Chapter 2 The World Population (Distribution, Density and Growth) Solutions
Question - 11 : - Discuss the three stages of demographic transition.
Answer - 11 : -
Demographic transition theory can be used to describe and predict the future population of any area. The theory tells us that the population of any region changes from high births and high deaths to low births and low deaths as a society progresses from rural, agrarian and illiterate to urban, industrial and literate society. These changes occur in stages, which are collectively known as the demographic cycle.
The first stage has high fertility and high mortality rates because people reproduce more to compensate for the deaths due to epidemics and variable food supply. Population growth is slow and most people are engaged in agriculture where large families are an asset. Life expectancy is low; people are mostly illiterate and have low levels of technology. Two hundred years ago all the countries were in this stage.
In the second stage, fertility remains high in the beginning, but it declines with time. This is accompanied by reduced mortality rate. Improvements in sanitation and health conditions lead to decline in mortality. Because of this gap the net addition to population is high. This results in population explosion. Eg. Countries like India.
In the last stage, both fertility and mortality decline considerably. The population is either stable or grows slowly. The population becomes urbanized, literate and has high technical know how and deliberately controls the family size. Some countries even face negative growth of population, E.g., many Western European countries.
Question - 12 : - On an outline map of the world name the following:
Answer - 12 : -
(a) Countries of Europe and Asia with negative growth rate of population.
(b) African countries with growth rate of population more than three per cent.
Answer
- Europe: Estonia, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria etc. Asia : Japan, Armenia, etc.
- Angola, Niger, Guinea, etc.
What was world’s population at the beginning of the 21st century?
Answer - 13 : -
The world at the beginning of the 21st century recorded the presence of over 6 billion people.
Question - 14 : - What did George B Cressey say about Asia’s population distribution?
Answer - 14 : -
George B Cressey said that ‘Asia has many places where people are few and few places where people are many’.
Question - 15 : - What was the population of the world around 8000 – 12000 years back?
Answer - 15 : -
Roughly 8 million was the population of the world around 8000-12000 years back.
Question - 16 : - How long did the world take to increase its population from 5 billion to 6 billion?
Answer - 16 : -
It took 12 years to increase the world’s population from 5 billion to 6 billion.
Question - 17 : - What is population doubling time?
Answer - 17 : -
Time takes for a region to double it’s population at the current growth rate.
Question - 18 : - What is population growth? What does population change indicate for an area?
Answer - 18 : -
Population growth or population change refers to the change in the number of inhabitants of a territory during a specific period of time.
It is an important indicator of economic development and historical and cultural background of the region.
Question - 19 : - What are the components of population change?
Answer - 19 : -
There are three components of population change: Births, deaths and migration. Population growth occurs not only by increasing birth rate but also due to decreasing death rate. Apart from these the population size is also affected by the movement of people from one place to another in pursuit of better living i.e. migration.
Question - 20 : - Distinguish between place of origin and place of destination.
Answer - 20 : -
Migration may be explained as a spontaneous effort to achieve a better balance between resources and population. When people move from one place to another, the place they move from is called the place of origin and the place they move to is called the place of destination.