POPULATION

SCHEME OF WORK
1. POPULATION DEFINITION
2. POPULATION CENSUS DEFINITION
3. TYPES OF POPULATION CENSUS
4. REASONS WHY POPULATION CENSUS IS CARRIED OUT
5. PROBLEMS FACED IN CARRYING OUT POPULATION CENSUS
6. THE THEORIES OF POPULATION
7. THE MALTHUSIAN THEORY
8. HOW THE MALTHUSIAN THEORY IS TRUE
9. THE CRITISIMS OF THE MALTHUSIAN THEORY
10. THE THEORY OF ESTHER BOSERUP
11. THE CRITISIMS OF ESTHER BOSERUP’S THEORY
12. UNDERPOPULATION
13. OVERPOPULATION
14. A CHANGE IN THE SIZE OF POPULATION
1. BIRTH RATE
2. DEATH RATE
3. MIGRATION
15. POPULATON GROWTH RATE (PGR)
16. POPULATION DISTRIBUTION OR STRUCTURE

GROUP 1 MEMBER

TCHOKOAKO KAMATE JOEL VIANNEY

NJOYA NDJEMENI YOHAN ARTHUR
DJOUSSI SIGHA CAROLE GLORIA
AGHA BRICE AGHA
MENGUE NKOLO
DZOMO KUETCHEU MATURIN
MBOM BAHOKEN EMMANUEL
POUABE LIENOU STIVE
MOHAMADOU MODIBO
BONG WONG ZAIN
NGWA CHIA JANICE LENA
NGU DENZEL MBAH
TOUHOU FRANCK
MENE RAPHAEL
NZEUKENG NJOYA
YOMUBISSI

POPULATION
DEFINITION

BY TCHOPKOAKO KAMATE AND NJOYA NDJEMENI OF GROUP 1

 POPULATION
Population is the total number of people who are men, women and children living in a
given area at given period of time.

POPULATION CENSUS
Population census is the head to head count of population living in a given
geographical area at a given period of time.
I. De jures census; is that type of population census where people are counted according to
their usual residence regardless of where they are found at the time of the census. The
main disadvantages here are that people have multiples homes while others are
homeless.
II. De facto census; is that type of population census where people are counted are
recorded where they are found at the time of census. The main disadvantages here were
that there was the possibility of double counting. It is often practice in Nigeria and
Britain.

Importance of population census

1. Helps In taxation policy: a head count of the population will enable the government to
know how much revenue is expected from the population
2. To know the voting age: this may enable the government to know election
participation and anticipate the outcome
3. It helps the government to know the changes in the population size: a census
provides information on birth, death and migration rates of the population which are
related to changes in population
4. It help the government in the determination of political : a census will enable the
government to divide the country into political constituencies and administrative units
for easy management
5. It helps the government to know the standard of living of the population : this is
measured by the capita income
Disadvantages of population census
1. High cost
2. Inadequate train personnel
3. Double count
4. Inaccessibility
5. Tradition and believe

THEORIES OF POPULATION
THE MATHUSIAN THEORY
The Malthusian theory of population was invented by Reverend Thomas Malthus. This
theory of population state thet “the population was growing at a geometric rate that is
kept up doubling itself such 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, while food production was growing at a
arithmetic rate that is food production was growing at the same rate 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, etc
According to Malthus if nothing is done to reduce fast increase of population it will
come a time where people will suffer from hunger and next is that the will die. Malthus
there is suggested 02 ways or chests which are;

BY TCHOPKOAKO KAMATE AND NJOYA NDJEMENI OF GROUP 1

 POPULATION
Preventing chests
It is known as “man-made chests”. This are ways by which can be use or adopt to
reduce the rate at which population was growing ewamples use of contraceptives,
family planning, late marriages, birthrate
Positive chests
Thios are ways by which the forces of nature can be apply to reduce population growth
examples flood earthquake, diseases, famines
Reasons why the Malthusian theory is applicable to Cameroon
 Diseases : such as HIV are some examples of positive checks suggested by Malthus
which have taken away lives in Cameroon
 High rate unemployment and increasing dependency ratio with their negative
effects are some of the consequences of the growing population predicted by
Malthus
THE THEORY OF ESTHER BOSERUP
Esther boserup had a contrary view about the Malthusian theory of population. She was
optimist while Malthus was pessimist. She gives some reasons to support her ideas.
 Population growth will lead to an increase in labour force.
 Population growth will lead to an increase in research for the production of
goods.
 Increase in population will lead to INOVATION AND INVENTION.
Esther boserup summarizes all this by saying that “Necessity is the mother of
invention”

DISADVANTAGES OF ESTHER BOSERUP THEORY OF POPULATION

 Increase in population doesn’t mean improvement an innovation
 Intensive use of land results to soil erosion and desertification
 It cannot be used in countries which do not have enough means to afford to her
aspirations
 The labour force usually go to an extend where enterprise can no more engage
more workers in order to reduce losses which make the excess population
unemployed
UNDERPOPULATION
it is the population size that when combined with the existing stock of resources
will lead to an increase in output per head or per capita income. That is “an increase
in population leads to an increase per head”.
CHARACTERISTICS
 It is population below optimum
 Increase output per head
 Low standards of living
 More resources and less population
 Wastage of available resources

BY TCHOPKOAKO KAMATE AND NJOYA NDJEMENI OF GROUP 1

 POPULATION
OVERPOPULATION
It is population size where when combined with a given stock of resources, would
lead to a fall in output per head. Thus, “an increase in population would lead to a
fall in output per head”.
CHARACTERISTICS
 Population above the optimum
 Low standards of living
 Excess population over resources
 Full exploitation of resources

A CHANGE IN THE SIZE OF POPULATION

These are those factors that cause population either to increase or to decrease. Factors
that cause population either to increase or to decrease are Birth rate, Death rate and
Migration.
Birth rate
It refers to the total number of life births expressed as a per thousand of the total
population of a country. It is calculated as
BR= Number of births x 1000
Total population 1
Birth rate leads to an increase in the population size of a country.
FACTORS DETERMINING BIRTH RATE
a) Marrying age
b) Fertility rate
c) Lack of family planning
d) Government policy
e) Low level of education
f) Women at child bearing ages
DEATH RATE
This refers to the number of deaths expressed as a per thousand of the total population
of a country at a given period of time. It is calculated as;
DR= Number of death x 1000
total population 1
Death rate reduces the population size of a country.
FACTORS DETERMINING DEATH RATE
a) Lack of medical facilities
b) Natural disasters
c) Poverty
d) Diseases

BY TCHOPKOAKO KAMATE AND NJOYA NDJEMENI OF GROUP 1

 POPULATION
e) Political instability
f) Lack of food, clothing and shelter

NATURAL GROWTH RATE

This refers to the difference between the number of births and the number of deaths
expressed as a percentage of the total population. It is calculated as;
NGR= Number of births – Number of deaths/Total population*100

POPULATION DISTRIBUTION OR STRUCTURE

This refers to the classification according to Age, Sexe, Geographical, Occupational
and Dependency ratio.
Age distribution
Sexe distribution
Geographical distribution
Population density= Total population
Total surface area
Occupational distribution
Dependency distribution
Dependency ratio= youths + old
working population

BY TCHOPKOAKO KAMATE AND NJOYA NDJEMENI OF GROUP 1