Population

The number of people in a particular area.

Global population growth

At present, the world's population is growing fast - though this has not always been the case.
Until the 1800s the world's population grew steadily but slowly for thousands of years. In 1820
the world's population reached one billion. 150 years later, in the early 1970s, the world's
population reached three billion. In 1999, less than 30 years later, the population doubled to six
billion. The global rate of population growth is now very fast (rising by about one billion every
15 years).
Describe the world population growth shown. [5]
Expected to generally increase from 1750 to 2100 by 10.1 billion.
Highest increase between 1950 and 2050
It has a slow increase between 1750 and 1950
Population growth to slow down from 2050 to 2100.

Population change
It refers to an increase or decrease of population over time.

Causes and rates of change

Population of any place changes over time. There are three main causes of population change:
Births - more births cause population increase while less births cause population decrease.
Deaths - less deaths cause population increase while more deaths cause population decrease.
Migration - more people

Birth Rate
• Birth Rate[BR] – number of live births per 1000 of the population

Factors affecting Birth Rate

Factors leading to High birth rate in LICs e.g Zimbabwe, Sudan, DRC, Gabon due to:
children required for labour especially in subsistence farming.
children needed to support their parents in old age.
desire to have a son, so the family name is carried forward.
religious beliefs that prohibit use of contraceptives.eg Catholics and Muslim/encourage large
families
traditions that promote polygamy.
Lack of education about family planning/sex education/ contraception females;
Lack of access to contraception/family planning/unprotected sex/no contraception for religious
reasons;
Economic reasons for large families/children needed to work/earn money;
High infant mortality;
Traditional/in their culture/part of their religion to have large families/status of having a large
family;
Get married young/start having children at a young age;
Lack of availability/high cost of abortions;

Low birth rate: HICs e.g Ireland, France, Germany, UK are due to:
Increased desire for wealth ( cars, luxury holidays, bigger homes)
availability / affordability of contraception; education on contraception/family planning
modern attitudes to family size / people now having smaller families / high cost of having
children;
women have careers/Women follow careers rather than being child bearers.
education of women;
emancipation of women/women are free to make choices on family size.
impact of secular society;
low infant mortality rates;
government support for old age;
abortion made legal / available;
later marriages;
same gender partners/homosexuality

Fig 1 shows birth rate and death rate of various countries

(a) Name the country with highest birth rate (1)

(b) Compare the birth rate of the countries shown (4)

Death Rate
Death Rate [DR] – is the number of deaths per 1000 of the population in a year.

Factors leading to high death rates (in LICs such as Malawi, Somalia and most African countries)
Poor health care / clinics / hospitals / remote from healthcare;
Lack of doctors / nurses;
Poor food supply / malnutrition / starvation / crops don’t grow;
Water in not clean / water in short supply / drought;
Sanitation / hygiene poor;
Lack of vaccinations;
War / conflict;
Waterborne disease e.g. malaria / typhoid / cholera
AIDS / HIV;
Poor education about diet / healthcare / sanitation;
Lack of medicines / cures for diseases / high cost of medicines;

Factors leading to low death rates (in HICs such as Britain, Japan, USA, France etc
Investment in health care/hospitals/clinics;
Vaccination/cures for disease/medicines;
Lots of doctors/nurses;
Good water supply;
Good sanitation/more hygienic;
Improved food supplies/nutrition/better diet;
Provision of pensions/pension houses/social grants
Care provision for elderly/old peoples’ homes
Education about diet/healthy lifestyle;
Early retirement;
Healthy lifestyle/exercise;
Better working conditions

DR is Falling /decreasing in a many LICs. WHY????

good sanitation to access to clean water.
Good food supply.
better diets and healthy lifestyles.
good access to medicine and advanced health care in hospitals.
All these achieve longer Life Expectancy.

natural increase [NI]/Natural population Growth

the difference between birth rate and death rate where birth rate is more than death rate (Birth
Rate –Death Rate)
If BR is 14/1000 and DR is 8/1000 the NI= 14-8 =6. 6/1000

natural decrease [ND]

the difference between birth rate and death rate where birth rate is lower/less than death rate
(Birth Rate – Death Rate)
If BR is 10/1000 and DR is 13/1000 the ND= 10-3 = -3. -3/1000

Migration
It is the movement of people from one place to another.

Immigration/in-migration
It is the movement of people into an area/country

Emigration/out-migration
It is the movement of people away from an area/country.

Net migration
It is the difference between immigration and emigration.
Net migration = immigration - emigration.
Overall population growth/population change
Natural increase + net international migration

(Birth rate - death rate) + (immigration - emigration)

Life Expectancy
is the number of years a person is expected to live up to at birth
Life Expectancy of Japan- 84.2 years
Life Expectancy of Zimbabwe- 61,2 Years

Why is the life expectancy of Zimbabwe lower than that of Japan? (5)
Better medical care in Japan than in Zimbabwe
Better food supply in Japan than in Zimbabwe
Better inoculation against diseases in Japan than in Zimbabwe
Good sanitation in Japan than in Zimbabwe etc.

Fertility Rate[FR] – average number of children per woman.

Mortality
It refers to all forms of deaths in a given population

Infant mortality rate

-is the total number of deaths of children below one year per thousand live births in a year

I.M.R.=Total deaths of infants in a yr X 1000

Total number of live births 1

Factors that increase infant mortality rate

-absence of medical facilities
-poor diets which lead to malnutrition eg kwashiorkor
-poor pre and post natal care
-parent to child transmission
-injuries
-congenital malformations/deformities/birth defects
Demographic Transition Model
The demographic transition model (DTM) groups countries based on population trends to give a
perception of development.

STAGE 1
BIRTH RATE
Stage 1: Here both birth rates and death rates fluctuate at a high level (about 35 per 1000) giving
a small population growth.

Birth rates are high because:

no birth control or family planning
High infant mortality - so many children die in infancy that parents tend to produce more in the
hope that several will survive
many children are needed to work on the land
children are regarded as a sign of virility
Some religious beliefs (Roman Catholics, Muslims and Hindus) encourage large families.
DEATH RATE

High death rates, especially among children, are due to:

disease and plague (bubonic, cholera, kwashiorkor)
famine, uncertain food supplies, poor diet
poor hygiene: no piped, clean water and no sewage
disposal
little medical science: few doctors, hospitals, drugs.STAGE 2

Most LICs/LEDCs are at stage 2 or 3 (with a growing population and a high natural
increase).

Stage 2:
Total population will start to rise because the death rates will start to fall

Death rates fall due to:

medical care will be improved (vaccinations, scientific improvements, doctors and new drugs);
sanitation and water supplies will be much better;
the quality and security of food will be improved;
there will be a noticeable decrease in child mortality

STAGE 3
The fall in birth rates may be due to:
family planning: contraceptives, sterilisation, abortion and government incentives
a lower infant mortality rate leading to less pressure to have so many children
increased industrialisation and mechanisation meaning fewer labourers are needed
increased desire for material possessions (cars,holidays, bigger homes) and less desire for large
families
an increased incentive for smaller families
emancipation of women, enabling them to follow their own careers rather than being solely
child-bearers.

STAGE 4
There is low birth rate and a low death rate.
Birth control is widely available and there is a desire for smaller families.

• Most HICs/MEDCs are now at stage 4 of the model and some such as Germany have
entered stage 5.

Stage 5
• Total population is still high but starting to decline due to the birth rate falling (to 7 per
1,000) below the death rate (9 per 1,000).
The population will start to fall as it is no longer replacing itself.
The population is ageing and will gradually be dominated by older people

Case study: Niger: A country with high growth rate of population

The Republic of Niger is a land-locked country in West Africa named after the Niger River. Its
climate is mainly very hot and dry with many desert areas. It is an LEDC, and is one of the
poorest countries in the world. The population of Niger has grown from 1.7 millions in 1960 to
24.21 million in 2020. With a high population growth rate of 2.9% it is expected to reach 56
millions by 2050. Niger has the highest fertility rate in the world with 7.1 births per woman. The
birth rate is 49.6 and the death rate is 20.3.

Causes of high population growth in Niger

 The majority of Niger’s population is subsistence farmers such as Hausa and Djerma-
Songhai. These have high birth rate to increase their economic opportunities. For poor
families children are a source of wealth. They work on the land, go into the towns,
particularly in the capital city, Niamey to earn money and look after their parents when they
are old.
 Just 5% of the people of Niger use family planning and contraception because of a strong
pronatalist culture in which the desired family size is higher than the actual family size.
Many of the Hausa women are reluctant to use contraceptives as their husbands forbid them,
all of which leads to a high birth rate.
 High infant mortality rate means that many families opt to have more children than they need
to ensure that enough survive to work on the land.
 there is early marriage. Many girls in Niger marry before the age of 15. The country has not
ratified the Maputo Protocol outlawing early marriage.
 Birth rate is also high in Niger due to the cultural beliefs of the Hausa ethnic group, where a
large family is viewed as a status symbol. Within the Hausa’s it is acceptable for women to
marry at the age of 14, meaning there is a greater chance of them having a large family.
 Men in Niger tend to be polygamous, and local doctors note that their spouses often try to
prove their value by outdoing each other in child births. This contributes to Niger having the
highest population growth rate on earth.
 Literacy rate is only 28.7%
 In Niger, abortion is largely outlawed/illegal
 98% of the population are Muslims and these discourage the use of contraceptives.
 The falling of death rate has also led to rapid population growth in Niger. There are now
lower death rates because health care, food supply, water supply and sanitation have
improved, particularly in the capital city, Niamey, and other urban areas such as Zinder,
Maradi, Agadez, Arlit, Dosso, Tessaoua and Dogondoutchi and this results in rapid
population growth. During most years death rates continue to fall because:
■ babies are inoculated against diseases and treated when ill
■ there are improved supplies of clean water so there are less water-borne diseases
■ people eat more food and a more varied diet
■ there are more clinics and hospitals with trained doctors and nurses
■ there is better education about health and hygiene.

POPULATION POLICIES
these are rules and strategies done by governments in order to influence population growth.

Policies that are used to address population change will affect Birth Rates
Pro-natal policy
A policy which aims to encourage more births through the use of incentives.
e.g. French policy ‘ Code de la famille’
China’s One Child Policy
In 1979 the Chinese government introduced an anti-natal policy called ‘one child policy’ (i.e. to
achieve a TFR of 1.0). All couples were only allowed to have one child. They also increased the
marriageable age of men to 22. To get married and to have a child, citizens had to apply to the
government. If you followed the rules you were entitled to free education,
healthcare, housing and given a job. If you did not follow the rules, then benefits would be
removed and females who were found to be pregnant were charged heavy fines and given forced
abortions and even sterilized. The state began to give education on family planning and in a
relatively short time over 80 per cent of married women had access to contraception

To enforce the policy, the government relied on community enforcement. Often elderly residents
who were trusted within the community were asked to inform, elderly female informants were
nicknamed 'granny police'. There were a number of exceptions to the rules, if you had twins or
triplets this was fine, if your first child had a physical or mental disability you could have a
second. Families in rural areas (farming areas) were often allowed a second, ethnic minorities
were allowed a second and often couples who bribed officials could have a
second.

SUCCESS OF ONE CHILD POLICY

The policy has been relatively successful, birth rates have fallen from a peak of 44 in the 1950's
down to just 12. China's population is also expected to peak in the next 20 years and then slowly
start to decrease. Because of its success there have been further relaxations.
PROBLEMS OF ONE CHILD POLICY
The strict enforcement of the policy led to a problem of female infanticide. This is the killing of
female babies, because couples favoured male children. Males ensured the family name was
maintained and were able to work manual jobs, whereas females would be lost after marriage
(females normally went to live with their husband’s family).
China is still overpopulated, there are over 1.3 billion Chinese
There is a male-female imbalance in the population
People are demanding greater freedom and choice
China will slowly get an ageing population.
There are large numbers of abandoned children

POPULATION AND RESOURCES

Definition of terms

Under-population
This is when there are too few people (population) for the available resources /when the number
of resources is greater than the number of people.
Optimum population
This is when there is a balance between the number of people and the resources available.
Overpopulation
This is when there are too many people (population) than the available resources/This is when
there are more people than the resources available.
Under-populated countries
Bolivia / Suriname / Canada / Australia / Argentina / Libya / Russia / Botswana / Namibia /
Mongolia

Over-populated countries
Nigeria / Niger / Singapore / China / India / Israel / Kuwait / Pakistan / Bangladesh / Indonesia

Some countries become over-populated because:

High population growth/high population increase;
High birth rates or reason for high birth rates/a lot of children born;
Low or decreasing death rates or reason for decreasing death rate/long life expectancy;
Large amount of immigration/high positive net migration;
Few resources/resources become exhausted/increased demand for resources etc.

Problems which are caused by over-population

• lack of work/unemployment;
• poverty;
• pressure on health care;
• pressure on education services such as schools;
• lack of housing/growth of shanty towns/house prices rise;
• famine/lack of food/food prices rise;
• traffic congestion;
• lack of clean water/water shortage;
• shortage of electricity/fuel;
• deforestation leading to loss of habitat
• air/water pollution;
• pressure on sanitation;
• Increased crime rate
Case study 2:
Niger: Over-populated country
The Republic of Niger is a land-locked country in West Africa named after the Niger River. Its
climate is mainly very hot and dry with many desert areas. It is an LEDC, and is one of the
poorest countries in the world. The population of Niger has grown from 1.7 millions in 1960 to
24.21 million in 2020. With a high population growth rate of 2.9% it is expected to reach 56
millions by 2050. Niger has the highest fertility rate in the world with 7.1 births per woman. The
birth rate is 49.6 per 1000 and the death rate is 20.3 per 1000.

Problems caused by overpopulation in Niger

 People do not have enough natural resources or raw materials
 65-70% of the population of Niger has no access to electricity.
 Lack of work as large numbers of young men go to nearby Ghana, Nigeria or Ivory Coast
seeking work. Some fall into crime, or integrate into terrorism, for example, Boko Haram issue
which is recruiting jobless young people.”
 42.9% of the population in Niger live in poverty, earning less than $1.90 per day.
 83% of the population or 17.8 million people suffer from food insecurity.

 There is poor access to education as shown by its literacy rate is only 28.7%
 There is poor access to health care since it has had less than a doctor to 10 000 citizens since
2004. there are only a few hospitals
 High levels of disease and high death rates prevails, for example, in 2012, an estimated 46000
people were living with HIV/AIDS
 Housing are overcrowded and not enough space for housing
 shortage of housing leading to squatter camps, for example, along Niger river in Niamey. ;
 There is traffic congestion eg in Niamey especially in RN1 and RN24 roads.
 There is atmospheric and water pollution causing health problems.
 More than half of the country’s rural population remains without access to drinking water and
only four percent of Nigeriens in non-urban zones have access to decent sanitation facilities.
 It is losing up to 100 tons of topsoil from erosion per hectare per year. The amount of
firewood used for cooking (two million tons annually) is twice the amount of natural
replacement growth.
 There is overgrazing and disputes over agricultural land or places to live.
 Nearly 30 percent of the population is undernourished.

Reasons why some countries are under-populated.

Small population size;

Extreme climate eg deserts
Poor access;
Landlocked;
Large amounts of resources;
Large amounts of outward migration
Island

Problems of Under population

• Small workforce/shortage of workers which lead to lower optimum productivity.
• Conflicts caused by need to attract foreign workers
• More taxes as taxes will have to be raised to fund retirement.
• Ageing population
• Not full use of natural resources/ resources under-used.
• Public facilities such as schools and hospitals close down because they are not enough people
to support them.
• low level of production
• lack of government income
• small market for goods and services
• low value of exports, etc.
• Less innovation and development (lee brain power)
• Difficulties in defending the country
• Remoteness
Measures
 relaxing immigrant policies and visa requirements to encourage migration
 Pro-natal government support to increase the birth rate eg. subsidies and parental leave
programmes
 allow pensioners to continue working
 Employ expatriate or foreign labour in order to reduce shortage of labour.
 Mechanisation so as to replace human labour.

Case study 1.2 under population in Australia

Australia is a similar size to the USA, but they differ dramatically in their populations. The USA
has a population of over 300 million, whereas Australia's is only 20 million. This means that
Australia can be classified as being underpopulated.
Many areas of Australia are empty and their resources are not being used fully. As the map
shows the majority of Australia's population is found on along the SE coast. The climate of most
of Australia makes it very difficult to live in, so people chose to the live on the coasts where
fewer droughts occur.
The Australian government has tried to increase its population, to develop the country
economically and to protect it from foreign influence. From only 3.7 million in 1901, the
population has increased to its current 20 million.
· Under population occurs when there are far more resources in an area eg. food, energy, and
minerals than the people
· Australia's landmass of 7,6 million km2 and has a population of 22 million people. Australia is
about the same size as the USA (300 million people) but much of its land is not used.
· Australia can export their surplus food, energy and mineral resources
· They have high incomes (in 2017 it had a GDP per capita of $49000, good living conditions,
and high levels of technology and immigration. Unemployment rate is very low in Australia
· Australia is the world's thirteenth largest economy and has the world's fifth-highest
per capita income
Health care provision is very good which lead to low infant mortality rates.
Adult literacy is high at 99%.
· It is probable that standards of living would rise, through increased production and exploitation
of resources, if population were to increase.

Problems caused by under population in Australia

• Small workforce/shortage of workers which has led to lower optimum productivity.
• Conflicts caused, in major cities such as Sidney, by need to attract foreign workers
• More taxes (less people paying tax. 43% of the labour force will be due to retire in next 20 years.
Taxes will have to be raised to fund retirement.
• Ageing population
• Not full use of natural resources/ resources under-used.
• Public facilities such as schools and hospitals close down because they are not enough people
to support them.
• low level of production
• lack of government income
• small market for goods and services
• low value of exports, etc.
• Less innovation and development (lee brain power)
• Difficulties in defending the country
• Remoteness

MIGRATION
-is the movement of people from one place to another.
Immigrant
-is a person who arrives in a country from another country
Emigrant
-is a person who leaves a country to settle in another one
Commuting
-is a daily movement of people to and from work,school etc
Brain drain
-is the out migration of educated or skilled people for other regions or countries where there are
perceived greener pastures
Types of migration
Voluntary migration
-is the movement of people from place to another by choice
Forced migration/Involuntary migration
-is the movement of people against their desires eg slaves and refugees /wen people are
compelled to move unwillingly to another area/country
INTERNATIONAL /EXTERNAL MIGRATION
-occurs when people move from one country to another e.g from Zimbabwe to South Africa
-international migration has an effect on the total population of a country
INTERNAL MIGRATION
-occurs when people move from one place to another within the same country
-it does not affect the total population of the country

Types of internal migration

(a) Rural to urban migration
-occurs when people move from the rural areas to the urban areas
-it is caused by:
 poor employment opportunities in rural areas
 poor social services/poor health care and education in rural areas
 pressure on resources in rural areas etc

(b) Rural to Rural migration

-occurs when people move from one rural area to another maybe due to:
 higher rainfall patterns in some areas
 presence of fertile soils in some areas,
 Marriage etc

(c) Urban to rural migration

-occurs when people move from the urban areas to the rural areas due to :
 congestion in the urban areas
 urban areas are dirty,noisy and stressful
 lack of accommodation in urban areas
 retirement from work/retrenchment from work.

(d)Urban-urban (Inter-urban)
-occurs when people move from one urban area to another due to :
 better job opportunities in other urban areas
 transfer of employment
 decentralization and relocation of industries
 promotion at work

What are the impacts of rural-urban migration on rural areas

Brain drain
Reduced labour force
Reduced market which makes local businesses suffer.
Family separation
Rural depopulation
Some people may fail to get life partners/sex ratio affected
Emigrants can plough back their families in rural areas
Migrants can come with controversial ideas
Reduced population pressure on resources such as land, water
Reduced population pressure on social services such as clinics, schools.

What are the impacts of rural-urban migration on urban areas

Increased labour force.
Increased market
More industrial production
Increased innovation
Cultural exchange eg new food, dressing being introduced
Traffic and human congestion
Overcrowding
Unemployment
Pressure on social services such as education, health and sanitation.
Social problems such as crime, prostitution
Conflicts and racial tensions.

CAUSES OF MIGRATION

Pull factors
-favourable climatic conditions
- presence of fertile soils
-presence of peace, religious and political toleration e.g U.K
-better communication and transport systems
• employment;
• high wages;
• good quality/sufficient education/schools/universities/children`s literacy
improved/better qualifications, etc.;
• good quality health care/doctors/medicines;
• good quality housing with amenities such as electricity/piped water;
• bright lights/entertainments;
• adequate supplies of food;
• good water supply/sanitation;
• family/friends live there;
• no wars/peace/political stability, etc
Push factors
-natural disasters e.g volcanic eruptions,floods,droughts
-religious and political persecution
-poor communication and transport systems
-outbreak of deadly diseases eg Covid 19
• Lack of employment
• Poverty
• Poor food supply
• Poor provision of health care
• Lack of water supply
• Wars/conflict
• Persecution
• Poor provision of education
• Crime

Intervening factors
These are difficulties which international migrants may experience when travelling and settling
in a new country. These are:
• lack of qualifications/skills/education/no experience;
• some cannot speak the language;
• some are doing low paid jobs;
• some are unable to obtain employment/not enough jobs;
• difficulty affording housing/have to live in squatter settlements/cannot find a place to live;
• some may have to live away from their families;
• discrimination may occur;
• exploitation by employers/long hours;
• hard to fit in with culture/differences in culture/laws (or example – food, etc.)
• religious persecution/nowhere to worship;
• lack of documentation, etc

Define source region and destination

Source region is an area where people emigrate from/move away from
It is the losing area.
Destination is an area where people immigrate to/move to.
It is a receiving area.

IMPACTS/EFFECTS OF MIGRATION
Benefits on the source area
-reduced pressure on natural resources e.g land
-reduced pressure on social services such as schools
-more employment opportunities
-new skills and ideas are brought back to the country of origin thus leading to economic
development
-foreign currency inflows into the country of origin
- goods are sent back to the country of origin
-cultural enrichment e.g new food,dance

Problems on the source area

-slow economic growth occurs as it is mostly the young who migrate
-shortage of manpower
-crop yields are reduced as the elderly and children are left to farm the land
-rural depopulation occurs
-family disintegration /breakdown
-people who receive the money and goods develop a dependency syndrome
-cultural dilution /distortion as the migrants come back with new controversial ideas
-infrastructural decay e.g youth halls

Benefits on the receiving area

-increased manpower for poorly paying areas e.g toilet cleaning
-increase in cheap labour
-immigrants bring with them new foods,culture and skills
-increase in agricultural and industrial production
• enlarges labour force/helps to exploit resources;
• provides cheap labour;
• people will do jobs locals will not do/dirty jobs;
• skilled labour (or example – doctors/engineers);
• cultural exchange/multi-cultural society;
• specific services set up (or example – restaurant, etc.);
• raises more tax revenue;
• larger market for businesses/more sales;
• helps country to develop/improves economy;
• employment/revenue for country created by new businesses, etc
cheap labour
• skilled labour
• economic growth
• cultural diversity
• provision of variety of services (e.g. restaurants)

Problems on the receiving area

- overcrowding leading to the spread of diseases
-traffic congestion
--increase in prostitution and crime
-increased pressure on services e.g health,transport etc.
-cultural distortion
- pressure on public services such as education and health care
• Lack of housing/overcrowded housing leading to squatter settlements/slums/increased rentals
• Lack of food/food insecurity
• Lack of water;
• Water/air pollution;
• Sanitation/waste disposal;
• Racial/political/religious tensions;
• Increasing cost of benefit payments, etc.
• lack of jobs/unemployment leading to competition for jobs for local people
• Strain on public transport;
• Loss of income due to remittances/migrant workers repatriate most of their earnings to their
countries
• Illegal so don’t pay taxes;
• Checking all paperwork, etc.;
• Security/border controls/drug problems;
• Overpopulation
• Disease
• Need more resources
• People/Government have to pay more taxes
• Poverty

An international migration: Mexico to the USA

Location and background:

o There is a 2000 km border between USA and Mexico.

o Over 1 million Mexicans migrate to the USA every year. As a result, the US Border Patrol guards the

border and tries to stop illegal immigrants. In 2006, 850,000 were caught and deported back to Mexico.

Push factors from Mexico

Push Factors:

o Poor medical facilities with 1800 patients per doctor.

o Low paid jobs (Gross National Product (GNP) is $3750)

o The adult literacy rates are only 55% - poor education prospects.

o Life expectancy is 72 years.

o 40% of Mexicans are unemployed

o Unhappy life – poor standard of living

o Shortage of food

o Poverty- National average poverty level of 37 percent

o Proximity of USA from Mexico

o Lax emigration regime

o Political and public violence, high crime rate eg drug trafficking

Pull factors:

o Excellent medical facilities with 400 patients per doctor.

o Well paid jobs (GNP is $24,750).

o Adult literacy rates are 99% - good education prospects.

o Life expectancy is 76 years.

o Many jobs available for low paid workers such as Mexicans.

o Globalisation of Western image

o Better housing

o Family links for emigrants with people in the USA

o Bright lights

o US economic development eg expansion of service labour market (for example, Meta, google,
Apple, Amazon, good entertainment facilities like Hollywood, low costs of financial transactions
on remittances

o Intertwined histories of Mexico and US

o US volunteer immigration policy.

o Porous borders

o US refugee policy

Impacts/Effects on USA

Illegal migration costs the USA millions of dollars for border patrols and prisons

Mexicans are seen as a drain on the USA economy

Migrant workers keep wages low which affects Americans

They cause problems in cities due cultural and racial issues

Mexican migrants benefit the US economy by working for low wages

Mexican culture has enriched the US border states with food, language and music
The incidents of tuberculosis (TB) has been increasing greatly due to the increased migration

enlarges labour force/helps to exploit resources;

Provides cheap labour;
People will do jobs locals will not do/dirty jobs;
Skilled labour (or example – doctors/engineers);
Cultural exchange/multi-cultural society, for example, language, food, clothing.
Specific services set up example – restaurant,
Raises more tax revenue;
Larger market for businesses/more sales which helps country to develop/improves economy;
Cultural diversity
provision of variety of services (e.g. restaurants)

Impacts/ Effects on Mexico (Santa Ines)

Brain drain is occurring out of Mexico. e.g. An estimated 14,000 of the 19,000 Mexicans with
doctorates live in the USA (International Organization for Migration)

The Mexican countryside has a shortage of economically active people as many men emigrate
leaving a majority of women

Women may have trouble finding marriage partners

Young people tend to migrate leaving the old and the very young

Legal and illegal immigrants together send some $6 billion a year back to Mexico

Certain villages such as Santa Ines have lost 2/3 of its inhabitants

-reduced pressure on natural resources e.g land

-reduced pressure on social services such as schools
-more employment opportunities

- goods are sent back to Mexico

WORKSHEETS

(c) Explain the causes of an example of international migration you have studied.
Migration from ......................................... to .........................................
Explanation ...............................................................................................................................
Answers are likely to refer to:
• better/lack of employment
• better/lack of health care
• better/lack of education
• political issues
• natural disasters
• lack of food
• war
• better/lack of water supply
• better/lack of electricity [7]

(ii) Describe the difficulties which international migrants may face when moving to, and
settling in, another country.
Difficulty of obtaining VISA / official documents / Green Card;
Expense of relocation;
Finding housing;
Difficulty of obtaining work;
Low paid employment;
exploitation;
language difficulties;
discrimination;
difficult to practise their religion;
away from friends and family [5]
(c) Describe the positive and negative impacts of large numbers of immigrants on a country you
have studied.
Name of country .........................................
Answers are likely to refer to:

Dependency Ratio
It is the proportion of dependents aged zero to 14 and over the age of 65, compared with the total
population aged 15 to 64.
Dependent population - It is the young dependents (0-14 years) and elderly dependents (65+
years) that rely on others in order to satisfy their needs.
Economically active group -these are people aged 15-64 years/People in the working age group

Dependency Ratio =young dependents(0-14 years) + aged dependents(65 years and above) x 100
Economically active group (15-64 years)

Population pyramids
These are graphs used to show the age-sex distribution of a country.
Problems of increasing numbers of people aged 65 and over for MEDCs, such as Australia.
Reduction in size of workforce/not enough workers/skills lost;
Many people are not contributing to economy/producing;
Less innovative workforce;
need for immigration;
immigration could cause tension;
increased dependency ratio;
people cannot work due to having to care for elderly;
less taxpayers;
workforce needs to pay higher taxes;
spending on pensions/government payments for elderly;
more pressure/higher spending on health care/care homes/hospitals;
more difficult to defend country/recruit forces;
closure of/problems for specified services for young/or, e.g. schools

Population Distribution

Population Distribution
Is the spread of people on the earth’s surface. World population distribution is uneven. Densely
populated areas are areas with many/lot of people who live in a small area/per square kilometre. Places
which are densely populated are habitable environments e.g. Europe, South East Asiasparsely populated
areas are places with few people who live in a large area/less people per square kilometre. Sparsely
populated places tend to be difficult places to live. These are usually places with hostile environments
e.g. Antarctica, deserts

Population density
is a measurement of the number of people in an a unit area. [people per square kilometer] Population
density is calculated by dividing the number of people by area. A choropleth map is used to show
population density. The darker the colour the greater the population density. The map above shows that
world population distribution is uneven. Some areas have a high population density while others have a
low population density.

Choropleth map of Kenya

POPULATION DISTRIBUTION IN KENYA

It is uneven; Areas of highest density are on west (coast) and south east coast, centralAreas which are
sparsely populated are in north/north westAreas which are moderately populated are uneven/clustered.
Fig. 4, shows variations in population density and Fig. 5, shows the height of the land in Pakistan.
Describe the general relationship between population density and height of land in Pakistan. low(er)
population densities on high(er) land/high(er) population densities on low(er) land/the higher the land
the lower the population density/negative relationship, = 1 Award a second mark for the correct use of
one figure using the following:. for low density accept less than 100 per km² for high density allow any
figure over 250 per km² for low land accept any figure less than 3000m for high land accept 3000m and
over = 1
Population Density
Area Population Area Population
[millions] [km²] Density

Manilla 1,780,148 42.88 41 515.65 people per km²

[Philipines]

Dhaka 8,906,136 306.38 29 068.92 pple per km²

[Bangladesh]

Australia 25,203,198 7.692 3.2

Namibia 2,294,530 825,419 2.7

Describe the population densities shown When describing, tables and graphs use: (a) superlatives such
as-highest, lowest/least/smallest, higher/ second highest, more, most etc eg Manilla [Philipines] has
highest/largest population density.(b) Include figures/statistics eg 2.7 people per square kilometer

Factors Affecting Population Density

High Density Low density
Low land which is flat e.g. Ganges Valley in High land that is mountainous e.g.
Bangladesh Himalaya/Andes
Good job opportunities encourage high population Areas with few resources tend to be sparsely
densities, particularly in large cities in HICs. populated e.g. The Sahel
Areas with temperate climates tend to be densely Areas with extreme climates of hot and cold tend
populated as there is enough rain UK to be sparsely populated e.g. the Sahara Desert
Areas with soils (the Paris Basin) have high The frozen soils of the Arctic (the permafrost in
population densities Siberia, the thin soils of mountains (Nepal); the
Areas with reliable water supply have high leached soils of the tropical rainforest (the Amazon
population density Basin, poor soils have low density
Areas with large mineral deposits and/or energy Many areas lack a permanent supply of clean fresh
supplies (the Ruhr) often have many people water have low population density
Areas which lack minerals have low population
density