1.1 Population dynamics

Question 1

List reasons for RISE in population.

Answer 1

• Traditions for larger families
• Improved water supply
• GM crops - the answer to world food shortages
• Better medicine leads to longer life expectancy
• Hope with cancer research ‘break-through’
• Millions of Indian children to get polio job
• Fall in infant deaths in LEDCs
• Record rice harvest in China
• Children needed to help with work

Question 2

List the reasons for FALL in population.

Answer 2

• War breaks out in Gulf
• Fifth year of drought causes starvation in Ethiopia
• AIDS Virus: millions infected
• Birth control measures promoted in China
• Rice crop destroyed by monsoon
• Smaller families forecast in developed world
• Poor healthcare in third world countries
• African Harvest to fail
• Flu epidemic spreads
• AIDS cure still years away

Question 3

What happens in the first stage of the Demographic Transition Model?

Answer 3

High fluctuating

• Little access to birth control
• Children die in infancy so parents have more to compensate
• Children are needed to work on the land
• Some religions encourage large families
• Poor diet, famine, poor hygiene

Question 4

Describe the second stage of the Demographic Transition Model.

Answer 4

Early Expanding

• Improvements in medical care
• Improvements in sanitation and water
• Quality and quantity of food produced improves
• Decrease in infant mortality
• Transport and communications improve movements of food and medical supplies.

Question 5

Describe the third stage of the Demographic Transition Model.

Answer 5

Late Expanding

• Increased access to contraception
• Lower infant mortality rates so less need for bigger families
• Industrialisation and mechanisation means fewer labourers required
• As wealth increases desire for material possessions takes over the desire for large families
• Equality of women means they can follow a career than just staying at home

Question 6

Describe the fourth stage of the Demographic Transition Model.

Answer 6

Low fluctuating

- Rates fluctuate, but are stable, with ‘baby booms’ and epidemies of illnesses and diseases

Question 7

Describe the fifth stage of the Demographic Transition Model.

Answer 7

• Status of women
• Later marriages because women can make decisions
• Reliable food supply
• Good health care

Question 8

State reasons for high birth rates.

Answer 8

• Lack of sex ed
• Not enough access to contraception / birth control
• Children needed to work in order to support their families
• Early marriages
• High infant mortality
• Encourage large families
• No family planning

Question 9

State reasons for low birth rates.

Answer 9

• Good medical care
• Later marriages
• Access to contraception
• Desire for material possession > large families
• No need for children labour = no need for big family
• Women rights increased - they can decide to have babies or not
• Legal age for marriage is higher
• Better sex ed

Question 10

State the reasons for high death rates.

Answer 10

• Poor diet, famine, poor hygiene
• Many children die in infancy
• Bad health care
• Natural disasters
• Traffic accidents
• Sanitation
• Poor medical technology
• Not enough clean water

Question 11

State the reasons for low death rates.

Answer 11

• Improved food / water and medical treatment
• Larger houses, disease harder to spread
• More doctors
• Advanced technology
• Transport and communications
• Longer life expectancy
• Lower crime rates

Question 12

Name a country with a high rate of population growth + the reasons + effects + solutions.

Answer 12

Kenya (Africa)

• Falling death rates
• A high number of births per woman -> 4.6 children per woman
• Children needed to work
• Lack of sex ed & contraception
• No family planning
• Improvement in public health

Effects:

• Shortages of natural resources
• Lack of natural resources
• Too much for the country’s economic capacity
• Food production wouldn’t be able to catch up with the growth of the population -> poverty
• Starvation / famine
• The cost of housing and taxes go up
• Nature will be replaces with buildings

Solutions:

• Provide contraceptions and birth control (educate them on how to use and sex education)
• Equal education and job opportunities
• Raise awareness of the costs of overpopulation by campaigns

Question 13

Name a country with a low rate of population growth + the reasons + effects + solutions

Answer 13

Russia (Europe)

• High death rate (15 per year)
• > High among males due to alcoholism
• > Bad health care system
• Abortion
• Immigration / Emigration
• Low birth rates
• > Women feel less courages to have children due to the high rate of alcoholism in men
• 1.3 births per woman

Effects:

• Labour shortage -> economy
• Overcrowding of cities
• Gender inequality
• Disproportionate aging
• Business gets shuttered
• Governments cut off spending

Solutions:

• Government policies to encourage births
• > Pays mothers $10,000 for the birth of a second child
• Women who gave birth on national day can win refrigerators or money

Question 14

Name a country which is over-populated + the causes + effects + solutions.

Answer 14

Bangladesh (Asia)

• 40% if the population is underemployed.
• Poor governance and corruption
• High level of poverty
• Bangladesh is small and resource-poor
• Land is lost due to rising sea levels

Effects:

• 1062 people people km2 - twenty times the global average
• Living conditions lack base amenities
• 80% is situated on floodplains -> people move to higher land, increasing the already crowded nature
• Most families have to survive on extremely small plots of lands

Solutions:

• National and international efforts to improve the lives of the population have been registered
• The World Bank: the number of people in poverty had fallen from 63mill in 2000 to 47mill in 2010.

Question 15

Name a country which is under-populated + the causes + effects + solutions.

Answer 15

Australia
- Much of the interior of the country is inhospitable

Effects:

• Population density: 3 per km2
• Resource-rich nation, exporting raw materials in demand on the global market (coal, iron ore, copper, gold, uranium)
• Potential for renewable energy
• Attract a high level of foreign direct investments
• Well-developed infrastructure and relatively high-skilled population which enjoys generally high income
• Unemployment rate: 5.2% (low)

Solutions:

• Pro-natalist policy
• Immigration policy

Question 16

State the problems of overpopulation.

Answer 16

• There could be unemployment because there are not enough jobs for everyone
• There could be a shortage of schools and hospitals
• There could be a shortage of hoses and informal settlements grow
• Congestion may increase as there are more cars, buses, etc. on the road
• Prices may increase as demand for houses, resources, etc. increase (inflation)
• There may be a shortage of clean drinking water, electricity, etc.
• There may be an increase in air, noise and water pollution e.g. open sewers, fires, etc.
• The rural-urban fringe may be damaged as informal settlements are built

Question 17

State the problems of underpopulation.

Answer 17

• There are a shortage of workers
• There will be less people paying tax
• Schools and hospitals may close because there are not enough clients
• Public transport links might close because of less customers
• There may be less innovation and development (lee brain power)
• Not possible to exploit all resources
• Hard to defend country
• Necessary to attract migrants