APHG Vocab: Population Geography
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46 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 age-sex distribution | a model used in population geography that describes the ages and number of males and females within a given population; also called a population pyramid |
| arithmetic density | the number of people living in a given unit of area |
| baby boom | a cohort of individuals born in the U.S. between 1946 and 1964, which was just after WWII in a time of relative peace and prosperity; these conditions allowed for better education and job opportunities, encouraging high rates of both marriage and fertility |
| baby bust | period of time during the 1960s and 1970s when fertility rates in the U.S. dropped as large numbers of women from the baby boom generation sought higher levels of education and more competitive jobs, causing them to marry later in life; as such, the fertility rate dropped considerably |
| carrying capacity | the largest number of people that the environment of a particular area can sustainably support |
| census tract | small county subdivisions, usually containing between 2,500 and 8,000 persons, delineated by the U.S. Census Bureau as areas of relatively uniform population characteristics, economic status, and living conditions |
| chain migration | the migration event in which individuals follow the migratory path of preceding friends or family members to an existing community |
| child mortality rate | number of deaths per thousand children within the first five years of life |
| cohort | a population group unified by a specific common characteristic, such as age, and subsequently treated as a statistical unit |
| Cotton Belt | the term by which the American South used to be known, as cotton historically dominated the agricultural economy of the region; the same area is now known as the New South or Sun Belt because people have migrated here from older cities in the industrial north for a better climate and new job opportunities |
| crude birth rate | the number of live births per year per 1,000 people |
| crude death rate | the number of deaths per year per 1,000 people |
| demographic accounting equation | an equation that summarizes the amount of growth or decline in a population within a country during a particular time period taking into account both natural increase and net migration |
| demographic transition model | a sequence of demographic changes in which a country moves from high birth and death rates to low birth and death rates through time |
| demography | the study of human populations, including their temporal and spatial dynamics |
| dependency ratio | the ratio of the number of people who are either too old or young to provide for themselves to the number of people who must support them through their own labor; usually expressed in the form n:100, where n equals the number of dependents |
| doubling time | time period required for a population experiencing exponential growth to double in size completely |
| emigration | the process of moving out of a particular country, usually the individual person's country of origin |
| exponential growth | growth that occurs when a fixed percentage of new people is added to a population each year; is compound because the fixed growth rate applies to an ever-increasing population |
| forced migration | the migration event in which individuals are forced to leave a country against their will |
| Generation X | a term coined by the artist and author Douglas Coupland to describe people born in the U.S. between the years 1965 and 1980; this post-baby-boom generation will have to support the baby boom cohort as they head intro their retirement years |
| geodemography | a division of human geography concerned with spatial variations in distribution, composition, growth, and movements of population |
| immigration | the process of individuals moving into a new country with the intentions of remaining there |
| infant mortality rate | the percentage of children who die before their first birthday within a particular country |
| internal migration | the permanent or semipermanent movement of individuals within a particular country |
| intervening obstacles | any forces or factors that may limit human migration |
| involuntary migration | the migration event in which individuals are forced to leave a country against their will |
| life expectancy | the average age individuals are expected to live, which varies across space, between genders, and even between races |
| Thomas Malthus | author of "Essay on the Principle of Population" (1798) who claimed that population grows at an exponential rate while food production increases arithmetically, and thereby that, eventually, population growth would outpace food production |
| maternal mortality rate | number of deaths per thousand of women giving birth |
| migration | a long-term move of a person from one political jurisdiction to another |
| natural increase rate | the difference between the number of births and deaths within a particular country |
| neo-Malthusian | advocacy of population control programs to ensure enough resources for current and future populations |
| overpopulation | a value judgment based on the notion that the resources of a particular are are not great enough to support that area's current population |
| physiologic density | a ratio of human population to the area of cropland, used in LDCs dominated by subsistence agriculture |
| population density | a measurement of the number of persons per unit of land area |
| population geography | a division of human geography concerned with spatial variations in distribution, composition, growth, and movements of population |
| population pyramid | a model used in population geography to show the age and sex distribution of a particular population |
| pull factors | attractions that draw migrants to a certain place, such as a pleasant climate and employment or educational opportunities |
| push factors | incentives for potential migrants to leave a place, such as a harsh climate, economic recession, or political turmoil |
| refugees | people who leave their home because they are forced out, but not because they are being officially relocated or enslaved |
| Rust Belt | the northern industrial states of the United States, including Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, in which heavy industry was once the dominant economic activity; in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, these states lost much of their economic base to economically attractive regions of the United States and to countries where labor was cheaper, leaving old machinery to rust in the moist northern climate |
| Sun Belt | U.S. region, mostly comprised of southeastern and southwestern states, which has grown dramatically since WWII |
| total fertility rate | the average number of children born to a woman during her childbearing years |
| voluntary migration | movement of an individual who consciously and voluntarily decides to locate to a new area- the opposite of forced migration |
| zero population growth | proposal to end population growth through a variety of official and nongovernmental family planning programs |
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