This chapter examines geographies of population through investigating population distribution, structure, dynamics, and movement. It discusses key concepts such as censuses, population density, age-sex pyramids, birth and death rates, migration patterns, and debates around overpopulation. The chapter aims to understand factors that influence population trends and their implications for policymaking.

1. Human Geography: Places and
Regions in Global Context, 5e
Chapter 3: Geographies of Population
Paul L. Knox & Sallie A. Marston
PowerPoint Author: Keith M. Bell

2. Chapter Objectives
• The objectives of this chapter are to:
• Examine the national census and understand its
limitations
• Investigate population distribution and structure
• Explore various population dynamics and
processes
• Understand population movement and migration
• Discuss current population policies and debates

3. Chapter Outline
• The Demographer’s Toolbox
(p. 84)
– Censuses and vital records
– Limitations of the census
• Population Distribution and
Structure (p. 86)
– Population distribution
– Population density and
composition
– Age–sex pyramids
• Population Dynamics and
Processes (p. 100)
– Birth rates
– Death rates
– Demographic transition theory
• Population Movement and
Migration (p. 107)
– Migration types and definitions
– International voluntary
migration
– International forced migration
– Internal voluntary migration
– Internal forced migration
• Population Debates and
Policies (p. 123)
– Population, resources, and
Thomas Malthus
– Population policies
– Sustainable development and
gender
• Conclusion (p. 124)

4. Geography Matters
• 3.1 Geography Matters—GIS Applications
and Google Earth (p. 92)
– How GIS and Google Earth can be used in marketing
and urban planning
• 3.2 Geography Matters—The Baby Boom
and the Aging of the Population (p. 97)
– The burden of funding social security is shifting to
Generations X and Y
• 3.3 Geography Matters—Internal
Displacement (p. 108)
– The flow of refugees globally—and the impacts of the
“War on Terror” on internal displacement

5. Geographies of
Populations
Population geographers depend on
a wide array of data sources to
assess the geography of
populations.
Population geographers
investigate “the why of where.”
Two important factors that make
up population dynamics are birth
and death.
Push and pull factors impact the
movement of populations around
the globe.
UN Millennium Summit: How can
the global economy provide the
world’s growing population with
enough food and water and still
support a sustainable
environment?

6. World Population Density, 2006
Degree of accessibility, topography, soil fertility, climate and weather,
water availability and quality, and type and availability of other natural
resources are some of the factors that shape population distribution.

7. The Demographer’s Toolbox
Demography is the study of the
characteristics of human
populations.
A census is a straightforward
count of the number of people in a
country, region, or city.
Population experts employ data
sources like vital records, which
is a report of births, deaths,
marriages, divorces, and the
incidence of certain infectious
diseases.
No census is entirely
comprehensive (or
comprehensible). All censuses
tend to under-represent
nonmainstream kinds of
households, as well as homeless
individuals.
Federal funding can have a real
impact on peoples’ lives.

8. Population Distribution of Egypt, 2004

9. Population Density and Composition
• One way to explore population dynamics is in terms of
density, a numerical measure of the relationship between
the number of people and some other unit of interest
expressed as a ratio.
• Crude density is the total number of people divided by
total land area.
• Nutritional density is the ratio between the total
population and the amount of land under cultivation in a
given unit of area.
• Agricultural density is the ratio between the number of
agriculturists per unit of farmable land in a specific area.
• Geodemographic analysis is the practice of assessing the
location and composition of particular populations.

10. Population Density: Melbourne,
Australia
Melbourne represents a classic low-density urban settlement predicated on a
quarter-acre home and garden enabled by the widespread use of automobiles. Since
the 1990s, Melbourne has begun to address this sprawling urban form through infill.

11. Population Density: Tokyo, Japan
Urban form in Tokyo is the result of many factors. Most important in terms of its
population size is its role as a central node in the world systems of cities. The urban
economy is complex, requiring a wide range of labor skills from professional and
managerial to low-skilled, service-oriented workers.

12. Health Care Density
In this cartogram (a map/diagram fusion) , the core countries and
China have the highest ratio of doctors to overall population. Most
of Africa has the lowest ratio, reflecting another dimension of
core–periphery inequality.

13. Population Pyramids, 2006
The shape of an age–sex pyramid varies depending on the proportion of people in
each cohort. The pyramid for the peripheral countries reveals that many dependent
children, ages 0–14, exist relative to the rest of the population. The core countries
pyramid illustrates the typical shape for a country experiencing low birthrates.

14. GIS Applications
and Google Earth
• The key to using GIS effectively in
marketing is the ability to link
demographic data to particular
locations. This is known as
georeferencing.
• Demographic data are linked to ZIP
codes and telephone prefix zones. Is it a
meaningful spatial relationship?
• GIS is often used in locational analysis,
determining where to locate a business.
• The potential for invasion of privacy
through the coupling of different sorts
of data sets is very real.
• Google Earth enables users to go
anywhere on Earth by way of satellite
imagery, maps, terrain models, and 3-D
buildings. But skeptics believe it is a
surveillance mechanism in disguise.
• Geospatial technologies offer solutions
to complex problems, but also frighten
others who foresee Orwellian outcomes.

15. U.S. Boomers, 1969–2000
Youth cohort:
ages 0–14
Old-age
cohort: 65+
Middle cohort:
ages 15–64

16. Uses of Population Pyramids
Age–sex pyramids can vary within different census tracts of the same
city. The tracts show that even within a city, variation in populations can
be substantial. Information like this can be very valuable in decision-
making and policymaking at varying government levels, as well as
marketing through targeted mailings.

17. U.S. Baby Boom Crude Birthrate
How do population geographers and demographers mark the beginning and
end of a generation? What are these statisticians and analysts calling your
generation? Is this a fitting moniker? Who belongs in your generation?

18. Baby Boom and the Aging
Population
• Demographic Factors
• Political and Economic
Factors
• The Aging of the
Population
• The Impacts on Younger
Americans
– Generation X (1965–1975)
– Naming the next generation:
Generation Y or Echo
Boomers, iGeneration or
NetGeneration

19. The Net Generation
Members of the Net Generation, people who are currently in their late
teens to late twenties, are faced with the awesome burden of having to
help support a huge, aging, baby boom population. They are likely to
continue to drive demand around increasingly sophisticated personal
technology.

20. World Crude Birthrate, 2007
Crude birthrates and crude death rates are often indicators of the levels of
economic development in individual countries. The doubling time is a measure of
how long it will take the population of an area to grow to twice its current size.

21. World Crude Death Rates, 2007
The global pattern of crude death rates varies from crude birthrates. Most apparent is
that the difference between highest and lowest crude death rates is relatively smaller
than is the case for crude birthrates, reflecting the impact of factors related to the
middle phases of the demographic transition.

22. Total Fertility Rate and
Birth Control
Birth control programs coupled with improved educational and economic
opportunities for women have proved to be far more effective than birth
control policies alone. But in India, a good example of a pluralistic society,
issues of ethnicity complicate things because one ethnic group is fearful that
if it limits its births, it will soon be outnumbered by another ethnic group.

23. World Rates of Natural Increase, 2007
The difference between the CBR and CDR is the rate of natural increase, the
surplus of births over deaths; or the rate of natural decrease, the deficit of
births relative to deaths.

24. Demographic Transition Model
• A demographic transition is a
model of population change in
which high birth and death rates are
replaced by low birth and death
rates.
• Once a society moves from a
preindustrial economic base to an
industrial one, population grows
more slowly.
• The slowing of population growth is
attributable to improved economic
production and higher standards of
living brought about by better health
care, education, and sanitation.
• Some experts insist that the
usefulness of the model is
applicable only to the demographic
history of core countries.

25. World Infant Mortality Rate, 2007
The geography of poverty underlies the patterns on this map. These rates
reflect a number of factors including inadequate or completely absent
maternal health care, as well as poor nutrition for infants.

26. Migration Patterns

27. Mobility and Migration
• Mobility may be used to
describe a wide array of
human movement, ranging
from a journey to work to an
ocean-spanning permanent
move.
– Emigration and immigration
– International migration and
internal migration
– Gross migration and net
migration
– Push factors vs. pull factors
– Voluntary migration vs. forced
migration
– Refugees, IDPs, guest workers,
and transnational migrants

28. Internal Voluntary Migration:
Suburbanization
• By the early twentieth century,
residents fled to the suburbs to
get away from the new
immigrants and their increasing
hold over urban political
machines.
• Automobile dependency and
energy costs in the twenty-first
century will likely impact the
suburbs (and exurbs further
out) in a negative way.
• A general migration trend to the
west and south is apparent over
the past century.

29. Internal Forced Migration: Ethiopia
Another causality of ecological catastrophe is Ethiopia where late rains,
failure of crops, and soaring food prices have led to severe food crisis and
dislocation. This population dislocation caused by the degradation of land
and essential natural resources is called eco-migration.

30. Population Debates and Policies
• Thomas Malthus and Neo-
Malthusians
– Food is necessary to the existence
of humans.
– The passion between the sexes is
necessary and constant.
• William Godwin, Karl Marx,
and Friedrich Engels
– Human knowledge can overcome
population pressures with
technology and equitable
distribution of resources.
• Moderates of this “population
and resources” argument see the
issue not as a population or
economic problem, but a
political one.

31. Population Policies and Programs
Improving the economic status of women is central to the success of
controlling population growth (as with these Afghani girls). Access to
education and employment security are seen as critical factors shaping a
woman’s decisions about how many children to have and when to have them.

32. UN World Summit—MDGs
The MDGs reflect the neoliberal turn in
international development, with the
intent of enabling peripheral countries
to achieve core economic standards of
wealth and prosperity.

33. End of Chapter 3

34. Discussion Topics and Lecture
Themes
• Gather census data (the age and sex of the
population) for the local community. Then use
this information to construct an age–sex pyramid
for the community. What features are revealed
by the age–sex pyramid?
– Census data for communities in the United States can
be obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau’s website
at http://www.census.gov/. Information for other
countries can also be obtained from the U.S. Census
Bureau’s website at
http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idb/ and from the
Population Research Bureau’s site at
http://www.pop.psu.edu.

35. Discussion Topics and Lecture
Themes
• Have the students look at sample census
questions on the Census Bureau’s website at
www.census.gov. What kind of information is
gathered by the census? Are there any potential
problems in gathering this type of data?
– In addition to counting the number of people in the
country, the census also collects data on number of
households in the country, people’s racial and ethnic
associations, age, marital status, occupation,
respondent’s type of residential structure, and many
other details. Problems include ambiguity in racial and
ethnic classification, under-representation of non-
mainstream households and homeless people,
among others.

36. Discussion Topics and Lecture
Themes
• Using the image for Figure 3.2, what do you note about
the distribution of the world’s population? What factors
account for this uneven distribution? Why do some parts
of the world have extremely low population densities?
– Population is unevenly distributed around the world. Reasons for
low densities include unproductive natural environments, such
as desert, mountain, or tundra environments.

37. Discussion Topics and Lecture
Themes
• Again using the image for Figure 3.2, as well as the data in Table 3.1, discuss
how North America compares in terms of its share of the world’s population
and population density. Then discuss this information in the context of the
immigration question in the United States. Does the United States have room
for more immigrants?
– North America (which in Table 3.1 does not include Mexico or any part of Latin
America) contains only 5 percent of the world’s total population—a very small
percentage. Students will have varying opinions as to immigration and potential
overpopulation, but many may not realize that 95 percent of the world’s population
lives outside of North America.

38. Discussion Topics and Lecture
Themes
• Some of your students may belong to Generation X
(people born between 1965 and 1980, approximately).
Generations are often defined in terms of shared
experiences. Ask the students what experiences their
generation has shared, and how this creates a sense of
being part of a generation. Does Generation X share any
significant experience equivalent to the sharing of the
Vietnam War, the Sexual Revolution, or the Civil Rights
movement by the Baby Boom generation? Is it too early
to tell what Generation X’s shared experiences might
be?
– The same question can be asked of members of that generation
born after 1980. Are there noticeable differences in values and
attitudes between students born before and after 1980?

39. Discussion Topics and Lecture
Themes
• Overpopulation is often a popular topic with students.
First, ask them whether they think the world—or parts of
the world—is overpopulated today. Second, ask them
how they define overpopulation. Many will likely respond
“too many people in a place.” Then ask them if they think
that places like Japan are overpopulated, despite
Japan’s lack of food and other resources. The students
should realize that overpopulation is a value-laden term,
with many different possible definitions.
– This question provides an opportunity to initiate debate on how
values shape population policies such as those regarding
immigration.

40. Discussion Topics and Lecture
Themes
• How can Geographical Information Systems
(GIS) be used in locating retail businesses?
– This question allows the students to see one practical
application of geographic methods. You or the
students could try contacting local retailers (especially
chain retailers, such as Starbucks or McDonald’s) to
see if they will provide information about how they
select their retail outlet locations. The Geography
Matters 3.1 boxed text also provides information
about this issue.

41. Discussion Topics and Lecture
Themes
• How is the burden of social security and other public
goods being shifted onto the “Baby Boom” generation?
– Have the students use census data (see the discussion for
Question #1, above, for details on how to gather census data)
for the local region, state, or country as a whole and construct
age–sex pyramids. Use these pyramids to show how the large
“Baby Boom” cohort is aging, while the following generations
(those born between 1965 and the present) are smaller,
therefore putting pressure on those generations when baby
boomers retire and become dependent on younger generations.
Also see the Geography Matters 3.2 boxed text for more
information.

42. Discussion Topics and Lecture
Themes
• What natural disasters have taken place in
or near the local community? How has this
affected population?
– Consult local histories, museums, or
newspapers for information on what may have
taken place in the local area. Students may
also want to examine impacts of natural
disasters in other areas, such as the impacts
of hurricanes on the Gulf Coast.