaries.
Characteristics of Internal Migration
-Unlike internal migration, it is more difficult to access the significant of internal
migratory movement and to trace them accurately except in countries which keep
accurate record of such movement.
- Internal movements are usually free from some contains such as custom barriers
and restrictive emigration or emigration laws.
-It involves movement over shorter distance than long distance hence lower cost.
-The volume of migration and the amount of special interaction is higher than
international migration.
Types of Internal Migration
1) Rural-urban migration
It is simply the movement of people away from the country side (Rural areas) to
towns (urban areas) of countries. This movement is generally the most important
form of inter migration especially in countries experiencing industrialization and
technology programs. The intensity of rural exodus which is reached alarming
proportion in the 20th century in developing countries and is still very pronounced in
these areas due to the growth of transport media which have facilitated the
movement.
CAUSES OF RURAL URBAN MIGRATION
A) Push Factor
These are factors which are present in rural areas. And trigger or force people
out of them
Rural people pressure
This often exist when there are so many people settled on small land area
resulting in overcrowding this might be brought about by high natural change
as a result of fertile soils for agriculture Leading to high people densities.
This situation often result in scarcity of land for cultivation is settlement
hence, many people do not have agriculture land to work on and so they
move out to towns
i) Mechanization of agriculture
Most rural areas in both the developed and developing countries have been
experiencing agricultural mechanization in the developed countries; it has
been intensified since the First World War. After independence for most
developing countries, mechanization of agriculture involved the use of
machines like, plough, tractors, sprayers, combined harvesters to do farm
work. Formerly done manually have levied to a drastic reduction in the did
39
 for agricultural laborers. These result in high rate of unemployment; these
situations trigger off rural exodus
The harsh condition of a rural area can also be a push factor especially these
situated on mountainous regions Bamileke and Kom of Cameroon.
Furthermore, from crops cultivation to live stock farming that need more
agricultural land equally demonstrate the same effect as well as
-Traditional land tenure displaces people to move to urban areas.
-Rural over population
ii) Absolute Poverty
In some rural societies, people may stay for many months without money to meet
up with their basic needs. This may result partly from the high unemployment, the
dependence on newly subsistence agriculture where very little or nothing is sold.
This triggers off or force people to move out of towns which have lack of or limited
social amenities.

B) PULL FACTORS
These constitute the seduction amenities present in urban areas and attract
people from rural areas.
- Availability of employment
Urban areas offer better employment opportunities than the rural areas because
economic growth has occurred predominantly in urban areas leading to the
creation of many jobs’ opportunities with better working conditions and higher
paid thus many rural dwellers are attracted to move into these towns with the
hopes of picking up jobs
- High incomes and living standard

People in urban areas have higher and purchasing power than the rural population
because none agricultural employments in urban areas as in industries, transport,
commercial activities are more paid than the purely agricultural economies of rural
areas thus the living standard in urban areas are higher this therefore attracts the
rural population.

Urban areas offer exceptional social amenities such as schools of higher learning,
stores and public utilities such as water, electricity an entertainment like night clubs,
videos club and TV programs all these facilities attract a quite number of rural
populations.

- Wrong prescription of urban areas.

- Improvement in transport.

40
 CONSEQUENCES OF RURAL URBAN MIGRATION

Whether migration takes place over short or long distance or whether it involves
few hundreds of several millions of people. It ends up in all causes by transferring
both the place of origin the area of destination way of life either positively or
negatively thus the effects are classified under economic, social and demographic
factors both at the place of departure and the place of destination.

Economic consequence (Rural Areas)

i) Positive consequence

Relieve of rural population pressure

Areas experiencing population pressure out migration to towns is a welcome relieve

because it helps to de-populate the rural areas. When this happens, the land and
resources therefor sustain the remaining population leading to a certain degree of
improved living standard.

Socio economic development of rural areas

Financial support from urban areas promotes socio economic development because
those whom migrate are able to work and carry out investment like creating small
and medium size industries, making financial contribution for the development of
water project, electricity and road for the development of water project, electricity
and road project in rural areas. Money from urban areas has therefore contributed to
the socio-economic development of rural areas.

Broadening of horizon of rural areas/people

Migrants returning from urban areas may help to spend new ideas, techniques and
innovation that will contribute in the socio-economic development of rural
environment and broadening the knowledge of rural people.

ii) Negative consequences

Fall in labour force; There will be a change in labour force and a fall in
agricultural production the rural areas are unquestionable penalized in that they lose
their most active men and women who are the most enterprising because when they

41
move out of the various attractions in towns the work of agriculture is left in the
hands of old men and women and children whose labour is insufficient to improve
on it and even to maintain it good condition as a result of these there will be a drop
in agricultural productivity.

Effects on Urban Areas (Destination)

Positive Effects

 Change market potential

High volume of migrants helps to change the market potential in market areas
because the inflect of people from rural areas change the population of
receiving [Link] may provide a high demand for industrial product due to a
change in population resulting in changes in expansion.
 Development of informal sector
Therefore, the number of rural dwellers in towns often encourages the
development of informal sector of the economy. The employment is not
formally recognized and the workers in this sector generally have no fixed
hours, no employment benefit and their activities are on tax. For instance,
petite businesses such as Hawkers, ‘Buyam sellams’. These activities have
floated urban areas especially those of developing countries and have
provided a source of self-employment for many.
Negative Effect
High rate of unemployment: The influx of migrants from rural areas
leads to unemployment because of employment opportunities are low few
relative to the invading migrant most of which are unskilled.
Low living standard as a result of high rate of unemployment living standard
are very low with many people living below the poverty life and can’t afford
most their needs.
Social Consequence
Area of origin
-The rampant put migration of mainly the youth may lead to a fall in school
enrolment figures and the closure of some schools.
-It may lead to broken homes or separation of families and sexual immortality
given that the attraction in towns may keep one partner away from the
permanently this eventually changes the number of divorces.
-They may be under utilization of the few social amenities available in some
villages like Health entertainment because those strong members of the
village community who are supposed to utilize this services have all migrated
to town.
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 Destination
High crime wave
This is a social ill in urban areas such crimes may include stealing, drug
abuse, murder, gambling. This most are perpetuated by follow migrants
who are generally less law abided prostitution is rampant and becomes a
profitable trade and the incidence of the speed the sexually transmitted
diseases changes. This is mainly the unemployment and frustration. many
young girls in rural areas indulged in this and some consider it a way of
making ends meet.
Pollution changes in social services

URBAN-RURAL MIGRATION
It involves the movement of people from urban areas to rural areas. It is not
as wide spread as rural urban migration but more prominent in the developed
countries than in developing countries who’s the reverse movement is more
common.

CAUSES OF URBAN RURAL MIGRATION

A) PUSH FACTORS
i) Retirement

Majority of old people prefer to move in to rural areas after they retire
from their jobs in other to enjoy quietness, calmness and eye are closer to
the nature. They also prefer rural areas because their small pension can
sustain them as the cost of living is generally low

-high cost of living

-urban problem

-high land value

B) PUSH FACTOR

- Agricultural attraction

- Low cost of living

- Improvement in transport facilities

- Industrial development

43
 - Abundant and cheap land

- Environmental attraction (nature)

CONSEQUENCES

A) Urban Areas
-De-population of urban area
-movement reduces the problem of congestion
-it helps reduce the rate of unemployment

B) Rural Areas

- Villages become growth poles. i.e. New points of economy development,

this is due to the fact that returning migrants who have worked enough money in
towns carry out development projects such as small and medium size industries
shopping centers. These boast the economic power of the rural areas.

- Rural areas gain more labour from urban areas changing cost of living in rural
areas as the changing number eventually exceed great pressure on the land on the
resources of rural environment.

- Deterioration of natural beauty.

- Deterioration of natural beauty in rural areas as natural vegetation is destroyed

for other activities.

Inter-urban migration (urban-urban migration)

This involves the movement from one urban area to another. This movement is
often associated with differences in the level of development between towns.

The movements are usually from towns to low of socio -economic development to
those of high levels.

Causes of inter-urban migration

PUSH FACTORS

i) Economic push factors

Movement away from departure town may triggered off by the inability to
ensure a job (unemployment) absolute poverty, low wages and poor working
conditions

44
 - Improvement in transport links between the departure and receiving
towns, good roads, tarred roads, rail ways and air transport facilities make
movement easy journey shorter and cheaper movement has also been
encourage by inter urban transport bases.
- Over population in some towns resulting in resource scarcity,
unemployment, overcrowding and amenities like schools and hospitals may
also trigger a lot of out movement to other towns.
- Increasing cost of living in terms of cost of feeding, housing (rents) social
bills have also contributed to the displacement of people from one town to
another.
ii) Push factors
Availability of a wide range of job opportunities some towns are more
developed economically than others possessing many industries,
commercial activities, a well-developed transport network. All these
provide employment opportunities.
- Higher incomes, better working conditions and high standard of living are
also some economic pull factors which attract migrants from one town to
another.
Social push factors
- Limited social amenities and services like education and medical facilities,
electricity, pipe borne
- Water, good housing may also trigger off out movement from departure
towns.

Pull Factors
Economic pull factor
- Availability of a wide range of job opportunities, some towns are more
developed economically than others possessing many industries,
commercial activities as well as developed transport network. All these
provides employment opportunities
- Higher income, better writing conditions and high living standard are also
some economic pull factors which attracts migrants from one town to
another.
i) Social pull factors
- Availability of a variety and better amenities in one town such as better
medical and educational facilities, pipe borne water may act as a pull factor
to migrants from other towns.

45
 CONSEQUENCES OF INTER URBAN MIGRATION
- Decrease population at departure town but change it at the leaving town.
- Overcrowding (congestion in receiving towns).
- Changing cost of living.
- Economic progress in the economically more developed town.

INTRA URBAN MIGRATION

It involves the movement of people within the same urban areas or from one part of
the town to another. This may be from the inner city to the suburbs. The major
factor in intra urban migration decision is place on utility.
This movement could involve those moving out the crowded or potted inner zones
to the outer zones or suburbs people could also more following the movement of
industries to net location in the periphery. Movement of this type could also be
triggered by the expansion of central business distinct (CBD) which often leads to
displacement of urban resident to the outer zones of the city.
CAUSES OF INTRA URBAN MIGRATION
A) Social/push- pull factor
In the inner city, housing conditions are poor. There is poor quality housing with
insufficient basic amenities, high density and overcrowding. These are negative
conditions which force people out of these uncomfortable areas. On the other hand,
in the suburb’s areas, modern and high-quality houses with sufficient amenities and
low density all attract migrants from the inner city.
Inner cities are characterized by congestions, noise and air possession from traffic
and industries high crime wave, vandalism, poor waste disposal. This triggers off
movement in to the suburbs the suburbs in other hand have inner environment with
less noise and air pollution, less congestion, crime wave and less vandalism this
attract migrants from the inner city.
Inner city is characterized by congestion, noise and air pollution from traffic and
industries high crime wave, vandalism, poor waste disposal. This triggers off
movements into the periphery the suburbs in the other hand have inner environment
with less noise and pollution, less congestion less vandalism this attract migrant
from the inner city.
Out migration from the inner city may also be caused by insufficient and other
services available to the population such as schools and hospitals. Ethnic and racial
tensions give the heterogeneous nature of such areas.
Economic push/pull factors
The inner-city roads are narrow and unplanned with limited parking space. This has
created transportation difficulty with a lot of delays. Its’ therefore, a reason for
people to move out to the suburbs where there is a well plan growth system with
46
which streets, close to motor waves. Also, the improvement in road network linking
the inner cities and the suburbs has encouraged a lot of outward movement.
Decline in older secondary industries with congested sites in the inner city also
causes and migration given that these often result in much unemployment relatively
few new industries prefer inner city location because labour force lacks the relevant
skills needed in new services and high technical industry in the suburbs, there has
been the growth of modern industry estates, foot loose and service industry. This
has attracted many migrants from the inner cities.
Out migration from inner cities has also been triggered by high rate of
unemployment lesser skilled jobs in traditional industry. The lower rate of
unemployment and often more skilled jobs in newer high technical industry attract
migrants to the suburbs.
Limited planning and investment, large scale redevelopment also contributed to the
out migration of people from inner cities while better planning public and private
investment and high income attract migrants to the suburbs.

CONSEQUENCES
The inner cities are often left with a higher proportion of low-income families,
handicapped people, the elderly, single-parent families, the unemployed, recent
immigrants, people with few skills and limited qualifications.
The suburbs attract people of middle age, married with a growing family,
possessing higher skills and qualification, earning higher salaries and capable of
buying their own homes and cars.
A lot of development in the outer city often leads to destruction of the natural
beauty of the countryside. It should be noted however that the process of
gentrification in the inner cities of most developed countries in recent years has led
to the re-urbanization of these areas.

RURAL-RURAL MIGRATION
This involves the movement of people from one rural area or village to another.
CAUSES OF RURAL- RURAL MIGRATION
Migrations from one rural area to another are triggered by Push-Pull factors.
i. Rural population pressure: This is an important push factor which
contributes to the out migration of people from a rural area. This is
because the high population density on the land limits cultivable land area
and thus people who are unable to secure land for agriculture or settlement
are forced to move out. On the other hand, rural areas with abundant land
with low population density or low population pressure attract or pull
migrants from other rural areas.
47
 ii. Infertile soil for Agriculture. This is also responsible for out migration
from some rural areas (push). Given that agriculture is the mainstay of the
rural areas, infertile soils limit agricultural activities and therefore forces
people out of rural areas to those with fertile soils good for agricultural
activities. These fertile soils act as a pull factor.
iii. Overpopulation. Out migration from one rural area may also be triggered
by overpopulation. Rural overpopulation results from rapid population
growth, which outstrips resources. This is often indicated by the existence
of high unemployment, landless people, low incomes and living standards
and possibly malnutrition and famine. When this happens, many people
are forced to out of such rural areas to those with abundant land and more
resources
iv. Intertribal wars: This often results mainly from land disputes and have
been responsible for massive out movements from the affected rural areas
to peaceful villages. They are popular in the North West Province of
Cameroon. For instance, the Bambili-Babanki, Balikumbat- Bafanji wars
were as a result of land disputes.
v. Natural disasters: These may include floods, volcanic eruptions; toxic
gas explosions which may also cause out form one rural area to another.
These caused massive movements out of these villages to neighboring
ones not affected by the disaster. Peace in other villages acts as a pull
factor for people in such troubled areas.

INTER-REGIONAL MIGRATION
This is the movement of people from one region to another. This could be between
regions within the same country or between countries.
These movements can be traced in countries of both the developed and developing
world. Some examples include: In Cameroon examples include movements from the
western highlands towards the coast, drifts from Far North and Adamawa to towns
of the center and Littoral provinces (North-South movements)

CAUSES OFINTER-REGIONALMIGRATION
A. PHYSICAL FACTORS
a. PUSH FACTORS: Such factors are related to climate, relief, soils, and natural
disasters. Regions with harsh climatic conditions like much cold or excessive heat,
too wet or dry (drought) makes life difficult and forces people out of such areas e,g.
the harsh climate of the Swedish Lapland, far North Russia, middle belt of Nigeria
etc. forces people to move out to other parts of the country with favorable
conditions.
48
Out migration is also triggered by difficult (rugged) relief and poor (infertile) soils
which makes human activities like agriculture, road construction etc. difficult and
livelihood precarious. These can therefore act as strong push factors e.g., the rugged
relief and poor soils of the Adamawa high plateau of Cameroon encourages out
migration to the southern region; the infertile soils of most Sahel regions of Africa,
Western Jutland (Denmark) etc. have also been responsible for the out movement of
people to other parts of the country. Natural disasters (hazards) such as drought
(Sahel countries), earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods, tidal waves as in
Bangladesh and India, Hurricanes etc. often lead to loss of life, destruction of
property and makes life difficult and insecure. They therefore cause the forceful
movement of people out of such disaster areas to other regions.

b. PULL FACTORS
These are related to the positive aspects of the already discussed push factors. Thus,
regions with favorable/equable climate, good relief, fertile soils and absence of
natural disasters are attractive to migrants and many would like to move to such
areas e.g., the climatic conditions of the south coast of England, the Mediterranean
coast of France and Spain, the coastal regions of Cameroon etc. attract many
migrants from other parts of the country. The fertile volcanic soils at the foot of
mount Cameroon have also attracted many people from the grass fields for
agricultural endeavors.

B. ECONOMIC FACTORS
PUSH FACTORS
 Unemployment (limited opportunities in some parts of the country or in
depressed regions). This indicates that poverty characterizes such regions and
people cannot meet up with their basic needs leading to low living standards.
Limited or no industries to provide employment avenues. Many people are
therefore urged to move out.

 Over population (limited resources in relation to the population as in

Ethiopia, Bangladesh, parts of China, India etc.). This often leads to low per
capita income and low living standards; malnutrition etc. and thus triggers off
movements.

49
  Population pressure on land (as in the Bamelike regions of Cameroon) also
forces people out of their area of origin to other regions as there is limited
land for agriculture and other activities.

 Poor prospects in agriculture and industry or industrial decline have been

responsible for out migration. This may be due to limited capital, labour and
even raw materials. For example, the drift of people from the north and west
of Britain
to the South East of England can be attributed partly to the decline of the basic
heavy industries such as steel, textiles and shipbuilding. With no alternative
employment, those wishing to work had to move from the North to the South of the
country. Other economic push factors include low incomes, relatively high cost of
land, high cost of living etc.

b. PULL FACTORS
The economic pull factors include: The availability of a variety of employment
opportunities, higher incomes/wages, better prospects in agriculture and industry,
lower cost of living and higher living standards, lower land rents etc. For instance,
the growth of a variety of modern industries like car manufacturing, electrical
engineering, service industries [Link] the South East of Britain has attracted
increasing number of migrants from the North. Also, the variety of job opportunities
provided in industries, commercial activities, transport, various plantations etc. in
the coastal region of Cameroon attracts many migrants from other parts of
Cameroon into this region.

Another possible pull factor is the existence of rich mineral deposits which attracts
rapid inflow of population e.g., the influx of migrants into the Shaba province of the
Democratic Republic of Congo, the copper belt of Zambia etc. has been partly as a
result of the presence of copper.

Transport development is also an encouraging factor of inter-regional migration

This is because the various transport modes like roads, railways, air etc. makes
movements easier and faster for instance the good tarred roads linking the Western
Highlands to the coastal lowlands of Cameroon facilitates movements to this region.
The Westward movement in America and the move to the East of Russia was
encouraged by the development of the railway.

50
C. SOCIAL FACTORS
a. PUSH FACTORS
The lack or insufficiency of social or public amenities in the departure area such as
educational facilities (schools), medical facilities health centers, hospitals etc.
electricity, pipe bore water supply, housing facilities account for the movement of
people out of their origins to other places.

b. PULL FACTORS
On the other hand, the availability of these amenities in the receiving areas are
attractive to migrants and thus encourage movements into such areas e.g. the
availability of such amenities in the coastal towns of Cameroon have encouraged a
lot of in migration from other regions of the country where such amenities are
inadequate or absent

D. POLITICAL FACTORS
a) Push Factor
Some people migrate when they disagree with the political ideology of the
government in power. Such people may face persecution or threats of arrest and will
be forced to escape either to seek refuge in a region of a neighboring country or to
another part of the country e.g., during the UPC crisis in the 1950s and 1960s many
Bamelike migrated from the Western highlands towards the coastal region of
Cameron because they supported the party's ideology against the government.
b) Pull Factor
The existence of peace and freedom in particular regions or countries may act as a
pull to many migrants given that their life and property is safe in such areas. Good
governance often provides fertile ground for peace and progress and limits political
agitation and therefore attracts migrants/investments.

RELIGIONS FACTORS
a) Push Factors
An important religious push factor is religious persecution or intolerance. This often
forces the religious group concerned to migrate to other areas where their religion
can be practiced.
Religious Conflicts: Conflicts between Moslems and Christians, anti-Jewish
practice in most European countries especially Germany, the past Jihad or Holy
wars have also been responsible for the rampant out migration or emigration of
people to other places.

51
b. PULL Factors
On the other hand, religious freedom or religious toleration will act as pull factor
and would encourage or attract migrants into such areas.
It should however be note that various migrants would perceive the realities at a
destination in different ways. An area of natural beauty can be viewed by one
migrant as attractive, but to the other who cannot find employment in it, he
considers it a depressed region. Thus, causes must be qualified. It has however been
established that the greater the contrast between regions, the greater the volume of
interregional movements.

CONSEQUENCES OF INTER REGIONAL MIGRATION

DEMOGRAPHIC CONSEQUENCES AT THE ORIGIN (or Departure area)
Out movement here often leads to a great loss of population especially of the
productive age (adults) resulting in a reduction in the population or depopulation.
It may also lead to a fall in fertility and growth rates given that a majority of the
migrants are in the reproductive age group.
Age sex imbalances are also visible effects. The departure areas are often dominated
by children and old people as well as females due to the age and sex selective
effects of migration. The dominance of children and the aged lead to higher
dependency ratios

AREA OF DESTINATION
There would be an increase in total population and population growth rate. This
may result in overpopulation and population pressure on resources.
It may lead to an increase in fertility, especially when migrants are poorer and less
skilled or educated. In some places however, it is unlikely to increase fertility as
more educated people are involved and favor smaller families.
Distorted age-sex structure given that mostly young adult males may dominate due
to the age and sex selective effects of migration.
There would be a reduction in dependency ratios given that most migrants are active
and productive.

b. SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES AT THE ORIGIN

 Utilization of few amenities available. Limited provision of social services
and amenities like schools, pipe borne water, hospital, electricity etc. given
the rampant out migration of people and thus few people to use them.
 The origin is deprived of its intellectual population brain drain/outflow of
skills which may result in under development.
52
  Feedback of information and return of some migrants however loosens
traditional social structures and brings progress in the society through
remittance.

AT THE DESTINATION

 More social services and amenities would be provided since there is an

increase in population who need these facilities etc. The provision of these
facilities in most cases has however failed to keep pace with the increasing
population leading to overcrowding pressure on them.
 It may also result in a rich cultural mix in terms of language, traditions, inter-
marriages, feeding habits
 There will be a boost in the intellectual and social and political life if
migrants are educated and thus bringing new ideas.
 The influx of migrants also results in a lot of social problems like congestion
and overcrowding, land, water, air and noise pollution, high crime wave
(theft, gambling, drug abuse) etc.
 There would be housing and communication difficulties.

c. ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES AT THE ORIGIN:

 Reduces population pressure on limited resources resulting in some
improvement in living standards
 Loss of younger and productive sector of the economy, which creates a
severe labour shortage and a fall in productivity.
 Retards economic development as the productive members of the community
i.e. the young adults migrate out and so reduces the chances of the
introduction and acceptability of innovations
 Returning migrants may however bring in much capital that would boost
economic development here (remittance).
 It often leads to a decrease in the market potential and purchasing power.

AT THE DESTINATION
 Provision of valuable labour force given that the most productive age and sex
group has migrated out.
 Greater economic development and increase productivity in the agricultural
and industrial sectors as migrants are skilled and productive so no money is
spent on their training.
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  Results in an increase in the market potential and purchasing power.
 Surplus labour often results in unemployment problems, which would likely
further create an informal sector in the economy.

INTERNATIONAL OR EXTERNAL MIGRATION

This involves all movement involving the crossing of national frontiers or involves
the movement of people from the one city to another or from one continent to
another.

Determines of External Migration

Economic push factors
Economic backwardness often characterized by low industrial development, poor
transport development, mass unemployment, poverty, low income and low standard
of living have contributed to the movement of people out of such countries.
Economic crisis faced by countries also triggered off movement into countries.
These crises which most African countries experience in the later part of the 20 th
century has led to rapid movement of people in to the neighboring countries
Crop failure may also force people to move. Drought, flood and other negative
environmental conditions often lead to crop failure
PULL FACTORS
Economic opportunities may attract migrants from poor to rich countries some of
the economic opportunities at the destination that may attract migrants include; the
availability of a variety of better job opportunity, transport communication, better
working conditions higher wages and living standard. These is amplified by the
constant movement of people from less economically developed countries to more
economically developed
DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS
Push factors
Over population/population pressure plays a great role in emigration. Over
population is a situation where there is an excess of population over potential and
utilized resources thus the available resources cannot sustain the population because
of much population pressure on these resources. This often results in
unemployment, famine, food shortage, poverty and hardship. This has contributed
to high rate of migration in some countries.
Pull factors
Favorable immigration policies of some countries have attracted many migrants
from other countries. These countries and others encourage emigration by providing
goods condition and facilities to migrants e.g., Australia provides financial

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assistance housing facilities to immigrants. These policies have been responsible for
the high rate of immigration into these countries.
Political factors
Past and present-day international migrations have been triggered off by political
factors. This often results in voluntary or involuntary movement
Push factors
War- this has been responsible for massive movement across boarders into countries
in the past and present-day. When there is war in the country, many people escape
for safety movement taking into account the distance into the neighboring peaceful
country. Other political events which led to massive international migration include
civil wars, the establishment fascism and Jewish policies in the 1930s in Germany.
Political instability resulting in wide spread wars on the African continent has led to
lot of cross boarder movement.
Forced international migration can also be triggered off because some people in the
country may disagree with the ideology of the government that is the oppose the
ideal of the government in power such people may be persecuted and always
threaten with arrested and detention and even killing many of such people have been
force to seek refuge in other countries. In some countries the minority grove is
bound to suffer. They are often marginalized persecuted and in some case are being
killed by the majority.

REFUGEE MOVEMENT (REFUGEEISM)

Definition
These are involuntary movement involving people who are forced by undesirable
circumstances to leave their country of origin to other countries. The term refugee
comes from the Latin word ‘fugee’ meaning to ‘flee’. Refugee is therefore people
who flee from their home or countries in other to find refuge or safety in other
countries.
A refugee may forcedly leave his/her country because of war or natural disaster
Classification
Semi-permanent refugees
Permanent refugees
Characteristics
 Refugees live extreme poverty and lack food
 They live in camps often characterized by water problem
 They rarely have citizenship
 Rapid spread of diseases in refugees’ camps with little or no medical care.
Causes of refugee movement

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It is cause mainly by the negative situation. This negative condition includes
political, environmental religious
Political factors
Wars; has been responsible for a large-scale movement and thus created great floods
of refugees. The first and second world war in the first half of the 20 th century
provoked a massive shifting of people with some permanent and temporal
Doctorial government
Natural disaster
Religious persecution/ conflict
Economic factors
Refugees are be force to work in other countries so as to help improve on their
economic activity
Crop failure cause by drought

Consequence of refugee movement

Affects both the departure and receiving country
Departure country
Depopulation
Loss of active population leading to a fall in labour force
Mass unemployment, food shortages, poverty
There may be some improvement in living standards
Receiving country
Increase in total population
Creation of camps to accommodate the population
Over-crowding/ congestion
Food shortage
Rapid spread of disease HIV
Malnutrition especially among infants
Measures to alleviate refugee problems
Development of refugee camps
Financial national and moral support
Providing solutions to reasons for movement
Peace keeping forces

POPULATION AND RESOURCES

Resources
Resources refer to the advantages environmental conditions that can be exploited to
improve on living standards. And can be classified into two categories. that is,
natural and human resources. Natural resources are any substance or physical
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property of a place that can be used to satisfy human needs. Human resources are
the volume of human efforts that a community has to be able to exploit the natural
resources
Classification of resources
Natural resources are largely environment resources such as minerals, soils water
climate and wild life. And be further divided into renewable and non-renewable
resources
i) Renewable resources; these are resources which can be recycled or
regenerate after exploitation.
ii) Non-renewable resources; these are resources that form very slowly and
cannot be replenish in the future after being exploited.
Human resources; they consist of man’s intelligence, ability to create new things
and technical know-existence.
Over population
Over population occurs when there is an excess of population over utilizers or
potential resources and can be divided into two types that is
a) Absolute overpopulation; it is a situation where there is a maximum
exploitation and utilization of resources, yet living standards remain low and
there is no hope to transform resources from stock or a situation where the
resources have been exploited but the problems or indicators of
overpopulation still persist due to constantly increasing numbers and or
decreasing production. Thus, it occurs where the absolute limit of production
has been reached though living standard remain low
b) Relative overpopulation; it is a situation wherein the population number is
increasing faster than the rate of resource development and present
production is inadequate for the population although there are chances for
greater production.
Indicators of overpopulation
Famine, increase of landless labourers, existence of numerous out migrations and
prolonged unemployment, low per capital income, population density, low
exchange rate, population pressure on resources, high fertility
Solutions to Overpopulation
Different solutions have been applied in different countries in the world where over
population had occurred. This can be done by increasing the size of cultivatable
land through either land reclamation or irrigation.
Increased yields can be obtained by the use of counter growing and earlier ripening
variety of gain. The adoption of hybrid species enables the yields of maize to be
increased 3 to 4 folds without any further modification in the system of cultivation.
It can also be checked by establishment of industrial centers.
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The control of population growth by the limitation of births can be quite effective in
checking over population.

OPTIMUM POPULATION (ceiling population)

It is the situation where by the level of population which through the production of
goods and services, provides the highest average standard of living.
Indicators of Optimum Population
 High average of standard of living
 Full employment
 A rational or equitable distribution or development of increasing resources
 The balance demographic composition of age, sex and occupational structure

UNDER POPULATION
This is when the population is too small to utilizes its’ resources fully or where the
resources and development could support a larger population than the current one
without lowering the living standard or increase unemployment
Indicators
Economically backward regions
 The presence of vast untapped resources given the low technology to exploit
them.
 Low per capital income and low living standards owing to the fact that the
resources are unexploited.
Low socio-economic development
This is because in regions with few people, it is uneconomical to provide good
communication network, health and education.
Possible inflow of migrants with foreign technology to exploit from which the home
country of the migrants is the main beneficiary.
Economically advanced country
 Luxurious average living standard given the high per capital income
 Wasteful usage of resources if not controlled
 They will exist a small population rate to utilizes resources
 High rate of immigration
Measurement of under population
 Finding the per capital income
 Investing the level of employment
 Existence of diminishing returns
 Checking the life expectancy
 Measuring population density

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THEORY OF POPULATION GROWTH
The Malthusian theory
Thomas Robert Malthus was the leading and strong supporter of the idea of
reduction in population growth he published his view. He was anxious about the
constant tendency for population to increase more rapidly than the amount of food
supply. He believed that there was finite population size in relation to food supply
and decline in the standard of living, unemployment, famine and disease. He
pointed out that population is growing at a geometric rate and turns to double ever
25 years while food production increase at an arithmetic rate 1,2,3, 4,…….10.
Malthus suggested that when the ceiling or optimum population has reached and
there is any further growth in population private or preventive checks will set in and
reduce the growth.
Private or preventive checks
These are ways of reducing population growth voluntarily by man and this include;
 Voluntary limitation of families (natural family planning)
 Abstinence from sex still marriage
 Encouragement of delay or late marriages
 Celibacy
 Chastity

Positive checks
These are checks impose by the environment and geared towards reducing
population size involuntarily.
Famine which often results in starvation leading to increase in death rate diseases,
wars, poverty, pest, plaques and epidemics, natural disasters all of which help to
raise death rate and lead to low life expectancy.
Weakness of the Theory
1. The improvements in the means of transport (roads, railway, air and water)
allowed for more efficient trade between regions. It made it possible and very
easy for food to be transported from areas of surpluses to areas of deficiency -
thus supporting the increasing population. Due to this, Britain and other countries
could easily import large quantities of food from other countries such that food
was above population.

2. Improvements in agricultural techniques particularly intensification developed in

countries which accompanied the agrarian revolution made crop yield to be more
than doubled e.g. there was the heavy use of artificial fertilizers, machines,

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 pesticides and insecticides, improved seeds etc. which greatly increased
agricultural output, thus supporting the increasing population. Also,
improvements in technology made it possible for land which was formerly
considered wasteland to become highly productive. There was the opening of new
farmlands through land reclamation, irrigation and deforestation.
3. New sources of food supply were also discovered in the seas and oceans. The
exploitation of fish resources here contributed to increase food resources (source
of protein).

4. Also,new mineral resources were discovered in regions hardly known during the
time of Malthus. These were being exploited, processed and utilized by man.

5. The Industrial Revolution helped to transform agricultural, mineral and other raw
materials to usable products, which could sustain the growing population without
a fall in living standards.

6. Theopening up of the New World (USA, Australia, New Zealand) and colonies
not only increased agricultural output but also provided an outlet for excess
population in the form of emigration - thus reducing the population pressure on
food resources in Europe.

7. The massive implementation of birth control measures especially in developed

countries greatly reduced the rate of population growth. Population has therefore
not been growing at a geometric rate as predicted by Malthus.

8. High-density housing and cities have been built to solve the problem of shelter.

9. Criticsof Malthus claimed that his model was oversimplified. To some extent his
argument about starvation due to population growth was illogical. This is because
his principles were based on the potential than the actual population growth and
production.

10. Malthus did not foresee the effects of external influences on the population
like wars, natural disasters (earthquakes, floods, volcanic eruptions, drought etc.)
which often result in drastic reduction in the populations of the affected areas.
These help to retard population increase and thus the population does not grow as
Malthus predicted. For instance, the first and second world wars drastically
reduced world population. Application of the Theory
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 Application
 Despite the weaknesses levied on Malthus theory. It is still applicable in
many parts of the world today. In many parts of the world, economic
progress has begun to slow down, population has continued to rise and
once again warnings of future disasters are being heeded. Many regions are
already over populated and millions of people especially in S.E. Asia and
parts of Latin America are now under conditions similar to those predicted
by Malthus. In retrospect, it seems that the changes Malthus failed to
forecast did not refute his arguments but merely postponed the inevitable.
 Today, the world is facing some harsh ecological facts. Man is pressing
hard on his environment and the imbalance between the world's population
and the material resources are becoming greater unless radical action is
taken. The social, economic and political problems now being experienced
will grow to gigantic proportions i.e. they will reach an extent that man can
no longer control. Cameroon, like most other countries of the world today
is experiencing an increase in the cost of living and many families find it
hard to feed themselves. Thus, there is a starvation and low living standard
leading to low life expectancy. These are conditions similar to those
predicted by Malthus.
 Similarly, the scarcity of resources, particularly land for agriculture, has led
to an increase in land conflicts. This has often resulted in inter-tribal wars
leading to the loss of lives. Transport costs have continued to increase
making it difficult for food to be transported from areas of surpluses to
areas of deficiency.
 The outbreak of epidemics and pandemics such as HIV/AIDS, cholera,
meningitis and other diseases that take away lives are all positive checks.
Malthus predicted that they must set in to control the rapid rate of
population expansion. The high rates of unemployment experienced in
Cameroon and other social difficulties are all conditions predicted by
Malthus.

BOSERUP'S THEORY OF INCREASED POPULATION GROWTH

According, to her, population growth enables agricultural development to occur
since "necessity is the mother of inventions". Her investigations Boserup examined
different land use systems, classified them according to their intensity and
frequency of production and suggested that there is a close relationship between
the agricultural technique used and the types of land use system.
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Her land use systems and corresponding agricultural techniques included.
1) A forest fallow associated with shifting cultivation where the axe and digging
sticks were used. Farmlands were cultivated once every 100years.
2) A least intensive system of bush fallow with cultivation less than once every 6-10
years in which the hoe and cutlasses were used.
3) A short-fallow multiple cropping system or crop rotation yielding more than one
harvest a year in which the plough was used.
Her conclusions
From her investigations she considered that unless population increased, the
adoption of new techniques and its consequent increase in the intensity of
production were likely to occur. But according to her, if population increases
beyond a certain point carrying capacity and no extra land were available in order to
maintain the same level of consumption per capital, the length of the fallow would
have to be shortened leading to a decline in soil fertility and output per man per
hour. In this circumstance of population growth in the face of limited land and
shortage in food supply, the new techniques would be advantageous and should be
adopted to meet up with increasing food demand. Thus, population growth led to
agricultural development and increase in food supply.
Boserup's idea that population necessitates agricultural development has been seen
as a useful contrast to that of Malthus. Throughout the world, especially in
developing countries where her ideas are being put into practice, countries facing
population pressure are adopting these new techniques to revolutionize agriculture
in order to increase food supply to keep up with the population increase.
Criticisms of Boserup
Boserup's ideas have some weaknesses. Her ideas were based on the point that
people knew of the techniques required by a more intensive system of farming and
that when the population grows; they will become willing to adopt them. This is not
necessarily the case. In fact, in most parts of the developing countries, new
techniques are unknown and when they become known, many people will still be
unwilling to adopt them in spite of the fact that new techniques contribute in solving
food supply problems. This may be due to ignorance and conservatism.
Boserup however, accepts the fact that if the knowledge of the techniques were not
available, the agricultural system would regulate the population. This implies that a
decrease in food production would cause a decrease in population and vice versa.
By this, she accepts Malthus theory that a shortage in food supply was likely to
occur if population was allowed to increase more than food supply. That is without
being checked either by famine, wars, pestilence or birth control measures.

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