POPULATION GEOGRAPHY

WARM-UPWhat is the size of your household( number of people)?How many TV’s does your family own?How many cars does your family have?What is the level of education of your

parents?

WORLD POPULATION

Early 1800s = 1 Billion

1999 = 6 Billion 2012 = 7 Billion2050 est.= 9 Billion

POPULATIONS

Population-all of the individuals of a species that live together in one place at one time.

Demography-the statistical study of populations. It is used to predict how the size of a population will change.

A DEFINITION OF POPULATION STUDY

♦A study of the numbers and kinds of people in an area and their changes♦Seeking explanations for the patterns of variation in a population and causes of changes♦Projecting future changes and analyzing future consequences

Population Studies: the study of life EVENTS.Individuals are “at risk” of experiencing these events.

WHAT IS DEMOGRAPHY?

Demography is the scientific study of human populations, primarily with respect to their size, their structure and their development (UN Multinational Demographic Dictionary 1958).

Demography is the empirical, statistical, and mathematical study of human populations. It focus on change in population size (growth or decline), composition of the population, and the distribution of population in space (From Bogue – Principles of Demography)

Demography can be defined as the quantitative study of five demographic processes – fertility, mortality, marriage, migration, and social mobility (change in status or circumstances). – these five process determine the size, composition, and distribution of the population (From Bogue)

Demography is the statistical analysis of population data.

DEMOGRAPHY

DEMOGRAPHY(POPULATION CHARACTERISTICS)

Ascribed Gender Race Age

Achieved Education Income Occupation Employment Etc.

DEMOGRAPHY

POPULATION GEOGRAPHY I(DEMOGRAPHY)

The Where and Why of Population Density (Concentration) Distribution (Location) Demographics (Characteristics) Dynamics (Over time) Interpretation

GEOGRAPHY POPULATION ALWAYS STARTS WITH THREE KEY QUESTIONS -:

1. What is the size of a population in a particular area ?

2. What are their characteristics ?

3. Where they live ? Why?

KEY TERMS: De jure De facto Urban Census Vital registration Sample surveys Reference time Prepare Collect Evaluate Analyze Print physically present Place of resident Less Developed Countries (LDC)

POPULATION DATA

“We need numbers and rates in order to better understand both population changes and the ways in which those changes are related to socioeconomic and environmental variables”

Why else? Planning and policy guidelines Monitoring trends Scientific study (micro and macro levels)

Sources of population data: Censuses Vital registrations Sample surveys International Statistics

DEMOGRAPHIC DATA SOURCES1. Population census Measures population STOCK. Aims to count entire population plus some

information about each member. Large size means study must be kept very simple*; many temporary enumerators, & everyone able to answer the questions.

The UN defines the census as “…the simultaneous recording of demographic data by the government, at a particular time, pertaining to all the persons who live in a particular territory”

WHAT IS THE CENSUS? “A census is a total count of the population of a

specific area, generally a nation, and ….a sort of social photograph of certain conditions of a population at a given moment which are expressible in numbers”

Minimum information collected:o Age and sexo Births and deathso Place of residenceo Place of birtho Income, occupation, educationo religion

Brief history of censuses: The idea of counting the number of people in an

area is old - e.g. Incas (today’s Peru) who are said to have organized society according to decimal systems.

Sumeria and Babylonia (Mesopotamia), Ancient Egypt and China, Rome (6th century B.C)

Myths: Opponents of the England census (1750’s) feared “…public misfortune or an epidemical distemper would follow if enumeration were attempted”

Modern census taking started in Scandinavia Iceland 1703 Sweden 1749 Norway and Denmark 1769 First US census 1790 ** The US was the first country to legislate time-

specific censuses ** “The greatest recent gains in census taking

have been made in Sub-Saharan Africa”

Do you count people as belonging to the place where they customarily live (de jure approach),

or do you assign them to the place where they happen to be (physically present) at the time of census regardless of their home location (de facto approach)?

Britain – De facto: which means "concerning fact".

US – De jure: is an expression that means "concerning law”.

A census should:

Be of a population of a strictly defined territory Include every one

Be conducted at specific date (reference time) Be conducted at one type of census either de jure

or de facto. Be conducted at one time, preferably on a single

day but for that countries with high rate population will be conducted between 3 to 4 weeks.

Be conducted at regular intervals 5years or 10 years.

VITAL REGISTRATION/STATISTICS Def. Registration statistics of demographic events

such as: births, deaths, marriages, divorces, and abortions (does not include migration statistics).

“Unlike the census, which is static, cross-sectional view of a population at a specific moment in time, a registration system is a dynamic recording of events that can change rapidly.”

Source:http://db.jhuccp.org/icswpd/popweb/Thesaurus/tr617.htm

“The major responsibility for reporting vital events to civil registration authorities, depending upon the country, is given to local registrar, parents or relatives, or to physicians, midwives, undertakers, religious officials, persons with special duties relative to births and deaths.”

THE ADVANTAGES OF SAMPLING:

Can be Taken much faster than censuses Much cheaper (the only option in some

countries) Quality and accuracy of data can be much

greater than in complete enumerations Less paperwork, data handling and

processing less cumbersome.

INTERNATIONAL STATISTICS Demographic Yearbook: The United Nations Demographic

Yearbook collects, compiles and disseminates official statistics on a wide range of topics. Data have been collected from national statistical authorities since 1948 through a set of questionnaires dispatched annually by the United Nations Statistics Division to over 230 national statistical offices.

Statistical Yearbook: The history of the Yearbook is itself representative of the history of the United Nations, from the First General Assembly of representatives of 51 Member States held in 1946 until the Organization today made up of 193 Member States. The Yearbook provides comprehensive coverage of political and security matters, human rights issues, economic and social questions, legal issues, and institutional, administrative and budgetary matters.