Population

The Global Population According to the US Census Bureau, the World’s population is: http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html

World Vital Events Per Time Unit: 2009 (Figures may not add to totals due to rounding) Births Deaths Natural Increase Year 134,434,533 56,622,740 77,811,793 Month 11,202,878 4,718,562 6,484,316 Day 368,314 155,131 213,183 Hour 15,346 6,464 8,883 Minute 256 108 148 Second 4.3 1.8 2.5

Why do we study population? Reliable information on population is the most important information for a geographer to have Population problems are the most serious and pressing issues facing the world today No study of a nation, province, or other region would be complete without an understanding of the characteristics of the human population in that area

Demography Gathering and analyzing information about human populations is known as demography Demography originally considered numerous factors such as numbers of people, age and gender ratios, birth and death rates, and migration and literacy rates Today, demography involves any study of human population that deals with a population’s size, composition, distribution, density, or growth

Demography Demographers are people who study population looking to find answers to the following types of questions: How many? Where can this information be found? What are the characteristics and composition of this population? How is population changing? How is the population distributed? How quickly is this population changing? What implication do these factors have for the future?

How do they get the information? Census – a collection of data about a population Started in early Roman times Doomsday Book – England 1066 – one of the best known modern tallies of population Collected through enumerators that go door-to-door (LDCs), or deliver censuses that are to be mailed back to the government (Canada)

What kind of information is collected? Population Religion Nationality Language Education Household income Gender Age Occupation Home ownership Marital status Possessions

Inaccuracies with data collection MDCs such as Canada and the USA usually undercount their populations by 2 to 3%; LDCs lack resources for accurate census taking Homelessness Fear of entering slums and crime-ridden areas Isolation Confusion Privacy Issues Reputation Interpretation of questions and data

Problems that result from inaccuracies Unfair political representation Unfair levels of funding Lack of funding for homeless people Product Failure Faulty economic policies Difficulty in comparing nations

How often do we conduct a census? Frequency of censuses varies depending on the nation and their resources. It is very expensive to conduct a census and it requires a lot of people to collect the data. In Canada – every 5 years The Canadian government employs 4000 (Stats Canada), 500 work in the census department. Canada hires 50,000 people on short-term contracts in a census year to work as enumerators.

The Global Population In the 75 minutes you will be in this class today: 19,200 people were born 8,100 people died The global population increased an estimated 11,100 people! The rate of increase will be higher in 2010

The Global Population After completing this presentation, the World’s population is now: http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html