Where people live: the spread of people across an area.
Population density
People per km²; a measure of how crowded an area is.
Megacity
An urban area with more than 10 million people.
Core and periphery
Wealthy, well-connected regions (core) versus poorer, less connected ones (periphery).
Demographic dividend
The economic boost when the share of working-age people rises as birth rates fall.
World population passed 8 billion in November 2022 (UN). Growth is now concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
Physical factors in distribution: relief, climate, soils, water supply. Human factors: jobs, transport, history, government policy.
Megacities have multiplied (Tokyo, Delhi, Shanghai, Dhaka, Lagos…). Most new ones are in Asia and Africa.
Core–periphery: capital and skilled workers flow to cores (e.g. coastal China), widening regional inequality; governments respond with regional policy (e.g. China's “Go West” strategy).
Demographic dividend: when birth rates fall, the share of working-age people grows, which can drive growth if there are jobs, education and investment (e.g. East Asia from the 1970s).
Worked example
Explain one reason why population is unevenly distributed in a named country.
Name the pattern: in Egypt about 95 % of people live on roughly 5 % of the land, along the Nile and its delta.
Physical reason: the river gives water for farming in a desert climate.
Human reason: cities, jobs and transport (Cairo, Alexandria) grew along the river, reinforcing the pattern.
Conclude: physical and human factors work together.
Exam tip: Every claim in geography needs a place, a date or a figure. “In Egypt, ~95 % live along the Nile” beats “people live near rivers”.
1.2Changing populations and places
Key terms
Natural increase
Birth rate minus death rate (migration not included).
Total fertility rate (TFR)
Average number of children per woman; about 2.1 is replacement level.
Dependency ratio
Dependants (0–14 and 65+) per 100 people aged 15–64.
Push and pull factors
Reasons to leave a place and reasons to go to another.
Remittances
Money migrants send back to their home country.
Forced migration
Movement under threat: refugees, internally displaced people (IDPs).
DTM: stage 1 high birth and death rates; stage 2 death rate falls (health, food, water); stage 3 birth rate falls (education of women, contraception, urbanisation); stage 4 both low; stage 5 birth rate below death rate (e.g. Japan, Italy).
Population pyramids: a wide base means high fertility; a column or inverted shape means an ageing population.
Migration: internal (rural–urban) and international; voluntary and forced. Lee's model adds intervening obstacles such as cost, borders and distance.
Consequences for origin: remittances, brain drain, a gender-imbalanced population left behind. For destination: labour supply, cultural diversity, pressure on services, possible tensions.
Remittances to low- and middle-income countries exceed official aid in total (World Bank).
Worked example
A country has a birth rate of 32 per 1,000 and a death rate of 8 per 1,000. Calculate the natural increase rate and suggest its DTM stage.
High birth rate and low death rate: stage 2 (late) or early stage 3.
Typical of many sub-Saharan countries today.
Exam tip: Read population pyramids bar by bar: quote a value (“about 7 % of males are 0–4”) before interpreting it.
1.3Challenges and opportunities
Key terms
Pro-natalist policy
A policy encouraging higher birth rates (e.g. family allowances).
Anti-natalist policy
A policy aiming to reduce birth rates (e.g. China's one-child policy).
Ageing population
A rising share of people aged 65 and over.
Gender equality
Equal rights and opportunities for women and men.
Human trafficking
Moving people by force or deception to exploit them.
China: one-child policy (1980–2015), then a two-child policy (2016) and a three-child policy (2021). Effects: falling fertility, a skewed sex ratio at birth, a rapidly ageing population.
Pro-natalist examples: France (family allowances, subsidised childcare), Singapore (baby bonus). Results are usually modest.
Ageing (e.g. Japan, where almost 30 % are 65+): pension and health costs, labour shortages; responses include a higher retirement age, automation, immigration.
Youthful populations: need for schools and jobs, but a potential demographic dividend.
Gender: girls' education is strongly linked with lower fertility and better child health.
Trafficking and modern slavery exploit migrants; responses include the UN Palermo Protocol (2000) and border cooperation.
Worked example
Evaluate the success of one anti-natalist policy. [outline]
Aim: China's one-child policy aimed to slow growth to support development.
Success: fertility fell from about 2.8 (1979) to below 2; hundreds of millions fewer births are often claimed.
Limits: fertility was already falling before 1980; the policy caused a skewed sex ratio and an ageing crisis; enforcement was coercive.
Judgment: effective in numbers, costly in social and human terms; now reversed.
Exam tip: “Evaluate” needs a judgment: weigh successes against failures and say which matters more, and for whom.