HUMAN POPULATION PopulationPopulation is a number of people, animals and plants (living things) occupying a certain area. Human PopulationIs a group of people occupying a certain geographical unit.Characteristics of human population (i) POPULATION SIZEIs the total number of people living in the country; It is obtained through census. (ii) POPULATION STRUCTURE Population Structure is the composition of a g

1. HUMAN POPULATION
Population
Populationisa number of people, animalsand plants (living things)
occupying a certainarea.
Human Population
Is a group of people occupying a certaingeographicalunit.
Characteristicsof human population
(i) POPULATION SIZE
Is the totalnumber of people living in the country; It is obtained through
census.
(ii) POPULATION STRUCTURE
PopulationStructureisthecompositionof a givenpopulationin termsof
ageand sex at a particular time.
The informationonage and sex of an individualpersonfrom the entire
populationisobtained when a census, vitalregistrationor sample survey is
conducted.
(iii) COMPOSITION
Populationcompositionrefersto the geographicalmakeup of persons in a
given localitywhich includes, sex, age, maritalstatus, education,
occupation, incomelevel, religion, ethnic group and race.
(iv) SEX RATIO
Thisis thenumber of males per 1000 femalesin a given population.
(v) DEPENDENCY RATIO
Is the part of the populationthat isnot involved in productiveactivities.
The dependencyratiocanbe categorized intotwo;
a) Youth dependencyratio: Includes those who areunder 15 years.
b) Old age dependencyratio: Includes those who are above65 years.

2. The dependencyratiocanbe expressed as;
IMPORTANCE OF STUDYINGPOPULATION
In studying population, populationdataareobtained through census, vital
registrationand samplesurvey. The data obtained areuseful in different
ways;
i. The informationobtainedduring theNationalCensus is used by the
Government for Planning Public Servicese.g Schools,
Hospitals, Markets, etc.
ii. Enableto know the ageand sex in a countrye.g In Tanzania the
number of femaleis higher than of male.
iii. Enables thegovernment to combat mortalityratewhich maylead to
loss of manpower if not well managed.
iv. Enablesto know the number of manpower skilled and unskilled.
POPULATION DISTRIBUTION
Is the way in which people arespread out across theearth surface.
Distributionisuneven and changes over period of time.
FACTORSINFLUENCINGPOPULATION DISTRIBUTION
AND DENSITY
1. Relief(Topography)
Wherethe slope is steep thereis low or no populationdue to poor soil and
natureof the land, but on gentle slope or flat surfacethereis high
populationsincesoil is good and mechanizationcantakeplaceeasily. Also
low land tends to flood usually sincepeople avoid settling in those areas.
2. Climate

3. Areaswith reliable(moderate) rainhave attracted high populationbut
where thereis poor rainlike in the desert there is low population. Also
areaswith high or very low temperaturesdonot attract populationwhile
areaswith moderatetemperatureattract population(high).
3. Vegetation
In areaswhere dense vegetationisdifficult to clear like in Tropicalforest of
Amazonand Congo basindiscouragepeopleto live leading to sparse
populationor no populationat all.Dense vegetationhinderspenetration
and development. In less dense vegetationpeopleare attracted sincethey
grow cropsafter clearing for cultivation.
4. Soil
Thin, infertile and badly leached soil discouragessettlement sincethey
can’t support agriculture. Good soil attractspopulation.
5. Mineral and energy resources
Area with mineraland energy resourcesattractpopulation e.g. rand of S.
Africa, ironand coalfield in Europe and southernpart of W. Africa where
there arerich mineraldepositslike diamond, oil, etc.
6. Natural Hazards
Areaswith naturalhazardslike floods in low land, earthquakes, and
tornadoesare avoided by people.
7. Diseases and Pests
People like settling in areaswhich are free of diseasesand pests. Thereis
high populationin highlandsof Tanzania which havehealthy climatelike
Arusha. But areaswith high incidenceof diseaseand pests infestationlike
mosquitoesthat causesmalaria, tsetsefliesdiscouragepopulation
settlement.
8. Social – cultural aspects
Some tribeshavea traditionofgoing to live in areaswhich have been left by
their ancestors. Traditionalbeliefslike superstitionscanmake people avoid
living in certainareasdue to fear of risking their life.

4. 9. Political factors
Area with politicalstabilityand peaceattractpopulationbut wherethereis
politicalinstabilitydoesnot attractpopulation. Peopleavoid settled in area
that has politicalconflict likein Sudanand Somalia.
10. Transport and communication
Areaswhich are served with transport and communicationattracthigh
populationsincethey cantransport their goodsto the marketsareas. Also
area where socialservices are ready availablelike in towns, unlike the rural
areaswhere socialservices arepoorly available.
POPULATION CHANGE
It is the growth or decline in populationi.eIncrease or decreasepopulation
canchangeby positivegrowth and negativegrowth.
The main factor for populationchange;
1.Fertilityrate.
2. Mortalityrate.
3. Migration.
FACTORSFOR POPULATION CHANGE
1. FERTILITY/BIRTHRATE
It is also known as fertilityrate. Fertilityrefers to theabilityto conceiveand
produce. It is measured by counting thenumber of people (live birthsina
population).
Fertilityrateis influenced by factorslike;
 Level of education.
 Urbanization.
 Birth control measures.
 Culturalbelief.
 Prestige.
 Early marriage.
 Sourceof labour.
 Preferenceof sex.
2. MORTALITY/DEATHRATE

5. Is also called mortality. It refers to the number of deathswithina given
population.
Death ratecan be categorized into;
(a) Infant mortalityrate
The number of death from 0-2 years.
(b) Child mortalityrate
Number of death of children aged between1-5 years per 1000 live birth.
(c) Adult mortalityrate
Number of adultsdying per 1000 of the totalpopulation.
Hence;
- Large scale mortalitymaybecaused by;
 Severe hunger/famine.
 Diseases.
 Naturaldisasters.
 Wars.
 Accidents.
3. MIGRATION
Is the movement of people from one place or regionto another which
results in changesof residencewhich may be temporaryor permanent.
Immigration
People come intoa new area and are called immigrants.
Emigration
People leave their nativeland for other lands and these people arecalled
emigrants
TYPES OF MIGRATION

6. Types of migration, therearetwo types namely;
i. Internalmigration.
ii. External(International) migration.
And these types of migrationcanbepermanent, temporary, voluntaryand
involuntary.
(i) INTERNAL MIGRATION
People move withina country, it can be permanent, temporary, voluntary
or forced (involuntary).
WHY INTERNAL MIGRATION
 Search for jobs.
 Settlement.
 Search for fertilesoils.
 Trade.
 Education.
FORMS OF INTERNAL MIGRATION
(a) Rural to Urban Migration
People move from ruralto urbanor towns search for jobs, better social
services, education.
(b) Rural to Rural Migration
People move from ruralto rural e.g Nomadic pastoralists.
(c) Urban to Rural Migration
From towns to villages for investing, job purpose, setting up industriesand
other projects.
(d) Urban to Urban Migration
From one town to another for business, better employment, educationetc.

7. (ii) EXTERNAL MIGRATION
Is also called international, interstateor inter regionalmigration. Isthe
movement of people from their own countriesto other countries.
CAUSES OF MIGRATION
There aremany reasons why people choose to migrate. Thefollowing are
some of them;
i. Pressureon land.
People move to areaswith availableland for cultivation, settlement etc.
ii. Availabilityofemployment opportunities.
Move to areaswhere employment is possible e.g ruralto rural, to work in
plantations, mines,etc.
iii. Creationof wealth.
People migratetoother countrieswith aim of making wealth quicklye.g
Tanzaniansmove to South Africa
iv. Religiousconflicts.
Which mayresult to chaosin a country.
v. Politicalinstability.
Like civil warscausepeople to migratee.g Like that of Rwanda and Burundi
has resulted to influx of refugeesin East Africancountries.
vi. Naturaldisasters
Epidemic diseases, floods, earthquakes, droughtmaycausepeople to
migratetobetter areaswhereit is safe.
1. Forced migration

8. People forced to move from the area e.g Asianswere expelled in Uganda
during theleadership or militaryregimeof Iddi Amin, the slave tradeof 17th
and 18th centuryis an exampleof forced migration(Involuntary).
Other causes are;
 Government policies.
 Culturalbeliefs.
 Health services.
EFFECTSOF POPULATION CHANGE
Can affect both the individualand the nationat large.
a) Effectson the individual
 The familyis overwhelmed hence large familywhich as the results
parentscanfail to providefamily basic needs.
 Loss of culturalvalues to some individualsmigratetourbanhence
immorality.
 Government may failto provide servicesdue to over-increasing
population.
b) Effects on the nation
 When populationgrowsin a countrylead to increased poverty.
 Overpopulationleadsto unemployment, poor housing, poor health
facilities, high demand for food.
 It is also a sourceof labour power when populationishigh.
 Under population.
 Cause uneven distributionof population.
 Shortageof labour.
 Under utilizationofresources.
MIGRATION
 Has an effect in the placeof originlike shortageof labour, hence low
productionwhich result to shortageof food and cash crops.
 Destinationareas.

9. -Immigrantsincreasepopulationhencepressureon the availableresources
and amenities.
-Demand of houses leads to growth and expansionof slums.
-Well developed socialservices e.g water supply, schools, health facilities.
-Refugees drainthe resourcesof a host country.
-Spread of diseases.
-Promotesupply of labour power.
POPULATION DATA
Populationdata meansinformationonpopulation which arepresented in
numericalform, diagramscharts, graphsand maps.
SOURCESOF POPULATION DATA
(A) There are twosources of populationdata namely;-
PRIMARY SOURCES
Are the first hand data or data collected directlyfrom thefield. These data
may be obtained through;
(i) Census
Is the officialcounting of thecountry’s population. E.g In Tanzania, it is
normally done in every 10 years.
TYPES OF CENSUS
According to approach;-
 De jure
Is the ones which are counted according totheir usualplace or residence
where only permanent membersof household arecounted.
 De facto

10. People are counted wherever they are found on the day of enumeration.
According to time interval
 Quinquennial census
Is carried out after every 5 years.
 Decennial census
Is carried out after 10 years.
(ii) Vital registration
Is a way of collecting statisticalinformationaboutpopulationwherebythe
occurrenceof events is recorded as data for further use.
The events include birth, death, marriage, divorce, migration.
(iii) Sample survey
Involves selecting suitablerepresentativesizein the communitytoform
populationwhich provideinformationondeath, birth, etc.
SECONDARY SOURCE
Includes reportson populationwhich iscompiled and published. Data is
obtainfrom text books, atlases, magazines, newspapers, journals,
periodicalsand research papers, internet and electronic media.
INTERPRETATION OF POPULATION DATA
After data has been collected and analyzed in term of mean, densities, birth,
death, sex ratio, etc. The populationpyramid must bedrawnto represent
life expectancy, sex ratio, agegroup.

11. USES OF POPULATION DATA
(a) Populationnumbersand densityenable the government to plan on how
to locateresources e.g roads, schools, hospital, policeposts.
(b) Organizationsusethedata from census for privatebusinesse.g where to
locatefactories, shopping centreor malls or banks.
(c) Data on birth and death rates arehelpful in planning medicalservices
and health educationespeciallywherethe death ratesare very high so asto
be controlled by providing health education.
(d) Data on migrationenablethegovernment to plan on how to curb influx
of people intourbanareasfrom the ruralregions.

12. (e) By knowing the number of dependantsenable the government to plan
for schools, medicaland other social amenitiesfor childrenbelow 15 years
and for elders above 65 years.
(f) Likewiseby knowing the number of working age group would enable
planning for creationof jobs.
POPULATION PROBLEMS
Are normally caused by populationpresenceby regarding theresourcesin
which they are utilized and the populationsize overpopulated or under
populated. Whenthe number of people is in balancewith the available
resourcesis called Optimumpopulation.
Hence, many populationproblemsareassociated with populationgrowth.
PopulationProblemsarefollowing;
(a) Pressureon the scarceresourcesdue to over utilizationand exhaustion
of non renewable resources.
(b) Increaseof environmentalpollution and complicated conservationand
wastemanagement.
(c) Increasein the number of beggarsespeciallyin urbancentres.
(d) Increase in the rateof unemployment which in turn causeincreasing
number of crime, prostitution, etc.
(e) Populationincreaseleadstoinadequacyof socialamenitiesand services
such as medicalcareand education.
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
 Efforts should be made to improveruralareasby providing basic
socio-economic servicesand amenities.
 Efforts should be made to improvethe equipment of farming
implementsto enablepeople to remainintheir settlement within
ruralset up.
 There is a need to improvetransport and other infrastructuresinthe
ruralareasto enable farmersto transport their productstothe
market.

13.  Government should createjob opportunitiesinruraland urbanareas
through establishment ofindustries, providing loansto people and
educationabout entrepreneurship.
 Provisionof educationonfamily planning in order to curb birth rate
and death rate.
POPULATION POLICY
Refers to the statement or set of statement ina form of laws or regulation
rules enacted to attainsomedemographicalgoals. It aimed at putting more
actionand effort on favouring people to attainbetterlifefor thepeople.
POPULATION POLICY IN TANZANIA
 The populationprogrammeof1970’s focused on villagizationaimed
at free socialservices such as health, educationand free supply of
freshwater.
 Literacyprogrammefor Universal PrimaryEducation(UPE) which
was given free.
Impacts of population policiesto the country
-The nationalpopulationpolicy(NPP) of 1992 in Tanzania wasimproved so
as to resettle thepopulationin Tanzania. Villagesbecomemoreor less
nucleated or near nucleated thisgavethe government a version of serving
people with educatione.g Primaryeducation, health services(Dispensaries
and health centres).
-Provisionof better services(education, safewater and health services)
expanded and reached a greater number of people introduced.
MCH-Maternaland Child Health with paid leave of 84 days.
However thepoliciesbrought negativeimpactstoother Tanzanianslike;-
-Loss of propertieslikefarms, permanent crops, etc.especialduring
villagization.
TANZANIA POPULATION POLICY ON FAMILY PLANNING AND
POPULATION POLICIESIN OTHER COUNTRIES
The adopted NPP of 1992 shows some achievementsassummarized bellow;

14. (a) Interrelationship betweenpopulation, resourcesand environmental
development.
(b) The prevalenceof methodsand use of contraceptives.
(c) Introductionand expansionof populationstudiesis variousinstitutions.
NIGERIA POPULATION POLICY AND ITS STRATEGIES FOR
FAMILY PLANNING
Launched its first populationpolicyin 1998 aimed at improving lifequality
and standard ofliving of theNigerians.
Areas of policy
(a) Reductionof fertilityrate.
(b) Marriageageof 18 years for women and 24 years for men.
(c) Restrictionofpregnanciesfrom 18 to 35 years.
(d) Extending coverageof family planning services.