studying population

1. UNIT 3. STUDYING
POPULATION
WHY IS IT NECESSARY TO STUDY POPULATION?

2. 1. POPULATION GEOGRAPHY
 Population geography:
 Studies the inhabitants of the planet and their
relationship to the physical environment, analysing the
evolution and composition of the population and its
spatial distribution.
 To find out about (conocer más detalles) the population,
geography uses a science:
 demography, which deal with the quantitative and
statistical study of the population.
 Therefore, is the statistical study of human populations,
especially with reference to size and density,
distribution, and vital statistics (births, marriages,
deaths, etc.).

3. A) USES OF DEMOGRAPHY.
 Since ancient times, governments have tried
to monitor the number of inhabitants in
their territory to find out who has to pay
taxes or to make it easier to recruit soldiers.
For example, in ancient Rome censors
counted the population.
 In modern times, states have other reasons
to be interested in population figures, such as
planning for the cost of pensions or
forecasting how many places are needed in
schools and hospitals.

4. B) DEMOGRAPHIC SOURCES.
 Nowadays, developed countries count their
population using questionnaires, such as
census forms, which allow them to find out
accurate population figures, as well as
information about certain characteristics
(age, sex, occupation…).
 However, in the poorest countries,
population figures are based on estimates
made by governments and by other
agencies, such as United Nations, which
allow them to know approximately
population figures.

5. C) DEMOGRAPHIC SOURCES IN SPAIN
 THE POPULATION CENSUS: an official document
published by the National Institute of Statistics
(Instituto Nacional de Estadística o INE).
INE link:
http://www.ine.es/dyngs/INEbase/es/operacion.htm?c=Estadistica_C&cid=1254736176951&menu=ultiDatos&idp=1254735572981

6.  THE CIVIL REGISTRY: in this registry, the Ministry
of Justice records all births, deaths and marriages
that take place in the country. It is compulsory to
register these events.

7.  THE MUNICIPAL REGISTER (padrón municipal): a
document prepared by municipalities which includes
data on age, sex, addresses, level of education and
economic activity of the inhabitants of a municipality.

8.  Population geography studies the population from
two different perspectives:
DEMOGRAPHY
STATIC
Characteristics of population at any given time
DISTRIBUTION STRUCTURE
BIOLOGICAL STRUCTURE: age or sex ECONOMIC SITUATION
DINAMIC
Population´s evolution over time
NATURAL MOVEMENTS MIGRATORY MOVEMENTS

9. 2. THE ESTRUCTURE OF THE POPULATION
Population structure can be biological (in terms of age and sex)
or economic (according to economic activity).
A) BIOLOGICAL STRUCTURE OF THE POPULATION.
Is its composition according to age and sex.
 In terms of age, we can distinguish three groups:
 the child population (0-14 years old)
 the adult population (15-64 years old)
 the elderly population (aged 65 and older).
 According to sex, we can calculate the percentage of
men (males) and women (female) in the total
population. For example, in Spain there are more
females.

10.  To study the biological structure of population, we can use
population pyramids.
 There are different types of population pyramids:
TRIANGLE SHAPE
It reflects a very
young population.
High percentage of
the population under
14 years old.
Very small group of
elderly people.
Example: poor
countries in Africa or
Asia.
BELL SHAPE
It reflects a young
population.
The group of elderly
people has increase
because the age of
death is higher.
Example: developing
countries (Brazil or
Argentina).
URN SHAPE
It reflects an ageing
population because
of fewer births.
Example: population
of Europe (image
below) or Spain and
developed countries
in general.
POPULATION PYRAMIDS

11. B) ECONOMIC STRUCTURE.
 Active population: people who are available to
work.
 Employed population: working population or
people who have a paid job.
 Unemployed population: people who are
looking for a job.
 Inactive population: people who do not do paid
work and are not seeking it. It includes children
under 16, students, the retired, people unable to
work.

12. 3. NATURAL MOVEMENTS
 THE BIRTH RATE (NATALIDAD): number of
births during one year. If we want to know
whether the birth rate is high or low, we have
to calculate the crude birth rate according to
the following formula:
 Note: birth rate are low in developed countries (have rates
lower than 20 ‰), whereas less developed countries have
rates with higher values (can be as high as 50 ‰).
 The crude birth rate in Europe are between 9 ‰ and 11 ‰.
In Spain, 9.17 ‰.

13.  THE DEATH RATE (MORTALIDAD). Is the number of
deaths during one year. If we want to know whether
the death rate of population is high or low, we have
to calculate the crude death rate according to the
following formula:
 Note: developed countries have low death rates
(below 10 ‰), whereas in less developed countries
these rates are high (poor sanitary conditions,
hunger…). For example, in Spain the crude death rate
is 8.48 ‰.

14.  OTHER DEMOGRAPHIC INDICATORS RELATED TO MORTALITY:
 The infant mortality rate:
In Spain 2.82 ‰
 Life expectancy: an estimated average expresses
the number of years that a person can generally
expect to live for from the moment of their birth. In
general, women have a higher life expectancy than
men. Besides, in less developed countries life
expectancy is below 50, while in developed
countries it is about 80.
In Spain, life expectancy is 82.87 years.

15.  THE RATE OF NATURAL INCREASE.
 To calculate the rate of natural increase over a period of
time, this formula is used:
 There is a positive natural increase if the number of births is
higher than that of deaths → population is growing.
 There is a negative natural increase if the number of deaths is
greater than births → number of inhabitants decreases.
 Note: The rate of natural increase in the world is at
1.2 %, indicating that the world population is
continuing to grow. However, the highest rates
correspond to developing countries.
In Spain, the natural increase is 0.06 %

16.  Currently, as you can see in the chart below, it is
calculated that the world population exceeds 7.3
billion.