Global Demography
Demography
Demography - is a science that studies population, its
distribution, size, structure and movements.
-It is a scientific study of human population.
- is a field in statistics that is concerned with
births, deaths, income or the incidence of disease which later
illustrates the changing structure of human population.
Global Demography – is about the trends and practices in world
politics. It is the study of issues and development of the global
population.
Population – is the number of people live in a specific
place.
Population density – is the number of people who live
in a place per square km.
Population is not distributed evenly in the world. There are
sparsely populated places and others are densely populated.
Population density depends on cultural features and the economic
possibilities in the place. People prefer to live in places that fulfill
some conditions, abundant of water, gently sloping land with
fertile soil, etc, some avoid in mountainous or dry land.
Demography deals with five demographic processes.
Fertilit Mortalit
y y
Demographic
Social
Processes Marriag
Mobility e
Migration
Demographic Phenomenon
The
Thedistribution
distributionofof
population
population
The composition of
population
Changes of population
size
Definition of key words:
Size – the number of persons in the population
Distribution – arrangement of population in a space at a given
time
Structure – distribution of population among its sex and age
groupings
Change – the growth or decline of the total population
birth death migration
Additional Characteristics
Ethnicity race mother tongue
Social characteristics
marital status , literacy , educational attainment,
and women’s status
Economic characteristics
employment status, occupation, income
Sources of Data
1. Census. 3. Registration of vital events
2. National Survey. 4. Demographic studies
Demographic Cycle High
World history Stationa
ry Stage
suggests that every
nation passes through Declining Early
Stage Expanding
a demographic cycle.
The stages are:
Low
Late
Stationar
Expanding
y Stage
1. High Stationary Stage/First Stage
High birth rate.
High death rate
They nullify each other’s effect
No change in size of population
India in 1920
2. Early Expansion Stage/Second Stage
Birth rate remains the same
Death rate decrease
Some increase in population
Countries of South Asia and Africa
3. Late Expansion Stage/Third Stage
Birth rate increases
Death rate decreases
Tremendous increase in population
India, China and Singapore
4. Low Stationary Stage/Fourth Stage
Low birth rate
Low death rate
They nullify each other’s effect
No change in size of population
Denmark and Sweden
5. Declining Stage/Fifth Stage
Birth rate lower than death rate
Negative growth in population
Germany and Hungary
Factors Influencing Population Size:
Age at marriage
Duration of married life
Family Planning
Environmental sanitation
Education and Economic status
Health care facility
Nutrition
Caste and religion
Living standards
Occupational health and safety
Effective pharmaceutical
Demographic measurement – the study and measurement of
population using measurement tools.
Two aspects of demographic measurement:
1. Population Static
2. Population Dynamic
As societies develop, birth rates reduce for some reasons:
• The incorporation of women to work
• Late marriages and delayed motherhood
• The use of contraceptives
• As the improvements in hygiene and medicine reduce child mortality,
more children survive and families prepare having less children and
taking better care of them, so that they can have more opportunities
• Religion determines to a lesser extent people’s behavior
Demographic Policies
Depending on the situation of a country, government can adopt different
demographic policies in order to change people’s attitude towards
births:
Pro-Natalist Policy – adopted by countries with low fertility, few
births and an ageing population with the purpose of encouraging
people to have more children.
Governments give economic help, tax education, long parental
leaves and numerous social benefits to the families with children.
Anti-Natalist Policy – adopted by countries with over
population, which puts the relation between population and
resources in danger, in order to slow population growth.
Governments promote family planning services and
contraceptives, give incentives to reduce the births or fine the
families who have more children than the allowed number.
Mortality rate – number of deaths in a place during a year. This
can be reduce with the improvements in medicine and hygiene. The
lower the death rate in a country, the better its healthcare system is.
Life expectancy – number of years a person is expected to live in a
specific place. It is higher in the richest countries and lower in the
poorer cities.
Types of Population Pyramids
1. Expanding pyramid – with base( high birth rate and a lot of
young people) narrow top (low life expectancies, very few old
people). Typical of the least economically developed countries.
2. Stationary pyramid – narrower base (birth rate is decreasing)
and wider top (life expectancy is increasing). Most of the
population are adults. Typical of developing countries.
3. Contracting pyramid – narrow base (very low birth rate, few
young people), wide top (very high life expectancy, a lot of
old people). Typical of developed countries.
