Slides for population geography ch 1

1. John R. Weeks
11th Edition

2. Introduction to Demography

3. Chapter Outline
 What Is Demography?
 Why Is Demography Important?
 How Will You Use This Information?
 What Is the Rest of This Course About?

4. The world’s population will continueThe world’s population will continue
to increase for the rest of our lives.to increase for the rest of our lives.
Even though virtually all of it willEven though virtually all of it will
take place in developing countriestake place in developing countries
(indeed, cities of those countries),(indeed, cities of those countries),
we will experience the consequenceswe will experience the consequences
and our lives will be different in theand our lives will be different in the
future than they are now as a result.future than they are now as a result.

5. World Population Distribution Defined by
Nighttime Lights
 Darker areas show where there are the most lights at night,
suggestive of population distribution.

6. What is Demography?
 The scientific study of human
population.
 The term was coined in 1855 by Achille
Guillard, who used it in the title of his
book Éléments de Statistique Humaine
ou Démographie Comparée.

7. Demography
 Concerned with:
Population size
Population growth or decline
Population processes
Population distribution
Population structure
Population characteristics

8. The Past Is a Foreign Country
1900 2000
World population (billions) 1.6 6.1
U.S. population (millions) 76 281
U.S. percent of world total 4.8% 4.6%
Life expectancy 47 77
Children per woman 3.5 2.1

9. The Past Is a Foreign Country
1900 2000
Immigrants from Italy
(1900–1910); (1990–2000)
2 million 63,000
Immigrants from Mexico
(1900–1910); (1990–2000)
50,000 2.2 million
% Foreign-born 13.6% 11.1%
% Urban 40% 80%

10. The Past Is a Foreign Country
1900 2000
Number of passenger cars 8,000 130 million
% of population under 15 34.4% 21.4%
% of population 65+ 4.1% 12.4%
Average persons per
household
4.76 2.59
% High school graduates 10% 80%
If the past was a foreign country, what does that say about
the future, given expected population changes?

11. Why is Demography Important?
 Nearly everything is connected to
demography.
Globalization
○ Search for cheap labor
Terrorism and regional conflict
○ Aggravated by the youth bulge in the Middle
East and South Asia
Violence in sub-Saharan Africa
○ Aggravated by high birth rates and issues
arising from HIV/AIDS

12. Backlash against immigrants
○ Aggravated by xenophobia in the face of the need
for workers in the richer, aging countries
Degradation of the environment
○ Every person added to the population requires
energy to prepare food, provide clothing and
shelter, and fuel economic life.
Can we feed everyone?
Can we pull everyone out of poverty?
We must guard against demographic
fatigue
○ The “silent explosion” is taking place outside the
rich countriesHow will each of these population-related issues likely
influence what our future will be like?

13. Geodemographics and Spatial
Demography
 Demography is an inherently spatial
science.
 The field of demographics taps into this
and applies demographic principles to
practical problems.
 Where you are has a tremendous influence
over who you are.
 These spatial connections show up
repeatedly in demographic analysis.

14. Demographics of Politics
 The Census of Population provides data for
the apportionment of seats in the House of
Representatives (we will look at this in
Chap 4).
 Legislators ask questions about how
population influences government
programs:
Will an increase in the older population
bankrupt the Social Security system?
 Candidates ask how they can use
demographics to help get elected.

15. “Blue and Red” States Reflecting Presidential Elections in
the U.S. (2008)
and Mexico (2006)

16. Demographics of Social Planning
 Local agencies use demographics to
plan for services (education, fire, police,
sanitation, economic development) for
their communities.
 Sickness and health are affected by
sociodemographic characteristics and
the demand for services shifts with
demographic trends.

17. Marketing Demographics
 Segmenting markets - tailoring products
and services to a specific demographic
group
 Targeting - aiming the advertising of a
product or service to a specific
demographic group
 Cluster marketing - relating demographic
information about people to information
about where they live.

18. Riding the Age Wave: Births and Selected
Age Groups in the U.S.
1960
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
2015
2020
2025
2030
2035
2040
2045
2050
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Population(inmillions)
0
1
2
3
4
5
Births(inmillions)
Births
10-19
40-49
65-74

19. Demographics are also useful
for:
 Site selection
 Human resource management
 Long-term investment
How do you think youth bulges in developing countries
might influence spatial demographic changes and affect
social, political, and business planning in rich countries?

20. Is Demography Destiny?
 Demography shapes the world,Demography shapes the world,
even if it does not determine it.even if it does not determine it.
 Population change is an underlyingPopulation change is an underlying
component of almost everythingcomponent of almost everything
happening in the worldhappening in the world todaytoday, and, and
therefore in thetherefore in the futurefuture as well…as well…
 The sun never sets on demographicThe sun never sets on demographic
change!change!

21. Relevant news items from the
WeeksPopulation blog:
 Posts related to an introduction to demography
 http://itunes.apple.com/app/weekspopulation/id4
Download the iPhone app for the 11th
edition: