The one child policy was introduced in China in the 1970s to control its rapidly growing population. The goal was to limit China's population to 1.2 billion by 2000, though it exceeded that number. Before the policy, the average number of children per woman was 6. This high fertility rate led to overpopulation issues as resources could not sustain such rapid growth. While the policy helped reduce China's growth rate, it also led to gender imbalance and other social issues. The policy remained in effect until 2015.

1. China's one child policy

3. Why did China introduce the one child policy? Before the one child policy, the average amount of children per women in China was 6. This meant the population for China was too high so the country couldn’t support itself. This was unsustainable as the population could grow beyond the resources of the country or the ‘carrying capacity’. This is overpopulation . The growth rate for China in 1972 (which was before the one child policy) was 24%. China has a quarter of the worlds population but only 7% of the worlds land.

4. When did the one child policy start? (Draw an arrow on the graph)

8. Thank you for watching Becca Lawrence Aaron (FEHS Geog Students 2009-11)