Geography Population Gathering Population Data[Date] Today I will: - Be able to explain how population data is gathered and understand the issues associated with this

Geography Population Gathering Population Data

Geography Population How do countries gather population data? By using a census [1]. A census is a regular count of the population – every ten years in the UK [1] – which allows comparisons to be made over time [1]. Questions regarding the age, employment status etc. are asked [1] and an enumerator issues and receives the census to/from each household [1]. The compulsory registration of Births and Deaths [1] or the use of a mini census (such as Britain’s 10% sample census in 1966) [1] are other methods to obtain population data. Lastly, the UK Border Agency records migration into the UK [1].

Geography Population Why do we do a census? Population numbers: to calculate grants for local authorities to plan e.g. schools and teacher numbers. Health: to know the age and socio-economic make-up of the population to allocate health and social services resources. Housing: to ascertain the need for new housing. Employment: to help government and businesses plan jobs and training policies. Transport: to identify where there is pressure on transport systems and for planning of roads and public transport. Ethnic Group: to identify the extent and nature of disadvantage in Britain.

Geography Population Census Difficulties Some countries encounter many difficulties when carrying out censuses, while some countries do not have censuses at all. Why is this? - Expensive (£482 million for England and Wales) E.g. Ethiopia.

Geography Population - Remote areas are difficult to reach E.g. Indonesia with over islands

Geography Population - War and conflict E.g. Iraq/ Afghanistan and more recently SyriaSyria

Geography Population - Many migrants or homeless E.g. the Bedouin People

Geography Population Why is it difficult to gather accurate population data in developing countries? [12 marks] What is it that makes it so hard to carry out a census? What might make the results incorrect? Should you really be writing about the UK? No!! HINT: Think of -(A) Your point -(B) Develop your point -(Example) An example means SQA bonus marks

Geography Population (A) Obtaining population data is very expensive, (B) for example the training of enumerators and the printing of forms [1] which imposes huge financial burdens on many debt-ridden countries (Example) like Ethiopia[1]. (A) Some developing countries are vast (B) making the collection of data difficult [1] (Example) e.g. Indonesia has over 17,000 islands [1]. (A) There are often poor communications across difficult terrain [1] such as the (Example) Andes mountain range. Wars in countries [1] such as Iraq can make data collection very dangerous and there may be a large number of refugees who are difficult to track down [1]. Why is it difficult to gather accurate population data in developing countries? [12 marks]

Geography Population Migrants such as the Bedouin people [1] can make collection difficult and there are significant proportions of homeless people [1] for example shanty or street dwellers who have no official or permanent address [1]. There are 24 different languages spoken in India [1] which would prove a further issue in terms of translation. NEW PARAGRAPH The information provided may be inaccurate because there are higher levels of illiteracy [1], such as in Burkino Faso, will mean that forms are not filled in or will be completed incorrectly [1].

Geography Population There also may be suspicion and distrust of officials [1] which may lead to false answers being given as might resentment at particularly sensitive questions or those open to misrepresentation [1]. There may be ethnic tensions and internal political rivalries have affected census accuracy in some countries [1], for example states in northern Nigeria have been known to inflate their population figures to secure increased political representation [1]. China’s One Child Policy must have encouraged many families to be economical with the truth [1] In China many female births are not registered and female infanticide has been widely reported [1].